Page 32 of Missed Communication
“We, uh… we should get back.”
“But I’m enjoying how we’re not at work right now.”
“Meaning?”
I gently grip her wrist to take another bite of her toast, but at second glance, there’s a small bandage on her ring finger. My brows pinch. “What happened?”
She tries to pull her hand back, but I don’t let go. “Nothing.” The tan line where her wedding band used to be was nearly gone last month, so it can’t be that she’s hiding it. I didn’t notice the bandage earlier, but I also wasn’t looking for it. When I don’t release her, she admits, “I got a tattoo.”
“On your ring finger?”
“Yeah,” she admits. “It isn’t healed yet, so I like to protect it while I’m working.”
I press a single kiss to the top of it, then finally let go of her. “I also have a new one.” Shifting my jacket up a few inches, I show off where my own ink hides. “Mine isn’t healed either, so when I wear a watch, I put one on too.”
“What’s yours?”
Things are going a little too well, and the last thing I want is for her to retreat. “I’ll show you later. You’re right; we should get back.” She almost looks relieved, likely because I would’ve asked her what hers is. Whatever she got, it’s small, too small to be a name or more than a few letters.
The walk back to the Capitol building is quiet, but I’ll take the comfortable silence over a cold shoulder any day. Once we’re inside, her walls immediately go up. “Well, thank you for walking back with me, Mr. Wilson. I’ll see you later.”
Aubrey walks ahead, scanning her badge, and not giving me a chance to say goodbye. Once I check in at the security desk, I make my way to Olivia’s office and wait outside to meet with her.Today hasn’t gone as planned, but getting a woman like Aubrey to fall in love with me is a marathon, not a sprint.
16
Aubrey
The meeting I’ve been dreading all morning is finally here, and as I step into the conference room, my gaze instinctively falls to Jamie. Because luck and I have never been friends, his eyes are already fixed on me. There’s a good chance my cheeks are flushed, and there’s no way my foundation is hiding it. Could he really be telling the truth, that he’s here because of me? Or was it just something sexy to say to get me flustered?
I take a seat at the long table beside Olivia. Thankfully, with Jamie at the end of the table, so long as I keep my attention on my laptop, he’ll be out of view. For the past month, I’ve done my best to put all of my feelings in a little box, focusing on work, my health, and this baby. But in a single day, Jamie’s managed to not just open that box, he’s dumping out the contents. Just when I think I’m back in control, carefully tucking my emotions away, he dumps it out again. There is no reality that the two of us could be anything other than coworkers or even friends. I’m about to be a mother, and he’s taken on a huge promotion working for Olivia. Neither one of us is in a place to consider any sort of relationship.
“Welcome, everyone,” Olivia begins, pulling me from my spiral. “I’d first like to introduce you all to James Wilson. As many of you may know, he was part of Isaac Banks’ communication team. My hope is he’ll be able to join us at a few of our upcoming events to get better acquainted with how we do things here before delegating to our media team.”
“Thank you, Governor. I’m looking forward to it.”
“My biggest concern is keeping these trips budget-friendly and to also minimize our carbon footprint. I’d like to do some of these meetings by video call, but it’s also important to me that we’re meeting with the local departments in-person as much as possible. Paulette, would you give us a rundown of how this is impacting us after the past month of travel?”
“Of course. We’ll be focusing on education departments rolling out their new breakfast and lunch programs within the next few months. This includes San Diego, Bakersfield, and most of the Bay Area. I met with the budget office and the schedulers last week, and we’ve been able to keep costs down by sharing hotel rooms and flying coach on commercial flights, but it’s not enough.”
“If I may,” Jamie interjects, “have you considered alternative transportation? I am not familiar with the rail systems here in California, but surely taking a train would trim that expense.”
“It’s almost as if you read my drafted memo,” Paulette chuckles. “It won’t work for every location we need to visit, but it could also help with productivity. When we fly, we have to worry about getting to the airport early, flight delays, and ground transportation when we land being on-time. It’s also shown to decrease productivity of our staff. Taking trains or a bus would give us more time to work while traveling, and it would also lookgood from an environmental standpoint. We won’t be able to do it every time, but when the schedules line up, that is my first suggestion. It also could be better for anyone who struggles with motion sickness or anxiety.”
Seeing as I haven’t announced it to everyone yet, I’m glad she didn’t throw in how flying while pregnant will become more difficult the later in the year that we get. They continue walking through the next few weeks, and as I’m checking my schedule, my doctor appointments aren’t conflicting. Part of me wishes a few of them overlapped.
Paulette has a scheduler send out email invitations, and I’m tempted to see which ones Jamie accepts first so I can decline them. The last thing I need is to be on a five or six hour train ride with a stupidly handsome man who makes my legs weak by just looking at him. I glance to the end of the table, and sure enough, his chocolate brown eyes meet mine. He looks away to type something on his phone, giving me the perfect opportunity to slip away while he’s busy.
As I pack up my bag, my own phone vibrates on the table. I thank past-me for putting it upside down, because my money is on a text from Jamie. I glance up again, and the man is beaming. Not like a little tilt of his lips, he’s full-on grinning. Curiosity gets the best of me and I check the notification.
Jamie
Don’t you dare think about declining any of those invitations.
Think we might be able to sneak away like we did at the summit?
My thighs clench as I’m flooded with memories from that week—how he could make me come with just his mouth, the time inthe shower, how we didn’t use protection the last night we were together since my ovulation window was effectively closed. It was honestly the best sex of my life, but I need to shut this down. He’s being careless.
I rush out of the conference room and my heels clack on the tiles as I walk as swiftly as I can to my office. How dare he make fucking heart-eyes at me while I’m working! The audacity. I had one rule. In truth, I’m more mad at the fact that he can make me wet by just looking at me.
