Unexpected Turn Page 8

  “Is there anything else you want to discuss?” Doctor Mayfield asks, breaking me from my thoughts.

  “No, I think we covered everything,” I answer.

  “Well, if there isn’t anything else, I’ll put your prescriptions in.”

  Nodding, I stand and head towards the exit. I can tell Doctor Mayfield doesn’t agree with my decision to leave Grayson out of this, but I’m his patient and he has to do as I say. This is my decision. I’ve been thinking about this ever since I found out my cancer was back. I’m actually thankful I didn’t get a long time to taste life while in remission before the cancer came barreling back in, burning everything to the ground. Somehow I feel like that would have been worse. More time would have just imprinted farther in my mind what I’m missing. What I’ll leave behind. Jade thinks I’m crazy. She doesn’t understand the depths that I love my husband. How far I’ll go to save him. He deserves to be with someone healthy. Someone who can give him the family he always wanted. He should not have to watch his wife fade away before his eyes and feel like he has nothing. Money we have in spades, but it really doesn’t buy happiness. It couldn’t save me, but love can save him. I have one year to make sure those two fall hopelessly in love or this year of sacrifice is for naught.

  8

  Jade

  I can’t say my first week at work was easy. Nancy, the girl I first met at the reception desk, hasn’t exactly been my greatest fan, in fact, she’s been a real bitch. I think she thinks something is going on between Grayson and I, even though I told her like a million times there isn’t and I’m just his surrogate. She believes I fucked him for my job the day I came into the office, when in actuality, she’s only half right. I did fuck him, but it wasn’t because of the job.

  Lucky for me, I had some secretarial and computer skills or I’d be screwed. My “on the job training” has consisted of her telling me the wrong information in an attempt to get me fired. If she tells me to file something under whatever, I know to backtrack and see where the file came from and call the people and ask them to file it in the right place. If she sends me somewhere, I have to be prepared to go to more than one place because half the places she sends me to are wrong. I get more of a workout here at work than I do with Robert at the gym.

  When I told him I had to move our morning sessions to evenings because I work in the mornings now, he was super supportive. He wasn’t kidding when he said he’ll wait for me and has been a perfect gentleman with me. After our workouts, he usually takes me out to eat and listens to me complain about bitchy Nancy and the adventures she sends me on. He says I should say something to Grayson, but I’m a big girl and can handle one bully.

  Grayson has somewhat reverted back to his old ways. When he sees me at work, he’s cordial, grunting greetings here and there, but that’s it. If I thought I was going to get special treatment from him at work, I should have thought again. It’s not like I mind. Special treatment would give bitchy Nancy more ammo. No, the problem is the fact that we haven’t fucked since that day in his office. Nichole has been hounding me about it, but what can I say? Your hubby is just not into me. He’s struggling with all this, and she really should back off and give him time before he explodes. I don’t want him coming at me like before where I’ll revert back to wanting to murder him every five seconds. Where will that get us? Nowhere. I’ll just have a list of ways to kill him and she’ll still be baby free.

  “Hey there, Jade. Can you get the Whitethorn files and set them on my desk?” Mr. Garfield asks.

  “Sure thing, boss,” I reply.

  “I can get them for you,” bitchy two shoes jumps in and Mr. Garfield frowns.

  “Nancy, I thought you went back down to your own desk by now.”

  “Ah, no, Sir. I’ve been up on this floor training Jade.”

  “Why? Have you not caught on yet? Hastings assured me you had prior experience.” Great, bitchy two shoes is either going to get me fired or make me look slow in front of the main boss man. This is his firm after all.

  “I actually caught on the first day. I just thought you guys took training super serious here,” I say with a wide smile that he eats up.

  “If that’s the case, then starting Monday you can go back to your own desk, Nancy. Jade will do just fine on her own,” Garfield tells Nancy, and if Garfield wasn’t the one to tell her, I feel like she’d lose her shit right here and now. Word on the street was that she’s been salivating for this position since she found out Veronica was pregnant. Me, unexpectedly, getting the job threw a big wrench in her plans.

  “I was thinking, Sir, with Jade’s tattoos, maybe it’s better to keep her at my desk away from the client’s eye. We wouldn’t want our clients to think we represent the wrong sort of people,” she says and I bristle at her words. This isn’t the first time I’ve been judged by my tattoos.

  “And what sort of people is that?” Grayson asks behind us and I snap my neck in his direction.

  “Oh you know, Sir,” she says with a nervous laugh. “Tattoos aren’t exactly professional,” she blurts.

  “Funny you would say that since I have a full sleeve of tattoos myself. Are you trying to say I’m not professional?” he goads as he goes for the kill and her eyes widen.

  “No… no of course not, you’re a partner of the firm. I was just...”

  “Just what?” he interrupts her. “Stereotyping? In fact, I’ve been hearing you have been giving Jade a hard time since she got here. Telling her the wrong places to file cases, giving her bad info, sending her on wild goose chases around the building and the court house, bad mouthing her and spreading lies about our relationship. I may be a partner, but I have ears. Consider this your only warning. One more bad word about Jade and you’re out of here. Do you understand?”

  “Yes… yes... Sir,” she stutters. Well, fuck. Scary McHottie is kinda hot when his ire isn’t pointed at me.

  “Good, I’d thought you'd understand. I think you should go back to your desk now and not wait until Monday.”

  “I think that’s a good idea,” Mr. Garfield agrees. I forgot he was still standing here. I was too shocked over McHottie defending me. Did a troll kidnap him and this is a doppelganger in his place?

  “Sorry about her,” Grayson says with all smiles, looking straight at me once Nancy is gone. “Nichole wanted me to invite you for lunch. We have a charity dinner to go to tonight so we won’t make dinner.”

  “Sure, that’s fine.” I’m happy I got those words out. His behavior has my brain deep fried right now.

  “I did not know you were having such a hard time, Ms. Cooper. Next time, you’ll let me know,” Mr. Garfield replies. This isn’t a request but a demand.

  “I didn’t want to cause trouble my first week, but sure I will, boss man.” He gives me a small smile and reminds me about the file before moving on.

  “Were you going to tell me what she was doing?” McHottie asks once Garfield was out of hearing distance.

  “No. Nancy isn’t the first bully I’ve run across and she won’t be my last. By the way, how did you know she was doing all of that to me? And how did you know I had previous secretary experience?”

  “Like I told her. People talk. One of the interns saw you running up and down the stairs, going floor to floor and he asked Nancy why. She told him she’s been sending you to the wrong floors in an attempt to get you fired. To get on my good side, he told me. And as for your work experience, I read your background check. We told the fertility clinic we were considering you as our surrogate and asked them to send over your file. Everything we needed to know about you is in it.”

  “Oh,” I say dumbly. I forgot about that file. I’m surprised the vulture lady handed it over so easily.

  “Anyways, I’ll be in conference calls all morning. Meet me in my office at noon, and we’ll drive down together.”

  “Okay,” I agree before scurrying off to find the file Garfield wanted.

  Mr. Garfield wasn’t in his office but his son was, sitting bo
redly behind his desk, scrolling through his phone. Tyson Garfield, one of the most eligible bachelors in New York was quite easy on the eyes. Hell, the man is fucking gorgeous with thick sandy brown hair and big cerulean blue eyes that would rival the Mediterranean Sea. He’s also a total playboy. He’s never photographed with the same girl twice, leaving a trail of broken hearts long enough to wrap around the world twice. He gives unattainable a whole new meaning. He’s here most of the time because Garfield was grooming him to take over the firm when he finally decides to retire.

  “Well, hello, gorgeous. What brings you here?” he asks, giving me a cheshire grin.

  “Your father asked me to put this file on his desk,” I answer, setting the file down. I turn to leave, but he jumps from behind the desk and blocks my path.

  “Why haven’t I seen you before?”

  “I’m Jade, the new front desk receptionist,” I reply, trying to sidestep him but he moves with me.

  “Ahh, the one that’s fucking Grayson. Well, I can definitely see why he’d cheat on his wife. You’re quite tempting.”

  Fucking Nancy. If she hadn’t got sent back downstairs, I’d wring her scrawny neck. “I’m not fucking Grayson,” I lie.

  “Grayson,” he repeats amused. “How informal.”

  “I mean Mr. Hastings,” I backtrack. “Look, not that I have to explain anything to you, but I’m the Hastings’ surrogate. That’s why I have familiarity with him.”

  “You mean you have his kid inside you?” He asks, shocked, palming my flat belly. I arch my brow wondering what the sexual harassment policy is around here.

  “Not yet,” I reply, plucking his hand from my stomach.

  “Ahh, in that case, we should go out,” he says suddenly. Did I step into a third dimension? I’ve gotten asked on more dates by people who aren’t deadbeats in these past two weeks than I have my whole life. Who knew being unattainable was the new love potion.

  “I don’t date,” I tell him, trying to move past him, but he won’t let me pass.

  “Neither do I. Maybe we should make an exception for each other.”

  Laughing, I ask, “Do you have an argument for everything?”

  “I’m a lawyer; what do you think?” he counters.

  “Hmm, then as a lawyer you should understand contracts. I literally signed away my rights to date until I push the Hastings’ kid out.”

  “How about I make a deal with you then? If I get Grayson to agree to let me take you out, then you’ll go?”

  “If you can pull that off then sure, I’ll reward you, but I have to warn you, I don’t see that happening. His wife was very serious about that clause.”

  “I do love challenges and you, sweet Jade, look like quite the challenge.”

  “And you look like trouble, but we’ll see.”

  Finally, he steps back and lets me pass and I leave him to deal with Grayson. I wish I could be a fly on the wall when they have that conversation. If anything, it’s sure to be exciting. Possessive Grayson against the boss’ son. Ding, ding, ding people, let the battle begin.

  The rest of the time goes by uneventfully. Without bitchy Nancy around to sabotage me every five seconds, everything ran much more smoothly. It’s quite the contrast from when she was here. Also, more people took it upon themselves to introduce themselves. Apparently, Nancy was the leader of my lynch mob and they didn’t want any part of it. Plus everyone here loves Nichole and was happy to find out I wasn’t the homewrecking hussie Nancy portrayed me out to be. Like Robert, they thought I was a saint to carry the Hastings’ child for them and wanted to kill Nancy for giving me the run around. I thanked them all, letting them know the situation was handled and I could take care of myself. Once they found out Grayson didn’t have dibs, I had a couple junior associates ask me out on dates, to which I kindly declined. Before I knew it, it was noon and McHottie was walking out of his office to meet me.

  “I finished my conference call early so I thought I’d meet you at your desk instead.”

  “I’m ready to go if you are,” I reply, grabbing my jacket. It was chilly today and I was happy we’d be driving where we had to go. Grayson eyes my leather jacket but doesn’t say anything about it until we get in his car.

  “I thought my wife would have bought you another jacket by now.”

  “Why?” I ask, offended.

  “A motorcycle jacket is not exactly professional.”

  “It’s not like I wear it around the office,” I tell him, rolling my eyes. “Besides, your wife has already gone overboard buying me work clothes. I don’t have space for the clothes I have as it is. You should really tell her to rein in the shopping or take her black card away or something. Soon you’ll have to rent another room just to hold my clothes.”

  “Are you trying to get me castrated for payback?” He chuckles and I bask in the sound.

  “I doubt she’ll cut your dick off; she needs it,” I point out.

  “Fair point,” he muses.

  This has to be the first time we had a conversation where he wasn’t acting like a dick and I didn’t want to shank him. I could actually see why Nichole fell for him. There is a nice side to him when he’s not being a total douche.

  “Garfield’s son asked me out,” I blurt out. Way to kill a moment, Jade.

  “And what did you say?” He practically growls.

  “I told him I’m under contract, so I can’t date,” I answer.

  “And how’d he take it?”

  “Yeah, about that. That’s the reason for the heads up. He wants to chat with you about it and get your permission.”

  “You can’t be fucking serious.”

  “As a heart attack,” I reply, holding my hand over my heart.

  “He’s such a spoiled brat,” he grumbles. “He’s only curious about you because you’re the first woman to ever tell him no. I’ll talk to him, but until then, stay away from him.”

  “Fine, whatever,” I mutter. He’s such a caveman and not the only one acting like a brat. I feel like the ball on a dog’s tug of war rope. We stay silent until we get to the restaurant. Some swanky place downtown that I could only dream about going to.

  The valet holds the door open for me and I walk inside beside Grayson. When we’re seated, Nichole gives me a bright smile after kissing her husband hello.

  “So, Jade, how’s your first week going at Grayson’s firm?” She asks.

  “It’s going,” I reply.

  “Uh oh, that doesn’t sound good. What happened?”

  “One of the interns was a total bitch to her and she never said anything about it. I had to find out through the office gossip,” Grayson answers for me.

  “Oh no, what did she do?”

  “Nothing I couldn’t handle,” I jump in before Grayson could. “Seriously, it was more like office hazing than anything. Now it’s over.”

  “Not quite. We still have Tyson to deal with,” Grayson grumbles.

  “Garfield’s son? What about him?” Nichole asks, curious.

  “He asked Jade out on a date. She turned him down, of course, but you know how he is. He won’t quit until he gets his way.”

  “My, you have had a busy week.”

  “You say busy, I say it’s life. Besides, I’ve had worse.” I shrug.

  “On a brighter note, the decorator is almost done with your place. She said you should be able to have it move in ready by the end of the month. Isn’t that great?” Nichole’s smile is beaming and I don’t want to tamper her good mood by telling her what I really feel. This is all too much. I come from a bartering world, and I have this gut feeling that when Nichole finally collects, a baby won’t be enough.

  “Yeah, great,” I mumble through a forced smile. I’m glad for the interruption when the waitress comes and takes our orders.

  When she leaves, Grayson and Nichole talk shop about some case he’s working on while I zone out, playing with my napkin. By the time our food arrives, I’m starving and I dig into my chicken salad sandwich. This place
was too fancy for regular fries, so on the side I had some sort of glazed sweet potatoes sticks that Nichole recommended. I believe she wanted me to try them because I read somewhere that sweet potatoes are really good for fertility.

  “What’s this I hear about a coat?” Nichole says and I glare over at Grayson who just shrugs.

  “Nothing, I love my leather jacket,” I reply.

  “Nonsense. It’s nearly winter and you know how brutal New York winters can be. That’s hardly enough protection for you or our little one. If you don’t want a coat, that’s fine. But think about the baby.”

  “Fine,” I relent. Nichole is playing dirty by throwing in the hypothetical baby card. “But I’ll buy it myself,” I add and she frowns.

  “You have to work. I can find you something suitable,” Nichole starts, but I interrupt her.

  “I don’t work all the time. I’m perfectly capable of buying my own coat. You have been more than generous. Besides, shouldn’t you be out shopping for baby stuff or something?” I say, just to get her off the topic of me.

  “Why? Is there something you want to tell me?” She asks, a little too excited.

  “No, but I know how you like being prepared,” I answer, giving Grayson the side eye. No way am I telling her he’s only fucked me twice in a month and both times were in the same week.

  “You’re right, I could go browsing.” She’s about to say something else when her phone goes off. Answering it, she says a couple short replies before hanging up and turning back to us. “Sorry about that.”

  “Is everything okay?” Grayson asks her.

  “Yes, just a couple little mishaps I need to handle before tonight’s charity event. Why don’t you enjoy your lunch with Jade, and I’ll see you when you get home?”

  “Are you sure? Surely they can wait. You barely touched your food and you didn’t eat last night either because you got a migraine.”

  “I’ll be fine. In fact, I’ll take it with me to go,” she says, giving him a compromise and he nods his head. Nichole waves a waiter down and I watch as he takes her plate away and comes back with a to go box for her, all wrapped up and ready to go. Kissing Grayson, she tells him goodbye before waving to me and leaving. I watch her leave, sad to see our buffer go. With her gone, it was like we were on a date. I take another bite of my sandwich, but this time I barely taste anything and I set it back on my plate.