The Lover’s Secret (No Exceptions #1)(19)
Author: J.C. Reed

Without wasting another second, I retrieved the phone and peered at the screen. An unknown number had called numerous times, meaning it probably was important and Jett would have to call them back. Ready to dash after him, I picked up the phone and started to walk when my fingers brushed the envelope sign by mistake. The text message popped up instantly, and I couldn’t help but read it:

The meeting will be no problem. Consider it done. TI

As I stared at the message my cheeks caught fire, and instant shame burned through me for snooping around when it was clearly just a confirmation text.

Talk about invading his privacy. How creepy or needy can you get, Stewart?

“Shit,” I mumbled as I flicked through the phone settings for a button that might revert the text back to “unread.” There was none.

Instead, another, earlier message popped open.

The setting is fine. Where exactly do we meet? Ground floor or outside? TI

Damn those freaking small buttons! Damn my clumsy fingers! Why had no one thought of inventing an application that double-checked if you actually wanted to read a message? Something that asked you to confirm it before it opened like:

“Are you sure you want to read this message? Click here to confirm.”

Then:

“Last chance to avoid clicking this message and risk looking like a control freak.”

Or something like that. And what kind of message was that, by the way? How hard could it be to show a little politeness by adding more words, like, “Hello? How are you? Sorry, I know it’s your day off, Mr. Mayfield, but I just wanted to let you know that the meeting you required will take place. Thanks. Have a nice day.”

Some people were so uncommunicative it probably pained them to talk. Then again, it didn’t surprise me. Jett himself was as monosyllabic as one could get, so I figured the people who worked for him might just be inclined to pick up his bad habits.

In the distance, a door slammed, and sure enough, Jett’s footsteps thudded down the hall. He was coming. I looked around in a panic.

Crap!

How was I supposed to explain to my boyfriend, who just so happened to be my boss as well, that I accidentally read his text messages without sounding like I had some major control issues? Would he even believe me? There was no way I could revert the message back to unread, and I wasn’t sure what to do. Should I delete it or just confess? Why did I have the feeling that telling the truth wouldn’t help me? If Jett thought I was snooping through his personal stuff, there was a possibility that our day would end in a fight.

Scratch that.

Knowing Jett and his alpha male tendencies, I was actually pretty sure of that. It didn’t even matter if he was the one who had logged into my email account seeing that I had no proof nor had I heard back from the legal firm.

Women’s magazines always said that men couldn’t stand women with trust issues. At present, we had not yet built enough trust to the extent I was confident enough Jett would look kindly upon me going through his phone. That, combined with the fact that he was my boss, had me worried that our relationship might just be over if he found out.

Without thinking, I pushed the phone back into the pocket of his jacket in the hope another text might arrive in the meantime and Jett wouldn’t notice that the previous one had already been read. I stormed out of the room, almost bumping into my surprised boyfriend as I headed for the one place where he wouldn’t see my shaking hands: the bathroom.

Thank God, whoever invented it.

I closed the door, and sat down on the toilet seat, willing my heartbeat to calm down. At least I wouldn’t have to come up with a good excuse as to why I had almost run him over, because nobody in his right mind would bother to ask a pregnant woman that. And if he did, I’d just say that, yes, I had to visit the restroom what seemed like a hundred times a day. If that didn’t throw him off the trail, I could always blame my crazy hormones for making me act strange. And if even that wouldn’t work, I could play my ace in the hole. I could accuse him of deleting my email, and brace myself for a fight, knowing that I’d lose that argument. After all, it would be hard to prove it had been him who logged on since I never gave him my password. But Jett had friends who could hack into anyone’s private business if he so much as asked them for a favor, without anyone ever finding the connection. I had to take that into account, too.

But as things currently stood, I wasn’t going to point the finger at him without having at least some solid proof.

***

Jett looked distant when I returned. His tight gray shirt was gone, replaced by a tailored business suit, white shirt, and a dark blue, silk tie. I stared at him, and instant worry set in. He looked like he was getting ready to leave—again. I wondered if he’d read the text message? And, more importantly, I wondered if he was pissed at me, if he had discovered that I had read it?

“I’m sorry,” he said when he noticed me standing in the doorway. “I know I promised you an entire weekend, but I have to run some errands.”

“Why? What’s wrong?” I sat down beside him and intertwined my fingers in my lap.

“Nothing major, I hope. The service personnel knocked to let me know I received a call from the Trump building. They said it’s urgent.” He barely looked up as he arranged his cufflinks. “Some idiot messed up a contract and now I have to run back to the office and get his work done for a job that was supposed to have gone through last week.”

“Can you not send John?” I asked, referring to his new assistant, a guy who had worked in the field for years. “Surely he can take care of this. You don’t have to do everything yourself, you know.” I smiled, even though it wasn’t a joke. Jett had the tendency to want to take care of every detail, no matter how trivial.

“I’m afraid not.”

I raised my brows. “Why not?”

“He’s getting married.” Jett smirked. “Which is foolish of him, if you ask me, because it’s going to ruin his career. In my opinion, no one should get married, not until they’ve been dating for at least five years. It takes that long to get to know somebody. I have no idea why he’s doing it. It’s, simply put, a stupid move.”

Got the point, loud and clear.

My heart gave an almighty thud as I stared at him.

No marriage, then.

I didn’t know what was worse: that my hopes of getting married anytime soon were completely unrealistic or that I had thought that Jett was different from the rest of the male population.