Chapter 20

Jamie locked the front door to the Leadon Brothers jewelry store in Fashion Island, a prestigious outdoor shopping mall in Newport Beach, California. It had been a good day, over a hundred thousand in sales. Bernie, the co-owner, helped Jamie put all the jewelry trays in the big safe for the night.

“Did you hear about Mary Ann?” he asked as he closed the safe.

“Ummm ... just some rumors, but I wasn’t here yesterday. Is she gone?”

“She’s been stealing for about a month now. We finally caught her on camera. Let’s go back to the office, okay?” Bernie led the way to his office in the back. “And yes, Mary Ann is gone. We have given her 30 days to return the items or pay us their cost. If she wasn’t a friend of the family we would have thrown the book at her. But that’s how it goes. Have a seat?” He gestured to the guest chair in front of his desk and they both sat down.

“You’re our top salesperson, so I hate to do this, but you’re also our most senior employee. I’m offering Mary Ann’s Manager position to you. The salary is about 15 thousand more than you’re making now, and you’ll also get a percentage of the entire store, so you should make more than twice what you’re earning now, maybe two-and-a-half times. I know this is happening very fast, but will you take the position, Jamie?”

Her mouth dropped open in shock. “I ... would be delighted to accept this promotion!” Jamie beamed as she spoke. Twice as much money! I could get a car that wasn’t in the shop all the time. Some clothes, buy another week at the Bar G ranch...

“Excellent. You can start tomorrow, then. This is going to be great, you’re really helping me out here.”

“Not a problem at all, Bernie. I won’t let you down. I also want to figure out how Mary Ann stole so we can plug that hole and keep it from happening again.”

Bernie grinned broadly. “Fantastic, yes. I would rather we didn’t have a theft problem,” he said with a chuckle. “So, bright and early, then, tomorrow?”

“You bet!” she responded, and then Bernie let her out of the building.

When Jamie sat in her car, her first impulse was to text Jake and tell him the great news. But when it came time to type ... she couldn’t do it. You’re not with him, she reminded herself. Focus on your real life, not your fantasy life. She looked at their short text history, remembering how her heart fluttered when he checked in to see if her plane landed safely, and she also remembered the pain when he stopped texting and hadn’t made any contact since.

He has his own life too, and he’s not that into you, her subconscious repeated for what felt like the millionth time. Shut up, she begged, to no avail.

“Hey, I’m home!” Jamie called as she entered the apartment with two full grocery bags. She set them on the table and waited for a response from Chad, but all she heard were monster noises and swords clanging from a video game he was playing. She stuck her head into the family room, where she couldn’t be ignored.

“Chad? I’ve got groceries, a little help here?”

“Yeah, baby, but I need, like, five minutes, okay? I promise I’ll be right there.”

Jamie went to the kitchen and began putting her items away. She was a little pissed, but she would give him the five minutes. After her return from the ranch a couple weeks ago she had a Come to Jesus talk with Chad in which she laid down some new rules. It took a while, but he finally realized she was serious and he agreed to try to change some of his ways. And it hadn’t gone too badly, either.

She looked at the clock; six minutes had gone by, and the gaming noises stopped!

“Hey, hon,” he said and gave her a little squeeze before grabbing the potatoes from the bag. “How was your day?”

How was your day? Such a simple phrase, and yet hearing it made her happy. At least now he was thoughtful enough to ask, which was a pleasant change. “Not too bad ... I got a promotion.”

“Did you get a raise, too? I hope so, ‘cause that’s how they get ya. Those fuckers tease you with promotions but don’t hand out any more dough and you’re just supposed to take it? I don’t think so! Maybe I need to go down there and–”

“Chad! Whoa, easy there. I got a raise, too. Look at these steaks!” She handed him the paper-wrapped package from the meat department.

“Ribeyes! Damn, girl! Look at you go! And, holy shit! Maker’s Mark?” He held up the bottle, examining the whiskey like it was a long-lost artifact.

“I got bitters, too, and an orange. You’re going to make us some old-fashioneds.”

During dinner, she really tried to be interested in his new game, Elden Ring. Her thoughts wandered many times, as she wasn’t very interested in gaming, but at least they were talking and not eating in silence, another pleasant change. Then, in a stunning turn of events, Chad cleaned the table of all the dishes. Jamie waited patiently as he clumsily washed each dish, never having done it before, but she dried them and praised his efforts.

The two shots of whiskey that Chad had poured into each of their cocktails began taking effect during dinner and hit Jamie full-steam during clean-up. As Chad rinsed the sink she quietly unbuttoned her blouse and draped it over the nearby dining chair, quickly followed by her bra. Still in her work heels and skirt, she hugged Chad from behind, her bare breasts pressing into his back.

“Mmm, nice. But my hands are all wet, babe,” he said.

She handed him her dish towel and he dried off his hands, then turned around. Seductively, she lifted the hem of her black skirt.

“Holy shit!” His voice pitched much higher than usual as he took in her sexy red lace thong. “When did you get that?” he said huskily.

She giggled. “This old thing? You like it?” she whispered sexily.