Brother to the Boss: Billionaire Romance (Managing the Bosses Series Book 8) Read Online Free Page A

the front desk phone?
    “Miss Eriksson, this is Mrs. Reid. I can’t seem to get a hold of my husband, and I was just wondering if you can tell me where he might be.”
    “Oh, Mrs. Reid,” Miss Eriksson said, the smile in her voice somehow audibly becoming a little brighter. “Mr. Reid is still here in his office. He’s been in there all afternoon working on one of the big investor’s accounts. Did you need me to get him for you?”
    Of course he was. Just like that, Jamie’s annoyance was back. Why hadn’t he at least texted her again to let her know what was going on? Why hadn’t he picked up her call?
    Benton, denied his back and forth game, had crawled across the floor and reclaimed the truck himself, rolling it into Jamie’s leg. She gently took it and set it a few inches away, silently encouraging him to drive it another direction.
    “No,” she said. “Thank you. I just wanted to make sure that he hadn’t left the office yet. If he does emerge, tell him that his wife called?”
    “Of course, Mrs. Reid,” Miss Eriksson said. “I’ll be sure he knows as soon as possible.”
    “Thank you,” Jamie said. She paused. “Oh, and Miss Eriksson? Why are you answering the front desk phone instead of Justin, if you don’t mind me asking? Is he okay?”
    “He went home sick this afternoon,” Miss Eriksson said, obviously not bothered by the question. “I just rerouted the front desk calls to my personal phone so that we wouldn’t have to bring someone else up from downstairs to take care of them. It’s been a slow enough day that I can field the calls and do my own work. But I’m sure Justin will be back in a day or two.”
    “If you see him before I do, tell him I said I hope he’s feeling better, could you? And thank you for letting me know.”
    “Not a problem, Mrs. Reid. Have a lovely evening.”
    “You, too.”
    She had to give it to Miss Eriksson. The woman was a very efficient PA. Maybe not quite as efficient as she had been if you asked Alex, but she knew how to do her job. Although she’d had misgivings about them hiring another PA early on, Jamie was glad now that Alex and Zander had someone to help them keep things running smoothly. They didn’t have time to take care of all the little things that needed to be done every day on top of their own jobs.
    Benton rolled the car into her leg again, and Jamie laughed, standing briefly to put the phone up on the table again where neither of the twins could get their hands on it, then took the truck in hand and drove it in a circle around Benton, toward Lilli.
    At least, she thought as she settled down again between them, making engine noises for the truck that attracted Lilli’s wide-eyed attention, she had the twins. And she wasn’t going to let a little thing like Alex being late to ruin her evening or theirs.
     
    ***
     
    It was nearly ten when Alex finally walked into the kitchen. Jamie, sitting in the living room with a book, heard the sound of the door open and close, and then his footsteps moving across the floor. She didn’t look up from what she was reading. The kids had gone to bed nearly two hours ago.
    “Hey,” he said as he moved into the living room and saw her. “Sorry I’m late, baby.”
    Jamie slid a bookmark between its pages and closed the book, setting it aside. “One text,” she said quietly. “And then you show up almost five hours late. I had to call your PA to find out where you were.”
    Alex stopped in the doorway, looking at her like he didn’t know what she was talking about, and Jamie’s irritation fanned into outright anger. It would have taken him five minutes to pick up the phone and call, and they could have avoided this whole thing. But of course he couldn’t stop to think of that when he was at work. “You did?” he asked. “I had my phone with me.”
    “You didn’t answer it,” Jamie said. “And you didn’t call. I finally called your front desk and got Miss Eriksson, who told me you