Jealous

Monday morning I made good on my word and moved a small table a chair in the corner by my desk so Jax could work on his home school assignments. He wasn’t thrilled at all but he didn’t try to fight me on it. I’m sure he was more afraid of Lucien’s reaction if he upset me than me, myself.

Walking to the back to start my coffee I couldn’t help but glance at Lucien’s closed office door. I already missed him, with Jax at the house yesterday our goodbye had been short and sweet. I didn’t even get a real kiss goodbye.

Coffee in hand I walked down the hall pausing to look outside. Paul and Damien were outside talking. Just seeing them made me wonder how Lucien got along with his father. Although his dad would come and go as he pleased Lucien never talked about him. Just the one night he had to leave early to drop by his house.

Damien looked catching me starring at them and arched his brow, a cocky smirk on his lips. Averting my eyes I walked to my desk and sat down. I had no reason to dislike Damien, only the simple fact that Lucien hated him. In a way, I felt like I was obligated to hate him as well.

I wondered what she was like, Lucien’s ex-wife. I bet she was beautiful, outgoing, everything I wasn’t. Well, everything I once was. Could I be like that again?

Hearing the door open I looked up and watched Damien walk straight to my desk. As he slumped down in the chair across from me I arched my brow at him, “and how can I help you today?”

He smiled licking his bottom lip as he leaned back in his chair. “Just checking in on things since Lucien is out. Speaking of, I heard the two of you are getting awful close.”

I made a face at him even as I felt my face flush, “things are fine here.”

Damien laughed as I tried to sway the conversation away from my relationship with Lucien. “Well, that’s good to know. You know Samantha I’m really not a bad guy.”

I nodded, “oh ok.”

He tilted his head, “one day you will understand. Perhaps I handled things the wrong way.”

As he stood up I nodded, “and how do you know I know what you are talking about.”

Damien smiled winking at me, “he’s already trying to keep you away from me.” As he walked away he left me to wonder what else he might have to say. Damien was a mystery, one I wasn’t sure I wanted to figure out.

The remainder of the morning I went through the files Lucien had left me and began placing orders for material and faxing bids to companies. Jax started getting antsy with his work and I knew he needed a break. Walking up behind him I put my hand on his shoulder, “ how about I take you to lunch?”

He looked up nodding, “hell yes, I’m sick of this.”

I shook my head going to grab my purse and keys, “well if you would have been doing your work all along you wouldn’t be behind.” Jax made a face but followed me to my car. “Anything in particular you want?”

Jax shook his head, “not really, maybe a burger from the bbq place.” I nodded buckling my seatbelt.

The restaurant wasn’t too busy and we were quickly seated, when our waitress came Jax already knew what he wanted choosing a burger, fries, and a dr pepper. I on the other hand had to quickly choose and decided to get a pulled pork sandwich, onion rings, and a dr pepper. As soon as the waitress brought our drinks I stuck my straw in and took a sip.

“You miss him?”

I arched my brown, “Who Lucien?”

Jax rolled his eyes at me, “I’m not blind you know.”

I shrugged, “I think he feels an obligation to take care of me.”

Jax took a long sip of his soda, “he promised your aunt to watch over you, not to date you.”

I found myself rolling my eyes at Jax, “we are not dating.”

He shrugged, “ok well, hooking up then. Whatever you want to call it.”

I had to hide a grin to keep from laughing, “whatever Jax.”

As we ate the realization that Jax would know what Lucien’s ex-wife looked like hit me. I don’t know why I wanted to know so bad but I did. Taking a bite out of my sandwich I chewed before letting out a deep breath, “so what was his wife like?”

Jax froze looking up at me, “Kylie?”

I quickly shook my head, “it’s ok, I shouldn’t have asked.”

Jax shrugged, “Lucien refuses to talk about her anymore. What do you want to know?”

I shook my head, “no I shouldn’t have asked you. I’m sorry Jax.”

He rolled his eyes, “you have heard about her and Damien right?”

I nodded, “Lucien told me.”

He frowned, “Lucien met her in college. Paul calls her the Barbie....tall, tan, with blonde-haired. I didn’t like her, she looked down her nose at all of us.”

I took a drink of my coke as Jax kept talking, “Lucien tried his best to make her happy but she wasn’t meant for him and I think he eventually realized that, or at least he does now.”

I eyed Jax finding his comment to be weird, it reminded me of something Damien had said to me. I nodded, “so I assume she moved back home?”

Jax nodded, “yeah she thought she was going to move in with Damien and he wasn’t having it. As soon as Lucien caught them he dropped her.”

I shook my head, “I can’t believe he would do that to his brother. Like what could he have been thinking?”

Jax looked up at me, “he wanted to prove his point.” I opened my mouth to speak but Jax stood up excusing himself to the restroom.

When he returned I paid for our food, our conversation over. Returning to the office, Jax went straight back to his studies leaving me to mull over what he had said. Damien was long gone and I couldn’t help but wonder if he had actually thought he was helping Lucien out. Shaking my head I decided that was not for me to worry about and buried myself in my work.

That night I was laying in my bed watching tv when Lucien texts me. I hadn’t heard from him all day. “So did you make it today without me?”

I smiled to myself, “barely. I did leave at 4.”

Lucien replied, “ok well I was just checking on things, I will talk to you later.”

I frowned, I had kind of expected more from him. I responded with a simple ok. Bummed I turned my tv off and pulled my kindle out to read until I fell asleep.

A shrill howl erupted through the night waking me up. The sound seemed to be coming from right below my window. It was starting to freak me out. I didn’t know what to do. Lucien said there was nothing to worry about but I was worrying. Just as I was about to begin to panic everything quieted down. Maybe I was just paranoid. Laying back down I plugged my headphones in, I didn’t want to hear anything but my music singing me to sleep.

The next morning I woke up late. I had never heard my alarm go off, or maybe I did and I turned it off. I tried to reassure myself that Lucien didn’t care if I went to work or not but still I felt an obligation to be there. Quickly throwing on a pair of jeans and a red tank, I grabbed my black and white striped cardigan and went in search of my black ballet flats.

Heading to the bathroom I brushed my teeth and threw my hair up in a messy bun before putting on my makeup. Taking a step back I decided I looked good enough and headed downstairs grabbing my purse. It was lightly raining when I opened the front door. Sighing I took off running to my car hoping I didn’t bust my ass on the way.

When I made it to the office it was pouring down and Jax had already unlocked the side door and was sitting at his desk. I was proud of him for starting his daily assignments without me. “I smell coffee did you start it for me?”

Jax turned around grinning, “yeah I thought you might need it this morning.”

I nodded, “yes, I don’t know what happened with my alarm.” Jax shrugged as I made my way down the hall. I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going and ended up running straight into Damien. Instantly I took a step back but not before he steadied me with both hands. Looking up at him I didn’t know what to say except, “I’m sorry.”

Damien shrugged, “you’re good. Is everything ok?”

I frowned shaking my head, “I just didn’t sleep good last night, I think....well it doesn’t matter.”

Damien shook his head, “no tell me.”

Letting out a deep breath I shrugged, “well I woke up to a wolf howling last night, it just sounded like it was right under my window. It kind of freaked me out.”

Damien frowned, “you have nothing to worry about I promise you. I think the way the house sits it makes the noises from the woods echo out and sound like it’s right there.” Even though I didn’t know for sure how I felt about Damien I felt better knowing that even he didn’t sound too worried about it.

Returning with my coffee I checked on Jax and made sure he understood his assignments before entering invoices into the computer. The rain had most of the crew taking the day off and the ones that were there stayed in the yard organizing the shipments. Time was dragging by and I could literally fall asleep at my computer. I was actually thinking of just going home at lunch and crawling in the bed but I knew as soon as I got home I wouldn’t be tired anymore.

Hearing the front door open I looked up and was shocked to see a woman dressed to kill walk in. Her short tight skirt emphasized her long legs, her breast were practically pushed up out of her shirt. I opened my mouth to ask the tall blonde if I could help her when she cut her eyes, her glare seemed to cut straight through me. I opened my mouth to speak but she passed me heading straight into Lucien’s office.

Standing up I walked back to see what the hell she was doing, walking into Lucien’s office I saw her sitting on the edge of his desk writing on a notepad. “Can I help you?” I asked.

She rolled her eyes at me as if the mere sight of me was annoying her. “Where is Lucien?”

I cocked my head, “he is out of town. Is there something I can help you with?”

She stood up straight walking up to me, she was a full head taller than me. “Yeah, you can tell him Tatianna is looking for him. He will want to know trust me.”

She walked past me and I took off behind her, “Yeah, don’t worry. I’ll be sure to tell him you came by.”

She stopped walking looking over her shoulder, “when did you start here anyway? He is always picking up strays.”

What is the deal with people calling other people strays around here? I didn’t even bother to answer her and she didn’t bother to wait on my response before she went sashaying out the door. Jax didn’t even look up as she walked across the office. I could almost swear he was trying to hide himself. I let out a sigh and found myself walking into Lucien’s office to see what she wrote. I know it wasn’t my business, we weren’t a couple, but damn it I wanted to know. The note was laid on his desk where he was sure to see it. I grabbed it up reading,

“Hey baby I’m back in town and I want to see you. I can’t believe you would leave and not tell me. I can’t wait to see you again, call me. I don’t care for your new secretary either, you don’t need her. I will keep you and your office running happily.

xoxo Tatiana.”

My hands balled the paper before I even realized what I was doing. I sighed laying it on the desk running my hand over it to flatten it out some. I couldn’t really be jealous, could I? I mean we had made out sure but he has never really given me a reason to think we could become a thing. I groaned walking into the office, “I’m going home.”

Jax nodded at me, “don’t let Tatiana bother you. She is a bitch.”

I couldn’t help but agree with him. Once in the car, I cranked the radio up to distract my thoughts but it didn’t work. I was jealous and I was hurt and I knew I had no real reason to feel that way but I honestly thought we had a connection. Tears started falling from my eyes and the more I tried to ignore the feeling the more upset I became.

I wasn’t sure if I was upset about Tatianna or if I was upset that it appeared Lucien was kind of a playboy and I had thought for the smallest second that we could be something more. Why couldn’t Damien run her off? He was just as handsome as Lucien.

The rest of my afternoon I did everything I could to stay busy. I went for a run even though it ended up being more of a walk because of all the mud from the earlier rain. I was a muddy mess when I made it back and would probably never get all of the mud off of my shoes. I had cooked a full meal and cleaned up afterward but it didn’t help. It was only 5 and I was seriously thinking of crawling up in my bed and pretending like the world didn’t exist.

After I ate I headed upstairs to wash my hair and when I stepped out of the shower I saw I had a text from Lucien asking me questions about work. I rolled my eyes and sent him a simple short answer before drying off and changing into some leggings and a tank top. He had texted back but I took my time reading it. I had waited until I had made myself comfortable in my bed surrounded by my remote, my computer, and my tablet.

Opening up my text thread I made a face as I read his message, “you still missing me?”

I chose not to respond to that instead I text him, “Tatiana stopped by the office and can’t wait to see you. She said that you would want to know.”

Hitting send I threw my phone by my feet and turned the tv on. When my phone started ringing I was kind of surprised but didn’t answer it. Instead, I picked it up starring at it. When it stopped ringing I shook my head. What the fuck was wrong with me. Why was I so jealous over nothing. Ever since I had met Lucien I had felt like he was mine. I’d never fallen for anyone so fast.

I jumped as my phone started ringing in my hands again. “Yeah,” I said answering it. I was not in the mood, I didn’t understand my feelings.

“Samantha, she is nobody. That woman is crazy. You can ask anyone, the girl is obsessed.”

I frowned trying to take in what he was saying. With me not saying anything Lucien started talking again, “what did she say to you that has you so upset?”

I sighed, “she didn’t say anything to me really. Well I mean besides practically calling me a stray and telling me that you would want to know she was in town. The bitch is rude.”

Lucien laughed causing me to frown even more, “Sam I promise she is just some crazy girl. I mean I have never even dated her, never have taken her out, I have never given her one reason to think I would even want to see her. She is psycho, I can’t tell you enough how psycho she is.”

Would Lucien lie to me? He honestly sounded like he was telling me the truth. I kind of felt stupid for calling her a bitch, I’m sure I sounded like some jealous little girl. I really needed to get my emotions under control

As Lucien continued talking to me I felt myself calming down. If he did have any interest in her he wasn’t showing it. Instead, he asked me how everything had been and I found myself telling him about my last run in with the howling wolves. Lucien reassured me that I was safe and not to worry. I felt better after telling him the story and decided that Damien was probably right the noises from the woods would sound close to me. I’m was the only open circle close.

“I’m ready for you to come home,” I whispered interrupting whatever Lucien was saying. I shocked myself by saying that but I felt it. I could practically feel our separation and wanted him close to me.

Lucien sighed, “I know Sam. I am trying to get back to you.” When we hung up I felt his loss even more. I missed him more than I should.