My Boss’s Whim Read online

  Chapter Forty

  Drake

  I woke to find the bed empty. I got out of bed and put on a pair of khaki shorts I kept on the top of my dresser.

  "Sam?" I called downstairs, but didn't get a response.

  Figuring she probably decided to sit outside on the patio, I pictured her with her red hair loose, curls blowing in the ocean breeze. I imagined that she hid from the sun, which burned and freckled her delicate skin. I wanted to be on that patio with her. If I had one wish, it was to simply have her open her heart to me so we could share moments like that.

  As I picked up my cell phone from the nightstand, I noticed several voicemails came in throughout the night. They were from different people on location for the new movie my studio was releasing. I knew something must have happened for me to get so many phone calls. I listened to the first one.

  "Drake, this is Ivan Mitya. Your director. I emailed you yesterday and now have to call since you didn't respond. The movie is ruined! Absolutely ruined! I can't work like this!"

  I sighed. There was nothing worse than a dramatic director. I listened to the next message.

  "This is Cindy Patterson from Box Office Insurance. I'm sorry to call, Mr. Winslow, but I'm going to have to pull your insurance on the Mitya movie. It seems Mr. Mitya is under the impression he can do whatever he'd like. Please call me back."

  I had heard enough. If I wanted this picture back on track, I had to go out there and handle things myself. As I headed downstairs, I wondered if Samantha would join me. I had planned a weekend trip for the two of us by the time I reached the patio, but she wasn't there.

  "Sam? Samantha?"

  I looked around, but she was gone. There was no trace of her. I could have dreamed up the entire night. I thought about the many times I left before dawn with other women and suddenly felt bad.

  I never wanted to be there in the morning. I wanted one thing from those women and after I got it, I lost interest. It seemed like a cruel joke that the moment I met someone I wanted to have a relationship with, the one woman I thought I could open up to, and she would treat me like dirt.

  How dare she treat me that way! She'd better have an explanation. I dialed her number but got her voicemail.

  "Samantha, it's Drake. Call me. I expected you to be here this morning."

  I angrily clutched my phone as I hung up. I would have thrown it if I didn't need the damned thing. How dare she do this to me! And after everything I did for her last night. I gritted my teeth before I calmed down and decided to give her the benefit of the doubt.

  I wasn't used to this. I always got whatever and whoever I wanted. Shaking my head, I sat in the sun. Deep down, I knew I was spoiled. People gave me what I wanted. They always had their own motives, but it served them to please me.

  Samantha was obviously different. She didn't care about who I was or what I had. It was refreshing and anger-inducing at the same time.

  I called to arrange for my private jet to be gassed and ready that afternoon. With Sam gone, I needed this movie problem to force me back to where my head needed to be. I understood why Ashley planned the black tie event so quickly, besides my wanting a chance with Samantha right away.

  Wanting to see how she was holding up and how her father was doing, I decided to call Ashley, knowing her father lived near my destination.

  "Hello?"

  "Hi, it's Drake. How's your dad?"

  "He's great. I mean I can see little things like he gets tremors and he's more forgetful, but he's going on like nothing ever happened."

  "That's great. I guess. He really should be taking it easy."

  "I keep telling him that, but he's stubborn. I think part of it is that he really wants to prove to me he's okay."

  "Then maybe you should get out. Come meet me for lunch tomorrow at that Mexican place on Elm. I know it's small, but they've got great food."

  "Sure, sounds good. I'll be there. See you tomorrow!"

  * * *

  After a hectic day of fighting with the director, a couple of stars, and the insurance company because of the "reckless" stunts planned for the film, I looked forward to a non-business lunch.

  The tiny restaurant was the converted first floor of a house in a residential neighborhood. I found a parking spot and walked up the block of old houses to the restaurant. I made sure to get there early so Ashley wouldn't have to wait.

  Because of the suffocating heat, I left my suits at home. Something about the extreme humidity of that state begged for a casualness I would adopt everyday if I could. Dressed in khakis and a pale green and white striped linen shirt, I stood under the shade of a tall tree for some extra relief from the sun.

  I marveled at the silence of the neighborhood. I enjoyed small towns because most people didn't recognize me. It gave me the chance to be normal and not have to worry about what would show up in a tabloid.

  It had been over 24 hours since I left Samantha that voicemail. No matter how much I tried to not think about her, she kept popping into my thoughts. I called her several times since but got no answer, and I didn't leave another message.

  I wanted to talk to her. I needed to know what happened to change her mind. I looked up the empty one way street and decided to try Sam one more time. Her voicemail picked up again.

  "Hi Samantha? It's Drake. I can take a hint. I thought you were going to give me a chance, but I can see that you're not. I guess in the end you got what you wanted. I'll leave you alone. Good bye."

  Ashley drove past in an old Toyota as she looked for a spot. While I waited in the shade of a tall tree, I watched her navigate the broken sidewalk in a pretty orange print sundress.

  She smiled as she got closer and we stepped forward to kiss hello. Ashley's shoe caught on a particularly bad part of the sidewalk, and she stumbled into my arms as I accidentally kissed her lips instead of her cheek.

  Laughing, she steadied herself and smoothed her hair. "If you were anyone else, I would've been embarrassed," she said.

  "If you were anyone else, I wouldn't be laughing so hard."

  She playfully punched me on the arm. Something about her reminded me of Samantha. Ashley must have noticed my change of expression.

  "Are you okay?"

  "I'm fine. I just left another message for Samantha."

  "What do you mean another?"

  "She's avoiding my calls. She--"

  "Drake. Please stop. The party was only two days ago."

  "Yes, but it was just yesterday I woke to find she left my house after I fell asleep. I don't even know how she got home."

  We entered the traditionally decorated restaurant and were seated right away. As we looked through the menu, Ashley resumed talking about Samantha.

  "Give her some time. You don't know, maybe something happened. She's friends with Jackie, I'll ask her if she heard anything."

  "Thanks Ash. You're a good friend."

  "Don't you forget that. The next time you decide to start bossing me around, remember I'm your friend."

  "I'm sorry about that. Patience is not an attribute I'll even pretend to have."

  "I've noticed."

  We had a good lunch, but Ashley worried about being out for too long and wanted to head back. She knew her dad wouldn't relax like he needed to and might hurt himself.

  "If your dad is feeling better, I'm heading back home in a couple of days. Would you like to join me?"

  "Join you?"

  "Yes, I took the jet. There's plenty of room."

  Chapter Forty-One

  Ashley

  A couple of days after meeting Drake for lunch, his limo picked me up at my dad's. Instead of bringing us to the gate, it drove towards the smaller airplane hangars and entered one. Just outside gleamed a white jet. I watched as two beautiful women in short blue uniforms climbed the stairs to enter the plane.

  "I can't believe you have your own jet."

  "I can't believe Xander doesn't."

  "He's more practical and down to earth."


  "And I'm not down to earth?"

  I blinked, looking at him as if he was crazy. Every so often Drake would say something, and I'd wonder if he was serious or pulling my leg. When he winked, I realized he knew how absurd it was to a normal person that he traveled in his own plane.

  "I worry about you," I teased and shook my head.

  He motioned for me to enter the jet, and I climbed the stairs. Upon entering, I stopped in amazement. The plane was small but luxurious. Eight large, cream-colored leather seats lined the center walkway, four seats on each side. Since they weren't all facing forward, I assumed they swiveled. In the back, the flight attendants prepped for take off.

  "Sit wherever you'd like. We'll be taking off soon. I'll have you back to your husband within the hour."

  "What? No, Drake. You've done enough. I'll take a cab home. Jefferson Manor is out of your way."

  "Yes ma'am. If it’s one thing I learned lately, it is to always listen to a woman."

  "What's that supposed to mean?"

  "Nothing. It's just when a woman says she doesn't want something, she means it."

  "You still haven't heard back from her?"

  He shook his head and shrugged. "I guess she got what she wanted. I have to say it’s strange being on this end of it."

  "I'm sorry Drake, I'm sure you'll find your girl one day."

  "That's it, Ash, I'm sure I did. I guess this is just karma getting back at me for all those other women."

  One of the flight attendants gave us hot towels to freshen up with. She spent a little extra time with Drake, obviously flirting, but he didn't seem to even notice her. I felt bad for him, but maybe he was right. Maybe that was how karma worked.

  The cab ride home made me think of my first ride to Jefferson Manor, just a year ago. Xander offered to come to my dad's with me, but I wanted to be able to focus on my dad and make sure he really was all right like he said. Unfortunately, I missed Xander terribly. It was the first time we were apart from each other, and it felt worse than I could ever imagine.

  Xander and I spoke every night before bed and texted throughout the day while I was gone. I couldn't wait to see him, but I thought it would be more fun to surprise him. As the cab drove up the noisy gravel driveway, I wondered if he would come out to see who arrived.

  As I stepped out of the cab with my bags, I saw Tara approaching from the stables. She wore her usual worn jeans, plaid shirt, and old cowboy boots. She was a sight for sore eyes.

  "Hey there, Ashley. Good to see you home." She had the heaviest Southern drawl I'd ever heard. Somehow it comforted me.

  "Hi Tara. Is Xander home?"

  "No, I was hoping you were him to be honest. He left this morning for the office, some big deal went south. But his mother is here. In the house. She arrived about half an hour ago."

  She was the one person I did not want to see. Not after everything I had heard about her and especially not after how she treated me. I felt myself becoming nauseous just thinking about her.

  "Hopefully he'll be home soon. Thanks Tara."

  I quickly texted Xander that I was home with his mother. I didn't want to bother him when something was going on with his company. I knew there was a big merger that he was trying to manage and guessed it wasn't happening as smoothly as he planned, but I really did not want to be alone with that woman.

  I entered the house and left my bags by the stairs. Heading into the living room, I expected to find her, but she wasn't there. It was just like her to take advantage of no one being home. I wondered if she was like this with Xander's first wife.

  I carried my bags up the stairs and as I walked through the circular study to the hall, I saw her step out of Xander's office. What was she doing in there? Her spiky silver hair was perfect as always and as usual, she wore a business suit, this time lemon yellow. I wanted to question her but instead kept walking down the hall to our bedroom.

  "Hello Ashley, I didn't expect you to be home."

  "Hi, Mrs. Boo--"

  "No, please no need for formalities, you're married to my son now. We're family."

  "Okay." I didn't know what to say, but I had a feeling she was up to something. "I was going to unpack and rest a bit until Xander got home."

  "Yes well, I'm sure you're exhausted from your vacation."

  I gave her an odd look but didn't say anything. I continued down the hall, which seemed longer with her walking beside me. As I finally reached the double doors to our room, I hoped my lack of conversation would send her away. I guessed she didn't get my hint, so I replied to something she said before.

  "I wouldn't call it a vacation, I was checking on my dad."

  "Yes, yes. Well, I'm sure he's fine," she said dismissively.

  She followed me into the room, and I excused myself to the bathroom to splash cool water on my face. I didn't know why, but I was feeling more sick. I began to worry I caught something when I visited my dad. Hopefully I didn't pass it onto him.

  When I came back to the bedroom, she was in the middle of unpacking my bags. It reminded me of when she rifled through my things when I packed to leave after Xander fired me. I felt a little dizzy.

  "You're not looking well, dear. Afraid I'm going to find something?" Her voice was devoid of all emotion.

  "No, what? I think I'm coming down with something."

  "Hmm, maybe guilt? Oh, what do we have here?" She held up ties still wrapped in their packaging.

  "Huh? Oh, ties. Neckties."

  "Why did you have ties with you?"

  "I was in a hurry, I took our bags for the honeymoon."

  "And why did you have neckties?"

  "They're Xander's. He must have packed his ties in there."

  "Sure."

  "Huh? What do you mean?"

  "If those are Xander's, then why are they still wrapped in their packaging?"

  "I don't know! He's your son, why don't you ask him why he's anal?"

  She didn't respond. She walked out of the bedroom in silence. I sat on the bed, confused and lightheaded, wondering what had just happened. Was she accusing me of cheating? I heard footsteps coming down the hall before Xander entered the room.

  "You should've told me you were coming home, I would have picked you up at the airport."

  He hugged me tight and kissed me. I felt so much better being in his arms.

  "Your mother just left."

  "Did something happen? You look like something's wrong."

  "I…I'm not sure. She…was weird. I'm not sure what to think."

  I picked up the ties and told him about the conversation. He looked horrified.

  "She accused you of cheating on me while you were at your dad's?" he said angrily. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and shook his head. "She just texted me to look in my desk."

  "She was in your office when I got home."

  He walked out of the bedroom and towards his office. I sat back on the bed, still feeling nauseous and lightheaded. Hearing him enter his office then slam his office door, I knew he was mad. He re-entered the bedroom and dropped a tabloid newspaper onto the bed beside me.

  "Have you seen this?"

  On the cover were large red letters that said "Who is Drake's mystery girl?" The picture underneath was from the other day when Drake and I met for lunch. It looked like we were in an embrace and kissing. A Post-It note on top of the cover said "Isn't this your wife?"

  Shaking my head, I opened my mouth to explain but nothing came out. Suddenly, the room began to spin and everything went black.

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Samantha

  I had a big job coming up and Jackie said she was free to help me, so I dragged her out to the grocery store with me. We strolled up and down the aisles with our cart, looking at the different foods as I came up with some new ideas to try, when she suddenly grabbed my arm and turned me up another aisle.

  "What was that for, Jackie?"

  "Oh. Um, nothing."

  "Why are you being weird all of a sudden?"
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br />   "No reason." She shrugged, and I noticed her eyeball me.

  "What? You're driving me crazy!"

  "I was just wondering whatever happened with that Drake guy. You never told me if you saw him at Ashley's museum event."

  "Oh, that." I paused for a minute as I thought about not telling her anything at all, but I really felt like I needed to tell someone or I was going to explode. "He's really not that bad. I think I was too hard on him."

  "So you talked?"

  "Uh yeah...we talked." I raised my eyebrows at her.

  "Ha! You slut!" she teased. "I knew it! So are the rumors true? Is he hung like a horse?"

  "That's what you want to know?" I burst out laughing, glad to have a girlfriend to talk to and help clear my mind. "Honestly, it was great. It ended up being a perfect night. One of the most romantic nights of my life. But it'll never happen again."

  "What? Why not? What happened? Did he do something? Did he say he had to get up early for a meeting? Because I've heard that line before," she scoffed.

  "Um no, actually I left before he got up."

  "You did what? Why?"

  "I don't know. I just..." My voice trailed off while I thought for a moment. "We're not right for each other. We're from two different worlds and to be honest, you know his reputation, I mean what was the first thing you asked me? Tantric sex, hung like a horse. How do you date that?"

  "You just do. I mean, if you really like the guy, you forget about all that. You know how it is, all those movie people have skeletons in their closet, but they're not all true. Imagine what the magazines would hold over your head if you were famous."

  I thought about that for a few minutes and while I wanted to agree with her and say she was right, I couldn't. Sure, there were things I was embarrassed about in my life. There were things that I did or happened that I didn't have control over. Living at the Winslow estate was one of them.