Chapter Nineteen
Jackson
“You okay, boss?”
Kaye’s forehead wrinkled with concern as she looked at me from the other side of my desk as she took notes on what needed to be done today. I sighed and nodded.
“Just a lot on my mind. Sorry.”
The last week had been hard, ever since Craig came over and blew a fuse when he found me with Lily. I guess it wasn’t exactly easy seeing your daughter naked and freshly-fucked by a man twice her age, but he’d still overreacted. Very much so. The way he spoke to Lily like she was a goddamned ten-year-old pissed me the hell off. Lily was young, sure—too young for me would no doubt be the opinion of a lot of people if we ever went public—but she was still an adult. He had no right telling her who she could and couldn’t be with, and he had no right demanding she go home and never see me again.
My heart ached at the thought of losing her, but it warmed at the immediate memory of her face when she said no to Craig, opting to stay with me instead. I loved knowing she cared enough about me to choose me, although things had still been strained over the course of the last week. I knew she pined over her old childhood bedroom and her old house in general, simply because of all the memories and the fact that everything had been ripped from under her so quickly. I’d caught her crying twice in the last week when she didn’t know how to use my coffee machine, because she was so used to the old one in Craig’s kitchen. It wasn’t a big deal, of course—it was just a damn coffee machine—but I knew the machine wasn’t the real reason she was so upset. Her nerves were frayed after what happened with Craig, and she desperately wanted him to come round to our relationship and tell us we had his blessing.
I wouldn’t hold my breath, though.
“No problem. I guess it’s hard balancing the campaign with your council duties. And running your old company as well, although at least you’ve hired people to take care of most of that,” Kaye said, misunderstanding why I had so much to think on lately. I didn’t correct her, of course.
“Yeah.”
“It’s a hard life being rich and powerful, eh?” she said. I detected a hint of flirtatiousness in her tone, but I ignored it.
“Mm-hm. Anyway, can we push the Stadler meeting till three tomorrow?”
“Sure. What about dinner tonight?”
I frowned. “I don’t recall a dinner meeting. Remind me?”
Kaye smiled and leaned forward, and the cloying scent of her floral perfume filled my nostrils. “I meant maybe we could have dinner tonight. You’ve seemed so stressed out over this last week. Thought I could help out. My treat.”
I gave her a thin smile. Her advances had been coming on stronger than usual lately, and I now knew without a doubt that she did, in fact, have a major crush on me. Usually I found attention from women flattering, but not anymore. Not since I met Lily. And certainly not from my damn assistant, who I had to work with nearly every day.
“Let’s just keep things professional, Kaye,” I said coolly.
She smiled again, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “Noted. No worries. But speaking of professional…” She trailed off and averted her gaze behind her, over her shoulder. My office blinds were open, and I could see Lily putting together some files at a desk in the bullpen. “Is there anything I need to know?”
“What do you mean?” I asked sharply.
Kaye sighed. “It’s just…there are rumors going around. That’s all.”
“What sort of rumors?”
“About you and the neighbor girl.”
“Her name is Lily Rubio, Kaye.”
“I know, I know. Sorry, I can’t help but still see her as the little ten-year-old I met all those years ago.” She laughed, a short trilling sound, and then she went on. “I’ve been hearing whisperings of something going on between you two. Now, this is the kind of thing that needs to be nipped in the bud. I—”
“Who did you hear these whisperings from, Kaye?” I cut in. This could help me pinpoint who sent the gossip tip to the media.
“I heard two of the girls talking about it in the bathroom while I was washing my hands earlier,” she said. “I couldn’t see who it was, and I didn’t want to hang around and look like some sort of eavesdropper. But trust me, Jackson, people are talking.”
“They can talk all they want. Where’s their proof?”
She narrowed her eyes. “Forgive me for speaking with such…indiscretion. But you aren’t denying anything at all. In fact, you’re making it sound like the rumors are one hundred percent true.”
“My private life is no one’s business.”
She sighed again. “If you are seeing her, it needs to stop before it gets out for real. There’s only so much I can do to help mitigate things once that happens. Can you imagine the media furor? You’re in the running to be a US senator, for Christ’s sake!”
“Like I said, it’s no one’s business.”
She huffed impatiently. “Jackson, you aren’t getting what I’m saying. I understand that your private life is your own, and you’d like to think it’s no one’s business. But a man in your position in the world…if this gets out to the public, it becomes everyone else’s business.”
“I see what you’re saying, and you’re right,” I said with a nod. “But nothing will get out. Okay?”
“Break it off with her,” she said in a warning tone. “I know I’m not your boss, Jackson, but for the love of god…it’s the right thing. You don’t want to ruin that poor girl’s life.”
“I’ll take what you said into consideration,” I said after a lengthy pause, just to shut her up.
She nodded, seemingly satisfied, and then she excused herself from my office. I leaned back and sighed heavily, actually seriously considering what she’d said, even though I didn’t want to. She was absolutely right about how Lily’s life could get ruined if the media jumped on her for being with a man like me, and I didn’t want that. But hell, I couldn’t end things with her. I wouldn’t.
I needed to figure out exactly where these rumors were stemming from and put an end to them. When that person—or people—were discovered, they were going to regret messing with my relationship. In fact, they’d more than regret it.
No one messed with my little girl.
Ever.