The Replacement

JESSICA

I pushed the door to Sam’s apartment open, walking inside. “Sam! You’re late!” I called out into the empty living room. No answer.

“SAM,” I bellowed. A moment later, I heard movement, and then my brother emerged from his bedroom, pulling a shirt on. He looked every bit the self-employed twenty-seven-year-old.

“What the hell—?”

“Dad’s been waiting for half an hour! Jesus, get your shoes on, we’ve got to go!”

“Go where? What are you talking about?”

“You don’t remember?”

Sam looked at me earnestly, shaking his head. That’s when I cracked a smile.

“You bastard!” he laughed, throwing a shoe at me.

“I told you I’d get you back!”

“God, what time is it?” he asked, running a hand through his hair.

“Almost seven.”

“Sam?” I heard a female’s voice call from the bedroom. I looked at him, eyebrows raised. “Sam?” she called out again.

My curiosity got the best of me. I stepped into the living room, peering toward the bedroom.

That’s when the door opened, and a woman walked out completely naked. As in, I saw it all.

“Oh,” she exclaimed, running back to the room.

“Ah, I’m sorry!” I stammered, turning around. “Who is that?” I mouthed at my brother, but he just busied himself with the coffee machine.

A minute later, the girl came out wearing clothes.

“Hi,” she said cheerily, without a trace of embarrassment. “I’m Bethany. You’re…?”

“Jessica. I’m Sam’s sister,” I said, eyeing my brother the whole time. “Nice to meet you, Bethany.”

“You, too! Who’s hungry?” she asked, pausing to kiss Sam and then going to the fridge. I watched as she took out ingredients for omelets, moving around the kitchen like she was more than familiar with it.

Why hadn’t Sam told me he was seeing anyone?

“How long have you two been, uh—?”

“Seeing each other? A few weeks,” Bethany answered from in front of the stove.

I shot Sam another look, but he just handed me a mug of coffee and went to turn the TV on.

The news came on, but I was too preoccupied to pay attention to it. “How’d you meet?”

“At a friend’s birthday party. Sam was the sweetest, helped me find my jacket when the asshole coat-check guy at the bar claimed to have lost it,” Bethany bubbled. She was certainly more energetic than his previous girlfriends.

“How sweet of him.”

“Hey, Jessica,” Sam called from in front of the TV. I walked over, expecting to be chastised for interrogating his newest lady. Instead, he just pointed to the television screen.

My heart stopped.

Because there I was, on the morning news. The picture was of me sitting at the table in the Ritz tea room, deep in conversation with Spencer Michaels, which wouldn’t have been a problem in itself. The problem was that Spencer’s hand was very clearly on my thigh.

“Spencer Michaels spends time with new lady leading up to his custody hearing,” Sam read off the screen. Yeah, that was another problem.

“Sam, let me explain.”

“Is that how you got the job? You’ve been screwing the boss?” he asked, turning to face me.

“Are you crazy? No, that’s not how I got the job!”

“And here I was, thinking you work too hard, but really, you’re just at the Ritz with your billionaire CEO.”

“SAM!”

“I mean, seriously, Jessica. You’re too smart for something like this! To be some rich boss’s young plaything—”

“SAMUEL TURNER. SHUT UP!” I thundered, my head about to explode. I shot a quick glance at Bethany in the kitchen. Her eyes could not have been wider. “Sorry,” I said to her. Then I turned back to Sam. “Listen to me. I am not involved with Spencer Michaels. He’s my boss.”

“His hand was on your thigh.”

“Yeah, he was trying to get my attention. We were arguing about business.”

“Very convincing.”

“I’m serious. I’d tell you, okay? There’s nothing going on.” Sam’s expression softened for a moment, but then he scrunched his eyebrows together like he smelled something rotten.

“Maybe you shouldn’t be working there.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You’re so smart, Jessica. You can work anywhere you want. But having this kind of publicity—”

“What do you know about publicity?”

“What if Dad saw this? Or Mom?”

“Don’t bring them into this.”

“Mom might be kind of out of it, but she can still recognize you. And if she sees you like this—”

“Like what? Talking to a successful businessman?”

“I’m just saying, Jessica.”

“You’re not just saying. You’re trying to use mom’s Alzheimer’s as an excuse to pressure me out of my job! And my job’s the only reason she can even get the care she needs, Sam,” I shouted before realizing what I’d just let slip.

Bethany walked into the living room and handed us each a plate of eggs.

“Wait. What?” Sam asked.

I sighed, “Nothing.”

“We’re splitting the cost of the facility.”

I shot another glance at Bethany, who was standing right beside Sam, her head on his shoulder. “Let’s not do this right now,” I said back.

“No, tell me what you meant.”

I took a breath. “We were splitting the cost. They upped the monthly amount, so I’ve been covering the difference.”

“How much?” he pressed.

“It doesn’t matter.”

“It does matter. How much?”

“$1,500,” I said, eyes on the ground.

“You’ve been paying an extra $1,500 a month?!” he exploded. “Absolutely not. I told you we would split it—”

“I can afford it, Sam. My salary is higher—”

“I don’t care if I have to sell everything in this goddamn apartment! I’m not letting my little sister front the bill for my mom’s health.”

“Shh, it’s okay, babe,” Bethany cooed in his ear, rubbing his back. I shook my head. This was too much for me, too early in the morning.

That was when I felt my phone buzz in my back pocket.

I could hear my heartbeat in my ears. Suddenly, Sam’s apartment was spinning around me. Ten minutes. I had ten minutes to get back to my apartment, which was a thirty-minute drive away.

“I have to go,” I said to Sam and Bethany, barely managing to drop my plate on the table before walking out the front door.

“We’re not done talking about this!” Sam called after me, but I couldn’t formulate a response right now. The only thing I could do was think about the texts I’d just gotten from Spencer Michaels, the man with the sexiest green eyes I’d ever seen.

The man who was my boss.

I hopped into the first cab I found. “Drive as fast as you can!” I pleaded, and the driver tore through London. When we pulled up to my flat, I ran up the five flights of stairs until I was on my floor.

I rounded the corner, and there he was.

Leaning against the door like he didn’t have a care in the world. Beside him was a short, muscular man dressed in all black, who I presumed to be some mix between a bodyguard and an assistant.

“Hello,” I said, catching my breath.

“You’re late,” Spencer replied.

“I was across town. How do you know where I live, anyway?”

“You’ll find there isn’t much I don’t know about you, Jess.”

“It’s Jessica,” I said through clenched teeth. How many times would I have to correct this arrogant man before he—?

“Are you going to invite us in, or would you like to carry on being a terrible host?”

I rolled my eyes but pushed the key into my door anyway, holding it open for both men to enter. “Now, are you going to tell me why you’re here?” I asked.

“How about some coffee first?”

“Coffee?” I questioned.

“Yes, coffee. You know, the deep brown liquid that breathes life into humans first thing in the morning?”

His bodyguard smirked, but I didn’t get the same enjoyment from Spencer’s quip. I sighed and walked into the kitchen, pouring the ground coffee into the machine and turning it on.

“Okay, coffee’s on. Why are you here?” I asked him again, this time more directly. I turned around, surprised to find he’d come into the kitchen.

“Get yourself a glass of water.”

“I don’t want a glass of water, Spencer.”

“You ran up the five flights of stairs, did you not? I can’t have you getting dehydrated now.”

“I’m fine.”

“You’re not fine. You’re in need of water.”

I sighed sharply, filling a glass with water and gulping it down. “There, I’m hydrated again.”

“I’m assuming you saw the news.”

“Yes, I saw the news.”

“Well, that’s why I’m here. My ex-wife is doing everything she can to try and get full custody of our daughter, which means taking and releasing pictures like the one plastered on TV this morning.”

“She did that?” I asked, eyes wide.

Spencer laughed. “This won’t be the worst of it, believe me.”

“Jesus, I’m sorry,” I offered before I could stop myself.

“Don’t apologize,” he said, grabbing my hand. The contact caused my breath to hitch in my throat, and his hand was so warm…so strong. “I won’t have you apologizing for something that is absolutely not your fault, do you understand?”

“Yes,” I choked out.

“Good. Now, my ex’s team will do whatever they can to run your name into the dirt. Anything they can dig up on you will reflect poorly on me and my ability to care for my daughter.”

“All right.”

“No, it’s not all right. I have my solicitor releasing a statement to the press as we speak, explaining what the Ritz meeting was about. He’s also filing a court order on your behalf so that no press can reach out to you directly. Are you following?” Spencer asked me.

“Yes,” I said, even though the only thing I was paying attention to was his hand on mine. The warmth was seeping in through my skin and causing my pulse to accelerate.

“If anyone asks you anything about your role at the company or your relationship with me, you just say, ‘No comment.’ Okay?”

“Okay, wait a second. What have you told Scott?” I asked, snapping out of my daze. My actual boss could have no idea what was going on. He might think I was sleeping with his brother.

“Don’t worry about Scott.”

“What do you mean, don’t worry about Scott?! Scott’s my boss. He’s the one who hired me! I can’t have him thinking I’m sleeping with you. Especially when, in reality, it’s quite clear you and I don’t even like each other.”

Spencer chuckled. “That’s quite clear, is it?”

Heat rose to my cheeks again, and I cursed the effect this man had on my body. “Look, I know you’re technically my boss—”

“There’s no technically about it, Jess.”

“—and that you don’t get why Scott hired me. That’s fine. You don’t see what I’m capable of. But I’m just asking for a chance. And for you to not make my job any harder than it already is.”

I looked for signs he understood, but just then, Spencer Michaels reached his hand up toward my face, the exact same way he’d done in my dream.

“What are you doing?” I whispered as he traced his way down my cheek to my jaw.

“You said I can’t see.”

“What?”

“You said I can’t see what you’re capable of.”

“I don’t mean that as a blind thing, Spencer.”

Meanwhile, his fingers were still gliding around my jaw, working their way up to my nose. His touch was so gentle. It left my whole body tingling, wanting more.

“I might not be able to see,” he said softly, leaning in so he was speaking directly into my ear. “But I can smell. I can smell, and I can feel.”

His finger dipped lower until it was pressed against my lips, and a soft moan escaped my mouth. The second it did, Spencer dropped his hand with a smirk.

“You better get going before you’re late. Wouldn’t want Scott wondering where you are,” he said as he walked out of the kitchen.

And then, Spencer Michaels and his bodyguard were gone, and I was left alone with a pot full of coffee and a mind full of dirty, filthy thoughts.