Boss Me (Private Listing #3)

Seth nods his head.

“Are you two actually engaged?” Patrick asks as Coop sits down.

Coop rubs the back of his neck as he glances at Madison. She blushes and looks down in her lap. “No, it’s not a formal announcement.”

Patrick scoffs and opens his briefcase. He pulls out a file folder and opens it. “It’s already out. Along with the news that you’re expecting. Congratulations.”

His tone is dry but the message is clear. He lays out some pictures of Coop and Madison. This isn’t something that will easily fade into the background. That lump forms in my stomach as I gaze across the table at Madison. Everything happened so fast with us. Maybe too quickly.

“Also, there’s another story buzzing around.” He spreads out some pictures of Seth and Elizabeth. The last one is of her pressed up against Seth’s chest, gazing up at him with a smile. His hands are on her upper arms like he’s holding her there.

Madison goes pale when her eyes fix on the picture.

“That one isn’t what it looks like.” Seth leans his elbows on the table. His gaze holds Madison’s. “When Elizabeth stood from the table, she stumbled into me. I made it clear to her that last night was purely business and I want nothing more to do with her personally.”

“Her publicist reached out to ours this morning. Our publicist looped me in since she saw our appointment on my calendar.” Patrick leans back in his chair as he looks over all of us. His focus stops on Seth. “Elizabeth wants to roll with this fantasy of you two dating again, at least for a few months. Or she’s willing to come forward and say you’re having an affair with Coop’s fiancée.”

“What if we just say we’re in a relationship?” Noah straightens. His brown eyes determined. “All of us.”

Madison gasps softly.

Patrick blows out his breath. “You know what happened with Andrea and Rachel. It’s a PR nightmare. What you do behind closed doors is your own business. But the image we project to the media and clients has to remain consistent.”

“Then let’s be consistent and say we’re all dating Madison.” Coop puts his feet up on the table. “I don’t see why this should be as big an issue as everyone makes it out to be.”

“Because it will lose us clients.” Seth runs his hand over his hair. “We already have someone warning clients away from us. This would be another nail in the coffin. Our reputation is everything.”

I let out a harsh breath. “As much as I want to claim Madison, Seth’s right. So is Patrick. This company is ours and what we do matters. How we present ourselves to the world matters. What happens years down the road when Madison starts her own business? If this doesn’t last, it will be brought up every time she makes a move. We already have our business, but she’s just starting out.”

My gaze meets Madison’s blue eyes. “I can’t fuck with your future like that. I won’t.”

Her eyes soften and she nods. Her future needs protection too.

“So that’s two for blowing up the company and two for not blowing up the company.” Coop shakes his head. “Honestly, I don’t think it would hurt Madison that much.”

“Let’s just deal with one crisis at a time before we create a whole new thing to worry about. I’ll think about the Elizabeth thing, but I’m not committing right now.” Seth nods to Patrick. “When are we due at the police station?”

Patrick glances at his phone. “We should leave shortly.”

We all stand as Patrick gathers the photos back into his file. I pick up one of Coop and Madison dancing. Something about it strikes me. I’m not sure if it’s just that they look really good together or what it is exactly that catches my eye.

Madison passes me, but I put a hand out across her hip, stopping her. She looks up at me.

“It’s not that I don’t want to claim you as mine,” I whisper.

She takes a breath and blows it out. “I know. It’s complicated. I don’t think you’re wrong either.”

I tip her chin up and lean down to kiss her softly. “You’re amazing at what you do, tiger, and I never want to hold you back. Not now and not in the future.”

Her hand cups my jaw. Her blue eyes search mine. “I don’t know how this will all play out. But I appreciate you looking out for me.”

“We apprehended Jimi Alan this morning.” Bill Carr, my friend on the force, meets us at the front desk. Those are the first words he says to us.

Madison sags against Coop. He wraps his arms around her and kisses her forehead.

“Follow me. We have more to discuss.”

We follow Bill to a conference room. He waits until we’re all seated. “The timelines don’t add up for him to be the stalker.”