Jocelyn & Alexandra

Chapter Three

Chapter Three

“Alex, how about California, you and me? A far different vacation than we planned, but why should we spoil our whole week?”

“Reggie can’t go either?” Alex asked, hearing Jocelyn’s proposal take her off guard. “I was just unpacking.”

“Would Will mind?”

“Mind? He isn’t even here. But what’s Reg doing?”

“Staying home, or actually staying at the office. I’m beginning to think he’s glued to the chair. By the looks of things, if I want to see him at all next week, I’ll have to move into the building, maybe pack picnic dinners and bring a cot to sleep on.”

Alex was silent for a while, thinking. Changing plans was never easy for her, though this was likely the very thing Will would want her doing while he was gone.

“We could get pampered,” she finally said. “The spa is supposed to have all sorts of soothing body treatments. The way I was treated this morning, I think my body could use a little soothing.”

“So, we’re going,” Jocelyn said adamantly, making the decision for both of them. “Now all I have to do is tell Reggie.”

“You haven’t told him?”

“No, I got the inspiration on the way home from his office. I figured I’d check with you first.”

“How about cook him a terrific dinner?”

“Naw. That won’t work. You and I have to leave at eight, Reg won’t be home till midnight. I’ll just have tell him over the phone.”

That took more guts than Alex would ever have with Reginald Harold. But then Jocelyn, being his wife, got away with things no other woman would dare try with him.

“So, I’ll re-pack my suitcase,” Alex cheerfully replied. “Call me only if he says no.”

“He won’t say no,” Jocelyn replied confidently. “Just meet me at the airport.

***

Jocelyn and Alexandra were on the plane sitting side by side as the flight took off at eight o’clock that evening. Both of them had smiles on their faces, almost as if they were escaping something, though neither could tell what that something was.

“So what did you tell him?” Alex asked the happy redhead once she settled into her first class seat.

“That I wasn’t going to spoil my week off. I’d never have any peace if the office knew I was home. Thankfully, he appreciates that sort of thing. Some emergency’s got him all riled up, so I don’t suppose I’d see much of him anyway if I stayed home.”

It was odd for Alex to imagine Reggie married, even though Jocelyn was the perfect woman for him. She was so different from the women that used to appeal to him. Jocelyn Killian could be a first class b***h. Alex had seen her brusque style working efficiently in a business setting, though she was always lighthearted and charming when Reggie was around. Then she would move like a fragrant flower, sumptuous and mysterious like Reggie himself, always with the trace of a smile on her lips as if she was delightfully amused by her relationship with the often cold-hearted dominant. She must have discovered that Reggie isn’t as cold-hearted as everyone thinks. She would never be the kind of woman to want anything less than an affectionate lover. And Jocelyn did draw unusual bursts of affection from the man that, on occasion, were even visible in public.

He was a different Reggie with Jocelyn, a man whose company Alex could enjoy when his inherent chill was brushed aside for a gracious sense of style and good humor. Alex had seen glimpses of that man in the past, and was glad that now his bouts of amicability were more frequent. Time and Jocelyn appeared to have mellowed him. That alone was a pleasant thought, much better than the memory of her last excruciating chastisement at his hands.

Jocelyn sat with her head leaning back, eyes closed, her last conversation with Reggie running through her head. Oddly, his objection to her going on the trip had nothing to do with her leaving him. He seemed to understand the need to get out of town.

“You mean to tell me,” he said, when she raised him on the phone, “you’re going to leave me with Helena all week?”

“What’s wrong with that?” she asked.

“You just hired her, Jocelyn.”

“So I did, and she’s charming, don’t you think, a little seductress, I’d say.”

“Charming or not, she doesn’t know what the hell she’s doing, Mandy’s on vacation, and I’m supposed to tell a new maid how do to her job? You’ve got to be kidding.” Reggie’s droll delivery amused her.

“She’ll pick it up herself. She’s not stupid.”

“But damn flighty. I hate that.”

“Well take care of her faux pas with a little creativity. Not in short supply of that, are we?”

“What exactly did you have in mind?”

“She starts aggravating you, do what you usually do, spank her. She’ll behave.”

“Spank her?” He chuckled.

“Oh, you can handle her, Reg. I really want to go. I’m so primed for it. And it’s your fault I’m going.” It was as close to pleading as Jocelyn would ever get. And she knew he’d relent, he was just going to make it difficult.

“I suppose you’ll do what you want, won’t you?” he finally said. She could hear the yielding in his voice.

“You’re a love. I wonder if you’ll even miss me?” she mused aloud. Over the phone, she could almost see his cold expression, and then his eyes warming to a softer hue. It was something she didn’t have to see to know that it was there.

“More than you know,” he finally said. There was a trace of sadness that pulled her heart strings, but he’d forget about it quickly. “Maybe time away might be good for both of us,” she suggested. “I’ll call you when we get to our hotel.

She was going to miss him, though there was a method in her madness. With Reggie, ‘absence makes the heart grow fonder,’ so she believed. By the time she got home, he’d be ravenous and attentive, giving her all the time she wanted in his thoughts and arms.