Reckless(59)

Internally, I cringe, because he’s right. If I’m being honest, I could cut out the few hours of baseball Tori and I watch. Except, fuck, when will I ever get a break? Even after enjoying a few innings, I head back to the barn to get all the horses to bed if I haven’t yet. Yes, even horses get tucked in too. Some require blinders. Others might need blankets if it’s raining. All of them like a little soothing talk. A few scratches behind the ear. Some TLC.

She nods sympathetically. “Makes sense. You guys have your hands full. What would you need me to do?”

Logan practically wags his tail, he’s so pleased with himself. “You worked at a law firm for a while in college, right? You probably have some office experience we could use here.”

Her face is blank, and she licks her lips. “Yeah, I mean, I didn’t work there long, but I can organize your bills if that’s all you need.”

“Cool. Your sister mentioned it when she first brought up you working here, and I thought maybe some of those office skills might be handy right about now.”

“Oh.” She seems to breathe a sigh of relief but then furrows her brow and looks down at her hands. She swallows. “I, uh, I should tell you that I got fired from that job.”

Logan and I look at each other, and he lifts an eyebrow. Shit.

I rub my forehead again. This is what happens when I let my brother run the background check. Half-assed as usual.

Not that I’d change anything. Tori is amazing with the kids, and I’m pretty damn fond of her myself. She’s done nothing to make me question her character. Even that one argument we had when we met isn’t really her fault. I was being an asshole.

I almost smile at the memory. Her all feisty and pissed. I love her fiery side. It’s different than Allison’s rage, which is always mean and manipulative.

No, unless Tori stabbed a coworker with a letter-opener, I don’t care that they fired her. It’s their loss.

He clears his throat. “Mind if I ask why?”

She gives me a sheepish smile. “I told off my boss.”

I laugh. “Did he deserve it?”

“Of course. I think in legal speak it’s called sexual harassment, but everyone ignored his behavior. Boys will be boys and all that.”

“He harassed you?” I don’t disguise the anger in my voice. The thought of some fuckhead being disrespectful toward Tori makes me want to kick that loser’s ass.

“No, thank God. He was perving on his secretary who put up with his behavior. I called him out on it one day, and he had me fired for insubordination and a lack of professionalism.” Her eyes tilt down again, and pink tints her cheeks. “I was just a college student, and I couldn’t afford the kind of expensive clothes they expected me to wear. He used that against me. Said I didn’t uphold their standards, and since I was a lowly paper-pusher and he was a senior partner, no one cared what I had to say about any of it. But the real kick in the head is the secretary I stood up for denied anything shady happened because she was afraid of losing her job.”

“Oh, darlin’, I’m so sorry.”

Another shrug. “Anyway, I wanted to be honest about my level of experience. I’m probably better at mixing drinks than anything requiring a suit and heels, but I can try my best. When do you want me to get started?”

I’m curious about this myself since, aside from a few hours of baseball a week, we’ve been working around the clock lately.

Logan gives her a big, charming smile that makes me roll my eyes. “I was wondering if I could pay you extra to stay this weekend and get a jump start.”

I let out an unamused laugh. “What do you plan on paying her with? Pizza and beer? Come on, Logan. Get serious. She works enough, going above and beyond every day. Now you want her to give up the time she spends with her sister? That’s not fair.”

“Chill, man.” He scowls like I’ve insulted him. “I have my own money, you know. I’ve been saving. Besides, Joey said she might be able to help us watch the kids this weekend, so it’s the perfect time.”

“So you’re planning to pay Joey too?”

He scoffs. “No, she’s helping because she loves me. Duh.”

Swear to God, my brother is such a dipshit sometimes. He means well, but it’s like he’s operating on a half-tank of gas.

Tori tries to hide a smile. “How about this?” she replies gently. “I’ll grab breakfast with Kat Saturday morning, but I’ll be back by noon to organize your office, and I’ll split whatever you wanted to pay me with Joey.”

This girl is too cool. I give her a big, dumb smile, because yeah, she’s awesome. She stares back at me with those beautiful eyes, and I swear my heart skips a beat.

Logan clears his throat again. “You guys done eye-fucking?”

I reach over and punch him in the arm. “Have some respect.”

He chuckles and rubs his arm. “After this weekend, I figure we could get you some time occasionally to help manage the chaos in the office. Maybe when the kids nap. Not sure what we’re gonna do at the end of the summer when you head back to Austin, but I guess we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.”

His words toss a bucket of ice water on me, and I look up to find Tori with the same disconcerted expression that’s probably on my face.