I inhaled a measured breath and closed my laptop.Here it goes.“We’re seeing each other.”
Tate’s eyes flared wide. “You andRuby?” He glanced at Teller. I didn’t have to look at my other brother. His irritated gaze was burning into my skin.
“Yes,” I said evenly. “We finally decided to make it public. I anticipated your reactions.” I shot Teller a glare. He was unrepentant.
“Of course we’d react.” Tate sat straighter. “She’s young.”
Teller made a tsking noise. “He took so long to date again because he had to wait for Ruby to get out of high school.”
“She’s a goddamn adult,” I snapped. Hadn’t I had the same reservations? Ruby was young, but she was in her midtwenties. She was a full-on adult with a career. And she’d had awful boyfriends who hadn’t shown her what a prize she was.
I could do that for her.
“She’s an employee,” Teller added as if we hadn’t argued about that yesterday.
“We don’t have no-fraternization rules at Copper Summit.” I felt like a dick pointing that out.
Teller tapped his notes. “That’s why it’s on the agenda.”
“Without being approved,” I shot back.
Tate held a hand up. “It’s something we’ll discuss when the girls get here. You know they don’t like it when we do business without them.”
Teller glared at me.
“I’m not going to hurt her, all right?” My brothers were worried about Ruby in my care, and that gutted me. What about me made them think I’d hurt her? My reasons for steering clear of dating and women weren’t because I was the bad guy.
“You’d never intend to hurt her,” Teller conceded. “But she’s not the only one I’m worried about.”
I frowned. Were there more people I was pretending to date and didn’t know about?
“You, dumbass,” he answered. “How many years has it been? All of a sudden, you’re kissing a young—younger—employee in our mom’s driveway.”
“You know why I don’t date,” I said.
“Does Ruby?” Teller asked.
“Does Ruby what?” Wynter breezed in. Her white-blond hair was back in a ponytail and she wore pajama bottoms and a loose yellow Foster House shirt that was probably her husband’s. Shewas working from home today and had only come to Copper Summit for the meeting.
“We’ll wait until you all get here,” Tate said as soon as Teller opened his mouth. “We don’t need to repeat this four more times.”
“Junie’s calling in.” Wynter took the seat next to me and set her giant water bottle by my laptop. I moved my computer farther away. She claimed they didn’t leak, but I didn’t want to tempt forty ounces of ice water. “She’s in... Where is she playing this week?”
“Wisconsin,” Tate answered as Summer breezed in. She sat next to him.
My oldest sister wasn’t dressed much differently than Wynter, only she’d tied her shirt. The braid of her strawberry-blond hair flopped over her shoulder. “Are you talking about Junie? She’s in Milwaukee today, then they’re going to Detroit.”
Autumn entered and glanced around. “Last one here. Dang.”
“Technically, Junie hasn’t called in yet,” Wynter said.
Autumn sat on the other side of her and puffed a hunk of her auburn hair out of her face. She was wearing a loose summer dress at odds with the dark circles under her eyes.
Summer frowned at her. “Is Sawyer not sleeping well?”
Autumn sighed. “She’s got a cold. All stuffy and can’t sleep. Gideon had her on his chest in the recliner for half the night. I took the other half. He almost didn’t let me, but I reminded him that I had a meeting and he’d have to take over sick care for part of the day. I might actually nap in the office before I go home.”
Summer and Wynter nodded. The three of them had become moms fairly close together. Tate’s oldest had been in elementary school when Tate had moved back to Bourbon Canyon to take over the ranch when Dad got sick. Then he’d married Scarlett. Between my four sisters and one sister-in-law, the niece and nephew count added up. And with each one, my chest grew tight,something that felt too much like envy sprouting between my ribs.
