“I amnotseeing someone.Yet.Jacob and I ran into each other at the dance the other night, after I danced with my assistant.I’m here to run a few things by you.I need an outside opinion.”
Never asked forJacob’sopinion, did he?
Kameron shot Jacob a look—Jacob fought smirking back at him.So he’d pissed his brother off.Probably by mentioning that little nobody Kameron wanted to screw.“She isn’t that hot.What do you see in her?”
“Not one word about Quinn, Jacob.Or I’ll rip your throat out.I mean it,not one word about her.”
Well.So Jacob had hit a nerve.
“Tell me about this acquisition,” their father said.“Who is it with?”
“Cal and I are going in on it together.”His brother mentioned that asshole Grady like he wasn’t the son of the man who had lost their ranch for them.Like they were friends or something.
And Jacob’s father just stood there and listened.Like he gave a shit.As Kameron justtalkedandtalked.
Like onlyhehad something to say that would ever matter.
Of course he did, he was fucking Perfect Kameron, after all.
And Jacob had never measured up to his brother.
Well, fuck that.
Jacob grabbed his keys and took off.Let Kameron take care of their dad for the night.
Jacob was going to live his life while he still could.
19
It had beentwo days since the dance, and chaos reigned supreme.Avril and Tobi had some type of upper respiratory infections—Nate, her cousin Perci’s husband, had assured her they weren’t contagious, just cranky.They were currently at home with Junie now, and Jules and January had been dropped off on their aunt Pam for the day.They had had to split the girls up for everyone’s state of mind.
But that led to her beingherenow.With two girls in tow.
And a major meeting was about to start as soon as everyone required got there.She didn’t even know who they were waiting for now.And she was supposed to take notes on what Gil would need to remember and do going forward.She didn’t know how she was going to make that happen.
Auggie was going to lose her mind.Every last bit of her sanity.Maeya was screaming in her ear, and Gil needed her full attention.This was not where they expected to do this.Or when.Gil had that overwhelmed look in his eyes that she recognized for what it was.As much as the man tried, sometimes this world he’d found himself in was one he didn’t fully understand.
It didn’t quite fit that cowboy cousin of hers.
For one thing, the man was one of the straightest shooters she knew.And he expected the same in return.The art of the deal and politics was not Gilbert Tyler in any way.And she adored him for it, but sometimes when dealing with men like the ones sitting at the table with them now…she wished Gil had a little bit moretact.
Aaron Masterson was one of the shrewdest men she knew.And he enjoyed wheeling and dealing and winning.He had three sons—Jack and Eli and Gage—and a nephew Dane—who were just the same.Shrewd, calculating, and just too beautiful for their own good.It was Jack, the attorney, with them now.Jack, Aaron, Gil, a slightly lopsided Fletcher—that man should still be in bed, right now, in her opinion—and a hovering Dylan.Dylan didn’t stray too far from Fletcher right now.Auggie fully understood—her cousin was barely back on his feet.And Dylan wasn’t too steady, either.
Now, they were just trying to figure out another land lease that she had no idea of the terms of.All she had to do was take notes, but this kid in her arms was not cooperating; she was struggling to calm her down.And they were still waiting for the rest of the group.She was going to use that time to calm the baby and get her own head clear.
“I’m sorry,” she looked at Dylan, who was next to her and trying to hand her the bag of Maeya’s supplies, while Auggie did her best to juggle the most stubborn and determined Tyler in existence almost one-handed.“I think she’s just started really teething.It’s my first go around withteething.I’m still figuring it out.”
“Poor little thing.I remember Dorie teething a little.She screamed bloody murder.Still does whenever she gets mad, you know.Thatone has a temper.”
Bloody murder was a good way to put it.And she felt warm.Auggie didn’t know if she had the same kind of respiratory infection starting—all of her kids seemed to have seasonal allergies, too—or if it was the teething making her cranky.
There were some days she didn’t know if she could do this.Orhow.
Junie had sounded just as frazzled when Auggie had called to check on Tobi and Avril.Apparently those two had been nothing but a mix of whining and fighting all morning.
“Here.I can take her for a minute, sweetheart.Until you get settled,” a male voice said behind her.One she most definitely recognized.Her stomach clenched and she turned shaky in an instant.
He had to stop doing this to her.He just had to.
