CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE #2
Emma saying those things were to hurt me.
They were said out of jealously. I’m not being modest when I say I’m more than qualified for this job.
I am proficient in all aspects of my job title.
Adept in everything I need to know. What I wasn’t sure of—which had mostly been products—I spent nights reading up on.
Not just materials Paisley sent home with me, but from what I researched myself.
It annoys me that women still have to defend how they got to where they are, especially to a woman.
Reid is waiting on the steps when I reach the bed and breakfast. A frown mars his face as he gets to his feet. “What’s happened?”
“Nothing,” I lie. “Can we go somewhere that’s not here?”
“Not until you tell me what’s wrong.”
I scan the area, and aside from a group of guests in a nearby hot tub, I don’t see or hear anyone else. I still don’t want to say it here, not when there’s a chance someone could overhear. “Can we go somewhere and I’ll tell you there?”
He wraps his arm around my waist. “Promise you’ll tell me?”
I run my hand up his chest, tilting my head back. “Yes. I just don’t want to say it here.”
He presses his lips to my forehead. “Then come on. I’m going to take you to the tree our dad built a swing on for Paisley when she was a baby. He wanted her to have somewhere she could go when she grew up since she would be living with a bunch of boys.”
I arch an eyebrow when he snatches up a blanket hanging over the railing. “And she’s okay with you hijacking her special spot?”
“We all go there to think and she knows it. It became all our spot. You’ll be the first non-Hayes to go there. Not even Landon has been there as far as I know.”
I melt at the sentiment. “Thank you for taking me.” I link my fingers through his. “What’s in the bag?”
He holds up the picnic bag. “It started off as a little lunch bag from Mum, but then the cook heard me telling Paisley I’ll be taking you out for a picnic and she went crazy adding shit into this picnic bag.”
I snort. “Don’t act like you aren’t happy to eat food you didn’t make.”
He chuckles. “You got me. Can you blame me though? If I’m at home, I have to deal with a Carter, and when I’m at yours, I may as well be dealing with the entire Carter clan.”
I lean into him, smiling. “It still surprises me how much the Carters can put away.”
He pulls me to a stop at the fence line, swinging his leg over. “Really? That surprises you when you live with a group of women who are feral when it comes to food?”
I snort out a laugh as he helps me climb over the fence. “You’re so judgemental when it comes to them.”
“Makayla nearly stabbed my hand to stop me from reaching the garlic bread,” he reminds me.
“She didn’t touch you though,” I point out, knowing that doesn’t make it better.
He snorts. “Is Max still trying to get Malia to join him in a food eating contest?”
“I don’t know why he wants to lose so badly. He doesn’t take me for a guy who loses well.”
“Oh, he doesn’t. He wore a suit, top hat, and a monocle to Cluedo game night at Charlotte’s library once.
It didn’t end well. Wait, no, I said that wrong.
It barely even started before he managed to rile everyone up.
I’m pretty sure his kids and their cousins lie to their parents now when they’re having game night. Probably safer.”
We’re walking up a slight slope, closer to the main house than the bed and breakfast, when the tree comes into view.
The oak tree is huge, the robust branches splintering off in all directions, some even close to the ground.
It’s so overgrown, the green leaves flourishing and giving shade to the swing hanging from one of the middle branches, where an alcove has been made by the tree branches.
It’s like the tree had a mind of its own and wanted to grow in a way where a swing was meant to be strung up to give it another life and meaning.
I understand why the space is trespassed by the brothers.
“This is beautiful,” I whisper in wonder. “You need to get a bucket swing up here. Maybe some twinkle lights. I would never want to leave.”
He lays the blanket out so half is in the sun, half is in the shade of the tree. “It is. The branches will need trimming again once Jaxon and Eli begin to bring the girls up here. Only the left side, so the house has a clear view up here.” He holds his hand out. “Come sit.”
I lower myself to the ground, tucking my dress under me so I don’t flash. Not that anyone could see. The branches give enough cover from anyone close by. Reid lowers himself next to me. “You didn’t want to bring Hunter?”
He huffs out a breath, giving me the stink eye. “You think I could pull him away from Mum? Not a chance. That dog hovers around her throughout the day and then you during the evening. The only time I get a look in is when it’s just me.”
I laugh, leaning back on my elbows. “He’s a ladies man.”
“You’re mine,” he growls, leaning on his side. His finger runs over my bare thigh, lifting the dress a little. “Now tell me what happened in the few minutes I left the spa that had you looking so down.”
“Urgh. It’s stupid. Well, it’s not, but I feel like I’m tittle-tattling.”
“Let me be the judge of that,” he orders.
“You promise not to repeat it? Not even to Paisley?”
He loses his relaxed posture, tensing. “Yes. I promise.”
“I mean it,” I warn him.
He links his fingers through mine. “Hey, I promise. You don’t work for me.
You work for Paisley. I know how much you love working there, and how seriously you take your job.
Unless it directly hurts my sister, I would never repeat what you tell me.
And if it had been aimed at Paisley or her businesses, you would have already told her, or you wouldn’t ask me to keep it quiet.
That’s not who you are. This is something that has been said or done to you.
Or you’re not happy I turned up at the spa.
I swear to you, I would never have gone in had Paisley not ordered me to.
I declined three times and you can ask her.
She told me to tell you that you work too hard, and that if anyone has a problem with me dropping in to see you, they don’t belong there. So whatever it is, you can tell me.”
The soft, warm breeze feels amazing over my back as I recite everything Emma said and did, missing out what I overheard this morning.
I only let him know about what was said to me directly.
His eyes harden, his fingers pausing in their caress.
I don’t want him to think he was the reason for my mood change.
“I’ll handle it though. I want to give her another chance before I take it to Paisley.”
“You know it’s jealously, right?” he asks, pressing his lips to my shoulder.
“I know. She mentioned wanting the job I have, or the spa side of my job.”
He snorts. “No, babe. She wanted Luke first. He has a crush on Mina, but even if he didn’t, he doesn’t like girls like Emma. She tried Wyatt and Isaac too. Neither were interested.”
I arch an eyebrow. “Where did you fit into her line-up?”
“Sunshine, she wanted long time, not a good time. I probably would have been on the list but I’ve actively avoided Paisley’s staff. We’ve fucked things up with Paisley so many times. Not messing with the staff working for her seemed the least I could do.”
I roll until I’m lying on top of him, straddling his thighs. “Reid Hayes, you are more than a good time. Not to sound cheesy, but she missed out big time.”
He snorts, cupping my arse under my dress. “You say that like she had a shot with me. Only one person has, Sunshine.”
I love him.
I’ve never been so deeply infatuated by a person before. I’m completely besotted. He doesn’t even know when he’s being sweet. He will say something factual, but I’ll succumb to mush each time. “Then I guess I’m lucky I get all parts of you.”
“If she continues though, you should go to Paisley. She doesn’t tolerate bullying.”
“I wouldn’t say it’s bullying, Reid. I’m not sensitive. She hasn’t hurt my feelings. I am annoyed.”
“I would be too. She’s basically said you had to fuck someone to get the job.”
My heart jolts at his words because he gets it. “Yeah,” I rasp. “It’s bad enough men think women are only ahead in life because they fucked a man to get there. For another woman to basically throw the same accusation isn’t just insulting. It makes me mad.”
He runs the tips of his fingers over the back of my neck, applying pressure until I’m close. He brushes his lips over mine, teasing me before finally kissing me. The kiss is slow, sensual, and I feel it between my thighs.
“I’m sorry, Sunshine.”
“I don’t want to talk about that. Did you speak with Isaac?”
He rolls until I’m on my back. “We spoke. We’re good now. But I don’t want to talk about him right now.”
I brush my fingers through his hair, my lips twitching. “And what is it you want to talk about?”
His pupils dilate as he gazes at my mouth. “Oh, there won’t be any talking,” he states, whilst the thigh pushed between my leg lowers, making room for his fingers to slide under my dress.
My back arches and my head falls back when his fingers make their way into my underwear.
I guess we are doing this out in the open.
And I don’t give a single fuck.