Page 27 of The Overtime Kiss
I drag a hand down my face and meet my mom’s gaze. “You hired Sabrina?” I sound as shocked as I feel. Because I am.
“Why wouldn’t I hire her?” Mom asks it with the same casual air she’d use to sayis it sunny outsidethen she sips her iced tea.
Across the table, my older brother, Miles, looks like he’s choking back a laugh. His fist is pressed to his mouth, and his shoulders shake.
Harvey, my stepdad, catches on. “I have a feeling Miles might know why,” he says, his tone full of unspoken amusement.
Miles schools his expression immediately. “Sabrina sounds like a great idea.”
Traitor. If Leighton were here, she’d rein him in. But his girlfriend is off at a photo shoot. Though, come to think of it, she seems to enjoy trash-talking me too. Another reason they’re perfect together.
Mom sets her tea down, straightening her shoulders like she’s daring me to argue. “It is an excellent idea. She’s fantastic with children. Luna already adores her, and we all know Sabrina well enough. We trust her. She’s great at what she does.”
I groan, dropping my forehead into my palm. “This is bad. This is so bad.” Shit. Did I say that out loud? Now they’ll all know.
Mom’s eyes narrow into an inquisitive maternal stare. “Why is it bad?”
How do I even explain that blue balls are a real thing? Not that I’m going to say that out loud. And it’s more than that with Sabrina—I wanted to date her. I wanted to take her outand show her how a man treats a woman in and out of bed because, clearly, she’d had none of that from the world’s worst ex.
And now I’m supposed to live with her? Every day? Irresistible Sabrina, who finds me completely resistible? “It’s just…a lot of Sabrina,” I mutter weakly.
With an eye roll, Charlie dramatically sets down her fork next to the special meatless risotto made for her and Luna. “Oh my god,” she bursts out. “What he’s trying to say is that he has a raging, unrequited crush on her.” Her voice is sugar-sweet, but her grin is pure devilry. “It’s cute, really. Big, tough hockey player brought to his knees by his daughter’s skating coach.”
I snap my gaze to my pink-haired sister. “Did I say that?”
“You didn’t have to.”
“I do not have a crush on her,” I lie through my teeth.
“You do too,” she says. I’ve never been able to fool her.
“Enough,” I growl.
Mom’s lips twitch. “Well, if you do have a crush on her, that’s understandable. She’s delightful. Beautiful. Caring.”
She’s so much more than that. She’s fierce and strong. She speaks her mind and goes after what she wants. I met her last season when she performed at our arena one night, and yes, at first it was infatuation. As I got to know her during Luna’s lessons, the more the crush intensified. Then, after her almost wedding night, the crush swelled into…feelings.
Fucking feelings.
I hate feelings.
Especially the way they crashed and burned when we agreed to never speak of that night again.
“It doesn’t matter,” I say, firmly shoving aside those pesky feelings. “I thought she was pretty. That’s it. No big deal.” If I don’t shut this down, my family will never let it go.
Mom tilts her head thoughtfully. “Would you like me to fire her?”
“What? No!” It comes out sharp, and the room goes quiet for a second. I look around the table with the feeling I’ve just walked into a trap.
Harvey chimes in, deadpan, “Of course, if you can live with yourself for firing her when she’s clearly grateful for the job and excellent for it, I think that’s fine too.”
“I mean, if it’s going to be too hard for you, Tyler,” Mom says, all calm practicality, “living with such a lovely, competent, capable woman. If you think you can’t handle it…”
I groan again, scrubbing a hand down the back of my neck. “Family,” I mutter.
Miles leans back in his chair, smirking. “Family is hard, little brother.”
“You’re telling me. And no, of course I don’t want you to fire her.” But that raises a question. I point a finger at Mom. “Why did you even hire her?”
