Toby:And why the hell would you want to? Isabella can fuck right off.
Toby’d never held back on what he thought. And while Tyler didn’t disagree, she was still the woman who’d given birth to his boys. She was still the one who’d brought them into this world, had been, once upon a time, his wife, even if she was at the root of a lot of his problems now: Seth’s burgeoning anger chief among them.
Tyler:Heather’s here for a couple weeks doing some work on the farm.
Did he dare tell Toby the real reason? His bros knew about the land survey. Maybe then they’d understand why Tyler was being so hush about it.
Tyler:She’s doing the land survey for the state. End of it, man. Seriously.
There was a pause in messages. A reply began to waver on the screen, but then stopped. Started again, then stopped and didn’t resume. Hopefully Toby’d gotten distracted with his little boy, Sage, or Rose had needed him and called him away. He began to, hopefully, slide his phone into his pocket once more, when another message finally dinged.
Toby:So Perfect Ty’s breaking the rules, sleeping with an impartial surveyor, and using her to scratch an itch. She must be something for you to cross that line.
The remark sat dead on the screen like an accusation. And it made him feel like an asshole, no matter how consensual the sex.
Tyler:It’s not like that. She’s cool.
He’d reconciled her relationship to Fossyl. He didn’t harbor the resentment for her that had originally licked through his blood when she’d first dropped that bombshell. And she might even be helping him now, considering how cryptic she’d gotten about the slump on his western border while he’d snapped at her because he was a jealous dumbass.
Toby:Jumping to her defense. Means you like her.
Tyler:And a sermon about morals from my little bro who’s slept with half of Texas is an oxymoron, Tobes.
Toby:Touchy much? I ain’t judging. Just surprised. Never pegged you as the type.
There was a lot Toby didn’t know about him. Toby’d only been a kid when Tyler had started high school, started dating. And Toby was always getting into trouble, drawing all their pops’s ire. The good kids like Tyler always got away with a helluva lot under the radar while the bad ones drew all the attention. Toby could have learned a thing or two from him about staying out of trouble and made his life easier.
Tyler:She’s using me to scratch an itch, too, man. We agreed up front.
Another ellipses wavered right away.
Toby:Y’all agreed?? What, you write up a contract and get her to sign first?
That wasn’t a bad idea, actually, considering her involvement in the Fossyl case, considering he knew firsthand how an NDA could gag someone or protect them from defamation—
Toby:That would be such a Tyler move, lol.
A moment later, one more message popped in and sat heavily in his gut.
Toby:Jokes aside, I remember the divorce. Just don’t want you to get hurt again, man.
Those last words hung in the air with a gravity Tyler hadn’t expected. Aw hell. He cleared his throat. Toby could be such a handful one moment and yet, was a good egg at his core. He hadn’t realized little Tobes had worried about him so much after what Isabella had done.
He sent one last message.
Tyler:Don’t worry about me. I wised up years ago.
Toby:Just want you to be happy. Your boys deserve to see you happy.
Tyler:I am. Boys and I do stuff together all the time.
Toby:Bullshit. I ain’t never seen a happy parent trapped at Chuck E. Cheese. You haven’t been happy in a really long time. But this chick, according to Thad, seems to make you happy.
A horn beeped. He whipped a look over his shoulder, his stomach dropping and pulse spiking hot at the same time. Speak of the Texas Devil.
“Where’ve you been all day?” Heather rolled her truck window down.
Dammit, her mahogany hair was windblown and gorgeous with a red bandana twisted into a cord around her head, wavering around her face as air breezed from the vents. Her bright face, pink cheeks and golden-amber eyes were fresh from a day of sunshine and like a smack of reality, because his thoughts had been hard on her all day and now, here she was. Her bare arms were flexed as she held the wheel, sexy torquing of tendons from her neck to her shoulders. And her eyes were trained on him. A tentative smile lifted her lips.