The Millionaire Affair (Love in the Balance 3)

“He’s not a boyfriend. He’s Angel’s brother. And he needs a babysitter this week.”

Mick laughed. It was sharp and didn’t send a flock of butterflies fluttering in her stomach like Landon’s rich chuckle had. “You? Babysit?”

She crossed her arms over her breasts, hoping to cause some cleavage in her V-necked blouse. Not that he’d notice. He liked large breasts and hers were B cups on their best day.

What are you thinking? She didn’t care if he noticed her cleavage or not. She dropped her arms. It was none of his business what she and Landon were to one another. She refused to engage Mick in this up-and-coming argument. Plus, the truth was far more disappointing than the reality.

“Do you think you can come in on Saturday?” she asked. “It’s the only day Neil will need backup.”

“You know I hate to work the floor,” he said, his shoulders slumping. He reminded her of a put-upon fifteen-year-old.

Sometimes she thought he hated work, period. She had taken care of the schedule since the store’s inception. And the special orders, stock, mending, financials, the floor plan… He had taken on the tasks of painting the front window and flirting with the female customers.

“Unless Ginny is here.” He waggled his brows.

Her ire rose and she took a deep breath. She shouldn’t fight with him, but it’d become the norm. The last two months, Hobo Chic’s sales had plummeted and they’d managed to needle each other not only about work issues but every grievance they’d had as a couple. It was like she couldn’t help being catty. Which was probably why she couldn’t muzzle herself now. “Can you have the decency not to flirt with other women while I’m around? We did used to date, you know.”

“Oh, I know.” His smile oozed into the come-hither tilt he’d used to get her into bed the night they’d met. When he reached for her, she stepped away from him. His charm hadn’t worked on her for a while now. He licked his lips and chewed on the ring in his bottom lip in frustration.

She wasn’t going to get anything done if they stood here sniping at each other much longer. “Please?”

He ran a hand through his too-long hair and pretended to think about it. “Yeah. Okay.”

She smiled, and because she really did care about him as a friend, squeezed his hand as she walked by. But not before she took the phone out of it.

* * *

“I’ll cover her expenses,” Landon told Evan over the phone moments after hanging up with Kimber. Or, more accurately, moments after she’d hung up on him. He was still obsessing over that fact. He didn’t like being hung up on. It was rude. But he was trying not to overreact, and it wasn’t as if he’d had a list of available options for this situation.

“Fine by me, brother,” Evan said over the din of voices in the background. “Have you seen her recently? Because I ran into her after the funeral.”

Their mother’s funeral was nearly two years ago. Landon had flown to Ohio and out again, allowing as little downtime in between as possible. He’d told himself it was because he couldn’t leave work for long, but if he were being honest, he hadn’t wanted to marinate in the sadness that had overtaken his father’s house. Anyway, Aiden had been there. He was better for Dad than Landon in this situation. In any relationship situation as it was turning out.

“The last time I saw her was when she lived at our house that one summer.”

Evan let out a sharp laugh. “When she was in the tenth grade? Dude. You should see her now.”

He frowned. “Don’t be a jerk, Ev. She’s a family friend.”

“Trust me. I’m not.” Laughter edged his voice. “Just… be prepared. For the hot.”

He recalibrated. He’d thought Evan may have been revving up to tell him about an unattractive attribute of hers.

“I mean, not my type,” Evan added. “Redhead. But still hot.”

She sounded hot, came the out-of-left-field thought. Her voice had been a smoky, mid-range tone as opposed to Lissa’s childlike soprano. Kimber had a sultry laugh, too, even though he could tell it was borne of nervousness. He supposed that was understandable. How odd to go and live with someone she’d never met. Clearly, he hadn’t put her at ease. He was unable to pull off the charm both Evan and Aiden had when it came to the opposite sex. For some reason.

For some reason? You know why. Because he wouldn’t allow himself to, that’s why. Charm led to emotions, which led to attachment, which led to… disaster.