Page 13 of Blue Jean Summer

“You’re actually considering this?” Mason said in disbelief. A caustic laugh slipped from his chest like it was the most ludicrous thing in the world.

Granted, it was.

“You’re really going to ask that poor girl to do this for you?” he pressed.

“I can make it worth her while,” I said. I just needed to figure out what would sweeten the offer enough for her to bite.

“Hayes,” Mason said. “You can’t—”

“What’s the alternative?” I asked. “Because I’m all ears.”

Hallie looked over her shoulder at Mason. “I’m not working for Lewis.”

Mason sighed. “I don’t want to work for him either, but…this is nuts.”

“But nothing,” Hallie clipped. “If Hayes doesn’t keep the property, Lewis will sell it off and then you won’t have a job, regardless of who owns the land.”

The front door slammed, rattling every window in the house.

“I’m here!” Lewis’s shout echoed through the house as he stomped in.

Hallie cursed under her breath.

Mason bristled, coming out of the doorway and positioning himself closer to Hallie.

Lewis strolled past the study, then backed up when he spotted people. “Oh good. I thought I was gonna have to walk all over the damn place.” He tossed his keys at Mason. “Park it in the shade, but not under a tree. I don’t want anything scratching the paint.”

Mason let the keys hit the floor as he stared blankly at Lewis.

Hallie’s eyes tracked the fancy key fob. “Huh. I didn’t know they made brooms with a remote start.”

Lewis turned his attention to Hallie. “My things are in the trunk. See to it that they’re delivered to my room. I need my suits dry-cleaned and hung. I like my ties and underwear pressed too.”

“I can point you in the direction of the iron,” Hallie sassed with a smile.

Lewis scoffed, aiming his ire at her. “You think I do my own laundry?”

Mason stiffened and balled his fist, ready to defend her honor.

But Hallie wasn’t having it. “Well, I’m sure as hell not going to do it for you,” she countered. “I look after the house, not you.”

Lewis looked at me with beet-red cheeks and huffed. “It’s impossible to find decent help these days.”

“They’re not the help,” I said with barely restrained rage. “If you treat them like that one more time, you will not set foot in this house again. Have I made myself clear?”

“Oooh. Look at Mr. Big-for-His-Britches,” Lewis sneered. “You think you’re hot shit because you got the estate? Spoiler alert, you aren’t.”

I stood from my seat behind Granddad’s desk. “Those gates have always been open to both of us, and I intend to keep it that way. But if you want to test my patience, be my guest.”

“Where’s the wifey?” he hissed, then broke into a belligerent cackle. “Sorry—fiancée. Gotta say, the hot blonde you were snuggled up to at the funeral is a nice piece of ass.”

I swallowed.

Lewis must have caught my reaction to his assumption, because his eyes narrowed. “Or is this some kind of conspiracy to keep me from getting everything I deserve?”

“You will get exactly what you deserve,” I said coolly. “Mark my words.”

“I’m filing that petition!” Lewis barked over his shoulder on his way toward the stairs.