Page 116 of Already Callin’ You Mine

“No, a joke would have a little laughing face emoji.”

“People say shit like this online all the time, don’t they?”

Margeaux bobs her head side to side. “Sure, but people also get sued for this stuff all the time too. This is America; you can sue anyone over anything. Especially if the comment was made between businesses and someone really wants to be an asshole.”

Nope, not happening. I am not letting Hayes get sued over this. I will make this right.

“Okay, let’s not go there. That’s the extreme, and we’re not putting that out in the universe.” I turn to Jace, kissing him quickly. Then I turn back to Margeaux, slipping my arm through hers. “We’re going inside and I’m going to fix this before we get to that point.”

I have no idea how, but I will. Somehow.

“You,”—I look directly at Brandt—“are going to delete ForU off your phone and forget everything I said about increasing your social media presence.”

“But…”

“Not buts! Had I realized you would require a chaperone, I wouldn’t have suggested it in the first place.”

Jace sputters out a laugh, and I shoot him my best knock-it-off look. He gets the message quickly, biting his lips to stop.

“Go do what you do, Mama,” he says, stepping in to me and kissing the top of my head. “We’ll stay here and get Little Man all tuckered out.”

I relax, slightly. I love that he gets it. Add that to the list of things that Jace does that Cody didn’t—takes me and my career seriously. To Cody, I fooled around online all day. It was all play and no work. Jace, on the other hand, sees everything I do and the effects it has on the business.

On top of that, he steps up to help with Otis so I can take care of business.

Fuck, I could not love him more.

“Thank you.”

“You can thank me by not making me relive the turkey thing for your video series.” He winks.

“Ha. I love you, Jace Hayes. But not that much.”

“I tried.”

Winking at me again, he grabs a six-pack from Brandt and gestures toward the deep fryer. They go off one way, while Margeaux and I head to the house, both of us rolling our eyes at this new mess. Because if there is one thing we both know given our roles at Hayes, if it’s not one thing, it’s another.

And right now, it’s time to save the world. One social media comment at a time.