Total pages in book: 55
Estimated words: 50840 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 254(@200wpm)___ 203(@250wpm)___ 169(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 50840 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 254(@200wpm)___ 203(@250wpm)___ 169(@300wpm)
"Thank you." She glances down at her son, her expression soft. "His name is Lachlan. He's my world."
"He's way cuter than your brother."
She laughs softly.
I press my palms to my blazing cheeks, trying to get myself together as Logan's grin grows. He's enjoying this way too much. "I'm sorry. I'm frazzled. Logan didn't tell me that we were coming here. He basically kidnapped me after my interview."
"Logan!" Lauren jabs him in the ribcage.
"What? I figured I had a better chance of luring her back here if she didn't know where we were going," he says, shrugging. "And look, it worked. She's here."
"Is he always like this?" I ask his sister.
"Pretty much always." She shoots me a mischievous look. "You definitely need a raise."
I groan, squeezing my eyes closed. "I didn't think anyone heard me say that. I promise I'm not after his money." I bite my lip. "Well, not very much of it, anyway."
Her quiet laugh echoes around the foyer. "I'm not offended. He's been my brother my entire life. Trust me, you need a raise."
"I don't even know how much I make," I mutter.
Lauren gasps quietly. "You didn't tell her how much she makes? What the fuck, Logan?"
He has the grace to look embarrassed. "It didn't come up."
"How does her pay rate just not come up?" Lauren narrows her eyes on her brother, shifting the baby in her arms. He really is cute, with a head full of dark hair and an angelic little face. "Are you a crappy boss?"
"What the fuck, Lauren?" Logan growls. "What kind of question is that?"
"The good kind," I say sweetly, stirring the pot because he deserves it. And because watching him squirm is all kinds of fun for me. I don't think he tells his sister no very often. It's cute. That's not a word I ever thought I'd attribute to Logan Moreno, but it's the only one that applies. He towers over his sister, but he looks at her like she's his hero.
"I'm going to show you exactly what kind of boss I am, baby," he growls, narrowing his eyes on me.
"Oh," Lauren whispers, her gaze darting between the two of us.
I feel the heat climbing up my cheeks as she clocks the way he's looking at me. It's not subtle at all. I doubt that word is even in his vocabulary. "Stop calling me that," I mutter, glowering at him. "I already told you that you can't call me that. Don't call me angel, either."
"Why the fuck not? You're mine."
Lauren's eyes practically bug out of her head at his declaration. "Oh my gosh. You two are dating? I thought she worked for you?"
"We are…" I bite my tongue before the denial forms. If I tell her that we aren't dating, Logan is going to have a whole lot of explaining to do when the news of our fake relationship breaks. It's not my place to force him into telling her about Montaque when he asked for time to make sure she's protected. "We are dating," I sigh. "And now I work for him too. Somehow."
"You sound so thrilled about it, baby," Logan says, his tone light.
"You definitely owe her a raise then," Lauren mutters. "No woman should have to work for you and date you without being paid ungodly amounts of money, Logan. That's cruel and unusual."
His face blanches, and I throw my head back, laughing. I bet she gives him hell every day just because she can. I already like her. I can also already see why he's so protective of her. Their bond is obvious.
It's also obvious that she adores the little boy in her arms. Every time he moves, she glances down at him, checking on him. Her expression softens with wonder, like she can't quite believe that he's real. Love practically flows from her. I barely know her, and I can already tell that she's an amazing mother. It would destroy her to lose her baby. And I'm guessing it scares the crap out of her to consider that there may come a day when she isn't able to care for him because of her illness.
In the group homes, there were a lot of kids who struggled with mental health issues. It was always devastating to watch kids who were thriving one day slowly fall apart as their meds stopped working. I can imagine it's even worse to be the one slowly unraveling, not knowing how to stop it. To be a prisoner in your own mind, held hostage by a disease no one fully understands, has to be terrifying.
And to be judged and labeled for it? To be treated like you've done something wrong just because you were born the way you were? Well, that's always been one of the biggest problems with people, hasn't it? We fear what we don't understand. We avoid what makes us uncomfortable. If it isn't perfect, it's broken.