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By the time they’d wrapped up their enthusiastic greeting, Elena’s eyes must have looked wider than silver dollars as she fanned her suddenly hot cheeks. The Irons marriage may be far from traditional but there was no denying the hotness she’d just witnessed with her own two eyeballs. Taffy’s husbands obviously adored her and weren’t shy about showing it.
“Ya’ll making me forget myself when I have an interview to get done,” Taffy said blushing and shaking her head. She jumped when Vincent smacked her ass. “She’s gonna think we’re a bunch of heathens.”
“Lucky,” Elena breathed before realizing it’d escaped her mouth. Now, she blushed as the others chuckled.
“This is Elena Rojas—”
“And she brought tacos?” Vincent interrupted with a raised brow as he reached out to shake her hand.
“I figured it was only fair to bring you lunch to make up for the fact I showed up for my interview smelling like one of the Flying Tacos,” Elena said, referencing the taco trucks that Medina’s used. She nodded towards the bags that had been set down on the desk. “I grabbed a little bit of everything and the sauces to match.”
“You didn’t have to do that,” Archer said even as he began to dig into one of the bags. When he looked up, he winked at her. “But it’s cool you did.”
“Hire her,” Vincent whispered to his wife, shooting Elena a conspiratorial grin.
“We have to finish the interview first,” Taffy told him, gesturing for her to sit down in the chair across from the desk. “How about the two of you take those to the break room and see if anyone else needs a bit to eat?”
“Do wehaveto share?”
Elena couldn’t help but chuckle at the sad looks the Iron men turned on their wife. She had a feeling the two of them were pros at getting what they wanted if the smile Taffy gave them was anything to go by.
“Just get,” she said, shooing them away with a wave. It took a few more kisses and her assuring them they didn’t have to share, before they left. “Dear Lord, those men of mine could drive a saint to drink.”
“It looks like you enjoy every single second,” Elena said, more than a little jealous of Taffy’s fairytale life. She’d gone far too long without even one man sweet on her and even longer since she’d felt anything back. Every date she’d gone on turned into a dud so she was buying batteries in bulk nowadays. “I hope I get that someday.”
“I do too,” Taffy breathed, a sappy smile on her face. She twirled the large wedding set that sparkled on her ring finger as she sat down behind the large desk. “Everyone deserves the type of love I have with my men. Now…let’s get this interview over with so I can hire you already. Shall we?”
Chapter Two
“I’m so sorry for taking up your whole afternoon, Elena. My mouth gets away from me sometimes and I didn’t realize how long we’d been gabbing. I’ll make sure to add the time onto your timecard for your first paycheck.”
“Thank you,” Elena said. On one hand, she felt a little bad about accepting the offer. Taffy was so easy to talk to that she’d lost track of the time as well, so she wasn’t the only one to blame. On the other, she knew she was broke as a joke and couldn’t afford to turn away the money dangling in front of her. “That’d be awesome.”
“Well, I’m excited to let the guys know we’re going to have an office assistant again. Not only will they be glad to have someone finally answering the phone with some consistency, but I think you’re going to fit in perfectly around here.”
“I sure hope so,” she said, standing and stretching her sore muscles to work out some of the kinks that had settled in from sitting for so long. When her lower back protested, she stifled a groan. The extra shifts she’d picked up at Medina’s to make up for the deficit between her bank account and the hospital bill were killing her. She hadn’t had a day off in a long while and she was feeling every bit of it.
“Are you sure you can start on Monday? I don’t want to upset anyone at Medina’s by stealing you away without notice. Myhusbands would never forgive me if I pissed off the owners of their favorite taco shop.”
“Oh, you needn’t worry about Medina’s,” she explained sitting back down. The last thing she wanted Taffy to think was that she'd burn any bridges now that she had a new job. “I’ll actually still be working there around my hours here. Believe me, Mama J and Mr. Medina were the first people I told after Marisol about looking for another job. They knew it was coming though. Especially now that the semester is over, and Marisol needs most of her shifts back.”
“You know, until I saw your last name was Rojas, I thought youwerea Medina. You look so much like their daughter.”
“A lot of folks think that Marisol and I are sisters,” Elena shared with a nod. It actually occurred more often than not considering they both rocked the same tanned skin, long curly dark hair, and more curves than most men could handle. The resemblance was definitely there. “I’ve been best friends with ‘Sol since we met in kindergarten and spent more time at their house than I did my own. The Medinas practically raised me.” She paused to snort. “Who am I kidding, theydidraise me. I moved in with them when I was fifteen and was treated like one of their own even before that.”
“Really?” Taffy asked, her expression curious.
“Really.” Elena swallowed past the lump in her throat at the reminder of what a dysfunctional family she came from. “I’d spent my birthday with ‘Sol and her family that weekend and when Mr. Medina drove me home the next day, they were gone. They’d packed up everything in our trailer and walked away. No note or nothing.”
“They just left?” Taffy asked horrified, covering her mouth. When Elena nodded, she swallowed hard. “I can’t—you were just a child. That’s awful.”
“No. It was the best thing that could have happened to me,” Elena argued with a shake of her head. She’d thought the same thing at first too before she’d seen the bigger picture. “One of the reasons I was with the Medinas all the time was because they couldn’t handle taking care of a kid to begin with. My dad was a drunk and my mom had demons of her own that she was struggling with. They were both…unwell. Looking back, I’m surprised I didn’t get taken away from them when I was in grade school with how often I showed up without a coat in the middle of winter. They did me a favor when they disappeared—err, at least that’s how I prefer to look back at it. If they’d stayed around, they would have taken me down with them. I have all the family I need with the Medinas and that’s what’s important.”
“You’re absolutely right. Thatiswhat’s important,” Taffy echoed with a thoughtful look on her face. “There is no one way to be a family. Look at us for instance. The Iron Seeds are far from your typical family, but what we have is perfect.”
“It sure seems to be.” Elena bit her lip to keep from saying anything else. There were so many questions that she wanted to ask but she also didn’t want to get fired from a job she hadn’t had a chance to even start, so she kept her lips zipped.
Taffy chuckled and shook a finger in her direction. “C’mon. Don’t be shy. Tell me what you’ve heard and then I’ll fill you in on therealhistory of the Iron Seeds. You’ll need to know anyways if you’re going to be working here since all the guys are club members.”
