Page 98 of Miss Trust

Tory

Ihung up the phone, fighting my tears. After our night in Vegas, I’d foolishly thought Chance and I had settled into a different place. Instead, he was apparently relieved to be able to stay in his LA condo instead of schlepping out to Malibu each day. And here I’d been foolish enough to think he and I had established what? Some sort of connection?

Stupid.

Chance wasn’t a relationship guy. We might have become more than fuck buddies, but apparently there was a lot of gray area between casual and relationship status. Had I actually been naïve enough to imagine he could want a future with a poor single mom who had to take instruction on how to give a proper blow job?

Maybe this was for the best. A reminder of what happens in Vegas stays there. It had been a fantasy night where I’d been able to forget all my daily obligations and play dress-up. But now we were back to reality.

The next day, Penny and I waited in the Escalade outside of Burbank airport. The sight of my sister’s red hair made me smile. I was out of the vehicle and up on the sidewalk, hugging her tightly.

She laughed at my reaction, probably surprised to see me so free with affection. “Whoa. Good to see you too.”

I pulled back and looked at the handsome man beside her. “You must be Reid.”

“I am. And you must be Tory. It’s nice to finally meet you.”

“Likewise.”

We all turned at the sound of Penelope. “Mom, let me out.”

I walked over and opened her door, letting Teagan scoop her up and out of her car seat into a big old auntie hug.

“Oh my goodness, look at you. You’ve gotten taller, haven’t you?”

She nodded with her toothy grin. “Yep. And I can swim now.”

“Can you? I can’t wait to see it. Penny, I want you to meet my boyfriend, Reid.”

Reid took her hand in a shake. “It’s very nice to meet you, Penny. I’ve heard many amazing things about you.”

She giggled.

“And I brought you a gift.”

Her eyes went wide. “You did?”

“Sure did.” He pulled a stuffed animal out of his carry-on bag. It looked exactly like Peppa Pig. “What do you think?”

She squealed. “Thank you. I love it.”

He and Teagan shared a smile. The type which conveyed how important it was for him to make a good impression on her family.

I could see the similarities between the brothers. But where Reid had a baby face and easy smile, Chance was sharper in his features. Where Reid was cleanly shaved, his older brother preferred the five o’clock shadow. Where Reid was classically handsome, Chance was dangerously sexy. I mentally shook my head to keep myself from further comparisons.

We made chitchat on the way to the Malibu house. Reid sat up front with me while Teagan sat next to Penny in the back. It turned out he was easy to talk to. He also didn’t seem to begrudge my daughter’s interruptions in our conversation the way some adults did.

“Wow, is this the house?” Teagan asked as we pulled in.

“It is. Chance is staying at his condo in LA for the next few days.”

“And the car you’re driving—is it his too?” Teagan asked.

“It is an employee car, but yes.” My glance in the rearview mirror revealed the surprise on my sister’s face. She’d never known me to be agreeable to accepting such things. Oh, how things had changed in only a couple months.

We got settled in and decided on Chinese takeout food for the evening. Although I enjoyed getting to know Reid and seeing how good he was with both my sister and daughter, I couldn’t help feeling guilty about leaving out Chance.

As if on cue, my sister broached the subject. “How has your new boss been?”