Page 10 of Not Mine to Rescue

Would that be a deal-breaker? My mind went down a rabbit hole no sane, horny, twenty-something’s brain should.

Lemon jabbed me in the ribs to get my attention. She tipped her head toward the barn so we wouldn’t eavesdrop on the conversation.

That wouldn’t fly. I needed to know if she had kids or not.

Didn’t I?

Honoria took a deep breath to calm herself. “I know you’re going through a rough time right now. You need to focus on your…” she swallowed whatever she wanted to say and continued, “…wife. Okay? I won’t push this, but perhaps we could agree on a temporary change?”

A muscle in her jaw twitched as whatever Jim was saying didn’t align with her suggestion.

“Let me call you back.”

Whoever was on the line wasn’t done, and wouldn’t let her exit the conversation gracefully. Her eyes went to the sky. When she refocused on her surroundings, she caught me staring. Her frown deepened. She pointed at the phone and mouthed, “Ex.”

Oh. The asshole. I let Lemon know the skinny. “Her ex is a lawyer, too.”

“You know both of them? Jesus. Why don’t you just move into the courthouse?”

I didn’t know either of them biblically. Although I wouldn’t mind getting to know Honoria like that. “Let me handle this, okay?”

Lemon grimaced. “We need this client. Don’t forget that.”

“Right, right. Money over sanity. You know, I suspect we’re not related.”

“Keep telling yourself that. Maybe one of these dark nights I’ll be one brother less if you get my drift?” Lemon tromped off to wrangle the animals and finish the afternoon’s chores. I hung back at a distance while Honoria finished her call.

She stared at the trees and the buildings after she put her phone away.

“If you need a few more minutes, I’ll…uh…” I pointed a thumb toward the house.

Honoria shook herself. “No, I’m good. I just… I have a question. I know the opening was for a part-time day care for Molly. Lemon said I could bring her on Mondays and the Thursday-Friday set. But⁠—”

I could sense her cold feet coming on. “Any day is fine.” Lemon would kill me if she only agreed to one day a week. “We’re good.”

We weren’t, because Lemon was maxed out, and we couldn’t afford another employee. I’d been trying to be here more often, but the Destroyers kept me running. Thank goodness I wasn’t a prospect. That was one long blur of 24/7 shit jobs.

“Can you take Molly on for the whole week?”

I tried to keep my face from breaking into a grin. Lemon would be stoked. “I think we can make room. Molly’s a sweetheart. It shouldn’t be a problem.”

No sooner than I spoke her name, the dog perked up her ears. That was one thing I loved about collies. They had such expressive ears. You knew exactly what they were tuned into, and how excited they were just by those fuzzy points. I held out my hand. “You definitely are a sweetheart, aren’t you?”

Making a liar out of me, Molly strained her lead and pulled Honoria off balance. I caught her as she fell forward. The leash went slack, and Molly quickly looped a circle around us, practically yanking us both to the ground.

Honoria’s tits were smashed against my chest.

She looked up with her hair falling loose into her eyes. “Can you work on lead training, too?”

As much as I’d love to help her with that, I kind of liked this new problem.

With a little lift, and the agonizing sensation of her body sliding along mine, I got her feet under her again.

“Can I train her to only trip you while you’re with me?”

Something flashed in Honoria’s eyes. It wasn’t anger. “Do you flirt with everyone?”

“No. Only the prettiest women. Trust me.” And to prove she could trust me, I let her go and untangled the leash around our legs. Then whistled to get Molly’s attention. It took a simple point at the ground to make her sit.