Page 55 of Impulsive Saint
“Mills, I love you but stop talking.” Tyler groaned.
“Sorry?”
“She has a valid point.” Hunter added.
“First off, I do not have a thing for Ashtyn. I like her, that’s all.” he murmured over his brother’s sound of disbelief. “Second, she’s a job so even if I did have a thing for her, it can’t happen.”
“Sure it can.” Millie piped up quickly. “Hunter and I work together and we’re in a relationship.”
“It’s not the same.” Hunter said at the same time Tyler did.
“Why not?” Millie asked.
“You weren’t my client.” Hunter explained. “I worked for Lemon and we worked together. Prin- sorry, Ashtyn Echols is a client of the agency. Forming relationships with clients is always a no-no. It creates a conflict of interest.”
Tyler rubbed at his forehead again, “You’re doing it again. Talking to each other like I’m not here.”
“Sorry.” Hunter was clearly grinning when he said it though and Tyler was just annoyed enough that he said something stupid.
“Ashtyn is the job, but she’s not the client. Her father and mother are. But that’s not the problem. The problem is that she doesn’t know she’s a job. She doesn’t know I’m her security detail and I’m bound by my word to her mother not to tell her.”
“Oh Jesus.” Hunter groaned this time. “Why? Tyler, why would you agree to keep something like that from her?”
“Because when I agreed I didn’t know her. I had no way of knowing I was going to…”
“Fall for her?” Millie supplied happily and Tyler wished he didn’t love his brother and new sister-in-law so much because then he could just hang up on them.
“I like her, okay. But she’s a job and even if she wasn’t, she’s in a vulnerable place right now. I can’t take advantage of that.”
“Does she have feelings for you?” Millie’s voice was louder, as if she’d taken the phone from his brother and Tyler sighed.
“I don’t know. Maybe. Yeah? I think so.”
“Then might I suggest never, ever, telling her that you think she’s vulnerable and you’d be taking advantage if you gave into your feelings? She’s a grown woman, don’t tell her how she’s supposed to feel right now. Then, if something happens, you’ll know it’s just because you both want it.”
Tyler bit his cheek, refusing to tell Millie that he’d already done all of those stupid things and crossed every line and ruined it. He couldn’t go back and change things and he and Ashtyn couldn’t move forward, not from the lies he’d told. So none of this really mattered.
“I appreciate your advice. Really, I do. But I think it’s best if Ashtyn and I just stay friends.”
Hunter chuckled somewhere near the other end of the phone, “Good luck with that brother.”
“I tried to stay just friends with Hunter and now I’m married to him.” Millie giggled.
“Okay, that’s about all I can take of you two and your wedded bliss for tonight.” Tyler snorted. “I’m hanging up now.”
“Oh come on, Ty. Don’t go yet.”
“I have to. Got something I need to take care of. I’m glad you made it home and I’ll come visit as soon as I’m back in Nashville.”
Hunter sighed, “Okay, just be careful out there.”
“I will.”
“I don’t just mean on your bike.”
He groaned, “I know.”
They exchanged goodbyes and he hung up before throwing himself down on the bed. Leave it to Hunter and Millie to pick up on everything he was dealing with in one single conversation. He was glad they were home but he was equally glad that he and Ashtyn were thousands of miles away from the happy couple with all of their advice and good-natured ribbing at his expense. He could only imagine what sort of trouble Millie and Ashtyn would be if he had to deal with them in the same room.
