Sweet Heart (The Hearts of Sawyers Bend #2) - Ivy Layne Page 0,16

The rest of your upkeep is on you.”

I didn’t bother with charm for Bryce. I had a small reserve of patience for Aunt Ophelia. I suspected she was far more intelligent than she pretended to be—after all, she’d lived in luxury for decades without a day of work—but she was mostly harmless as long as it wasn’t your bank account she was draining dry. And she’d always been kind to me when I was a kid.

Bryce, on the other hand, had been a little asshole.

Not much had changed.

Chapter Seven

royal

This is bullshit.” Bryce shoved his hands in his pockets and strode to the window, taking in the view of the gardens and the mountains beyond. “I don't see why you all should get everything, and we have to beg for scraps.”

I took a deep breath, reminding myself that losing my temper wouldn't get me anywhere. My goal was to extract myself from the situation until the next time when, hopefully, Tenn would lose the coin toss and he’d have to deal with Bryce and Ophelia.

“I know this has been explained to you,” I said dryly, “but let me try again. Technically, no one has inherited anything yet, except for Griffen. I don't own The Inn. I just work here. That's how I pay my bills. Actually, for the time being, I got the exact same thing from my father that you did. Room and board. If that's not enough I suggest you do what the rest of us have done and get a job.”

Unlike Ophelia, Prentice Sawyer had never believed in lazy children. My sister Sterling aside, all of us had worked since we were kids. Summer jobs in various family businesses, chores around the house—anything that would keep us busy. We'd all been given positions in family companies after we graduated from college, but none of it had come for free.

“Fine, then,” Bryce said, holding his sneer too long, letting it slide from darkly handsome to bratty. “Why don’t you give me a job here?”

I resisted the urge to laugh. We had a waiting list of resumes for positions at The Inn. We paid well, treated our employees fairly, and had great benefits. We were always hiring—being in a tourist town meant higher than average turnover—but I doubted Bryce was qualified for anything at The Inn.

“I didn't know you were looking,” I said. “Why don't you tell me a little bit about your qualifications. Have you ever worked in hospitality?”

“I've stayed in plenty of hotels,” Bryce shot back.

“So, no hospitality experience. Have you ever worked in an office? Answered phones or handled customer service? We have an opening in event coordination and one on the housekeeping staff. Do you have any experience with cleaning?”

The blank look Bryce gave me almost broke my composure. I couldn’t help pressing further. “What did you study in college? If you have a business degree, I might be able to put you to work.”

Bryce gritted his perfectly straight, white teeth before forcing out, “Communications.”

“You did that minor in Italian,” Ophelia added unhelpfully.

I vaguely remembered Bryce spending his junior year in Italy. He'd almost gotten kicked out of college for not attending classes, but I wasn't sure he'd learned any Italian. Unable to resist, I said, “Hai le braccia corte.”

Bryce stared back at me with a look of blind confusion. Guess none of that Italian had stuck. It was probably good he didn’t know I’d just called him cheap. Somehow, I didn’t think Bryce would find it as funny as I did. I gave another helpless shrug.

“I'm sorry, I can't help you, Bryce. It wouldn't be fair to the other applicants to hire someone so unqualified. Unless you'd be willing to wait tables. Or maybe I can give you a few shifts with housekeeping and see how you do.”

“I'm not working housekeeping,” Bryce protested, the look of shock on his face priceless.

“Every single one of us did at least one summer scrubbing toilets and changing sheets. A little hard work never hurt anyone. I bet you’d learn a lot.”

Bryce tossed his gleaming, golden hair. “You've always been an asshole.”

“Bryce!” Ophelia looked at me and shook her head. “I'm so sorry, Royal. I don't know what's gotten into him. It's just that we're a little short right now. Gerald's alimony check hasn't come through and—”

I could never figure out how much of Ophelia was naïve entitlement and how much was calculation. It didn't really matter. I had no intention of subsidizing her lavish lifestyle at my