Her Dirty Builders (Men at Work #10) - Mika Lane Page 0,19

to steady my voice but it wobbled, nevertheless. It always did when I heard his kind voice.

“Are you kidding?” he said. “What is wrong with that man?”

He sighed.

Eddie didn’t care that by fucking me over, he was also fucking my father over. And that made me madder than anything.

My dad was not a rich man. He’d worked his way up from warehouse worker back in the day to where he was a manager now. He’d done well, especially considering the company had been jerks about the fact that he had no college degree. He’d saved money for my college, making one sacrifice after another to make up for my absent mother. It wasn’t easy on him. I knew over the years he’d wished for a partner, but kept women he dated at arm’s length on my account.

Now that I was older, I hoped he’d find someone. It wasn’t like there was any shortage of women interested in him.

“What should I do?” I asked. “About the house?”

He took a deep breath. “You have to get in touch with Eddie. The two of you will figure something out. And you could also consider looking for a higher-paying job somewhere. You can’t keep working at the paper for pennies. I know you love it there, but you need to be able to support yourself. Obviously.”

It hurt to hear that. He’d always supported my journalistic dreams.

I knew he meant well, but I couldn’t help but feel crapped on.

But I could deal.

I’d get rid of the house faster than I’d planned.

Which was totally possible because I had three guys on my side to make exactly that happen.

14

CASE

“Case, honey, I have something to talk to you about.”

I looked up to find my mother in my office doorway. I don’t know how my father ever got anything done.

Maybe that’s why the company was in the shape it was.

“Hey, Mom. What’s up?”

“My friend Lois called me the other day.”

Lois... which friend was that? The one from the gardening club? Or cards? I couldn’t keep track.

My mother had a more active social life than anyone I knew.

“Oh yeah? How is she?” I asked, knowing that showing interest in her friends made her very happy.

But she did that raise-one-eyebrow thing she always did before she dropped a bomb.

I did not have time for this.

“She’s quite upset with you.”

What? Me?

“Do I know her, Mom? And why would she be upset with me?”

I looked at the quote on my computer that I was working up for a new client. One that would pay. A great deal of money.

I might like helping out a pretty girl like Esme with her money pit house, but I still had to pursue paid work.

And my quote was due in an hour.

“Case, it seems you took her daughter out recently.”

“You mean Camille Vale? Lois is her mom?”

Camille Vale. Hadn’t thought about her since the night we went out. For good reason.

“Yes, Lois is Camille’s mother.” Mom strolled over to the large framed photo of my father, and stared at it with reverence.

Then she turned to face me with narrowed eyes. “Apparently, Case, you slept with Lois’ daughter and then never called her again.”

Holy shit. Why did I suddenly feel like a fourteen-year-old boy getting caught jerking off?

And did women really tell their mothers when they fucked a guy on the first date? I thought if you were old enough to do shit like that, you were old enough to keep it from your mommy.

I guess that didn’t describe Camille Vale. And when I thought about it, I wasn’t surprised.

However, I’d never expected our night together to come back to haunt me.

“It’s true, Mom.”

I wasn’t going to lie about it. We were all consenting adults.

Mom looked down and shook her head slowly like I’d done something to disgrace the family name.

“As you can imagine, I was very embarrassed,” she sniffed.

Note to self… check next date for overly strong mother attachment

“Embarrassed about what? That your grown son had sex?”

Christ, she should be happy for me. I’d just broken the dry spell from hell. And I wasn’t one to discuss my sex life with my mother, but since she’d brought it up…

“If you want to know the truth, Mom, Camille was great. The evening was a lot of fun, especially when we got back to my place—”

She held a hand up to stop me.

“—but the minute she started talking about how she wanted to get married, she ruined the whole vibe.”

Mom sniffed. “Well, both Lois and I think that’s a