One Big Mistake - Jennifer Youngblood Page 0,24

concern.

Her eyes turned to saucers as she held out her phone to Ramsey. “You, Hartley, and Blake Owens are all over the news.”

Ramsey’s stomach tightened when he saw the image of him and Hartley kissing. He scrolled to the next one. It was of Blake Owens punching him. “Lucky shot,” he muttered. He felt a bit vindicated at the image where Blake was knocked out cold. The last one was of Ramsey and Hartley. His arm was around her, and she was shielding her face from the camera. He rubbed a hand over his forehead as he looked at Cash. “You sure you want to bring me on board? You may not want the association, with all of this negative publicity.”

A low chuckle sounded in Cash’s throat. “A little late for that, bro. We’ve been associated since birth.”

Heat seeped into Ramsey’s face. “You know what I mean. Being your brother is one thing. Hiring me is another.”

“It’s all good, bro. It’ll blow over.” Cash grinned. “Like I said, it was worth the hassle to see Blake Owens get his comeuppance.”

“You’re terrible,” Ava said with an eye roll, but Ramsey could tell she was amused by Cash’s comment. “You know, you might not want to go to a restaurant tonight, after all.” She grimaced. “The paparazzi can be brutal.” She touched Cash’s arm. “Remember how they hounded you after Grace Queenland died?”

“Oh, yeah. I also remember how they hounded me when you got shot.”

Ava wrinkled her nose. “Thankfully, I had no idea what was going on while I was in the hospital.”

“I guess I’ll have to find out what Hartley wants to do,” Ramsey said. He thought of something else. “You know, I may have to take you up on your offer about the job. Sutton won’t be too happy about me drawing so much attention to myself. It’s kind of hard to fly under the radar when your face is plastered over the news.”

His phone buzzed. He pulled it from his pocket. It was a text from Zoe.

What the heck? You and Hartley Raines? Does Cash know?

He flipped his screen around so that Cash could read it.

A corner of Cash’s lip lifted in a fun-loving smirk. “Seems like you’ve got some explaining to do to the fam, bro.”

“Yep, I do. I’m sure Zoe won’t be the only member of the fam I’ll be hearing from today.”

Cash made a face. “Yeah, Hartley’s not exactly Daddy’s favorite person.”

“Oh, man. That’s right,” Ramsey lamented. Daddy thought Hartley was bad news as far as relationships went. He wouldn’t be happy when he learned that another one of his sons was dating her. “Maybe you could talk to Daddy, put in a good word for me and Hartley.”

Cash laughed. “I love you, bro. As I said, you’ve got my blessing, but as far as Daddy goes, you’re on your own.”

“Wish me luck,” Ramsey said.

“Trust me, you’ll need all the luck you can get,” Cash quipped.

“I’m afraid you’re right,” Ramsey said dryly. “The good news is that Hartley and I aren’t a couple. We’re simply having dinner together.”

“Uh, huh,” Cash said slyly. “You keep telling yourself that.” He winked at Ava as the two of them laughed.

6

“Is that all you’re going to eat?”

Ramsey sat back in his seat and patted his stomach. “I couldn’t eat another bite if I tried.”

“Well, I hate to see it go to waste,” Hartley said as she speared the steak with her fork and placed it onto her plate. She reached for her knife and cut off a large section, plopping it into her mouth. “Mmm, that’s good,” she drawled.

Hartley was model-thin with a terrific figure. Ramsey was surprised by what a big appetite she had. “Do you have a hollow leg?”

She laughed. “No, just a high metabolism. I have the opposite problem from most women. If I don’t eat enough, I start looking like a skinny yard chicken.”

Laughter rose in his throat. “Yeah, I don’t think there’s any danger of that happening.” Hartley’s red locks were gleaming under the lights like burnished copper. Her blue eyes had a lively zing, almost as though she’d somehow absorbed bits of the sun. She was the most vibrant, beautiful woman in the room. Ramsey couldn’t take his eyes off her. He was looking forward to getting her alone so he could kiss her again. He looked at her wounded eye. It was still a bit puffy, but she’d covered up the bruising with makeup.

Her face fell. “Are you saying that I’m fat?”

“No,” he