Page 40 of Her Summer Hope

“Hey, it’s Kyle,” he said, hoping to put her at ease.

“Hi. Is something wrong?”

Her voice was shaky and he frowned. He knew something wasn’t right. He felt it in his gut, and he was never wrong.

“No. Not at all. I was just calling to ask you about the holidays. The guys and I were talking about Labor Day and I realized that we never discussed the terms of your employment.”

He heard her breath of relief and she was less nervous. “Oh yeah. Of course. Um, well, I can come in that weekend, and I don’t have to work that Monday so I can come anytime that afternoon as well,” she said in a rush.

The line went silent as he considered what she said. She was offering to work through the holiday, but…

“You have another job?” he asked.

He heard her breath catch. “Yes. I work in the mornings. Is that a problem? I promise it won’t interfere with my work for you. I swear it,” she assured.

He sat on the edge of the bed and cradled the phone to his ear. “Madison, calm down. I know it won’t. I just don’t want to overwork you.”

“You won’t,” she promised.

“Okay. Why don’t you come on Saturday then and take Sunday and Monday off? I’ll give you double time for Saturday,” he offered.

“I was hoping to be able to come in on Sunday and Monday as well,” she said, but her voice sounded farther away, as if she’d pulled the phone away from her mouth.

Was she busy?

“Aiden volunteered to grill us hamburgers on Monday,” he said. “But if you want to come by and spend the afternoon here that would be great. The guys would love to have you. You could…uh, bring your husband too.”

Smooth, Logan. Really smooth.

He felt sure that she was going to see right through him.

He was anxious to investigate her old man, and if he got to spend more time with Madison—in a completely innocent way—then what was the harm? She brought out Murdock’s good side and that by itself was worth the discomfort he’d feel being brought face to face with her husband.

He just hoped they weren’t big on public displays of affection. Just the thought of watching something like that made his stomach twist.

“Oh, I don’t think that will be possible,” she said hesitantly. “My husband will be out of town and if I’m not working, I should probably stay home and get some things done. I really appreciate the invitation though…”

“Okay, well I guess I’ll see you later this evening. We can talk about the holiday schedule more then," he said.

"That's fine,” she agreed.

“See you soon,” he said and went to hang up before he said something idiotic.

“Bye, Kyle,” she said softly.

He realized two things at the end of that call. One, he had only called her so that he could talk to her again. Two, he was pretty damned sure that he’d heard a baby crying right before she hung up.

God, he was in deep. He needed to stop this unwise infatuation with her right now.

Especially if she had a baby.

He jammed his palms into his eyes and leaned back on the bed, for once at a complete loss for what to do next.

He was always the man with the plan, many plans, but now he had none.

Now he was just…some guy with no plan.

“Shit.”

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