Page 27 of His Lovebug

“Hi,” I said, offering a smile.

The man waved.

“I’m Quin, Colt’s wife.”

The man frowned, but when Matt cut him a harsh look, he only nodded. “Nice to meet you. I’m Tyler.”

Well, this is seven different kinds of awkward.I started making another cup of coffee. No one talked. I ground the beans and poured boiling water over them into the small pot.God, why won’t anyone say something?By the time I had my coffee mugwarming my hands, I was finished with the tension hanging over everything.

I flashed both men a smile. “Is this about Jackson?”

Tyler flinched. “Why would you ask that?”

“He’s our problem of the week. He told Matt about the deal.” I shrugged and sipped my coffee. The rich chocolatey flavor made all this slightly more tolerable.

“Yeah,” he said with a sigh and set his mug on the counter.

“What did the fuckhead do now?” Matt asked, and I frowned at him.

Tyler rubbed his hands down his face and sent Matt a wan smile that did nothing to defrost him. “Look, I did something that Jackson isn’t going to like. Hell, he probably won’t understand at all.”

Matt grunted, which wasn’t helpful.

“Can you tell us?” I asked softly, nudging Matt with my elbow.

“I confessed to Topher,” Tyler blurted.

Matt straightened and acted surprised, something that didn’t happen often. “What?”

Tyler, who seemed to have a lot on his mind, began to pace around with a world-ending scowl etched deep onto his face. “I couldn’t take it. You know the deal Jackson and I had. He was supposed to get two million, and I was going to get eight, after Topher paid me and the divorce was finalized. I had to have the cash to settle up some debts.” He winced and tugged at the collar of his dress shirt. “Amber knew I was in deep, but she is the one who came from money, not me. She could’ve helped me, but she wouldn’t sign the cash over to me, and I didn’t want her to know that I’d lost so much money to Derek Uhlig.”

Matt looked as if he wanted to groan. Did Tyler know that Matt worked for Derek? With the way he was pacing, I thought maybe not.

“Uh,” I tried to cut in, but Matt shook his head at me.

“This business with Jackson was my workaround, right? It’s not that I didn’t love Amber, I did. I do. I just—” He sighed and stopped to stare directly into my eyes, and I could feel the tension radiating off him. “Last night it hit me. I won’t raise my baby if I do this.”

Matt glanced at me, and my face heated.

“Family is important,” I murmured. “You don’t get a second chance to be a good parent.”

“Exactly!” Tyler pointed at me and looked like he was going to give me a hug, but a particularly dire glare from Matt stopped the man in his tracks. “So, I came clean to my father-in-law, Topher. I bared my soul to Amber. I begged her to take me back. She apologized because she did cheat, whatever the circumstances. We were both wrong. She should’ve helped me. We both want to make it work.”

Internally, I winced.Really? She should’ve covered your massive gambling debts? You, sir, are not a winner.I didn’t say that out loud. Matt appeared similarly unimpressed.

“How are you going to do that?” I finally asked when it became clear he was waiting for some sort of response.

He wrung his hands and stared at me. “I just want to be a good dad and a good husband. We’ll find a way. I agreed to marriage counseling. Anything. Anything she wants.”

Matt snorted.

“That’s admirable,” I said, reaching for something acceptable in this situation. I sipped my coffee again and smiled.

“Is it?” Matt snarked, and I wanted to kick him, but wow, this marriage was doomed.

“So, all the problems are out in the open now? Wrapped up?” I asked hopefully.

Tyler beamed and nodded. “Yeah, the old man said he would help me with my debt, especially after I also agreed togo to addiction counseling. I mean, I’m going to really have to straighten my life out. He promised he would never allow me to get into a spot like this again. He said that his daughter and grandchild were the most important things in the world to him. I really lucked out. I’m glad I didn’t run away with the money.”

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