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“Tyler.”
I sat on the couch, still unable to forget the image of Henrietta sitting there, flipping through my books, her eyes lighting with questions, her lips turning into a smile at my answers.
“I’m in deep shit,” I said.
A crease formed between his eyebrows. “Do you need money?”
Of course he would jump to the one thing he could solve. “No, I need advice.” I propped my phone against a stack of books on the coffee table and leaned my elbows on my knees.
“What’s going on?”
I let out a sigh, looking away from my brother. After my dad, he was the person I admired most. “I met a girl.”
His lips curled into a smile. “Considering they make up fifty-one percent of the population, it was bound to happen at some point.”
I hadn’t expected to laugh, but I did. “They’re not like this one.”
The lift of his eyebrows told me he was listening.
“She’s smart and funny, driven, selfless, loves her family and friends, has a smile that makes you forget how to breathe, and her curves...” I closed my eyes. “She’s the total package, Gage. But she works for the company we’re building for... I can’t date her. Ican’t.”
When I opened my eyes again, he had a devilish grin on his face, not too dissimilar from when we were kids and he had a prank planned for us.
“What?” I asked.
“You’re in deep shit.”
“Why do you think I called you!” I half laughed, half cried. I was a drowning man, and damn, if he didn’t rescue me soon, I was in danger of sinking.
His background shifted as he stood, pacing his office. “You’ve never dated women on the job, which I’ve respected. Makes sense not to rile things up, especially when you’re looking for a promotion... Are there any rules against it?”
I shook my head. Waited for him to throw me a raft.
“Honestly, Ty?”
I nodded.
“I don’t see the problem.”
My jaw clenched. “Don’t see the problem? She’s from California; I’m from Texas.”
“People move all the time.”
“Not her. She’s saving for her own house.”
“And I have so many miles you know you could fly her back and forth every day if you wanted to.”
Gritting my teeth, I said, “How’s that supposed to work with a family? With children?”
“You’re already planning for children with her? How serious is it?”
The tips of my ears got hot, because I was placing a lot of pressure on a woman I hadn’t even officially asked on a first date.
Gage asked, “I know you said it’s technically allowed, but does Jim have something against it? Or her company? Is it the kind of thing that would be frowned upon?”
“Jim doesn’t care as long as I keep things professional. And her boss was practically begging me to take her out, so I doubt there are any rules there.”
Gage took a deep breath. “Tyler, I know you’re responsible. That’s why you went out and made a career for yourself outside the farm. Lord knows Rhett could use some of those brains. But you can’t read the future. No one can. Say you go on a couple dates with this girl and it fizzles. That’s better than sitting around, beating yourself up over a fictional breakup that may or may not ever happen.”