All Jacked Up: Rough Riders, Book 8 by Lorelei James

Author:Lorelei James
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, pdf
Tags: Contemporary Romance, Red Hots!, Contemporary Romance, Red Hots!

www.samhainpublishing.com

119

Lorelei James

Jack didn’t chase Keely down because she needed time to process her mistake. Later tonight they could discuss solutions like rational adults. He pointed to Chet’s cooler. “Got anything stronger than water?”

“Sure.” He pulled out a bottle of Coors Light. “Here.”

“Thanks.” Jack cracked the top, tempted to drain it in one swallow.

“So can me and Remy ask you something, Jack, without you getting all pissed off at us?”

“Give it a shot, but no guarantees.”

“How come you didn’t tell Keely she needed to budget separately for teardown? Especially since you were helping her figure out what it’d take to get this place up to snuff?”

“An oversight. We’ve all made them,” he lied. “I’m kicking myself same as you guys are.”

“She’s a fiery, independent woman. This oversight will drive her crazy. She’ll blame herself, lose confidence, close down…”

“And then she’ll pull up her bootstraps and do what needs done,” Remy added. “She ain’t the type to stand around, wringing her hands and waiting for someone to rescue her. Which is damn amazing when you think about it. She could’ve turned out so much differently.”

“Amen, bro.”

That startled him. “What do you mean?”

“We’ve—her brothers and cousins on both the McKay and West side—looked out for her. She wouldn’t have had to do nothin’ but stand around and look pretty and helpless. But that’s not what Keely is made of. That’s not who she is now, or who she was even when she was a girl. She don’t want nothin’

handed to her. She learned to do things for herself. If she didn’t know how to do something, she found folks to teach her. We admire the hell outta her for standing her ground when it’d be easier to give in.”

“To her family?

“Yeah. God love our McKay cousins, but they would’ve put the kibosh on her buying the building straight away. They would’ve accidentally made Keely feel stupid for trying to do something without their help.”

Jack scowled.

“Don’t get us wrong,” Chet said. “They ain’t cruel to her. And hell, I don’t even think they realize they’re doin’ it. But because they’re all older males, they don’t see Keely in an adult role. They treat her like a little girl. And they’d see purchasing this building as another one of Keely’s whims. We knew how much it meant to her, fulfilling this lifelong dream. We also know that if this clinic project falls through, her family will act like it’s no big deal, when it will crush her.”

“Which is also why if she don’t have the money to hire someone to do the teardown, she absolutely will not ask anyone in her family for financial help,” Remy pointed out. “Hell, she’ll be here with a crowbar and do the whole thing herself.”

120

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