He grabbed Mason’s baby bag in his free hand and worked to get a grip on himself while Grace picked up her small gold purse from the entry table. She was halfway to the Jeep when she looked over her shoulder and said, “You should know that I was just as torn when I saw you standing on my front step.”
Just like that, any control he’d managed to regain shattered.
* * *
Adam’s date for the evening—a brunette that Dylan hadn’t seen before tonight—looked anything but pleased by the way his brother’s jaw dropped when the two of them walked in. Grace’s beauty was only more stunning because she didn’t seem to be aware that she turned heads everywhere she went. No wonder that prick who’d gotten her pregnant had wanted her. Rage wasn’t something that came easily to Dylan, but ever since she’d told him what her ex and his family had done, fury kept rising up in him again and again.
Grace turned to look at him with concern on her beautiful face. “Is everything okay?”
“Not just okay,” he told her as he cupped the nape of her neck and drew her mouth to his. “Perfect.”
Kissing her here, with everyone’s eyes on them, was a blatant signal to all the other men in the room. She’s mine, was what he was telling them all. All mine.
He loved that one kiss was all it took for her eyes to go hazy with desire. So much desire that she whispered, “How long do we have to stay?”
He brought her mouth to his again before saying, “Thirty minutes. Forty-five tops. We’ll do the rounds, make Adam’s restoration pitch, and then we’ll—”
His brother and his date interrupted them just then. After Adam made the introductions, he told Grace, “I hope you’re planning to stick around, because I’m not sure I’ll be able to scrape my brother off the floor if you don’t.” He didn’t give Grace time to adjust to the weight of his comment, just asked her what he could get her to drink from the bar.
“A glass of white wine would be lovely.”
“Your dress is gorgeous.” Adam’s date hadn’t been able to take her eyes off Grace, either. “So are your shoes. I’ve got to know, where did you pick them up?”
Grace smiled at the woman. Dylan didn’t get the sense that she noticed the other woman’s envy at all—probably because she didn’t see herself as someone of whom another woman would be jealous.
“A fabulous store downtown called Indulgence.”
The name pricked through Dylan’s brain. “Mia’s best friend owns that store. Colbie Michaels. Actually, Colbie Bryant now that she’s married our friend Noah.”
“Wow, that’s amazing,” Grace said, smiling even wider now. “She was so nice. And I could have easily bankrupted myself in her store.”
“Mia said her stock was great, and I can see she wasn’t kidding.” He’d also heard from both Mia and his brother Rafe that Indulgence sold some seriously sexy stuff beyond dresses and shoes. Had Grace bought anything else?
Dylan couldn’t wait to find out, after he finally had a chance to strip her out of her pretty new dress.
By then, Adam’s date had pulled out her phone and looked up the store’s website. “Oh my God, Indulgence is having an evening sidewalk sale. Tonight only!”
Dylan could barely hold back his grin as his brother returned with their drinks, a glass of wine for Grace and beers for each of them. He’d been thinking a little karmic payback was in order for the way his brother had been so pleased to walk in on them in the boathouse a couple of days ago.
Adam turned to his date with his most charming smile to hand her a glass of champagne, but she was already saying, “I’m afraid I won’t be able to stay.”
He frowned, still holding out the glass of champagne for her. “Why not?”
She looked a little guilty for a moment before she shrugged. “You’re a great guy, but I think we can both already tell that we just don’t have the kind of spark that would last beyond a night or two. Not like Dylan and Grace,” she said with a nod toward the two of them. “Anyone can see that they’re the real deal. You and me, we’d just be a fling. I’m sure you’d be a great one-night stand, but I’m thinking it’s time to start holding out for Mr. Right instead. I’ll see myself out.”
She was gone so fast she nearly gave his brother whiplash. “What the hell happened while I was getting everyone drinks?” Adam asked them.
Dylan finally lost the battle with his laughter. “Trust me, you don’t want to know. It will only make you feel like less of a man than you already do. So, who do you need Grace and me to talk to?”
He had to admire the way his brother pulled it together so fast. Adam had always been good at compartmentalizing. Work rarely bubbled over into the rest of his life. And emotions never tangled with sex. Although, Dylan figured it was a big part of the reason why his brother’s date had decided a dress sale would be a better way to spend the night.
Making the rounds ended up taking more than forty-five minutes, but Dylan greatly enjoyed listening to Grace talk about the history of the Maritime Museum and the important part the building had played in shaping the Seattle waterfront. He could see light bulbs going on over the heads of the board members as she spoke so eloquently about the history all around them. No one had ever made Adam’s job of pitching for an historic renovation so easy.
“You’re amazing,” Adam said as he led them over to a gray-haired couple standing by the corner window.
“Once Dylan told me what you were trying to do, I have to admit I studied up a little.”
“A little?” His brother was full of admiration. “You could write a book on the place.”
Dylan thought he saw a light bulb go on over her head then. “You’re right—there are so many interesting stories about this building and the men and women who have come through here over the years. Romantic ones, too, like Mr. and Mrs. Callam meeting and falling in love here.”
“When I get the project,” Adam said, “I’m going to push for you to do a companion book.”
“That sounds amazing,” she said, but he could see that the lingering connection with his brother worried her, too. Because for all that she might want to believe in honesty, in romance and lasting love, her brush with the Bentley family had taught her just the opposite.
It was up to Dylan and his family to give her back her faith in truth and love again. Fortunately, if anyone could do it, the Sullivans could.