CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Dylan’s mind had been blown by Grace from the start, but when she opened the door for him the following night, he swore his remaining brain cells actually melted inside his skull. If he could have thought clearly, he might have been able to stop his hands from grabbing, his mouth from devouring. But he didn’t have a prayer of doing anything but kissing her until he’d managed to have at least a tiny part of his fill.
“I’m torn, Grace. So damned torn between staying right here to strip that beautiful dress off you and taking you out to show you off.”
The way she smiled up at him only made it harder to think straight. “You look really good in your suit, too.”
Mason crawled over then, grabbing fistfuls of Dylan’s dark slacks to pull himself up. “I didn’t forget about you, buddy,” Dylan said as he lifted Mason into his arms. “I’m just having a hard time dealing with how stunning your mommy is.” When Mason babbled something unintelligible, Dylan nodded. “You’re right, I don’t stand a chance of ever getting used to how beautiful she is, so I should stop trying.” He kissed Mason on the forehead. “And since my mom will never forgive me if we don’t bring you over, especially since she bought out the entire toy store downtown to spoil you rotten tonight, I guess that means we should head out.”
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.
Dylan’s cell phone rang with Rafe’s ring tone, a call he’d been waiting for.
“Is it your mother?” Grace immediately asked.
Knowing what a big deal it was for her to leave Mason with anyone, he gently stroked her cheek. “It’s Rafe. And even though I’m sure Mason’s doing great with my mom, why don’t you give them a call while I talk to my brother?”
“And here I didn’t think I was being nearly that obvious.”
“There’s nothing wrong with wanting to know your kid is safe. My mom used to check in on us a half-dozen times when they’d go out. Granted,” he said with a grin, “that might have been because we had a history of doing things like jumping off the roof and starting huge bonfires in the backyard.”
Her easy laughter warmed him as they both drew out their cell phones and headed to the deck that faced the water. While she called his mother to check in, he dialed Rafe. Unfortunately, everything his brother told him over the next several minutes made the fury that he’d barely shoved down earlier rise up again. Hotter than ever.
Grace’s smile was a mile wide when she turned to him after they’d both hung up just seconds apart. “Look at the cute picture your mom took of Mason playing the piano. Doesn’t he look like such a big boy? And so proud of himself for making music all by himself.”
Looking at Mason’s innocent face only made Dylan’s gut twist tighter. “Rafe just confirmed for me that you weren’t the only one, Grace.”
She looked up from her phone. “I wasn’t the only one what?” But before he could explain, understanding dawned. “Rafe has checked into my ex and his family, hasn’t he?” Pain flashed across her face, clearly illuminated by the nearly full moon above them.
“Rafe found just what we thought he would.” Dylan hadn’t been able to keep his hands off her all night, but now, when he drew her against him, even while the attraction was still pulsing, this embrace was simply to reassure both of them. “More women. Many women.”
“Did he…does he have any other children?” He could see one thought moving quickly to the next. “Does Mason have any half brothers or half sisters?”
“No. At least from everything Rafe picked through, it looks like none of the other women were as strong as you. They all took the money and did what the family wanted them to do.”
He could see her heart breaking for all those other women in pure empathy. “They were probably too scared not to.”
It was amazing that she didn’t see the other women as weak. He also knew that she was right—pressure that strong from such a powerful family would break nearly anyone. But not her. Not his Grace.
“Why didn’t I see it? Why didn’t I see through him? Through the fancy dates where he never let me meet anyone? Not his friends. Definitely not his family.”
“For as much as I despise the guy,” Dylan said softly, “the truth is that I’m glad you trusted him. For long enough, at least, to create Mason.”
“Richard and his parents have no idea about all the joy, all the wonder that they tried to destroy because my bloodline wasn’t pure enough for them. And now I hope—I’ve been praying, actually—that they never do. That they never change their minds and decide to come for Mason after all.”
“Rafe says there’s no indication that they’ve been looking for you or Mason, or that any of them have scheduled trips to Seattle. He also said that he and Ian checked in with Smith—our cousin has repeatedly turned down the Bentleys’ offers to invest in his movies because they always seemed smarmy to him.”
She was clearly very glad to hear both of those pieces of news, but he could also see that when she looked back at the party, still in full swing, it was the last place she wanted to be. “I know I just got off the phone with your mother and we were planning to stay out later for our first official date, but—”
“I want to be with Mason now, too.” He needed to hold both of them in his arms tonight and give thanks that he’d found them—and they’d found him. “We’ve spoken to more than enough people on my brother’s behalf tonight. Let’s go get your son and go home.”