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“Hope was quite a lady,” Eric said, setting a warm gaze on Kat. “She made it easy for Kat to relax into the ride.”

Was she the only one who heard that double entendre? She hoped so.

“Hope has a way of making people comfortable.” Hal’s eyes traveled around the table.

“Yes,” Kat said. “Thank you for letting us take her out. And the lights on the trail were so romantic.”

Jade smiled up at Rex. “That’s my Rexy for you. Always full of romance.”

“Safety first, romance second,” Rex corrected her.

Jade rolled her eyes. “What is it with men? Can’t they just admit that romance is what drives them?”

“Hey, don’t lump us all together.” Hugh draped an arm over Bree’s shoulder. “I’m totally a romantic at heart. I just didn’t know it until I met Bree and Layla.” He winked at Layla.

Eric placed a possessive hand on Kat’s shoulder, and she tried to keep from grinning like a lovesick fool. From the smiles on Bree’s and Jade’s faces, she’d failed miserably.

“It takes a special woman to bring out the romance in a man,” Eric said casually, as if he hadn’t just sent her whole world spinning.

Hal set his napkin on his lap and said, “You’re all full of hogwash. Your hearts are driving your cart, not your heads.” He shook his head. “One day y’all will understand the power of love. You can’t dissuade it, you can’t escape it, and you sure as hell can’t rule how or when it presents itself.”

Kat didn’t care if it was wishful thinking or a rationalization on her part, but she clung to Hal’s words and felt better about her heart summersaulting in her chest after she’d known Eric for only two short days.

BY TWO O’CLOCKWeston County Park was packed, and the fundraising event for the Foundation for Whole Families was in full swing. These types of events brought the foundation to life for Eric. He loved seeing the families they’d helped to reunite and enjoyed meeting some of their generous donors. When he’d first started the foundation, there’d been a part of him that had played out the scenario of a foundation such as this coming into his life as a youth, causing him to imagine reliving that part of his life differently. But he’d quickly nixed those painful dreams, knowing the impossibility of such a thing. Instead, he used those hopes to help grow the foundation, poured his passion and desire for a better childhood into every family they helped. Watching some of those families flourish made it all worthwhile.

He watched as Emily Braden, Hugh’s cousin, approached with her fiancée, Dae Bray, a demolition expert. Emily was an architect and an expert in the passive-house movement, and she’d been at Eric for a while to build green with his next outpatient center. He’d been meaning to contact her about hisplan to build in Trusty, Colorado, the neighboring town to where Emily and Dae lived.

“I heard some smart-mouthed race car driver just bought the five-acre commercial lot a block off Main Street in Trusty.” Emily brushed her long dark hair from her shoulders and hugged Eric. “How’s it going, smart-mouth?”

“A pleasure to see you, too, Em.” He embraced her, then opened his arms to Dae. “How’s it going, man? I see being engaged hasn’t made her any less feisty.”

Dae pulled Emily into his arms. “That’s my girl.”

“I’ve been meaning to call you about checking out passive structures for the new Trusty Outpatient Center.” Eric noticed Hugh heading their way.

“Now you’re talking my language,” Emily said. “It’s not like I haven’t been drawing them up for the past three years, waiting with bated breath for you to get off your ass. I’ll email you Monday with some ideas.”

“Who’s the smart-mouth?” Eric teased.

Hugh joined them and greeted his cousin and Dae with open arms. “It’s a regular reunion.”

“We’re just passing through.” Emily pointed to the baseball fields, where two softball games were just beginning, one for older kids and one for adults. Emily pointed to the Wiffle ball field, and as she headed for the softball game, said, “But you boys should join that game.”

Eric laughed and waved as they walked away, his eyes skirting the property, seeking the woman who had so quickly touched his heart. He found her across the grassy field, carrying Christian and holding Layla’s hand as Brianna talked with another woman a few feet away. He could watch her all day long, and she looked so natural with the baby in her arms while chatting with Layla that it did funky things to his stomach again. He watched them walk over to a clown who was doing magicfor a group of families. She pressed her lips to Christian’s cheek, then said something as she pointed to the clown. Damn, the emotions she incited in him had his whole body going warm and made his mind jump ahead to something he’d never imagined settling down enough to have.Family.

He shifted his eyes away, the unfamiliar urges telling him that he was somehow falling for Kat after only a few days. He tried to focus on the people walking by, on Hugh’s voice as he talked about the picnic. Hell, on anything but the little voice in his head saying,She’s the one.The only one.

He focused on the table with the raffle prize baskets, thinking about how few donations they’d received the first year. Now the table overflowed with donations. The Denver Broncos donated baskets of football paraphernalia, and dozens of local businesses donated goods, from jewelry baskets, books, and leather goods to lotions and hardware. The generosity of the community was endless.

“We did well, basing the event here,” Eric said to Hugh. It had been Hugh’s idea to make Weston the home base for the fundraiser each year, and since Eric hadn’t had the benefit of a close-knit community growing up, he was happy to become part of Hugh’s.

“Weston cares, that’s for sure.” Hugh pointed to Kat and Brianna. Kat was holding Christian and tickling his stomach. “Looks like Kat’s taken to my boy.”

Eric’s heart warmed again at the sight of her loving up Christian. “I can’t believe you’ve kept Kat a secret from me for so long.”

“Shit. You haven’t wanted a girlfriend. Ever. To be honest, I was completely floored this morning when I saw you two at breakfast, but Bree wasn’t. She said she knew the minute she saw you two together yesterday morning that you were meant tobe together. Something about vibes.” Hugh cleared his throat, as if to say,Told you so.

Eric had never been more excited to see a woman than he was this morning. He’d slept fitfully, wishing Kat were in his arms and wondering if she’d been thinking of him, too. It had taken all of his restraint not to walk down the hall and knock on her bedroom door. When he’d finally seen her, he’d had to fight the urge to take her in his arms and kiss her good morning. But after only one date, he knew that was presumptuous, regardless of how intimate they’d been, how close he felt to her, or the fact that she’d already promised she’d go out with him again tonight. Relationships weren’t something he had experience in, and he was taking his cues from her.