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G rayson was relieved they hadn’t been followed from Harlow’s apartment to his place. Interestingly, she hadn’t commented on the Jaguar he was driving. It was a demo, the latest model, and he’d wanted to check it out.

The only vehicle he actually owned was his Jeep Wrangler. Why spend money on a fancy car when he had luxury cars at his fingertips? Not once had he considered selling the dealerships. They were his father’s pride and joy, his sweat and tears during the hard years. But Grayson didn’t want to take over, so he’d promoted Sam Cohen to CEO of the company, and left the day-to-day running of the dealerships in Sam’s capable hands. Sam had worked for his father from the day the first dealership opened. He’d been a SEAL teammate of Daniel Montana’s, and Grayson trusted Sam with the business. Hell, he’d trust the man with his life.

“Are we going to your friend’s house?” she said when he came to a stop in his driveway.

Why would she think that? “No, this is…” Right, he’d told her he knew the owner the last time he’d parked here with her. “This is my house.”

“Oh. I guess you really do know the owner, then.” She grinned as she opened the car door. “I want the VIP tour.”

She bounced up the steps to his porch ahead of him. Tonight, she wore a blue-and-white-striped sundress and white flip-flops with crystals on the straps. Through photos, he’d seen her go from a beautiful, happy woman to a wary mouse who hid herself in ugly clothes. In front of his eyes, she was shedding her mouse skin and transforming back into the beautiful, vibrant woman in the pictures of her.

He followed her up the porch stairs, doing his best not to notice the sway of her hips. His eyes refused to obey. She was taller than the average woman, maybe five-eight or so. He told himself he would not imagine those long legs wrapped around his but imagine he did. He sighed in defeat. He was attracted to her, more than he’d ever been attracted to any other woman.

It was what it was. What he was going to do about it was the question. She was still fragile, and he didn’t think she was ready for a man like him. It was up to her whether she ever wanted another man in her life, but if and when she did, he was beginning to think he wanted it to be him.

He opened the door after unlocking it and stepped aside to allow her to walk past him. What would she think of his house? He loved it and normally didn’t care if anyone else did, but he found himself wanting her to love it.

“Oh, wow,” she said as she turned in a circle in the middle of his living room. “This is amazing.”

A warm feeling settled in his chest. His gaze followed hers as she took in the great room. The ocean side was all floor-to-ceiling windows and French doors. A bitch to keep the salt off on the outside but worth it. A massive white stone wall featured a long and narrow fireplace with the biggest TV available above it. Facing the TV and fireplace was an oversize, off-white leather sectional. Blue-and-white-striped pillows in assorted shapes and sizes added color to the sofa. On the wall behind the sectional was a large painting of a sailboat on the ocean on an azure-sky day.

“I love this room,” she said.

“Yeah, I’m happy with how it turned out.” The shiplap ceiling was painted white, and the floor on this level was the palest gray ceramic tile that he could find.

“Ooooh.” She headed for the kitchen. “I covet your kitchen.”

It was a great kitchen.

“Do you cook?” she asked as she stared at the six-burner range with a built-in grill.

“I do. It was just me and my dad growing up, and cooking dinner together was something we enjoyed. He was better than me, but I can hold my own.”

“That’s really cool. I always thought it would be romantic for a couple to cook together, but Anthony…” She shook her head. “Nope, not talking about him until I have to. Show me the rest of your amazing home.”

“There’s a powder room here if you need one,” he said, opening the door to the right of the sectional. “There are three bedrooms and an office upstairs.” He led her to the second floor. His bedroom was on the ocean side with a balcony off it. Where he’d used off-white and pale blues downstairs, he’d gone with gray carpets and a dark blue and gray color scheme for his room.

“I love that you have a fireplace in your bedroom.” She peeked into his bathroom and squealed. “You have a claw-foot tub and a shower you could throw a party in. I’m just going to move into your bathroom.”

He chuckled. “No problem. I won’t even charge you rent.” He’d commissioned a claw-foot tub that was half the size larger than a normal one, plenty big enough for the two of them. He might climb into it with her if she was living in his bathroom.

“You think I’m kidding?” She trailed her fingertips over the edge of the tub.

His eyes followed her fingers as she caressed his damn tub. “Uh, the sun’s setting in a few minutes. Let’s go out to the deck.” Before he pushed his way between those fingers and his tub. And before she noticed his pants were tenting.

By the time they reached his kitchen, he had control of himself again…barely. If you’d told him the little mouse who’d walked into The Phoenix Three would have him reacting to her like a randy teenager, he would have laughed. “Not laughing now,” he muttered.

“Pardon?”

“Would you like a glass of wine?” She stood too close to him, and her vanilla scent wafted to him. He was toast.

“That would be nice.”

He’d uncorked a bottle earlier, and he poured them each a glass. “That’s a pretty dress,” he said as he handed her one. He wanted to tell her she made him think of a beautiful butterfly emerging from its cocoon. That was a little much, so he settled for complimenting her dress.

“Thank you. I went shopping today.”

Hopefully, she bought a whole new wardrobe. “Let’s go out to the deck before we miss the sunset.” This wasn’t a date, but it felt like one. He’d spent the afternoon prepping dinner, and he might have gone a little overboard, but she deserved something special.

The sun was low over the ocean, painting the sky in shades of pink and orange. They settled into the cushioned chairs, sipping their wine, and watching the sky turn dark. They didn’t talk while enjoying nature’s display, and it wasn’t uncomfortable.

“I hope you don’t mind, but I invited my partners to dinner.” He’d done that because the purpose of her being here was to discuss her case, and she needed to be comfortable with Cooper and Liam since they were working for her, too. Now, he wished he hadn’t. He didn’t want to share her.

She leaned her head against the back of her chair and tilted her face toward him. “Tell me about them.”

“You met Cooper.”

“Elmer?”

“Yes. He grew up in Atlanta. Liam’s from Kansas City. I met them both when we were in high school.”

“How did you meet two boys from different parts of the country?”

That was a question he wasn’t prepared to answer, not the full truth. “Spring break in Fort Lauderdale. We connected, kept in touch and decided to start The Phoenix Three together.”

“Just like that?”

Not even close to just like that . “It’s a complicated story for another time. I’m curious. Why us, The Phoenix Three?”

“I saw the article in the newspaper after you found and rescued that girl from that pedophile. Her parents said that you refused to give up on finding her. I mentioned the article to my great-aunt, and that I was thinking of hiring you. Ester told me she’d babysat your father. It seemed like a sign.”

He smiled. “It’s hard to think of my father as little enough to need a babysitter. In my eyes, he was larger than life.”

“You speak of him with fondness.”

“He was the best man I know…” He cleared his throat. “Knew.” It was still hard to believe he was gone, a heart attack five months ago while standing on the floor of his Myrtle Beach dealership. He was gone before the first responders arrived.

“I had dinner with him the night before he…before we lost him.” He still couldn’t say died when speaking of his dad. “Dad owned luxury car dealerships throughout the Southeast. Although he was disappointed I didn’t come to work for him, he told me that night how proud of me he was.” He would always treasure those words, and he’d forever be thankful that his father hadn’t reacted like Liam’s and disowned him.

“What about your mother, if you don’t mind me asking.”

“She died when I was a baby. Breast cancer. She was too young to worry about getting mammograms. By the time they caught it, it was too late to save her. I don’t remember her, but Dad said she was an amazing mother. I have pictures of her holding me, and she always looks so happy in them.” It was hard to miss someone you couldn’t remember. He did wish he had memories of her.

“It sounds like you were close to your father.”

He smiled. “Very much so. Enough about me. What about your parents?”

“Single mother. Never met my father. He split when she told him she was pregnant. Said he was too young to be responsible for a baby.”

“What an ass. How old was your mom when she had you?”

“Sixteen. She’s amazing, but sometimes a bit much. Finished high school, then got her degree in sociology, and now works for the Welfare Department. Volunteers all her spare time to her cause of the month. I’m a bit of a disappointment in that I’m not a vegetarian, not on a crusade for social justice or whatever. I’m also not into yoga, which might be my worst sin, along with eating meat.”

She rolled her eyes, making him laugh. “She sounds…uh, very busy.”

“You don’t know the half of it. But she loves me in her own way. I decided at an early age, about the time I was sneaking fast-food burgers on the way home from school, that I didn’t want to be like her.”

“Good for you. How does she feel about your ex?”

“She said she has more third-world problems to worry about than the mess I’ve made of my life, that there are people going hungry or being homeless that need her help. She doesn’t understand why I left a good thing, that I wasn’t homeless and hungry, and that Anthony didn’t abandon me when I got pregnant like my father did her.”

He didn’t know what to say to that.

“Left you speechless, hmm?”

“I’ve always heard that if you can’t say something nice about someone, then don’t say anything at all. I think I’ll leave it at that.” She’d grown up without a father, and he’d grown up without a mother. Same but different. The real difference was that his staunchest supporter, the most important person in his life, had been his parent. Even more significant, he’d been the most important person in his father’s life. As for her parent, he definitely had opinions he’d keep to himself.

He was curious, though. “What about her grandson? Is she close to Tyler?”

“No. She’s nice enough to him, but she’s not the grandmotherly type.”

She shrugged as if it didn’t matter, but he could see that it did. That she didn’t have the kind of love and support from the one person in the world who should be there for her only made him more determined to reunite her with her son.

The flash of lights shined along the side of the house into the back as a car pulled into his driveway. “The guys are here. We’ll eat, then get down to business.” He stood and picked up her empty glass and his. “Want to sit here or come inside and talk to me while I finish the final dinner prep?”

“I’ll come inside.”

He was hoping she’d say that.