Chasing Shadows (First Wives #3)(40)

Her chest lifted with every short breath she took.

He pressed his lips to hers, eyes wide open.

“You’re not like any man I’ve ever met,” she whispered when he released her lips.

Liam smiled as if she’d just given him a gift. “Good.”



Monday was met with a gallon of coffee and a hard-on.

“You mean to tell me you were at Wade Thomas’s ranch the whole weekend?” Michelle stared at him across the table at six in the morning.

“I was.”

“Holy cow. Who is this woman you’re dating?”

Are we dating?

“Avery Grant.” He wondered if that was her maiden name or her ex’s.

“Do you have a picture of her?”

Liam fired up his phone and pulled up a text from Shannon. She’d added him to a group text where she’d sent a dozen pictures taken over the weekend.

He pulled up a shot from during the rehearsal dinner and twisted his phone toward his sister.

Michelle squealed. “Oh my God! That is Wade Thomas.”

Sipping his coffee, he said, “Avery is the blonde standing next to me.”

His sister expanded the picture on the phone and glanced at him. “She’s gorgeous.”

“I noticed that.”

“Her skin is flawless. What is she, twenty-fourish?”

Liam thought about that for a second, did a little math based on the timeline of her past. “I think she’s in her early thirties.”

“Kids?”

“No.”

“Ever married?”

“Once.”

Michelle zoomed out and flipped through the pictures on the thread. “That’s good.”

“Is it?”

“Yeah. A woman previously married isn’t rushing to put a ring back on and makes a better decision the second time around.”

Liam opened his mouth to comment and Michelle cut him off.

“But thirty . . . her clock is ticking.”

Liam thought about Avery’s lifestyle. “I don’t think so.”

Michelle looked at him like he was missing a few brain cells.

He avoided the argument and stood to refill his coffee. He had a long weekend’s worth of pushed aside work to get to.

“Who is this?”

He glanced at his phone. “Shannon.”

“She looks like a movie star. Is she?”

“Ex-wife of Paul Wentworth.”

Michelle did a double take. “The governor?”

“Yup.”

“What an idiot.”

Yeah, that’s what Liam thought.

Michelle grinned and hiked a brow. “Looks like someone wants to say good morning to you.”

Liam snatched his phone from his sister and opened his messages.

It was Avery.

I hope you slept well.

He considered lying.

Tossed and turned all night. You?

He sipped his coffee and waited for her reply.

Like a baby.

He shook his head.

Liar.

Good thing I like you, Holt.

The use of his last name made him laugh.

Michelle cleared her throat.

“What?” he asked.

She crossed the kitchen and kissed his cheek. “She’s a lucky woman.”

No . . . he was the lucky one.





Chapter Seventeen

Sheldon walked alongside Avery as she described his childhood home in the way Liam had described it. Once all the walls were stripped of art and knickknacks collected over a lifetime, the lack of upkeep became strikingly clear.

“Any real estate agent worth their salt will tell you to paint all the walls and replace old and worn carpet at the bare minimum. But in the case of this house, I would seriously consider a heavy renovation. The kitchen and bathrooms will cost the most but make the biggest impact when finding a turnkey buyer who will pay top dollar.” Liam’s exact words.

“What did your contractor estimate?”

She told him Liam’s numbers and added that he should expect to spend 20 percent more. Better to come in under budget than over.

Sheldon whistled.

“Consider this. While you might not have had a lot of love for the paintings on the walls, they were done by artists that catch a decent paycheck. The floral pieces in your mother’s sitting room were painted at the turn of the century. The receipt of purchase was found in her files.”

“How much?”

“She spent half a million dollars each, forty years ago. One can only imagine what they will go for now. There is your renovation budget, which will give you a much bigger return on the house.” She paused while standing at the French doors leading to the backyard. “Of course, that means you’ll have to hold on to this place a little longer.”

“How long?”

“I don’t have that answer. My guy said four to six months isn’t unheard of on a renovation this size. But we are in California without weather mucking up construction schedules.”

“How long before your work is done?”

“I need two more weeks to clear the house of everything worth sending to auction and then arrange the estate sale.”

“So I have three weeks to decide.”