I Love How You Love Me(The Sullivans)(36)

“I hope I’m not interrupting anything,” his brother said, even though he knew damn well that he was.

Grace raised an eyebrow in Adam’s direction, the same look he’d seen her give Mason once when he was misbehaving at the aquarium. A warning not to mess with her. “Actually,” she said with a small smile, “your timing was perfect.” Turning back to Dylan, she said, “I need to get back to my babysitter now.”

He wanted to reach for her, wanted his brother—and the rest of the world—to know for sure that she wasn’t just a journalist doing a story on him or just a sexy fling. She was his. And yet, he knew he couldn’t force anything, knew that no matter the physical barriers they’d begun to knock down between them, she’d only resent him if he tried to push her faster than she was ready to go.

Thankfully, though, instead of simply walking away, she reached up to put her hand on his face and then went on her tippy-toes in her heels to press her mouth to his in a soft kiss. She was smiling when she pulled back. “‘Bye.”



* * *

“I knew when you called us together last night that things were serious,” Adam said, “but seeing you two together today? Love at first sight has clearly struck again. It’s like an epidemic in this family.”

Dylan only grinned. “You know what they say—the longer you hold out, the harder you fall. Which means you’re going to be dust when it happens to you.”

“Nope,” Adam insisted. “At least one of us has to keep having fun. Do you know what you’re doing, gunning for a ready-made family with Grace and Mason?”

Adam might think he was happy with his parade of one-night stands who had nothing of substance to say outside of the bedroom, but his brother didn’t have a damn clue what he was missing. No-strings fun got real old, real fast.

Grace’s beauty, her innate sensuality, had been what had drawn Dylan in at first. And every time they touched, he knew how perfectly matched they were as man and woman. But it was her resilience and strength that had solidified his knowledge that she was the right woman to go the distance with. He’d grown up with a strong woman leading their family, and he couldn’t imagine settling for anything less than the example their mother had provided. Grace was everything he could ever have wanted. Everything he could ever have wished for.

“If there was a chance that she’d agree to marry me today, I’d jump at it.”

Adam studied him for a moment before nodding. “She makes you happy. A different kind of happy than you’ve always been.”

“Trust me, you’ll understand once it happens to you.”

Deliberately ignoring that last statement, Adam said, “While nearly walking in on the two of you going at it was fun, I’m here because I’ve got a favor to ask. Turns out the city is planning to tear down the old Maritime Museum to rebuild something flashy and modern.”

Dylan frowned. “I thought that had been tabled for the time being so that more people could weigh in.”

“Not according to what I just heard this morning from a friend on the board.”

“The place needs a hell of a lot of work, but there’s major history in that building.”

“I know. That’s why I’m going to convince them to let me restore it instead. Which is where you come in. You not only speak their language, but you’ve built boats for half the people on the board. They’re having a cocktail event in a couple of days. It would be great if you and Grace could come.”

“I’m in, and I’ll check with Grace,” Dylan said. “In return, I could use an extra pair of hands putting the final coat of urethane on the boat.”

“Man, this sloop is a beauty,” Adam said, already rolling up his sleeves to help. “You’ve built some great boats, but I think this one might be your finest yet. Your client is one lucky S.O.B.”

Dylan grinned, said, “I agree,” and for the next few hours enjoyed working side by side with his brother on a boat that he had no idea was already his.





CHAPTER FIFTEEN



Grace wrote like crazy the next day while Mason napped. She hadn’t yet finished transcribing yesterday’s interview with Dylan, but she wanted to make some forward progress, so she started writing. The saying went that it was easier to edit a page with words on it, rather than a blank one, and doing the bulk of her writing while Mason slept meant she’d gotten used to creativity on command. Unfortunately, ninety minutes later, as she reread what she’d written so far, she wasn’t particularly impressed with any of it.

Maybe she simply needed to get up from her computer for a little while. She went into the kitchen to pour herself another cup of coffee, but as she brought it to her lips she realized she didn’t want it. It was the same with the trusty Hershey’s Kisses she kept in the freezer. A little chocolate melting on her tongue wouldn’t do anything to cure her restlessness, or a mind that was jumping around.

It wasn’t creativity on command that was messing with her productivity. Nor was the problem the fairly tight deadline for the cover story. It was the fact that her head—and body—were still reeling from being with Dylan yesterday. From the risks they’d taken…and how much she’d loved every second of taking those risks, even if she shouldn’t have, and they’d nearly been caught naked in each other’s arms by his brother.