“That’s right. And nowyouare a part of that family.”
As an adorable blush began to spread across her cheeks, a certain part of Nate’s anatomy began to swell. And it wasn’t his heart.
Not now, asshole.
Doing his best to ignore the confusing reaction he was having to this woman, Nate gave Gracie’s hands a little squeeze and offered her a smile.
“Jake’s right, Gracie. We take care of our own, here.”
She looked as though she wanted to say something more, but Sarah walked in before she could.
Rushing to her sister’s side, she practically pushed Nate out of the way to give Gracie a hug.
“Oh, my gosh, sweetie. I’m so sorry.”
Nate stood to give the two women some space. Moving closer to where Kole was standing, he shoved his hands into his pockets but kept his eyes on Gracie.
“Seriously?” Kole whispered low enough only Nate could hear.
Turning his head toward his friend, Nate’s brows turned inward as he mouthed, “What?”
Rather than answer, Kole clenched his jaw and shook his head before looking back at his fiancee and Gracie.
“I’m fine. Really.” Gracie tried—and failed—to convince her sister she was okay.
“Come on.” Sarah stood straight, pulling Gracie to her feet. “I’ll take you home.”
Though he could tell she really didn’t want to leave, Gracie apparently knew when she’d lost a fight. She quietly thanked Jake before promising to be back to work in the morning.
“Take all the time you need,” their boss told her.
With a small nod, Gracie started to follow Sarah out the door.
“I’ll walk you two out,” Kole offered, not even bothering to ask for their boss’s permission. Jake would have given it to him, anyway.
To the rest of Bravo, Gracie turned and said, “Come back safely.”
Gabe and Zade both smiled as they nodded their heads.
Matt grinned. “Take care, Gracie.” Lifting his chin toward Jake, he added, “Make sure you keep the big boss in line while we’re gone.”
This made her smile a little wider. “I will.”
Nate was taken off guard at how disappointed he was that she hadn’t said anything directly to him. Then, as she walked out of the room, Gracie looked at him from over her shoulder.
“Be careful, Nate.”
Working hard to school his expression, he gave her a crooked grin and winked. “See you when we get back.”
With one final, shared look, Gracie turned and walked away. It was the first time since becoming a part of Bravo that Nate wanted to stay behind while the rest of the team went on without him.
Chapter 4
“Hey, Carter. Wait up!”
The sun shone down on the team as they made their way across the tarmac to the private jet Ryker had arranged for them to use. With his go-bag flung across his shoulder, Nate turned and saw Kole jogging to catch up to him.
“What’s up?”
