Page 21 of Grant’s Heat

Damn it, why does he smell so good?

“See you later,” I called to his assistant as I nearly sprinted past her desk with the cart. I needed to escape his presence before I lost my shit altogether.

Even though I felt much lighter in the elevator going down than I had felt coming up, I was confused on so many new levels. I had an emotional buoyancy that I hadn’t felt in quite some time. But I suspected Grant Twombley could give a woman the sort of release that would cure all kinds of woes.

Chapter Four

Grant

“Do you have plans for the weekend?” I asked my two best friends on Friday afternoon when our last meeting wrapped up. It felt like one of the longest weeks in my adult life, and I just wanted to go home, maybe open a beer—or better yet, a bottle of Scotch—and forget about the world for a couple of days.

Bas was as good as married at this point. He was also seated firmly in the seventh circle of secondhand pregnancy hell, judging by the stories he’d been entertaining us with about Abbigail’s mood swings, food cravings, and random-body-part-swelling episodes. Yet as he shared the anecdotes, the man glowed as brightly as the Hollywood sign on a clear summer night.

Confused didn’t begin to cover my position on the whole situation with him. When I thought back to the man Sebastian was just one year ago compared to the man across the room from me now, it was easy to believe anything was possible. I felt a genuine warmth in my chest. It radiated upward and forced a smile to take over my entire face. I probably looked like an absolute loon to my two buddies—not that either of them noticed. They were both so engrossed in their damn phones, I could’ve been doing the naked tango and they wouldn’t have lifted a brow.

Surprisingly, Elijah caught my demeanor change out of the corner of his eye, and he shifted his attention from his nonstop phone scrolling. “What’s up?” he asked. “You good?”

“Yeah. Yeah,” I said, though my voice was husky with emotion. That had Elijah quickly stuffing his phone into his pocket, which caused Sebastian to look up as well.

“Okay, what’s going on with you, man?” Bas narrowed his eyes skeptically before warning, “If this is going to turn into a group hug, you know I’m out.”

Elijah and I chuckled, knowing damn well Bas would never willingly engage in PDA—especially an all-male showing.

I tried to wave them off. “It’s really nothing. I was just having a moment watching you.” I motioned to Bas. “I was thinking about the difference in you from now and a year ago. The gift you were given when that woman came into your life. You know, I think Abbigail may have actually saved you.”

My friend’s smile began the moment he clued in to what I was saying. By the time I finished explaining my theory, he was grinning wider than the Amazon. “There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think the same thing, my friend. I was on a collision course with my own pride and ego, and it wasn’t going to end well.”

Three nods matched in agreement.

Elijah wiped a mock tear from his cheek. “This is a very touchy-feely conclusion for you to have come to, Shark. I’m beyond impressed. There are days I feel like I don’t even know you anymore.”

“Shut up.” Sebastian punched his bicep so hard, they both winced from the impact.

“Asshole! That’s probably going to leave a mark!”

“Poor pretty boy.” Bas pouted toward Elijah with sarcastic drama. “Good thing you’ve never been in a real fight, Banks. You’d probably cry more about getting your clothes wrinkled.”

“You know damn well I’ve seen my fair share of fights,” Elijah answered. “Jesus, when I was with Hensley, I swore she used to start trouble just to see me defend her honor.”

“Honor,” I echoed on a wry laugh. “Which she had none of, remember?”

“Haven’t forgotten,” Elijah muttered. “Not for a damn second.”

I let that one lie right where it was. The guy’s dignity didn’t need any more direct hits. He had been the good guy in that scenario and hadn’t deserved any of what he was handed. It had been nothing like the way he behaved with women now, and Hensley Pritchett was responsible for it all.

“That woman was a troublemaker from day one,” Bas said. “You were the only one blinded by her tits. The rest of us saw right through her con act.”

“And her blouse,” I mumbled, knowing they both heard me.

Bas nodded in agreement and said, “Every single one.”

“Truth.” We fist-bumped while Elijah scowled at us.

His frown turned to a full-fledged glare toward Bas. “You wouldn’t appreciate if I said things like that about the mother of your child, would you?”

“You’re smarter than that. If you were that stupid, you’d be flat on your back because I’d level your ass.”

It took a few moments before Elijah spoke again—but when he did, it was to set loose a massive can of worms. “I’ve been thinking about finding her.”