He fantasized about making love to the bewitching redhead who had stolen his heart far more efficiently than he’d stolen her sweet kisses. Cupid couldn’t blame him for wanting to romance the lady. Right?
After her bath, Jami was just coming out of the bathroom wrapped in her pink robe, when she heard her son open their bedroom door to grumpily holler, “Grant, telephone. It’s a lady.”
Toby left the door partially open, hopping back up onto the quilt-topped double bed with a comic book. Curious about Grant’s phone call, Jami also left the door ajar, listening, despite herself.
“Well, hello!” Grant greeted the anonymous woman, the warmth in his voice a kick to Jami’s gut. “How’s my favorite girl?”
Unable to prevent the tension knotting through her, Jami was assailed by flashbacks of midnight phone calls her ex-husband had claimed to be business and wordless hang-ups when she had answered before Doug could. She hated the old feelings of hurt and betrayal resurfacing within her, but she couldn’t stop them.
“Have you been behaving yourself?” she heard Grant drawl.
Just when she’d allowed herself to trust Grant, Jami thought, shaking her head as she monitored his conversation through the open doorway.
He chuckled into the phone. “It doesn’t sound like you’ve had time to miss me or anyone else.”
Lips pursed, Jami crossed to the massive pine dresser and pretended to brush her still damp hair, aware of every word as Grant barked, “What are you talking about? I did not promise you a wedding!”
It was worse than she’d feared! Jami felt sick, color draining from her face as she stared at her hollow-eyed reflection. Not only was Grant Carrington a womanizer—he’d practically dumped some poor girl at the altar! Jami squeezed her eyes shut in despair, the rest of his telephone conversation blurring as her head whirled with the realization of her folly. She pushed the door shut in desperation.
She knew better than to trust her heart to such a man. How could she be so foolish a second time?
Grant slammed the phone down, thoroughly annoyed at his mother. He didn’t mind her tracking him down here at the lodge. That hadn’t surprised him. Shirley Carrington kept close tabs on all of her sons, no matter that they were long grown to adulthood. She always knew where Grant and his brothers were and what they were doing, though they couldn’t say the same about their mother’s constant round of activity. Normally he adored Shirley and treated her flighty ways with amused indulgence. But this!
The moment he heard that lilting cultured voice, he’d steeled himself for one of Mother’s famous off-the-wall requests. He hadn’t been prepared for her question. Grant raked his fingers through his hair and paced through the suite to stare out the window at the mountains peaks beyond. His mother had chirpily explained that Ty had told her they’d sent him Cupid and promised her immediate results. She said Ty had assured her that Grant and Jami had probably already set a wedding date.
Shirley actually asked Grant when the wedding was! Of course, his mother didn’t have a shy bone in her body and felt her son’s business was her own.
Grant wasted no time informing his mother that he had never promised her a wedding. Thinking of marrying anyone rocked Grant right down through his Houston veneer to his West Texas roots.
It was just like his mother to plan his wedding when Grant had no intention of marrying. He shook his head in frustration, rubbing his jaw with one hand and raking his hair with the other. He felt pretty sure Jami didn’t want to marry again, anyway. Certainly, she had no desire to marry him.
He ought to call his mother back and apologize for losing his temper. But if he did, she’d wheedle it out of him that he’d overreacted because he was attracted to Jami. He felt guilty enough. Then Shirley would probably show up at the lodge to match-make. Time was running out. The vacation was nearly over, and Grant didn’t need Mother Carrington arriving to complicate matters.
He thought about knocking on the bedroom door and asking Jami if she and Toby wanted to go down to lunch with him. But considering that scene with Toby, Grant decided it might be prudent to wait. After staring at the closed door a moment longer, he went downstairs to lunch alone.
Raven McGuire pounced on him the moment he entered the dining room. “Well, Mr. Carrington, you finally decided to join us for a