raked her fingers through her hair. Yes, Grant was a Carrington. A dangerous Carrington.
Grant studied the copper-haired, angelic beauty beside him, whose eyes lit with amber fire. How could a woman so lovely act so prickly? He’d seen cactus in West Texas with fewer barbs. You’d think Jami Rhodes had been shanghaied. He chuckled at the thought, and she shot him an irate glare.
“What’s so funny?” Jami faced him, sparks shooting from those fascinating eyes. “Or did Mike zoom in for a close-up of your handsome mug?”
“Ah, you think I’m handsome?”
“I won’t say what I think of you.”
“That good, huh?” Grant barely glanced down as he signed the guest register with a flourish and pushed it toward Jami.
“That bad.”
He smiled at the top of her bent head as she leaned over to add her own name to the ledger, her flowing copper tresses shimmering in the artificial light. Her hair had shone as brightly as a newly minted penny in the sunlight. Did it feel as soft and silky as it looked? Surprised by the urge to touch Jami’s hair, he suddenly realized the desk clerk was addressing him.
“Yes?”
“I said,” the clerk repeated with a schoolteacher emphasis, reminding Grant that he had not been paying attention, “a packet came for you this morning, Mr. Carrington.” Along with his room key, she handed him a thickly padded manila envelope addressed to C. Grant Carrington and postmarked Houston.
“Thanks,” he replied, already peeling open the flap. He peered into the envelope’s dark interior, at first thinking nothing was inside, but he tilted it and something clunked. He reached deep to retrieve a tiny, but heavy, object wrapped in tissue paper.
Grant swallowed a groan as the object fell free from the paper and dropped into his palm. The infamous Cupid Charm! Blood pressure rising, he unfolded a square of paper to read the cryptic note: One falls—we all fall. It’s your turn. Your brother, Ty.
“What’s that?” Toby asked, peering at Grant’s clutched hand.
“It’s a Cupid pin. An heirloom brooch, belonging to my grandmother.” Grant opened his hand, displaying a gold key charm carved in exquisite detail of the cherub Cupid, complete with the god’s miniature arrow poised to zing a heart. “We call it the Cupid key.”
“It’s lovely,” Jami exclaimed, gazing down at the golden brooch in his palm.
“Apparently, it has its appeal,” he mumbled back. Hmm, did he detect a trace of a smile on Cupid’s face he’d never seen before? Of course not. He shook away such a silly thought. Though his grandmother’s claim of Cupid’s magic came flooding back with a rush of memories: He and his brothers as children clustered around Grandmother Margaret while she explained in dramatic fashion how their grandfather had pinned her with the magical Cupid on the wonderful Valentine’s Day when he had proposed. Then many years later, it had brought Grant’s mother, Shirley, together with their father.
Uncomfortably, Grant also recalled that Ty once admitted Grandmother Margaret had sent the Cupid charm with him the night he’d impulsively proposed to Sierra.
Grant’s no-nonsense business logic assured him a piece of jewelry didn’t possess magical powers to find true love, yet the coincidences still disturbed him. He wasn’t ready to settle down with any woman. He’d learned his lesson years ago. Now he was content with his bachelor lifestyle and savored his freedom.
He felt a hot sting in his palm and nearly dropped the charm. Toby reached for it, startling Grant back to reality as he instinctively closed his fingers protectively around the heirloom.
“Real cool,” Toby said, dropping his empty hand away. “It has a bow and arrow like I do. Who gave it to you?”
“My brother. It’s our grandmother’s,” Grant grumbled, none too pleased. He gritted his teeth and pushed away the dark thoughts. Story was, once Cupid got into someone’s hands, the victim was destined to be joined with his true love—whether he wanted to be or not. Thank goodness it was merely a fairy tale. Still, he couldn’t quite dismiss his concern.
“You have a brother?” Toby asked in wonder. Then his voice dropped wistfully. “I bet you never got lonely. Wish I had a brother.”
“I have two brothers, and believe me, it isn’t always fun,” Grant replied ruefully, putting the Cupid key back into the envelope. He crammed in the note, then pressed the flap securely in place.
Jami collected her own keycard as she listened to their exchange, her heart giving a sad pang. She hadn’t known her son wished for a brother. The way