“Like I said, you always go big.”
Gray accepted his brother’s handshake and shrugged. “But I don’t know that this was all on me. You know she already has a set of six-year-old twins.”
“Right, Gemma told me about them. Jack and Lily, right?”
Gray nodded. “Yeah, they’re the best things that have ever happened to me. All of them, and coming back here. I can’t imagine my life without them now.”
Garrek didn’t know how those words made him feel. Gray had always been about his business and traveling the country. He’d never planned to settle down beyond his penthouse in Miami and his always-fueled personal jet. Hearing him talk about this woman and these children who had somehow changed him amazed Garrek.
“So tell me what brings you here. And why didn’t you call me to let me know you were coming? Morgan and I would have gotten a room ready for you at the house.”
“Nah,” Garrek told him with a shake of his head. “This was a last-minute decision, and I don’t want to put you out in any way.”
“Don’t be silly, man. You’re my brother—you couldn’t put me out. Especially not in that big house. I know you remember there are five bedrooms in that place.”
Garrek did remember. Gray was living in their childhood home on Peach Tree Lane.
“Yeah, I remember. But you’ve got your family there now. It’s your house.” Garrek leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, and shook his head, because he was still trying to grasp all the changes that had happened in the past few months. The ones with Gray and the other Taylor sextuplets, and the ones with him personally.
“You’re welcome to stay there, but I’m not gonna push. Morgan will do enough of that when she sees you today. So come on—she was about to start cooking breakfast when I left the house. Her exact words were ‘bring him home to eat with us.’”
“Ah, no. I’m just going to hang out here for a while and catch up on some reading. I’ll try to stop by later or maybe tomorrow.”
Gray shook his head. “Look, Garrek, I know how you like to stay to yourself. I remember we used to give you hell about that growing up. But I get it, you want your space. Joining the navy and flying planes gave you lots of distance from our family and all that came with it. Unfortunately, you’re back in Temptation now. The place where there are no secrets, no privacy, and people who act like you’re related even though there’s no blood connection.”
Garrek had known that when he came here. He’d known, and yet he hadn’t thought to go anyplace else.
“I hadn’t planned to stay long enough for anyone to even know I was here. I mean, I was gonna call you, of course. But I don’t know anyone in this town, and they definitely don’t know me.”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” Gray said as he stood. “It’s almost ten a.m. By this time everybody in Temptation knows that Garrek Taylor is back in town.”
Garrek stood, too, staring at Gray with confusion. “How would they know that? I just got here last night.”
“And you paid twenty-five hundred dollars to take the town tomboy on a date. Bright and early this morning, that check you wrote landed on the desk of Shirley Hampstead, town comptroller, who plays bingo with Joya Martina, Georgia Sanford and Millie Randall. Millie’s the director of Temptation’s Chamber of Commerce, and her office is right down the hall from Shirley’s. Joya volunteers at the hospital on Monday mornings, and after Shirley told Millie, Millie called Joya, who saw Wendy, Morgan’s sister, in the hallway on her way to work and told her. Wendy called Morgan and now,” he finished with a shrug and a smile, “I’m here to bring you back to the house for breakfast.”
“Wow” was all Garrek could offer in response.
“Yep,” Gray replied with a chuckle. “Welcome to Temptation!”
* * *
Welcome to Temptation was exactly what Garrek was thinking fifteen minutes later when he stepped onto the wraparound porch of the house on Peach Tree Lane.
He’d been looking around at the place that was obviously undergoing renovations when something to the right caught and held his attention. That something was perfectly shaped and tempting. His mouth had immediately watered at the sight, his body tensing. Of course, it wasn’t the first time he’d glimpsed a female behind, and at thirty years old he was pretty sure it wouldn’t be the last. But there was something about the way the worn denim outlined these particular curves.
She was bending over, counting slats of wood that had been piled toward the far end of the porch. And he was drawn to her. That’s about all he could say to describe why he let Gray go on into the house while he walked closer to where she stood. There was a familiarity that Garrek attributed to the jolts of lust spearing quickly throughout his body. He hadn’t come to this town to meet or sleep with another woman—in fact, that was the last thing he should be thinking of—yet he continued to walk until she stood up straight.
The long swaying end of sandy-brown hair pulled into a ponytail swished over the back of a light blue T-shirt that was tucked snugly into the waist of those enticing jeans. Garrek’s breath caught seconds before she turned to face him because he knew...he didn’t know how, but he did, and when her shocked expression met his and held, he acknowledged that he was in trouble.
Big, delectable trouble.
“Oh!”
Her lips formed a perfect O shape as she released the one syllable, her eyes growing wider.
Cute. That’s the first word that came to Garrek’s mind as he looked at her. She was cute. And cute normally wasn’t his thing. Except when the sprinkle of brown freckles that marched boldly from one cheek across the bridge of her nose to the other cheek held his gaze. There were gold studs in her ears, and her eyes were a dark brown, which made an instant contrast to her cappuccino complexion.
“Good morning,” he said when it seemed the silence between them was going to stretch too long.
“Mornin’,” she replied and then tried to walk around him.
Their arms touched, skin to skin, and they both looked down at the contact. She yanked her arm away first, rubbing her hand up and down the spot where they’d just touched.
“Well, I see you two have met. Again,” a very cheerful voice said.
Garrek looked up to see a short and very pregnant woman making her way toward them. This had to be his sister-in-law. He smiled and extended his hand to her.
“You must be Morgan. I’m Garrek. It’s really nice to meet you.”
Once she was close enough, Morgan pushed Garrek’s extended arm out of the way and stepped in, her arms going immediately around his waist. Garrek joined in the hug, which was tight on her part and cordial on his.
“We don’t welcome family with a handshake around here,” Morgan was saying as she pulled away.
Garrek smiled down at her. She had a friendly face and quick, assessing eyes. Without missing a beat, Morgan reached out and grabbed Harper’s arm just as she was trying to slip away.
“Harper, I hear you and Garrek met last night at the dance. Have you decided where you’re going on your date?” Morgan asked.
Garrek hadn’t thought about the date he’d paid for, even though Harper’s leery gaze had stuck with him throughout the night.
“I apologized for that already,” Harper said. “I didn’t know they were going to do it.”
“Nonsense,” Morgan said and let her hand slide down Harper’s arm until she was lacing their fingers together. “I think you going