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“I bet most people would say that about Grant.”
I shook my head. “Grant is… different.” I didn’t know how to put it into words, but X seemed like someone who was always calculating. Someone who would still be a mystery, even if you’d known him for years. Grant was serious, and he could be standoffish, but he’d looked right into me the first time I’d walked up to his table. I’d felt the heat underneath his military bearing.
“Go see him,” TJ said. “I’ll finish this.”
“I wouldn’t have thought you’d volunteer for domestic chores.”
“I live alone, and my mother would kill me if I kept my house looking like a sty.”
“That’s… unexpected.”
“Don’t think about it too hard. Go check on your man. We need him to keep it together if we’re going to work our way out of this.”
“Thank you,” I said as I hung the towel I’d been using to dry a bowl.
“You’re welcome. I told you I wasn’t as bad as you thought.”
“I suppose you don’t let on about that to your marks.”
“Fuck no. I assure you I can be very deadly when I want to be, but you’re safe. Don’t fool yourself. Your man has a violent side too.”
“Yeah, I know.” But did I really? I knew it in my head, but did I accept it? Would I be okay with it?
I’d believed Grant instinctively when he’d said he wouldn’t hurt me that night by his truck, and I still believed him now, but I knew he was worried about me being exposed to the violence of his world. If I’d learned anything since coming to Paradise Ranch, it was that things weren’t what they seemed. Evan was the dangerous one. TJ was almost sweet, and while Grant might be in the same business as Trey in a roundabout way, he was nothing like him—nothing like him at all—and neither was TJ.
Grant’s office door was slightly cracked like he’d shut it behind him but the latch hadn’t caught. I stood still for a moment, just listening.
“What do you mean I held out… You trusted me to handle… I know… I’m not used to that.”
I looked up and realized Grant was watching me. Of course he would realize someone was there. He was trained to. And I wasn’t, but I knew how to talk to people. I wasn’t always as scattered as I’d been when serving his table. I usually did a damn good job and earned great tips. Or I used to. I wasn’t going back to waiting tables, was I? What if Grant changed his mind when this was over?
You’ll convince him you should stay with him.
I couldn’t count on that, though, could I? I held my breath as Grant motioned for me to come in. I wasn’t sure if he was angry I’d been listening, but at least he wasn’t sending me away.
I started to sit, but he held out his arm, and I let him pull me to his side. I knew everything was okay then. At most, he was slightly annoyed, but he still wanted me close.
I tried to listen to the rest of his conversation, but it was hard to concentrate when he had his arms around me, and his warm shoulder was there for me to lay my head on.
“I hired you because you are the right person for the job,” I heard X say. “Not because I thought you’d never need help.”
When they were in the bar, I’d been able to tell how much he liked Grant, not in a sexual way but like a younger brother, a role I was sure Grant barely understood. He was the oldest in every stereotypical way. X’s words reassured me I hadn’t been wrong about him. He cared about Grant.
“Is everything okay?” I asked when Grant ended the call.
He blew out a long breath, and I felt tension leave his shoulders. “Yeah. I forgot how well he understands me, and that I… Well, I can be…”
“Stubborn? Overly conscientious? A perfectionist?”
He tilted his head and studied me for a second. “Am I that readable?”
“To me you are.”
“Maybe you should be the one doing this.”
I shook my head. “I felt sorry for Evan and thought TJ was going to kill me.”
“TJ isn’t safe no matter what he told you.”
