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“Still thinking about it.”
“Well, I hope you do. It’d be good to get to know you. Bliss too,” he said with a little smile. “She’s always been an enigma to me.”
“She’s worth getting to know.” Granger’s heart ached. Had he ruined everything with his messed-up proposal and his closed-off emotions? Was it too late?
Conor gave him a knowing look. “So that’s how it is. I wondered.”
“Wondered what?”
“How things stand with you two.”
Granger didn’t answer. He didn’t know where things stood. Or could stand. He shrugged.
“I want my sister to be happy, but she can be hard to reach.”
Granger thought about all the times Bliss had mentioned how much she longed to be closer to Conor. If he could do one thing for Bliss—after botching his damn proposal—maybe it was this.
“Bliss wants to be closer to you. You just have to try harder, and don’t fall for the airhead act. That’s just a defense mechanism.”
“Excuse me?”
“She’s sensitive. She’s intuitive. She’s also smart and brave and you don’t treat her that way. You treat her like a pretty pop song you’ve heard a million times. You like to bop your head to it, but you never listen to the lyrics.”
Conor scrubbed a hand through his golden hair. “Damn. I do that?”
Granger shrugged again. “You’re not the only one.”
The other man looked at him shrewdly. “But you don’t. You listen to the lyrics. You understand her.”
No. I love her.
He didn’t say the words out loud, but maybe theywerewritten on his face. Conor got to his feet and shook his hand. “Good luck, man,” he murmured. “If I figure out anything about that fund, I’ll let you know.”
Granger jogged down the stairs, out into the sweet May air.
I’d do anything for you, Bliss, even make sure your brother gets you.
I love you, Bliss.
But how did she feel about him? She’d actually thrown up when he’d proposed to her. That didn’t seem like a good sign. On the other hand, they laughed so much together, they were so good together, in bed and out, surely she must feel something for him too?
Then his heart sank. If she loved him, wouldn’t she have said “yes” to his proposal?
No, you idiot.He could practically hear Marqui’s lecture.Haven’t you been listening to me? You have to tell her how you feel.
His phone vibrated. But it wasn’t a call coming in. It was a notification from an app—the one for the Mason house security system.
Perimeter breach.
He thumbed open the app and clicked through the system’s various camera angles. Moses was closed up in the home gym, running around like a little maniac. Bliss wouldn’t have done that, would she? It wasn’t safe. The Chihuahua could fall in the pool and be unable to climb out.
And then he froze. One of the outdoor cameras showed Bliss relaxing on a chaise lounge she’d dragged onto the terrace. Her knitting lay at her side. A strange man was approaching her. There was something familiar about him. He’d seen him before, running away…
In that moment, everything inside him, body and soul, heart and mind, blood and bone, crystallized into one absolute certainty. He had to get to Bliss, and also, he had to tell her he loved her.
He thrust his phone into his pocket and ran.
Twenty-Nine
