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I peered up at the house, then down at the clock on the dashboard. We’d been gone for at least two hours now, so Grant should be done with whatever meeting he said he had scheduled.
“Hey, wait—” I hollered at Day, but the kid was already out of the Jeep and thundering up the front steps. “Holliday Raylan!”
I jumped out of the car and tried to catch up to him before he strode right into the house like he owned the place, but I was a second too late.
“Day, this is not our house—Oh, shit!”
“Mama!” Day squealed, dropping to his knees as a huge beast of a dog came barreling toward the front door. Day threw his arms wide, and the dog tackled him to the ground. My life flashed before my eyes as I ran to him, ready to rip him away from the dog before he got mauled to death, but then I stopped in my tracks, panting, as the dog sniffed Day all over and then started licking his face.
Day giggled frantically, trying to shield himself from the assault. I looked up at the wide staircase as Grant’s heavy footsteps sounded on the wood, then he came into view, looking just as shocked as I currently did as he stood on the landing and looked down at what his vicious guard dog was doing to my son.
“I don’t think she bites,” he said slowly, smirking at me.
“You didn’t mention you had a dog,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest and giving him a look.
“I didn’t think I needed to,” he grumbled, scratching his head as he peered down at Day and the dog, who were now rolling around on the floor together. “She likes him, though.”
“She,” I exhaled, “is twice his size.”
“Can I play with her?” Day panted, then giggled like mad when the dog dropped a slimy stuffed toy that looked like it had seen better days right on his face with an audibly wetsmack.
“Sure, but Jenny’s pretty old, even though she’s acting like a mannerless puppy right now,” Grant said, scratching his head as he watched the dog repeatedly push the sodden dog toy into Day’s chest.
“Well, now you have two mannerless puppies in the house,” I replied.
Grant beamed down at me, his eyes flashing with something I couldn’t quite decipher. Whatever it was sent a burst of warmth rushing down my spine, and I turned away from him before he could witness the heated blush prickling across my cheeks.
“Listen, Day. I have a meeting with Mr. Hallston—”
“Grant,” Grant corrected.
I heaved a breath, nostrils flaring as I shot a quick, motherly look of disapproval at Grant before turning back to Day.
“I have a meeting with Grant, and then you can play with Jenny.”
“He can stay down here if he wants.” Grant shrugged.
I opened my mouth to reply that no, I wasn’t leaving my eight-year-old hellion and his dog alone in his fancy house full of fancy stuff unattended, but the look on Grant’s face told me he wasn’t going to take no for an answer. Day squealed in delight, wrapping his arms around Jenny again before he struggled to his feet and took off around the corner into what looked like a living room.
“Day, no running! And don’t touch anything!” I cried after him, but he was gone in a flash. “Damn.”
“There’s nothing he can break. It’s fine, really.”
“Famous last words,” I chided, looking around the wood-paneled foyer decorated with very expressive works of art that probably cost more than the rent on all of my old apartments combined. It was obvious Grant had put a lot of work into this place. The wood floors were original, as was the banister on the stairs, but everything had been refinished.
I stepped into the living room under the guise of following Day, but I was really snooping around, taking it all in. Two large green couches faced each other, a coffee table at their center, and a wide, stone fireplace took up half of the far wall. Windows faced the massive acreage on all sides, and through an immaculate archway I could see the dining room, and through another archway, the kitchen.
The whole place screamed money.
“It’s not much, but it’s home,” Grant teased.
“Not much?” I laughed, rolling my eyes at him. “This place is massive.”
“There’s a den on the other side of the house,” he said, jabbing a thumb toward the foyer. “Five or six bedrooms upstairs—”
“Five or six? Do you not know how many bedrooms you have in this place?”
“Honestly, I have no idea. The contractors found three additional rooms when they blasted through a few walls to expand the master bedroom and bathroom.”
