Page 107 of Moonlit Colorado

“I had better luck findinghim.” Warren pulled out a sheet of paper and handed it to me. “Do you want me to make contact?”

“No. But…I’ll let you know.”

I hadn’t even mentioned to Grace that I was looking for Grayden. Now, I wondered if this had been a mistake. When I’d asked Warren to put out feelers for Grayden, Grace and I had been in a very different place. The last couple weeks with her had shown me just how great we were together.

I was falling so hard for her.

But I’d fucked up with this Grayden situation. Gone behind her back. I just hoped Grace wouldn’t be too pissed off.

* * *

By the time I got home, carrying a chocolate-swirl cheesecake from our favorite bakery, I was aching to see my girl. Grace and I had been together so often the last couple weeks that I’d gotten used to it. She kept complaining that we hadn’t been intimate, as if it was easy for me to tell her no. Ihatedtelling Grace no.

I was going out of my mind with how badly I wanted to be inside her again. But I couldn’t risk hurting her. Grace didn’t like when I was protective because she thought that meant I viewed her as weak.

But it was the opposite. I liked to portray to the world that nothing ever got to me. But Gracedid. She was my weakness.

I greeted the doorman on my way up. “Hey, George. How’s it going?”

“Afternoon, Mr. Knightly. Ms. O’Neal is upstairs with a guest. Ms. Maxwell.” Considering the other people who lived in this building, George didn’t get starstruck often. He was a total professional. I couldn’t count the number of times I had asked him to call me Dane, and it never stuck. But the look on his face told me that superstar Ayla Maxwell was a different story.

“Thanks,” I said, making a mental note to ask Ayla to sign something and send it down to him.

I was glad that Grace was home already, and I tried not to be disappointed that we wouldn’t be alone. Ayla was part of Grace and Ashford’s family, and I hadn’t met her yet. So I looked forward to that opportunity.

Maybe she liked chocolate-swirl cheesecake too.

I was whistling contentedly as I unlocked the apartment door and stepped inside. Quiet voices came from the living room, like the two women were whispering to one another. Then they went silent. Which seemed odd.

But I didn’t think anything of it until I walked into the great room. “Hey, I brought dessert if anyone’s interested.”

My smile died a quick death when I saw their expressions.

“What’s going on?” I crossed the room in a few quick strides. “Baby, did something happen?”

Grace was holding something in her hands, some sheets of paper, but I couldn’t see more than that. Ayla stood up from the couch, smiling cautiously. “Dane, I’m Ayla. I’m going to take off. I was just waiting here until you got home. Unless you want me to stay, Grace?”

“No, I’m okay,” she said softly. Grace looked pretty much as she had that morning, physically at least.

Whatever was happening here, I didn’t like it, but if Grace wanted to be mysterious about it, I could wait a couple minutes. I set the cheesecake on a side table, along with my keys, while Ayla hugged Grace goodbye. Then she shook my hand. “Sorry to run like this. My driver is waiting outside. Maybe next time we can chat more.”

“Sure. Sounds good.” When Ayla was gone, I said, “You wanna tell me what this is about? Because all the anticipation is making me nervous.”

Grace took a deep breath and looked into my eyes. “Someone delivered these to the restaurant while Ayla and I were having lunch.” She held out the papers. I took them, flipping from one to the other.

What thefuckwas this?

“It looks like you and Nina Jamison.” Grace’s voice was strangely flat.

“It isn’t.” I mean, the pictures were of me. But I had never in my life stood on this street corner kissing some redhead, much less Nina Jamison. Make that Nina Badowski. “These are fake.”

But it looked bad. I realized that. And I could only imagine what Grace was thinking right now.

My heart hammered like a fist against my rib cage. For several agonizing seconds, she didn’t say anything.

Then she nodded. “I know. But there were a couple minutes at first that my mind went to a pretty dark place.” Her voice cracked on that last sentence, and I felt like that same crack had opened up in my chest.

“Fuck. C’mere.” I picked her up and sat on the couch, cradling her in my lap.

---