“Are you kidding?” he asked in disbelief. “My mother will be thrilled to death to meet you. Her main complaint is that she doesn’t see enough of any of her children. She’s gotten used to my father being at work twenty-three hours a day, but with the rest of us off on our own, nothing makes her happier than having us all gather together, no matter what the reason.”

  Glancing Gwen’s way, he saw the concern on her face. “My mother doesn’t bite. I promise.” He laughed quietly to himself. “Even my father doesn’t bite. He’s just removed and doesn’t talk much, but that’s the way he is with everyone, family or strangers.” Brooks pulled up into the driveway. “Come to think of it, he’s a little politer with strangers. Okay, take a deep breath,” he advised, stopping his vehicle and pulling up the brake. “And remember, I’ve got your six.”

  That didn’t mean anything to her. “My six?” she questioned.

  “Fancy talk for ‘your back.’ I’ve got your back—which also means you can’t run away,” he pointed out with a grin.

  Circumventing the car, Brooks was at the passenger side door, opening it before Gwen could come up with a way to beg off.

  “I’ve never met anyone who didn’t immediately like my mother,” Brooks said as he took her hand to coax her out of the vehicle.

  She highly doubted anyone would actually tell him that they found his mother off-putting or offensive. It just wasn’t something a person would admit to unless they were attempting to draw blood. But she couldn’t very well argue with him about this.

  “Tell you what,” he said as they walked up to the massive etched and beveled glass entry door. “If you start feeling uncomfortable, just give me a signal and we’ll leave. All I ask is that you give my mother forty-five minutes. You can last forty-five minutes, can’t you?”

  She supposed that she couldn’t begrudge him that, Gwen thought. Brooks was being more than accommodating.

  Pulling back her shoulders, she said, “All right, let’s do this.”

  He flashed Gwen a smile as he leaned over her and rang the doorbell. “Whatever you say.”

  He had barely gotten the words out when the front door flew open. Instead of a servant standing there the way she expected, Gwen saw a tall, attractive woman of about her height with dark auburn hair piled fashionably up on her head. The woman’s kind blue eyes reminded her of Brooks. This had to be his mother.

  “Brooks!” Lilly Colton cried, delighted as she embraced her son. “You came.” Stepping back she turned to look at the young woman standing beside her son. “And this must be Gwen.” It wasn’t really a question. “Welcome to my home,” Lilly said, giving Gwen just as warm a hug as she had just bestowed on her son.

  Releasing Gwen from her embrace, Lilly took the opportunity to look at her a little more closely. Her eyes narrowed just a touch. “You know, dear, you remind me of someone. What did you say your last name was?”

  “She didn’t,” Brooks told his mother. He had only used Gwen’s first name when he’d informed her that he was bringing someone with him today. “Gwen’s last name is Harrison.”

  “Harrison,” Lilly repeated, digesting the name. She shook her head. “No, I don’t believe I know anyone by that last name, but there is something so familiar about you.” She cocked her head. “We’ve never met before, have we, Gwen?”

  “No, ma’am. I would have definitely remembered meeting you,” Gwen told the woman.

  “How sweet,” Lilly said, pleased. She slipped her arm around the younger woman’s shoulders. “Come on in and meet the others. Just to alert you, my husband might look right through you,” she warned Gwen. “But don’t take it personally. He’s been ranting about the mayor’s campaign to put a stop to ‘urban sprawl’ ever since he walked in the door an hour ago. In a perfect world, it’s a lovely idea, but Fitz is approaching it from a financial point of view and taking it like a punch to the gut,” Lilly confided, guiding her young guest into the main sitting room. The room had a stone fireplace that ran all the way up to the top of the twenty-one-foot ceiling.

  Gwen felt as if she was walking into a palace. “It’s beautiful,” she breathed.

  “Everyone,” Lilly announced warmly, “this is Gwen Harrison, Brooks’s friend.”

  Everyone turned her way and Lilly proceeded to go around the room, introducing her children and husband to their guest.

  “Gwen, these are two of my daughters, Jordana and Yvette. They both work at the police station. Jordana is a detective and Yvette is a crime scene investigator.”

  “We’ve met,” Jordana told her mother as she smiled at Gwen.

  “But we haven’t,” Yvette said, leaning forward to shake Gwen’s hand.

  “All right, then,” Lilly drew Gwen over to a young man who looked as if he could have been Brooks’s double. “This handsome young devil is Neil, a criminal attorney who enjoys butting heads with Jordana and Yvette on a regular basis. By the way, in case you feel like you’re seeing double when you look at him, that’s because he and Brooks are two-thirds of the triplets in the family. Just to keep it interesting, Bridgette is the third—she’s not here, by the way,” Lilly added. “She’s in Kansas City working in the State’s Department of Health.

  “And this young man is Tyler or Ty as we tend to call him. He’s my firstborn.” The latter barely had time to say “Hello” before his mother was taking their guest over to the last member in the room. “Last, but definitely not least,” Lilly concluded, “this distinguished, brooding man in the corner is my husband, Fitz. You came at a rare time, dear. Fitz isn’t usually home until close to midnight.”

  There was no recrimination in Lilly’s voice. She had resigned herself to this reality years ago.

  Feeling as if she might have stumbled across a family argument, Gwen glanced at the woman’s face. But she realized that Lilly hadn’t meant what she had just said as a dig. If anything, she was extremely happy to be able to introduce her visitor to her husband.

  Gwen had no idea what to make of it, so for now she didn’t try.

  As for Fitz, he stepped forward and shook Gwen’s hand. “Nice to meet you,” he said in a voice that sounded as if it had been preprogrammed. Turning toward his wife, he told her, “I can’t stay, Lilly.” He looked toward Jordana. “Your daughter over here is threatening to have my worksite shut down, so I need to get back over there to make sure that as much work as possible is done before she makes good on her threat.” Fitz cast a very irritated glance toward Jordana.

  Jordana, Gwen saw, was not happy about being the target for her father’s anger.

  “It’s not up to me, Dad. The order came from on high.” To make her point, the police detective said, “It’s not every worksite that has a body falling out of its walls.”

  “That body was buried there twenty-five years ago,” Fitz reminded his daughter stiffly of her own department’s findings. “Stopping my men from doing their jobs isn’t going to tell you who put that body in there in the first place. And thanks to your brother over here—” he nodded toward Brooks “—your dead man has been identified.” It was obvious that he felt the argument should end right here.

  Lilly stepped in, taking her husband’s arm and patting it as if she was attempting to soothe an unruly child. “Hush, Fitz. I’m sure Gwen didn’t come here to hear you berate your daughter for doing her job. If Jordana worked for you, you’d be happy that she was being so efficient,” Lilly said, attempting to mediate between the two sides.

  Instead, she had accidentally hit a nerve. “But she doesn’t work for me, does she?” Fitz said. “None of them work for me. They just enjoy living off the fruits of my labor,” he stated none too happily.

  “Fitz,” Lilly warned sharply.

  To Gwen’s surprise, the tall, distinguished-looking patriarch turned and addressed his apology to her rather than to his wife.

  “I’m sorry, miss. I’m not at my best right now. Dead bodies and setbacks have this way of affecting me. If you’ll excuse me, I have to be getting back. Sorry, Lilly.”

  Whether it was a sincere apology or for show wasn’t quite clear, but he did brush a kiss against Lilly’s perfectly made-up cheek before he turned to go. “Nice meeting you, Gwen. Enjoy dinner,” he said as he walked out.

  The sound of a door closing was heard a moment later.

  “And that was my father,” Brooks said, turning toward Gwen.

  “He looks like he’s got an awful lot on his mind,” Gwen commented, feeling sorry for the man as well as for Brooks and his mother.

  “He’s always had a lot on his mind as far back as I can remember,” Brooks replied.

  Gwen saw Lilly nodding toward someone in the hallway. She presumed it was a maid.

  Lilly turned to address her children and her guest. “Well, it seems that dinner is finally on the table, so shall we adjourn to the dining room?” she suggested.

  Rather than leading the way, Lilly hooked her arm through Gwen’s. “You can sit next to Brooks. I had the housekeeper put an extra chair next to his for you.” She smiled over her shoulder at her son.

  His mother was playing matchmaker, and none too subtly, Brooks thought. He debated warning his mother not to go there. Her efforts might be pointless.

  He could very easily let himself fall for Gwen, he mused as he followed behind his mother and Gwen to the dining room. But he had been on that route more than once. Coming to a woman’s rescue, solving whatever problem was threatening her at the time and once the problem was dealt with and in the past, that woman would express her gratitude and then disappear out of his life, leaving him holding his heart in his hands.

  He didn’t want to be in that position again if he could help it.

  But to deliberately move his chair away from Gwen’s was far too rude a move, so he let his mother continue to think that she was doing a good thing. After all, Gwen was his client and there was nothing to say that he shouldn’t be sitting next to his client.

  He promised himself to set his mother straight when he got the chance and was able to talk to her—alone so that no one else could hear. He definitely didn’t want to be the subject of his siblings’ pity.

  * * *

  Between eating and catching up with everyone’s life, it was late when he and Gwen finally left his parents’ estate.

  Driving to his house, Brooks glanced toward Gwen. At least the visit had gone well. Better than he’d even expected.

  “You know, if you smile any harder, you might wind up cracking your face,” he warned, not bothering to hide his own smile.

  She looked in his direction, clearly happy. “I had a really nice time.”

  He still had his reservations about that. “Sorry about my father,” he said.

  “There’s nothing to be sorry about,” she told Brooks. She certainly hadn’t been offended. “I mean, he wasn’t being rude to me. It was obvious that he was just very stressed.” As had always been her habit, Gwen pointed out the positive side of the situation. “At least you know who your father is and he does come home most nights.” She looked straight ahead at the road. “I don’t even know who mine was—or is. And I don’t even know if he’s dead or alive.”

  “Gwen,” he began, searching for something to say that could take the sting away from her remark. But at the moment, he had nothing.

  “I really like your mother,” Gwen said, thinking about her visit today.

  “What a surprise,” Brooks said, not bothering to keep a straight face. “I told you that you would.”

  Gwen laughed. “Yes, I believe that you did.”

  “It’s mutual, you know. It’s obvious that she likes you.”

  Gwen was a wee bit skeptical about his conclusion. “Well, she couldn’t very well throw me down the stairs and tell me to get lost, now, could she?” she asked Brooks.

  “No, I’m serious,” he insisted. “I know when my mother is just being polite and when she absolutely means what she says.” For a second, in the face of Gwen’s skepticism, Brooks debated what he was about to say next—then decided to dive in. “When she had your chair put next to mine, that was her way of saying she approved of the arrangement.”

  “Arrangement?” Gwen questioned, hoping her voice hadn’t risen too high and given her away. She knew what she was hoping for, but was afraid of getting too far ahead of herself.

  Well, he only had himself to blame so he might as well finish what he’d started. “My mother was playing matchmaker.”

  She really doubted that was the case, but she had to admit that it was still nice to hear no matter what.

  “Well, whatever she was doing, let her know that I’m grateful because for the space of a little while today, I managed to forget about almost being run over by that homicidal maniac that I made the mistake of letting into my life.”

  Now, of course, the thought was back and she couldn’t get it out of her head no matter how hard she tried.

  “First thing tomorrow morning, I’m going to show you a few self-defense moves you can use to protect yourself,” he said, attempting to offer her confidence and make her feel more prepared. “Just knowing what to do and how to defend yourself will make you feel better about the situation.”

  “What would really make me feel better is if that lowlife was in jail and the key to his cell was dropped into the ocean,” she told Brooks.

  “Don’t worry. Until we can make that happen, I’m not going to leave your side,” he promised her.

  “You can’t be at my side 24/7,” she argued. That wouldn’t be fair to him. “You have a life and other commitments.”

  “As of right now,” Brooks informed her as he pulled up in front of his house and turned the ignition off, “you are my only commitment.”

  Gwen shifted in her seat and looked into his eyes. “Believe me, I would love for that to be true, but I’m not that self-centered. Besides, this is the twenty-first century,” she continued as she got out of his car and followed him to the front door. “Helpless damsels in distress are supposed to be passé.”

  “Yes,” he agreed, pressing the combination on his security lock. “This is the twenty-first century and as such everyone needs help at some point. No one is invincible,” he stated emphatically, “and it’s okay to accept help.”

  “But I’m the only one who needs help here,” she pointed out.

  “Let me think about it,” he responded. “I’ll come up with something you can help me with.”

  “I’m not an idiot, Brooks. You’re just saying that,” she told him as she walked into the house ahead of him.

  “No, I’m not,” he insisted, locking the door behind them and pressing the button to engage the security system again.

  She turned to face him. “All right,” she challenged. “Tell me just one thing I can help you with.”

  He wasn’t about to get distracted. Maybe she needed to learn those moves he had mentioned sooner than later. “Right now, you can let me show you a few self-defense moves and tomorrow, we can go into your training much more fully.”

  “All right,” she said, watching him set down their suitcases on the floor. When he did, she presented herself in front of him like a willing student and spread her hands in a silent invitation. “Go ahead. Show me what to do, Brooks.”

  Why did that sound like an invitation for far more than just self-defense lessons to him?

  And why in heaven’s name wasn’t he saying anything that would just put her off?

  Chapter 15

  “Well? I’m waiting,” Gwen said to Brooks as she moved a little closer to him. And then closer still until she was almost standing in his space. “Show me something, Brooks.”

  “On second thought, it’s late,” he told her. “Why don’t we wait until tomorrow, when we’re both fresh? I’ll call Ty and ask him to come by so he can give both of us a proper demonstration.”

  “Tyler?” she asked, not really following him. “Why Tyler?”

  “My older brother is a security expert who picks up bodyguard gigs on the side. What that means is that he’s up on all the latest self-defense techniques. He’s also the one who can show you what to do in an emergency.”

  She appreciated Brooks offering her his family’s expertise, but she wouldn’t presume to take advantage of any of them. Brooks was the one she had an actual relationship with, not any of the others, as nice as she thought they all were.

  “But you’re a private investigator. You can’t tell me that you don’t have a few handy moves at your disposal,” she said.

  Damn, Brooks thought. Gwen was standing much too close to him for him to be thinking clearly. Even so, he did give it another try.

  “Again, tomorrow would be a much better time for this. We’ll both be more clearheaded then.”

  Gwen inclined her head, looking up into his eyes. Suddenly, she really wanted to feel his arms around her. “You know, clearheadedness can be highly overrated at times.”

  He felt himself growing progressively attracted to Gwen, and that was dangerous. “Gwen, you and I have a professional relationship,” he explained. “I can’t disrespect that relationship by stepping over the line.”

  He could only hope that he sounded more convincing that he felt because he was weakening by the moment.

  “It takes two to overstep,” Gwen told him. Her heart was racing at an ever increasing speed, causing her throat to throb.

  Brooks could feel her breath on his face, could feel his own desire growing to such proportions that he was having a very difficult time being able to manage it.

  “You know, you’re making this very hard, Gwen,” he murmured.

  “How hard?” she asked, her voice hardly above a whisper. It was drawing him in quicker than he would have ever thought possible.

  “Damn near impossible to resist,” he told her in all seriousness.

 

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