Page 74 of Deceiving Grier

I bit my lip to hold back the chuckle crawling up the back of my throat. There were plenty of straight people, after all, who got married and had kids and were perfectly miserable. I thought of Finn and Alistair and Finn’s son building a life and family together. I thought of Harry and Michael running the shop in The Square for all those years and planned to spend the next part of their life traveling together. Marriage and kids didn’t guarantee happiness. But choosing the right life sure as hell increased the odds.

“I know that you and Dad loved me. That you wanted the best for me.” Even if I didn’t agree with how they tried to ensure that. “But running the business is not for me, and neither is Cedar Creek. I love you, Mom, but Fiona taking over the company and me staying in Oregon is the right thing for all of us.”

“Your father—” she began, but I cut her off.

“That idea of legacy meant a lot to him, but the company isn’t going anywhere. Fiona’s his daughter, for Christ’s sake, and she’ll run that company a hell of a lot better than I ever could. She has a passion for it. One I never had.” I reached across the table with my good hand, closing my finger around hers.

Her throat jumped, and she drew a sniffling breath. “I hope you’re right. All I ever wanted is for my children to be happy.”

“We will be, Mom. We’ll be fine.”

Chapter Thirty

Sawyer

Itwaspasteightwhen Grier finally got back to the hotel. I was stretched out on the bed in just my underwear and a t-shirt, having shed my suit almost as soon as I got back to the room, watching T.V.—and the time on my phone.

I hadn’t liked leaving Grier on his own, especially when he had no way back to the hotel. That he’d seemed keyed up and restless when I dropped him off didn’t make it any easier. Still, as he’d pointed out, Uber was a thing, and Grier had grown up in the area, so he knew how to get around. I was just being paranoid, worrying about him while he couldn’t use his right hand. Still, when he walked through the hotel room door, a little of the tension that gripped my chest loosened.

He looked a bit better than when I dropped him off. Tired and maybe a little distracted, but nowhere near as agitated as earlier. I knew he didn’t want to run his parents’ business and move back here, just as I knew he didn’t want to disappoint them by telling them 'no'.

“How did it go?” I asked, sitting up on the bed.

He shrugged out of his suit jacket and draped it over the back of the desk chair. “Good, I think. Yeah, it went good.”

I frowned. His answer was unusually vague. “Okaaay.”

“Did you eat yet?”

I shook my head. “I was waiting for you. Finn and Alistair are staying in a room on the floor above ours. Everyone was going there for pizza and to hang out. We’re welcome to join them if you’re up to it.”

“Yeah, maybe.” Grier nodded, still strangely distracted, his stare distant and unfocused while he nibbled on his bottom lip. “I want to talk to you about something first, though.”

Unease coiled inside me like a frigid snake, wrapping around my chest and stealing my breath. What could he have to say all of a sudden after going through his father’s succession plan for the business that had left him so shifty? My guess was nothing good. I just hoped that myownnews might sway him.

“Me too,” I admitted. “I have something I want to tell you too.”

His eyes widened. He clearly hadn’t been expecting that. “Okay, you go first.”

Don’t mind if I do.I rubbed my damp palms on the duvet beneath me. I sincerely hoped I hadn’t misread anything between us. Fuck, what if I was making a colossal mistake? What if I made things awkward? We still had months under the same roof ahead of us. What if I was moving too quickly for him, and he freaked out?

“Okay,” I started, then my phone rang from the nightstand next to me.

“Shit,” I murmured, grabbing it up to mute and force the call to my voicemail, but the number on the screen gave me pause. “What the hell?”

“What is it? What’s wrong?” Grier asked.

“I’m not sure.” I swept my thumb over the screen and pressed the phone to my ear.

“Hello?”

“Mr. Banks?”

“That’s me.”

“This is Officer Collins.”

I glanced at Grier, who was watching me intently. “Um… Hi? Is something wrong?”

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