Page 20 of Just One Look

“Anything serious?”

“Nothing was taken so either it was stupid kids or buyers too impatient to wait for a realtor.”

“Ha. I’m going with the first option.”

“Anyhow, when we got to the Steer’s Den, the place was on fire.”

“Oh, my lord. Stuart?”

“Is fine. Minor burns, but Devlin went to the hospital anyway.” Taking a slow sip of wine, she sighed. “He was really worried about everyone. By the time we left the hospital, not only had Devlin made sure that everyone was being taken care of, that everyone’s bills were covered, but he managed to secure a new restaurant location for Stuart.”

Bobbing her head, Emily smiled. “That sounds about right.”

“Is he always like that?”

“Like what?”

“A hurricane. In reverse.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard of such a thing.”

“A hurricane flies through at insane speeds and destroys everything in its path. Devlin came through with the same gale force winds but instead of destruction, he put all the pieces back together.”

“In the right hands, money and determination can do that.”

“So this is, like, normal for him?”

“For all of them.”

“All?”

“The Barons were born learning how to make a difference.” Emily set her glass down. “If you’ve been at the hospital all this time, you must be starved.”

“No.” Liz grabbed her sister’s arm before she could stand. “We stopped for a burger at Kelly’s.”

“And you didn’t bring me one!” Despite the teasing tone, Liz knew her sister was serious.

“Sorry. Thought you’d be asleep by the time we got home.”

Leaning back in the sofa again, Emily picked up her glass. “So, tomorrow?”

“He wants to do dinner again. I told him he didn’t have to, but he seems to be a bit stubborn.”

Emily almost choked on the sip of wine she swallowed. “Understatement, meet Devlin Baron.”

The entire night felt awfully surreal, but she couldn’t help but wonder, what the heck would Mr. Understatement Baron have in store for tomorrow?

Normally, at this hour of the night, Devlin would have gone home to his own apartment for a reasonable night’s sleep. Tonight, or more accurately, this morning, he opted to head to the ranch instead. Liz had been right about one thing, Sundays were important to his family. Especially his grandmother. If he was going to skip out on dinner, at least he could do lunch, and sleeping at the ranch would allow him to avoid waking up at the crack of dawn to make it.

The entire drive to the ranch, his mind ran through his evening. A list of things to follow up on Monday morning for Stuart should have been the priority, but every few moments his mind would wander off to Liz. The vision of her in the doorway Friday night in that form-fitting black dress took turns with her digging into the Kelly burger with gusto. Usually, he had people figured out pretty quickly. That’s how he made deals work, and work fast. Reading people came easily to him, knowing when to push and when to pull back. Not with Liz. The woman he met Friday night was bold, confident, a bit of a tease, and seriously sexy.

That alone was confounding. How could two women look so much alike and tug such different reactions from him? One he adored the same way he adored his own sisters and cousins. The other had his nerve endings jumpy and his blood sizzling. Fast forward to tonight, or last night depending on how you looked at it, and that same daring woman from the gala was quiet, respectful, patient, concerned, and still driving him crazy.

Leaving his car parked in the circle drive, he trotted up the front steps and into the house. Too wound up to sleep, he made his way to the family parlor. Maybe a short drink would help wipe Liz out of his mind long enough to get some sleep.

“Don’t you look like a man wrestling a bull.”

Devlin looked down at his shirt.

---