Page 55 of Champagne and Daisies

She came out, tying her hair up into a ponytail as she did. “What? Who is it?” She peered out the window. “Oh, it’s Smoke and Laura.”

Damn. He’d hoped it might be Cameron—he seemed to be okay with Grant and Chelsea, but her older brother, Smoke, seemed much less enthused.

Chelsea laughed. “Don’t look like that. It’s ten o’clock in the morning. You could have just come over. He doesn’t need to know you spent the night.”

Grant made a face.

“Hmm,” her smiled faded. “You’re probably right. He was onto you last night.”

Grant groaned. “I kind of knew that, but what did he say?”

“That he wouldn’t interfere, and I can tell him about it when I’m ready.”

Grant smiled. That meant she must have told her brother something about the two of them. The knock on the door brought him back to the moment.

“Don’t worry, it’ll be fine.” She smiled at him before she went to get it.

“Hey, you two. Good morning. Come on in.”

Smoke and Laura came through to the living room. Smoke stopped dead and scowled when he saw Grant. His wife tried to make up for it, giving Grant a big smile. “Hi, it’s nice to see you again. Did you have a good time last night?”

“Yes, it was great, thanks.” Grant wanted to kick himself as Smoke’s expression grew darker. He was pretty sure that Laura had a meant at Gene’s party, but Smoke was assuming something else.

“We did, too,” Laura gave him a conspiratorial smile. “Didn’t we, Smoke? We have to get back to Summer Lake this afternoon, but we wanted to see you before we go.”

“I can get going,” said Grant. He wasn’t being a coward in the face of Smoke’s disapproval—not really. He was being considerate; Chelsea didn’t get to catch up with them very often, so he should leave them to it.

Smoke scowled at him again, but Chelsea laughed. She came to stand beside Grant and slid her arm around his waist. His arm automatically came up around her shoulders as she leaned against him.

“Stop it, Smoke. You’re not going to scare him off.”

Laura laughed. “You tell him, Chels. And you,” she turned to Grant with a smile, “I know you’re just trying to be diplomatic, but you’d better start standing your ground with this one, or he’ll walk all over you. He can be a jerk sometimes.”

Grant met Smoke’s gaze. He didn’t want to piss the guy off, but he didn’t want to come off as a pussy either. He gave him a rueful smile. “Sorry, dude. I guess guy code goes out the window when women take over.”

Smoke continued to scowl for a moment, but Grant could see it was barely concealing a smile. Eventually, he nodded. “It’s them who’ll walk all over you if you don’t watch yourself.”

Chelsea laughed. “Phew. So, now the ice is officially broken. How long have you got? Do you want to stay for some lunch?”

“Sorry, we’ve not got long,” said Laura.

“No,” Smoke gave Chelsea a pointed look. “I just wanted to chat with you about what you said last night. I have a few ideas.”

Grant had a feeling that whatever it was, Smoke didn’t want to discuss it in front of him. “I can make myself scarce if you like?”

Chelsea looked up at him, then back at Smoke. He could tell it was something she wanted to talk about with her brother, but she didn’t want him to go.

“How about,” said Laura, “you and I pop over to the deli for sandwiches? I’m going to need to eat before we fly home, and you can pick up something for you and Chelsea to have once we’re gone.”

Chelsea nodded. Smoke didn’t look happy. Grant got the impression that he was even more protective of his wife than he was of his little sister. “Or I could go by myself?” he suggested.

Smoke’s face relaxed, but Laura shook her head. “I need to see what I want.”

Smoke laughed and looked at Grant. “Thanks for trying, but like I say, they walk all over you, if you let ‘em. I consider myself well and truly whipped.”

Grant chuckled. “I’m trying my best here.”

“And I appreciate it,” said Smoke.

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