“I’m Grant Fierce. It’s nice to meet you.”

  “Payton,” she said, reaching her hand out to his.

  Bryce turned her slightly, his hand still on her lower back. “That’s Sam on the couch with his fiancée, Dani. Ryder is in the chair.”

  “Nice to meet you both,” Payton said.

  “Wow, Bryce. Look at you,” Ryder said, wiggling his eyes.

  She frowned, wondering what the heck that comment was supposed to mean, but Bryce just said, “Ryder, don’t go there.”

  “Go where?” she found herself asking after all.

  “Just that you’re a lot hotter than Bryce normally brings home,” Sam said.

  Dani pinched his arm. “Sam, that is mean.”

  “What is so mean about saying she is good looking?” Sam asked. “I thought all women liked to be complimented on being hot.”

  “It’s not mean to compliment her, but it is to bring up any exes. It’s uncomfortable and you should know that,” Dani said, squinting her eyes. “Ignore Sam, Payton. I’m still working on his manners.”

  “Dani is right,” Diane said. “See, Bryce, it’s the boys that need to be on their best behavior, not me.”

  ***

  Bryce couldn’t believe Ryder had to go and open his big mouth and make that comment. What an ass. He figured Ryder would have had more common sense than that, but he should have known better. Maybe that was why Ryder ended up with all the headcases as dates because that was all that would put up with him.

  “So what do you do?” Dani asked when Payton moved over to another couch, Bryce pulling her next to him but allowing her to see Dani.

  “I own and operate Millie’s. It’s a deli of sorts. That’s how Bryce and I met.”

  “That’s funny. I own and operate Dee’s. It’s a salon. It’s nice to meet another business owner. Another woman business owner. We might have to compare notes on things. It’s a funny thing too, that is how I met Sam.”

  “Small world, isn’t it,” his mother asked, her voice an octave higher than normal.

  Bryce liked how accepting Dani was of people and how she was trying to make Payton feel a bit more at home. Something his own brothers should have done, but they were too busy busting his ass as always.

  “It’s been hard to do it on my own,” Payton said. “My aunt left the business to me when she passed away last year. Though I’ve worked there since high school, it’s more difficult when you don’t have someone you can lean on.”

  “I know all about that,” Dani said. “I started Dee’s on my own, but trust me when I say I couldn’t have done it if I didn’t have my parents by my side the whole time and encouraging me or helping me when I needed it.”

  “My aunt was like that,” Payton said. “She always told me to start small and dream big. I guess I’ve been trying to do that more in the past few years making changes.”

  “What changes have you made?” Bryce asked, turning sharply. Why hadn’t they ever talked about her business more? He just realized that. Maybe he should take a bigger interest in it.

  “A lot of things to make it run faster, more efficiently. The touch screens, the gift cards. Since it’s just Kelly and me, I want to make the customer turnover as quick as possible.”

  “Smart changes,” Bryce said, knowing firsthand how fast she and Kelly were with customers. “Any other changes? Has the menu always been the same? By the way, Payton makes the best potato salad I’ve ever had.”

  “And donuts,” his father said. “They didn’t last long in the office when your mother brought them over the other day.”

  “Thank you,” Payton said. “The donuts were something I started several years ago. The same with the cookies. My aunt just had breakfast foods and more of a deli for subs and salads, but I figured we were there, why not try other things? I’ve learned that many will impulsively grab a cookie with their lunch too.”

  “Just like me,” Bryce said.

  “Exactly. I’ve changed out a few other menu items, but nothing major. One of my employees suggested I should start to cater parties. It has merit.”

  “What kind of parties?” Ryder asked. At least his brother wasn’t being annoying and was going to have an intelligent conversation now.

  “Bryce recommended Justin to me, he’s a student of his. Anyway, he suggested that people go to parties and don’t have time to make salads and such. I should have sub platters that can be ordered in advance. I’ve thought of it before during the week and have had people get large orders at times.”

  “Sounds like a great idea,” Grant said. “We order subs and salads all the time for team meetings. We’d gladly give you the business if you want to do it.”

  “I have to think about it and the timing of it. But I’d do it for you, if you want. Just let me know. Maybe it’s a good way to test it out. But Justin suggested weekends and I’m just not sure I want to open on Saturdays.”

  “No,” Bryce said. “You work too much as it is.” The room got quiet when he said that and he wondered if it was his tone or not. “She does. She works more than twelve hours a day, five days a week.” He turned to her. “You want to add a sixth day?”

  “I wouldn’t open the deli for that day. Just maybe fill and deliver orders. Not sure yet. Delivering might be a pain, so yeah, I’d have to open. I don’t know. You’re right, I do work a lot and I need the break.”

  “You could get more staff,” Sam said.

  “I could. It’s just hard to let go. More things to think about. Anyway, it’s nice to talk about it, so thanks.”

  Which made Bryce feel like crap that he hadn’t talked enough with her about her life and her business and should have. He’d just been having so much fun with her and their time together.

  He never wanted to talk about his work for fear of boring her, and thought if he brought hers up, she might bring his up. Probably a dumb move on his part the more he thought of it.

  When dinner was done and Payton was in the kitchen with Dani and his mother cleaning up, he was in the living room with his brothers and father when Ryder said, “Glad you took my advice.”

  “What advice is that?” Bryce asked, hoping his brother would drop it.

  “Dating someone outside of your boring routine.”

  “Ryder,” his father said. “Leave your brother alone. He has his tastes and you have yours.”

  “And Ryder’s tastes give the rest of us fodder for family entertainment,” Sam said.

  “Bite me,” Ryder said. “But, my point is, Bryce listened to me and decided to try his hand at someone so different than he normally dates, and look, it seems he’s having fun for once in his life. Not to mention what a freaking treat she is to look at.”

  Bryce frowned. “That’s not why I asked her out.” It really wasn’t. Though he had wanted to prove that he could try something different to just shut his brothers up, but he really liked Payton.

  He liked her personality, her work ethic, the way she made him feel. Things he started to realize he hadn’t felt with another woman before.

  “Why did you?” his father asked.

  “Because she’s sweet. She handles herself well around people.”

  “She cooks for him,” Sam said. “That’s always a bonus.”

  “I won’t argue with that,” Bryce said, laughing.

  “As long as you are happy,” his father said, “it doesn’t matter the reason you asked her out.”

  The First One

  Payton hadn’t meant to eavesdrop on the boys’ conversation, but when she returned from the bathroom, her feet just started to gravitate toward Bryce like two magnets needing to snap together. Then she heard Ryder make the comment about Bryce dating someone different than he always had.

  She’d felt her face redden over the comment on her looks—something she’d heard one too many times in life—and hated to think that Bryce would have asked her out for that reason.

  It did make her feel good to hear him compliment her and say why he asked her out, but all those doubts she’d always had were in her brain again crashing around like waves on the beach during a hurricane.

  She took a deep breath and turned to go back to the kitchen with Diane and Dani and decided to help serve the cake while the coffee was brewing.

  “So is Bryce treating you well?” Diane asked her.

  “Of course. He’s a perfect gentleman.”

  Diane laughed. “I’m not sure about that. Well, I try, but those boys have minds of their own.”

  “Tell me about it,” Dani said. “I won’t bore you with Sam’s stubbornness on ideas of things.”

  “But you turned him around,” Diane said, winking. “Got him to stop thinking he couldn’t commit.”

  “Sam didn’t want to commit?” Payton asked.

  “That was part of it,” Dani said. “He’s just seen a lot of things in his career. He’s had a lot of stress and responsibility on his shoulders. Said he didn’t want to burden someone with that. It was hard for me to tell him how stupid that is, that people who love each other tell the other everything.”

  “You should have told him that,” Diane told Dani. “And it shouldn’t have been hard either.”

  Payton put her head down and started to slice the cake. There was no way she was telling Bryce about her disability. It was her burden to carry and her secret. She didn’t need pity and didn’t want to be looked down on in life any more than she had been.

  She didn’t want to be an embarrassment to him or his family either. They saw her for someone she was trying to portray and she was going to continue to keep it that way.

  “Is it time for dessert?” Bryce asked, walking into the kitchen, then leaning down to give her a kiss on the cheek. “I’m taking this piece right here. I brought you here, so I get the first one.”

  She smiled and kissed him back on the cheek, caught his mother’s sly look, but nudged it away.

  When they were all sitting in the living room eating the rich dessert, Diane said, “So are you boys driving together for Cade’s bachelor party in two weeks?”

  “We hadn’t talked about it yet,” Sam said. “I guess we could. Maybe we should just get a limo and all of us boys can go together.”

  “Only you think that way,” Dani said. “Why don’t you go with your brothers and have some bonding time?”

  Bryce snorted. “Bonding time? We’ve had enough of that in our lives, thank you very much. But I’ll drive you if you guys want to drink.”

  “Sweet,” Ryder said. “Works for me.”

  “Same here,” Sam said.

  Dani turned to her. “The boys have to go to Charlotte in two weeks for their cousin Cade’s bachelor party. A few weeks later is the bridal shower. I don’t know why they couldn’t do them the same day.”

  “Because Jolene wanted it at the house for the bridal shower and so did Cade for his bachelor party, but Alex said she didn’t want a joint party. I don’t blame her with the way Cade gets all the attention half the time,” Grant said. “We’ve also learned to let Jolene have her way with things.”

  Payton didn’t say much to that, just listened to them talk, wondering why Bryce never said he wouldn’t be around that day. Not that they had to tell each other everything the other did.

  Bryce turned to her. “I forgot to mention it. Sorry. I’ve been busy with work.”

  “And working on his paper, I’m sure,” Ryder said.

  “Not as busy as I thought I’d be,” he said and looked away.

  She wondered if she was distracting him from it and started to feel bad knowing how much his work and career meant to him.

  “You don’t need to spend that much time on it and you know it,” Diane said. “I love that Bryce always wants to learn, but he never gives his brain a break. I, for one, am thrilled that he seems to be taking time out.”

  Bryce rolled his eyes and laughed at her. “My brain a break? You see what I have to deal with here?”

  “It’s kind of funny.” And sweet, she thought, never knowing what it was like to have any family interaction like this.

  “So what does your mother do over the summer?” Diane asked her, glad for a change in topic.

  “Not much,” Payton said. She really didn’t want to talk much about her mother to Diane though. Or anyone, but she couldn’t avoid it, knowing they worked together. “She spends time gardening and doing stuff around the house. She’s a lot handier than I am.”

  “That’s a nice trait to have,” Diane said. “I’m pretty helpless when it comes to doing things around the house.”

  “You’re not helpless at all,” Grant said. “You’ve just got four guys you can ask to do things for you.”

  Payton smiled and held it in place. She and her mother never had that and she started to wonder if that was why her mother was so bitter about things in life.

  “My father worked construction for years and he taught my mother a lot of things. She’s better than I am when it comes to stuff. I guess it’s a good thing so she doesn’t have to hire someone.”

  She hoped that didn’t come off as sarcastic, it wasn’t her intent, but she wasn’t used to the life that Bryce and his family had.

  “My father died when I was in elementary school,” Grant said. “My older brother, Gavin, was just a teen and stepped into the father role. My mother had it rough with three boys to raise on her own so I can sympathize with your mother.”

  She hadn’t known that and she felt petty judging them. “It’s hard. I was older when my father passed away. My mother has always held it together though.”

  There wasn’t much more she could say to that. But when Bryce reached over and grabbed her hand, pulling her closer to him, his arm around her, saying, “She did a good job with you. You’re one of the most independent women I know,” she realized that maybe she should thank her mother now and again.

  She laid her head on his shoulder. “Thanks. I try.”

  ***

  “I did good. Go on, tell me I did, Grant.”

  She laughed at the look on her husband’s face when everyone left at the end of the day. “I’m not sure what to think.”

  “Please,” she said, waving her hand. “Did you see Bryce get all annoyed when he found out she might be working more? Like it would be taking time away from him?”

  Grant laughed. “I did. I also saw her frown over that look. Like maybe it was news to him and he wasn’t happy about it. I wonder what they talk about.”

  “Enough I’m sure,” she said. “He was praising her and she blushed. As if not many people have praised her in life and, knowing Rachelle, I’m sure that is the case.”

  “You don’t know how hard it might have been for Rachelle to raise Payton alone,” he argued.

  “I know. I never heard the full story behind his death. There were rumors though.”

  “I remember,” he said. “That he drank a lot after his accident. That he’d died in his sleep.”

  “Many thought he overdosed, but Rachelle would never say. There was talk of drugs with the alcohol,” Diane said.

  “What kind of drugs?” Grant asked.

  “Pain pills. I think Payton had a pretty hard life. Did you see her face trying to take everything in today? She comes off as confident, but I know she isn’t. She probably doesn’t know I know about her disability and I’d never say anything.”

  “As you shouldn’t. I’m sure it’s difficult for her and having Rachelle as a mother didn’t help matters any. Just another thing to separate Bryce and her, the way they were raised.”

  It wasn’t just the comments on how lovely the house was that Payton had made, but her overwhelmed glances from time to time that made Diane think Payton was putting on a pretty strong front.

  “Don’t be snotty,” Diane said.

  “I’m the least snotty person in this family. My brothers and I had very little growing up and you know it. Everything we’ve got we’ve worked hard for.”

  “Exactly, and we instilled that in the boys regardless of giving them a better life than we’ve ever had.”

  “Which is why I think Bryce is drawn to her,” Grant said.

  “So you do think I did a good job?”

  “Good enough for now. I guess only time will tell though.”

  “Time is only going to bring them closer,” she said firmly. She hadn’t missed how easily Bryce reached for Payton when he’d never done that with another woman before.

  “Could be. That is if Ryder can keep his mouth shut long enough.”

  She laughed. “He thinks he’s being so funny, but when his time comes, his brothers will make him pay for it, I’m sure.”

  “I’m sure they will,” Grant said, pulling her closer and into his lap, giving her a little cuddle that she loved so much. She just had the best life and that was all she wanted for her boys.

  “Speaking of making people pay. That was close with Dani commenting on how both boys met the girls at their businesses. Your squeaky voice almost gave it away when you jumped in.”

  “I panicked. I never panic.”

  “Nope. So you better watch your step in the future.”

  Put Me Down

  After work on Monday, Payton drove to her mother’s house. She’d tried not to feel much jealousy over Bryce and his family yesterday, but she couldn’t help it.

  Then the guilt over that made it compound even worse. And when Grant brought up being raised by a single mother, she realized her mother did the best she could. Even if it wasn’t always good enough in Payton’s eyes.

  When she pulled into the driveway of the small ranch she grew up in, she tried not to be green with envy over the fact that she grew up in a house just a fraction of the size of Bryce’s.

  Her mother was outside painting the shutters. “Hi, Mom,” she said. “Could you use some help?”

  “No,” her mother said, standing there in old jeans that were cut off into shorts, a faded red T-shirt with paint stains on it, and a baseball hat on her head. She looked more like a guy from the distance.