Millionaire Hero (Freeman Brothers 4)

I strolled through downtown, enjoying the nice weather and window shopping, Crossing the street, I noticed the bakery right ahead. Some of that afternoon slump was starting to kick in. That called for coffee and a pastry. I went inside and stepped up to the counter. Deciding which of the glorious-looking treats inside the glass display case sounded the most delicious was a daunting task.

Finally, I settled on a strawberry éclair and a large coffee. I turned around from the napkin dispenser and took a step toward a table. Not paying attention, I ran smack into somebody. The coffee tried to jump up out of the cup, but I managed to move it away from me fast enough so it didn’t splash.

“I’m so sorry,” I said.

“Bryn?”

I looked up and saw that the hard, muscled chest I just rammed into belonged to Nick.

“Hey,” I said. “Good to see you. I’m sorry about the coffee.”

He shook his head and looked down. “No worries. It doesn’t look like any spilled. You managed that cup like a pro.”

“I should add that onto my resume under miscellaneous skills,” I said.

My eyes drifted over to the older woman standing beside Nick, and he followed them, then jumped slightly like he was just remembering she was standing there.

“Bryn, this is my mother, Minette Freeman. Mom, this is Bryn. I’m helping her out with some investments,” he said.

I looked at him with slightly raised eyebrows, admiring the way he was able to weave that introduction so that he didn’t spell out my life story to anyone else, but also didn’t lie to his mother.

“It’s nice to meet you, Minette,” I said.

“Please, Minnie,” she said. “It’s nice to meet you, too.”

Her eyes slid over to her son like she was expecting him to elaborate. Nick didn’t say anything, and I smiled at her.

“So, what are you doing?” Nick asked.

I looked at the coffee and éclair in my hands. “Getting a snack. Mostly, I’m just trying to find something to do. I didn’t realize just how boring my weekends were going to be now. What are you up to?”

“We’re picking up some pastries to bring back to the racing compound,” Nick said.

Minnie’s eyes lit up. “You should come! If you’re trying to find something to do today, come on out to the compound. We’re putting on a lunch for the employees and their families. We always have a lot of fun.”

I looked over at Nick. He was smiling and nodded, so I nodded as well.

“Sure,” I said. “Thank you for inviting me.”

“Absolutely,” Minnie said. “You’ll love it.”

She smiled again and headed off to the counter to pick up her order. Nick leaned down like he wanted to say something without his mother hearing him.

“My mother gets a little enthusiastic when she meets people,” he said. “You don’t have to come if you don’t want to.”

“No,” I said. “It really does sound like fun. Unless you don’t want me there.”

He shook his head almost too emphatically. “No, I definitely think you should come. Like Mom said, we always have a good time.”

That second sentence sounded almost like it was tacked onto the first with an afterthought. I resisted the wider smile trying to make its way onto my face.

“She said it’s a racing compound?” I asked.

“My family owns Freeman Racing. It’s a motorcycle racing company,” Nick said. “I’m the only one who doesn’t still work for the company.”

“Oh,” I said. “Yeah, I think Lindsey mentioned something like that to me when I was waiting for you at the bar. That must be really interesting. I’ve never been around anything like that before.”

I drank my coffee and ate my éclair while I waited for the bakery to finish filling the large order for Nick and his mother. We each walked out carrying a couple of boxes. Nick had twice as many as I was carrying, but his long, strong arms could handle it. I helped them carry the boxes to their waiting car and said I’d follow them to the complex.

I had no idea what to expect, but when we got there, we pulled up to a sprawling, beautiful compound. I spent a good bit of time just walking around taking in the surroundings. There were garages and machinery, but they were clean and well kept. The massive practice track was a counterpoint to the beautiful pond and walking trail beyond it.

As I wandered around, I tried to imagine Nick working on a motorcycle the way some of the other guys and a woman he introduced me to named Kelly were. I couldn’t get my mind around it. Maybe that was why he didn’t work at the complex with the rest of his family.

We all gathered together in a massive field at the center of the complex to eat. When we finished, Nick invited me down to the pond for a walk. As we walked away from the field, I noticed Quentin wink at his brother. Nick didn’t react, and I brushed the gesture aside.