The SEAL's Secret Heirs

“Okay,” she said slowly, feeling her way through the land mines. “Did you try—”

“Yep. I tried everything. She’s been crying like this for an hour and it’s upsetting Maggie. I wouldn’t have called you otherwise.” He was trying hard to keep the panic from his voice, but she could tell he was at the end of his rope. Her heart melted a little, sweeping aside all her suspicion.

It didn’t matter why Liam and Hadley had gone to Vail. Maddie—and Kyle—needed help, and she couldn’t ignore that for anything.

“Do you need me to come by?” She shouldn’t, for all the reasons she hadn’t stayed with him in the barn earlier that day.

Plus, and this was the kicker, he hadn’t asked her to come over. Maybe it was supposed to be implied, but this was typical with Kyle. He had a huge problem just coming out and saying what he thought. That might be the number one reason she hadn’t stayed in his arms, both back in high school and today.

Nothing had changed.

“That’s a great idea,” he said enthusiastically, and she didn’t miss that he was acting as though it was all hers, and not what he’d been after the whole time. “I’ll cook you dinner as a thank-you. Unless you’ve got other plans?”

Ha. If she couldn’t hear Maddie’s cries for herself, she’d think he’d set all this up. Grace glanced at her oven and half-cooked dinner, then at the lonely dining room table where she’d eaten a lot of meals by herself, especially in the past three years upon becoming a Professional Single Girl.

The timing was oh, so convenient. But even Kyle couldn’t magically make her oven stop working at precisely the moment he’d asked her to come over for dinner. Thus far she’d avoided having any meals with him and his family because that would be too hard. Too much of a reminder that a husband and children was what she wanted more than anything—and that there was nothing on the horizon to indicate she’d ever get either one.

But this was an emergency. Or at least that was what she was going to keep telling herself.

“I’ll be right there,” she promised, and dumped the roast in the trash. If she freshened up her makeup and put on a different dress, no one had to know.

She drove to Wade Ranch at four miles per hour over the speed limit.

Kyle opened the door before she knocked. “Hey, Grace. Thanks.”

His pure physical beauty swept out and slapped her. Mute, she stared at his face, memorizing it, which was silly when she already had a handy image of him, shirtless, emblazoned across her brain. She’d just seen him a few hours ago. Why did she have to have a reaction by simply standing near him?

“Where’s Maddie?” she asked brusquely to cover the catch in her throat.

“Right this way, Ms. Haines.”

Grace followed Kyle through the formal parlor and across the hardwood floor into the hall connecting to the back of the house. Why did it feel like the blind leading the blind? She didn’t have any special baby knowledge. Most kids in the system were older by the time their cases landed on her desk, which brought back her earlier reservations about the real reason he’d called her. It wouldn’t be the first time today that he’d manufactured a scenario to get a reaction from her.

In the family room, two babies sat in low seats, wide-eyed as they stared at the TV, both silent as the grave.

Grace pointed out the obvious. “Um. Maddie’s not crying.”

“I gave her Tylenol while you were on your way over here.” He shrugged. “Must have worked.”

“Why didn’t you call me?”

“She didn’t stop crying until a few minutes before you got here,” he replied defensively, which was only fair. She’d heard Maddie crying over the phone. It wasn’t as if he’d shoved Liam and Hadley out the door, and then faked an emergency to get her into his clutches.

She sighed. “I’m sorry. I’m being rude. It’s just... I was convinced this was all just an elaborate plot to get me to have dinner with you.”

Kyle blinked. “Why on earth would I do that?”

“Well, you know.” Discomfort prickled the back of her neck as he stared at her in pure confusion. “Because you faked all that stuff with Emma Jane earlier today. Seemed like it might be a trend.”

He cocked his head and gave her a small smile. “I called you because it was the best of both worlds. I needed help with Maddie and I wanted to see you, too. Is that so terrible?”