to protect you in the meantime.” He raked his fingers through hair that matched her own, his expression torn. He looked toward her house. “I know you think you’re on the trail of some big story, Char. But apparently you’re poking some dangerous lions. It’s not worth it. I don’t want you around it. I need you to come home with me until whatever this is blows over.”
She looked at him as if horns had grown out of that ginger head. “The hell I am. I have a job. I’m working on getting a promotion. I can’t just whisk away to Baton Rouge. And if I drop a story because someone tries to scare me, they win. Screw that.”
“Someone tried to run you off the road, Char. This isn’t about pride or work. You could’ve been fucking killed.”
The thought made her shudder, but there was no way she could walk away from everything. She’d worked too hard to get to this point. “I can’t leave.”
“Char—”
“She can stay with me,” a deep voice interrupted.
Both she and her brother turned to look at Grant, the unexpected statement silencing their argument.
“Do what?” She must’ve heard him wrong.
Grant tipped his hat up a bit. “You can stay in the cabin you were in last night. You’ll be safe there. And when you’re not on-site, you can check in with me by phone so that someone always knows where you are. You’ll have a bit of a drive into work for a while, but at least you won’t have to take time off.”
“That’s a great idea. Thanks, man,” Max said, smiling and thumping Grant on the back. “Grant has top-notch security at his place. You’ll be protected there.”
Charli stared at Grant. He was serious? He didn’t know her from a woman on the street, but he was going to give her a place to stay and play bodyguard. Just to be helpful? No, she corrected herself. This wasn’t about being helpful. This was about debt. Max had saved Grant’s life, and now there was an opportunity to pay him back. She was a transaction. Just like the time Max bribed his friend to ask her to the prom so she wouldn’t be without a date. Then said friend had proceeded to tell everyone he was there with her as a favor. Total humiliation. Served up hot. “I appreciate the offer, but no, thank you,” she said, smiling with forced politeness.
Max frowned. “Well, then I’ll call in the last of my vacation time and move in with you for the next two weeks. I can keep watch until we get all your window locks replaced and install a high-tech alarm.”
Oh, hell no. She loved her brother to pieces, but sharing her tiny place with him twenty-four-seven while she was trying to investigate her story would be a nightmare. She’d never be able to get away without him wanting to know where she was, who she was with, and what she was doing. Her brothers had always been protective, but since her father had died, Max had made it his personal mission to be the most annoyingly overbearing parental substitute ever. Two weeks of that and she’d be signing herself into the loony bin. Or jail—for choking her dear brother.
“I’ll stay with Grant.” At least there she could be alone in her own cabin without a babysitter. And though Grant had been the one to offer, he looked about as excited at the prospect as she did, so he probably wouldn’t bother her much.
Max gave a triumphant smile and leaned over to kiss the top of her head. “My baby sister, always the voice of logic and reason.”
“You’re being paranoid.”
“Better than underestimating the threat and having regrets later,” Grant said quietly.
She glanced over at him, but he was staring off in the distance, hands in pockets, as if he had made the statement to someone else.
Something flickered over Max’s face when he looked at Grant—sadness? Sympathy? But before she could pinpoint it, Max’s attention was back on her. “Listen to what he says. He’ll keep you safe.” He touched the tip of her nose. “Now go get packed.”
She gave him a narrow gaze.
He smiled. “Love you.”
She gritted her teeth. She loved him, too. But at the moment she was having a hard time remembering why. She turned on her heel to head back toward the house.
What a way to cap off the most fantastic day and a half ever. All of her story research was gone, her car was trashed, and now she was going to have to figure out a way to live on the same grounds with a guy who made her thoughts run into each other when he got too close.
A guy who saw her as a job, a favor.
An A-plus day all around.
“I really appreciate you doing this,” Max said as Grant secured Charli’s suitcase in the back of his truck. “I know it’s a lot to take on, as busy as you are.”
Grant climbed down from the truck bed and slammed the tailgate shut. Max had no idea how much this was costing him. He hadn’t planned to make the offer, but he owed Max. And he knew Charli wasn’t going to give in and go with her brother. But as soon as the words had fallen out of his mouth, he’d wanted to take them back.
Keeping an eye on Charli would be challenge enough, but keeping his hands off her in the process would be downright painful. He’d spent most of the morning forcing himself not to make a move. When she’d looked so forlorn there in the driveway, it’d taken everything he had not to pull her against him. “Not a problem. Your family is my family. I’ll watch out for her.”
Max’s lip curled. “She’s not gonna make it easy. You know that, right?”
“I’ll manage.” Grant glanced toward the house, making sure Charli hadn’t come out yet.
“I know you will. I trust you.” He sighed and shoved his hands in his pockets. “I love my sister, but sometimes her drive can get in the way of her good sense. She thinks she can take on anything and anyone.”
Grant imagined Charli probably could hold her own more than most, but he wasn’t about to test that theory and leave her unguarded. “I can keep my distance and still make sure she’s safe. My property is locked down tight.”
“Yeah, I’m sure, can’t have anyone sneaking in and stealing the wine.”
Right. Because the wine was what he was protecting behind The Ranch’s gates. Not the sexual secrets of Dallas’s elite. Not his own secrets.
Grant adjusted his hat but forced himself not to shift his gaze away from Max’s—a trick he’d honed from years of having to lie bald-faced to enemies. “Gotta protect those grapes, my friend.”
“Look, I’ve got to head back if I’m not going to take any vacation days. And I don’t think I want to suffer Charli’s wrath anymore today, anyway.” He stuck his hand out to Grant. “Seriously, thank
