Author: Jaci Burton

“You ready for this?” she asked.

He cocked her a grin. “Are you? There are lots of family members here. Plus, I might have invited some of my friends.”

Her brows rose. “You did?”

“Yeah. A few of my college buddies are in town for a charity golf tournament. They asked me to join in, but I wanted some downtime at my place in Florida so I turned them down.”

“Oh, that’s too bad, but I’m looking forward to meeting your friends.”

He laughed. “Wait ’til you meet them before you say that.”

He led her through the front door of the house, a blast of cold air instantly cooling him down.

“Oh, this is lovely,” Evelyn said. “It has your mother’s mark on it.”

“Yeah,” he said, smiling as he saw the simplicity that was the earmark of his mom.

He’d always loved the two-story house. When he was a kid it had seemed like a mansion. Hell, even now it was oversized and his mother complained that she was waiting for him and Carolina to fill it with grandkids. He sure as hell wasn’t ready for that, and Carolina was busy becoming the next great fashion designer, so he doubted she’d be popping out babies anytime soon.

Speaking of his mother—ever the eagle-eyed hostess, she spotted them in the crowd and moved in a hurry to greet them. She enveloped Gray in a hug.

“Thank you for coming,” she said, and after he hugged her back, she pulled away, but didn’t let go of his hands. “I wasn’t sure you’d show up.”

“With my bodyguard here? You think I had a chance to say no?”

His mother glanced over at Evelyn and grinned. “So, she’s doing a good job?”

“She’s a pain in my ass.”

“Grayson. Watch your language.” His mother let go of him and hugged Evelyn.

“I’m so happy to see you. Is my son being mean to you?”

Evelyn gave Gray a once-over. “Nothing I can’t handle. Don’t forget I swim with sharks every day.”

His mom patted Evelyn on the shoulder. “That’s so true. But don’t take any guff from him. He can be . . . difficult to manage at times.”

“Hey. I’m standing right here, Mom.”

She winked at him, then looped her arm in Evelyn’s. “Let’s go find you two something to drink. Come along, Grayson.”

And just like that, he was eight years old again, tagging along behind his mother. He rolled his eyes and followed them out to the back patio. There were kids in the pool and at least a hundred people spilled out over the back lawn. Shade tents had been set up all over the property, beer and whiskey were plentiful, and the smell of barbecue permeated the whole area. It was controlled chaos, and there were plenty of staffers present to make sure everyone was catered to.

Typical Preston holiday party.

His mother had disappeared somewhere with Evelyn while he’d been gaping, so he grabbed a beer and settled in against the wall, greeting a few cousins and aunts and uncles and doing his best to ignore the obvious political types he could spot ten miles away. Despite everyone being in casual dress, he knew who was here to enjoy the holiday and who was here to gain political favor with his father.

Speaking of, he spotted his dad surrounded by a circle of men, no doubt talking the state of the country and how their political opponent couldn’t possibly solve those issues. His dad appeared to be reveling in being the center of attention as the men hung on his every word.

Yeah, some things never changed.

“I can’t believe you showed up.”

At the nudge in his back, he swung around and grabbed his sister in a hug. “I can’t believe you showed up.” He kissed her cheek, then set her down. “Aren’t you afraid to be gone from New York for more than fifteen minutes? What if a fashion trend changes and you miss it?”

“You are such a smart-ass.”

“And you cut your hair. I like it.”

She swept her now chin-length brown hair behind her ears. “It was long, and always in my way. This is easier. And thanks. Look at you, being all complimentary.

You’ve hardly even noticed me before.”

“I’ve noticed you plenty,” he said, slinging an arm over her shoulder. “I’ve noticed you being a pain in my ass my entire life.”

She laid her head against his shoulder. “You’ve always said the sweetest things to me.”

“Yeah, well, I do like your hair, but you’re too skinny. You need to eat.”

She laughed. “Dork. I am not. I’m perfectly healthy. I’ve just discovered yoga and good eating and finally lost the weight I needed to lose. That and the stress of work.”

“You were never overweight.” Though he had to admit she looked great in her skinny jeans and some kind of silky tank top. Still, she was his sister, who he’d once nicknamed Pudge, which was cruel as hell, but that’s what brothers did.

“Okay, then, you look awesome.”

She patted his chest. “There might be hope for your species yet.”

“Thanks.”

“Don’t get excited. I didn’t say there was hope for you.”

“See, this is what I enjoy about homecomings. All the family love.”

“Yeah, me, too,” she said, grabbing a carrot stick from the food tray.

“Have you seen Mom?”

She straightened. “Yeah. Why?”

“She ran off somewhere with Evelyn.”

“Oooh, Evelyn. What’s going on with you and Evelyn?”

He rolled his eyes. “Nothing. I need to talk to her about the plan for today.”

“Oooh. You and Evelyn have plans for today?”

“Jesus, Care. Are you twelve?”

She laughed. “Sometimes. When it’s convenient or when it pisses you off. So what is going on with you and Evelyn?”

He’d have to be careful what he said in front of his nosy sister. He led her over to one of the many picnic tables spread out on the lawn, choosing one in a shady spot.

They took a seat next to each other. “Nothing’s going on with Evelyn. Dad assigned her to do some social media shit with me for his campaign. I want to get it over with so I can actually enjoy being here today.”

“Yeah. Right. You and Dad in the same hemisphere? You won’t enjoy today.”

“You have a point.”

“And you need to get over it. He’s not the same person he used to be.”

“So everyone keeps telling me. He looks the same to me. Though he’s lost a lot of weight, no doubt to be more camera-ready for this big election.”

Carolina grasped his upper arm, focusing his attention on her. “Seriously, Gray.

When was the last time you sat down with Dad and had an honest conversation with him?”

His senior year of high school, when he’d told his father he wouldn’t be going to Harvard. “I don’t need to have a conversation with him. I know who he is. And what he’s capable of.”

“Give it another try. He’s changed in the—what—twelve years since the two of you had that blowup?”

Gray shrugged. “It’s not worth rehashing. We both said everything that needed to be said back then.”

“You know, if you agreed to work on Dad’s campaign, at some point the two of you are going to have to talk.”

He looked at her and smiled. “Hey, I can talk. I’m good at talking.”

“I mean a real talk.”

“Not going to happen. But I can toe the party line as good as any of them. You’ve seen my media interviews, right?” He shot her a golden boy grin. “I’m a star, baby.”

“Oh, for God’s sake. I give up.”

“What do you give up on?”

“Hi, Evelyn,” Carolina said, smiling up as Evelyn stood on the other side of the table.

“Am I interrupting a private talk?”

Carolina laughed. “My brother and I do not have private talks. Sit and tell me what’s been going on?”

“Did Gray tell you I’m working with him?”

“He did. How . . . tragic for you.”

Evelyn smiled. “He’s not too bad. Though he wasn’t happy at the beginning.”

Gray folded his hands on the table. “I love how people talk about me like I’m not even here.”

“Well, you weren’t happy about it, were you? As I recall, you threw me out the first night.”

Carolina looked from Evelyn to Gray. “You did not.”

“He did,” Evelyn said. “Politely, but he did.”

Gray had to nod and play this game. He knew what Evelyn was doing. “Yeah. I did.

And then Mom showed up the next day.”

Carolina looked horrified. “She did not.”

“She did,” Gray said, then shifted his gaze to Evelyn. “Because someone called her.”

He still remembered how pissed off he was about that. But he gave props to Evelyn for not taking no for an answer. Her passion was one of the things he admired so much about her. Their gazes met for a few seconds, the attraction between them hotter than the air around then. It was Evelyn who forcibly pulled her gaze away.

Carolina put her hands to her mouth, stifling a laugh. “You did not.”

Evelyn didn’t even try to hide her smug smile. “I have an assignment. I had to pull out the big guns. I always get what I want,” she said, directing her attention to Gray.

If she kept looking at him like that he was going to get hard, and then he’d end up stuck with his hands folded in his lap.

“Oh, my God, Evelyn,” Carolina said. “You so rock.”

Forcing in a deep breath, Gray said, “She doesn’t rock. She’s a pain in the ass. She follows me around like . . . I don’t know, it’s like I have an extra appendage.”

Evelyn rolled her eyes, looking to Carolina. “It’s not that bad. For him, anyway. For me, that’s a different matter.”

Carolina grabbed Evelyn’s hand and laughed. “Oh, Evelyn. You have my deepest sympathies. I spent sixteen years living with him. I know what it’s like.”

“Whatever, brat. I gave you rides to school. I made you popular.”

“I think I had the popularity thing sewn up just fine without your help, dickwad.”

“Whatever, Pudge.”

Carolina narrowed her gaze. “Now that was a low blow, Zit Face.”

Evelyn enjoyed the hell out of watching brother and sister argue. Being an only child, she had never had siblings to fight with, so this was unfamiliar to her. But oh so amusing as they hurled insults at each other like they were both kids again. Still, it seemed like good-natured fun, both of them laughing as each of them tried to one-up the other in the zinger department.

She was almost sad to see it end when Gray stood. “I need another beer. And to empty the contents of the one I already had.”

“Way too much information,” Carolina said.

He laughed. “Can I bring you back something to drink?”

“I’d love an iced tea, if you don’t mind,” Evelyn said, her gaze lingering on him.

She tried not to watch him, not to wish they were alone together. She hoped she didn’t give too much away.

“Tea. Got it,” he said, and she couldn’t help but notice the smile he gave her.

“Thanks.”

“I’ll have tea, too,” Carolina said.

After Gray walked away, Carolina asked, “So how did you get roped into working with my brother?”

“Actually, it was my idea. I suggested it to your father.”

“Seriously?”

“Yes. Gray has a potential voter block we could make use of.”

“Oh. Of course. Him being so popular and all. I forget about that. To me he’s just my annoying, pain-in-the-ass brother that I love more than life itself. I don’t think of him as some hotshot race car driver that has millions of fans.”