Chapter 7 Creep!
“…it was an accident. I was saving your life, remember? Fine, don’t thank me. But why follow me around? I already told you I have a fiancée—”
“Creep!”
Her expression hardened. Before he could finish, she hit the gas, and the SUV swept past him through the open gate.
Ryan stared after it.
A creep? She’d called him a creep?
Then, as the white SUV disappeared into the community, he finally started thinking.
Chloe’s car was red and much smaller. She’d been wearing a strappy dress, not a business suit.
And her hair was burgundy. This woman’s was black.
Even their manner was different. Chloe was proud and mischievous. The woman in the SUV had looked at him as though she could freeze him solid.
Oh, hell.
Wrong woman.
He’d walked up to a complete stranger and announced that he’d seen her breasts. No wonder she’d called him a creep.
He’d earned that one.
But the resemblance was uncanny. Having just left Chloe at the hospital, he’d seen that face and jumped to the most obvious conclusion.
What a spectacular mistake.
His face burned. He could practically feel the security guard staring at him.
Time to leave. He wasn’t going to recover from this one.
He was about to retreat when his phone rang. It was the number he’d called earlier.
“Hello? Ryan? This is Henry Morgan. Sorry I missed you. I was in the vegetable garden and didn’t have my phone. Are you still at the gate?”
A brief conversation between Henry and the guard settled things. The guard recorded Ryan’s details and waved him through, though his expression remained distinctly odd.
Ryan made his way to House 16 in Section A.
An energetic older man was waiting at the entrance, smiling broadly.
“You must be Ryan. Come in! I’ve been looking forward to meeting you for a long time.”
Henry took him by the arm and ushered him inside. His easy warmth helped ease Ryan’s embarrassment.
So far, so good. No icy welcome, no wealthy patriarch inspecting him as though he were something stuck to a shoe.
If Henry had been that sort of man, Ryan might have turned around and left.
“It’s good to meet you, Mr. Morgan.”
“Call me Grandpa. You and Grace will be married soon. We’re practically family.”
Grace. The woman from the letter.
Hearing her name spoken so casually made the arrangement feel uncomfortably real.
Henry caught his hesitation.
“Don’t tell me your mentor sent you here without explaining anything.”
“He left me your number and a letter,” Ryan said awkwardly. “There wasn’t much detail.”
“That old rascal.” Henry laughed. “As unreliable as ever. Grace is my granddaughter. Grace Morgan. Your fiancée.”
Ryan nodded, unsure what else to say.
He knew almost nothing about Henry’s connection to his mentor or how the engagement had come about.
Henry asked a member of the household staff to bring tea, then settled down for a chat.
He knew a surprising amount about Ryan. A few remarks suggested that he even knew about the covert unit. All the while, he treated Ryan with the unguarded affection of a man welcoming his own grandson.
Ryan sighed inwardly.
The old bastard had told Henry everything. Had he bothered telling Ryan anything useful about the Morgans? Of course not.
Now he was trying to hold a conversation in which everyone else knew more than he did.
Footsteps sounded on the stairs.
Henry looked up and smiled.
“Grace, there you are. Come meet Ryan.”
Ryan turned.
A woman stood on the staircase in a loose T-shirt and shorts.
Their eyes met.
Her.
The woman from the gate. The one who looked so much like Chloe.
She was Grace Morgan.
His fiancée.
Of course she was. Why wouldn’t the woman he’d just mortally offended turn out to be the one he was supposed to marry?
Grace recognized him at the same instant.
“You!”
Ryan wanted to disappear into the couch.
“Hello, Ms. Morgan.”
She gave a cold snort. Disgust crossed her face, and she turned without another word and went back upstairs.
Henry looked from the staircase to Ryan.
“Have you two met?”
“At the gate. There was a misunderstanding, and I offended her.”
“Oh.” Henry relaxed. “Then we’ll clear it up. You’re both adults. You can talk about it.”
“Could I apologize to her?”
Whatever he’d intended, the mistake had been his. He was willing to own it.
“Of course. Sit tight. I’ll speak to her.” Henry rose, still smiling. “Young people have quick tempers. A few words should settle things.”
Ryan stayed on the couch, acutely uncomfortable.
He’d barely arrived and already ruined his chances. If Grace was rating him as a potential husband, his score had to be somewhere below zero.
Was that the end of the engagement?
Henry returned with her before Ryan could decide what he’d do if it was.
Grace had recovered her composure. She sat beside her grandfather and kept her gaze away from Ryan.
“She’s always been independent,” Henry said apologetically. “A little reserved, too. I hope you’ll be patient.”
“No, this was my fault.” Ryan turned to her. “Ms. Morgan, what I said earlier was out of line. I’m sorry.”
For a moment, she seemed determined not to answer. Then, under Henry’s expectant gaze, she murmured an acknowledgment.
Apparently, that was as much of an acceptance as Ryan was going to get.
Henry beamed.
“Good. Now that’s settled, we can talk about the wedding. Your mentor and I made this arrangement years ago, Ryan. Grace has waited long enough. You’re finally out of the service, and neither of you is a child anymore. There’s no reason to keep putting it off.”
He looked from one to the other.
“Tomorrow, you should go and make it official.”