Jace was the only person Harper hadn’t met—even briefly—during her trip to Jacksonville weeks ago. The four of them were all staying at the Seaside Escape Inn, a massive house right on the water that doubled as Hannah and Shep’s house. It was also where everyone was meeting up for a Fourth of July cookout that afternoon.

The inn was actually the reason Hannah had migrated to the south…or really the catalyst. Being madly in love with Shep was the ultimate motivator for her moving to the area. When her grandmother Gigi had passed away and the will had been read, Hannah had been surprised to find out that not only had her grandmother bought the inn that the two had spent a summer in thirteen years previous, but that she’d left it to Hannah.

The renovations on the three-story building were still ongoing, but there were enough rooms finished for Abby, Logan, Adele, and Jace to stay there no problem. Which was good as they were all spending a few days in Mirabelle while Liam was in town, too.

When she and Liam pulled up to the driveway of the inn, he let out a long low whistle. “Well, this is impressive.”

“Wait till you see the inside. It’s gorgeous.”

“I have no doubt.” He shook his head before he looked over at her. “Don’t move,” he said before he turned away and opened the passenger door of the Cruiser and jumped out. He rounded the front and walked to her side, opening her door as she moved in her seat to face him.

“Such a gentleman.”

“Hmm, I don’t know about that.” His mouth quirked to the side as he put his hands on her thighs and moved them up under the skirt of her light blue dress until he got to the edges of her panties. “I had ulterior motives.” He leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers.

“I can see that,” she said as she looped her arms around his neck.

“I’m letting you know right now, it’s going to be a problem for me to not have my hands on you whenever we’re in the same room.” He kissed a line down her jaw and to her neck, pressing his lips to the amethyst pendant that hung just above her breasts. “Same goes with my mouth.”

“I’ve noticed that as well. You making up for lost time?”

“Not possible.” He shook his head, his hands moving out from under her dress and to her hips, before he wrapped them around her waist and helped her out of the car. He leaned into her body as he smoothed his palms down the skirt.

“And why’s that?” she asked as she looked up at him.

“Because I’d have to make up for the twenty-nine years of my life before I met you.”

How in the world was she supposed to respond to that? Didn’t matter. He didn’t give her a chance to speak anyway. He kissed her again, his mouth parting hers as his tongue dipped past her lips.

“Come on, it’s time for me to impress all of your friends.”

She was more than a little dazed as he grabbed her hand and guided her away from the car, closing the door behind her. But dazed or not, as he led her up the stairs, she had no doubt he was going to succeed with the impressing-her-friends part.

No doubt at all.

Now as to her impressing his family and friend? That was still up in the air. She’d be lying if she said she wasn’t more than a little nervous, her first—and very short—impression with Logan and Adele had been less than stellar. She was the girl who walked out on their brother after all.

But they hadn’t even made it into the house before they ran into Logan and Abby, who were making their way down the stairs from the second floor. Logan was walking behind her, pulling at the skirt of her yellow sundress.

“Would you stop that?” She spun around and swatted at his hands when they got to the landing.

“Come on, Red, I didn’t get a good look at your bathing suit. I just want one more peek at the bottoms,” he said as he reached for her again, but she dodged his hands.

“Oh, I think you got to look plenty when you stripped me out of them earlier. You’re the reason we’re late.”

“It isn’t my fault you came parading out of the bathroom in nothing but a tiny red polka dot bikini. Really it’s your fault we’re late.”

Liam cleared his throat, making both Abby and Logan look over. “You two need a second?”

The flush that crept up Abby’s chest was immediate, and while she looked horrified all Logan could do was grin. “See we aren’t late at all. Liam and Harper just got here.”

Harper hadn’t met Logan before that encounter in the ballroom at the hotel. And yes she’d seen him in pictures and on TV, but his resemblance to his brother wasn’t as obvious as it was when they were standing right next to each other. Sure they didn’t look like identical twins, but it was more than apparent that they were brothers, complete with the same green-gold eyes.

“Yeah, and you don’t see him trying to lift up her skirt,” Abby said.

“I wouldn’t be too sure about that.” Liam shook his head.

“You’re just as bad as your brother.” Abby frowned at Liam as she walked over. But when her gaze shifted to Harper a smile broke out across her lips before the two women embraced. “You look to be in considerably better spirits than the last time I saw you.”

“I wonder why that is,” Logan said as he closed the gap as well. “It’s nice to see you again, Harper. And in less surprising circumstances.” Before Harper could say anything Logan had pulled her into a hug, too.

Some of her tension and worry melted away in an instant. “Same.” She nodded.

“You ready to be entirely overwhelmed?” Logan asked as he gave his brother a quick hug, both of them doing the man-pat-on-back thing before they let go. “There are more people in that house than we’re even related to, and they are all beyond fascinated to meet you, my friend.”

“So we shouldn’t keep them waiting any longer I think.” Liam reached for Harper’s hand again. “Lead the way, honey.”

“You know they’re going to like me better than you,” Logan said from behind them.

“We’ll just see about that.” Liam turned and looked at his brother over his shoulder.

Abby sighed, looking at Harper. “Children I tell you. One man-child against another. Good luck.”

Harper bit down on her lower lip trying not to laugh. The back-and-forth between the brothers making her feel at ease…though, really, the person she was most nervous about meeting was their sister.

When they walked into the house it was to find the usual bedlam that was a get-together with her friends these days…only more so as their numbers were continually growing.

On the other side of the massive dining room table, Harper spotted a good number of people through the French doors, talking as they hung out on the wraparound porch. The grill was already going and Shep was the one manning it. Bennett, Tripp, and Finn were with him, all with a beer in hand. Mel was standing next to Beth who was kneeling down slathering her seven-year-old nephew Grant with sunscreen.

But Harper didn’t head that way; instead she led Liam to the Tuscan-villa-themed kitchen that any master chef would covet.

Shep was the one making use of the space more than anyone else, because Hannah’s talents in the kitchen were pretty much limited to sandwich making. And not all that shockingly Harper spotted her friend seated at the island in the middle of the kitchen. She was chopping fruit while she chatted with Adele who was busy slicing cheese and stacking it on a plate.

Brendan and Paige were at the stove, both stirring something in their respective pots. His free hand was on her lower back, moving in slow steady circles. From behind, it barely looked like Paige was pregnant…Harper had no doubt this would not be the case for her.

Liam let out another low whistle. “What I could do in here,” he said as he looked around the room.

Adele spotted them first, putting her knife down as she slid off the stool. “Well, look who it is. The man of the hour.” She crossed the room, her eyes dipping down to Liam’s hand that was still holding Harper’s.