Page 70 of His Saving Grace

Grace stared back at him. In the photo, she had lighter hair. Almost blonde. She looked different, but there was doubt it was her. He traced his finger along the curve of her face.

And then he noticed the rest.

The bold print across the top read MISSING: GRACE SULLIVAN. There was contact information and mention of a reward on the bottom of the page.

“What the hell?” Mason looked over at Declan.

“So, it is her?”

Mason nodded, his gaze straying back to the flyer. Okay, so he was wrong. This had never crossed his mind. How the hell could she be a missing person?

“I’m kinda in a bind here, Mase.”

Mason looked up. Declan scratched at his chin, the scrape of his fingers over the stubble loud in the silence. “Umm, I’ve kind of got to take her in.”

“What?” The word was rough, almost a growl.

“I can’t pretend I didn’t see anything.” Declan shook his head. “I’ve got to talk to her. Get a statement.”

“Fine.” Mason plowed his fingers through his hair. “But let me talk to her first.”

“Mason—”

“Come on, Dec, let me have this one.”

Declan sighed. “You’ve got an hour, and then I’m coming in.”

Mason nodded and then stalked to the door and out into the heat of the evening.

Chapter 16

Gracehummedandplumped the throw pillows on the sofa. She’d closed the front curtains in the guest house, an attempt to keep the heat at bay, but there was still enough light to make the room feel homey. She settled on the sofa next to Bella and opened the novel she’d bought the last time she was in town.

A booming knock launched her heart into her throat. Bella leaped to her feet.

“Grace, open up.” Mason’s very even tone carrier through the door. “Never mind, I’m coming in.” He opened the door and strode inside.

She sucked in a stuttering, shaky breath and scrambled to her feet.

His expression was unreadable. No smile, no frown, no smirk, no grimace. Nothing. Something had happened. Something bad.

He came toward her. She shrank back and then realized what she’d done. No more. She straightened her spine and wiped her suddenly sweaty palms on her pants.

He stopped an arm’s length away and thrust a piece of paper at her, giving her no choice but to look. A picture of herself stared back at her. A wave of nausea crashed through her.

“Explain.” Mason barked the word at her, full commanding officer, shaking the sheet of paper for emphasis.

Like I could have missed it.

“Mason, I—”

“The truth, Grace. What the hell is going on? Who thinks you’re missing?”

She swallowed hard and stared at him. She wanted to look away, to look anywhere but at the handsome face she loved. Yup, she was falling in love with him and it was all about to be ruined because of her cowardice. But she refused to break eye contact. He deserved the truth.

“My…” Her voice cracked on the words. She cleared her throat and tried again. “My fiancé.”

An array of emotions played out on Mason’s face, all within a matter of heartbeats. First came the shock. Then the hurt. And then, the anger. He went rigid, every muscle in his body pulled taught. He dropped his arm to his side, the flyer along with it. “What?” The word was barely audible over the thud of her pulse in her ears.