Grayson looked into the backseat, where Simone was still hiding behind her hand. “It’s safe to come out now.”

She spread her fingers.

“Are you okay with me coming with you guys?”

“Will you stay with us?” she asked.

“If that’s all right with you.”

“Sure. That’ll be fun. I can show you my room, and you can meet my friends.”

“I’d love to meet your friends.”

Emma squeezed his hand again.

He started the car and tried to focus on driving on the way out of town, but he stole frequent glances at Emma. More than once, he caught her looking at him, as if she still couldn’t believe this was happening. He knew how she felt. He couldn’t believe it either, but if this was crazy, he never wanted to be sane again.

He was coming home with them! Emma could barely contain the excitement that came from knowing they had more time together. She didn’t have to leave him and go back to her “normal” life and be forced to pretend that nothing had changed when everything had.

The relief was so profound it left her feeling dizzy and off kilter. She held on to his hand and repeatedly looked over at him, trying to confirm he was real, that this was real. Emma had never experienced this kind of joyful excitement, except in relation to her daughter. But that was a different kind of excitement. This, with him, was something all new, something private and deeply personal.

The man who’d fathered Simone had been the only real “boyfriend” she’d ever had, and it was a stretch to call him a boyfriend or what they’d had a real relationship. Grayson was the first man she’d ever been seriously involved with, and she couldn’t wait to show him their home, introduce him to their friends and spend more time with him.

Under normal circumstances, she’d never have introduced a new man to her daughter so soon. However, Simone had been a part of “them” from the beginning, acting as a matchmaker by encouraging Grayson to ask her to dance at Hunter’s wedding. Simone liked him. He liked her. Was it too soon for the three of them to be acting like a little family? Absolutely, but she couldn’t seem to find the wherewithal to take a step back from something that felt so damned good.

She glanced over at him again, and he caught her looking.

“What?” he asked.

Emma turned to check on Simone, who was listening to the music Lucy had put on the phone for her, earbuds in place, her gaze focused on the scenery. “Just doing a reality check.”

“What do you mean?”

“Making sure you’re real and you’re really coming with us.”

“I’m really coming, and this is as real as it gets, at least for me.”