Since he’d footed the bill for this extravagant shindig, he thought the least Bobby Joe could have done was be there to greet him at the entrance to the ballroom. He was surprised Mama hadn’t rushed over to introduce him to Bobby Joe’s “perfect” fiancée. During the three months he’d been on the construction site in Canada, the whole family had met and fallen in love with this paragon of virtue his brother intended to marry.

True, Parr had arrived over an hour late, but the delayed flight from Memphis hadn’t been entirely his fault. He couldn’t help it if a last-minute problem with one of his suppliers made him miss the departure of his original flight.

He’d parked himself and the carry-on with his formal wear at the gate to wait for the next flight, and caught up on other pressing business on his laptop. Parr Weston believed in staying focused. He worked off-line, so as to avoid wasting time on the Internet, where Bobby Joe had no doubt posted scads of flattering photos of himself and his true love.

Parr preferred to skip all that and judge for himself when he met her in person.

He had figured his family and the fabulous fiancée were all mad at him. But just what did they expect him to do? His successful construction business had to come first so they could all continue to enjoy their present lifestyle. Parr had taken on the role of head of the household long ago, at the too-young age of twelve, when their old man died. It hadn’t been an easy job then. It still wasn’t.

A low, sobbing sound interrupted his solitude, bringing his mind away from his troubled thoughts. What was that noise? he wondered. Was someone crying?

He listened for several minutes, trying to figure out where the sound was coming from. As if in answer to his confusion, the weeping grew louder. Then he saw her. On the far side of the patio, a small form stood huddled against the wall, her face hidden by a hand that brushed away tears.

Even in the semidarkness, he could see the gleaming, fiery gold length of her hair, not quite concealing the pearly white smoothness of her bare neck and shoulders, and the womanly curves of her satin-covered breasts and hips. Before he saw her face clearly, he knew she was beautiful. Just looking at her made him ache with powerful longing. He wanted to take her in his arms. Comfort and protect her.

He crossed the distance between them without thinking twice. When his big hand came down on her shoulder, she cried out and whirled around to face him. Too late, he realized he should have spoken before touching her.