“I like you.”

Which was nice of him to say, but brought her back to the main question of why. What could she have done to get his attention?

“Is it a chemistry thing?”

“Partly. If nothing else, you’re loyal.”

“Some might say to a fault,” she murmured, smiling at his statement. “Do your friends live in a normal house?”

“Define normal.”

“Not a mansion.”

“Ah. Yes, they live in a normal house. You’ll like them. I’ve known Freddy since we were six. He and Lela married young and they have three kids. I’m the favorite uncle, which I like a lot. When I started buying buildings and needed a business manager, I hired Freddy and the family moved up here. Lela’s a stay-at-home mom who has the organizational skills of a four-star general.”

“They’re family,” she said.

He glanced at her and smiled before returning his attention to the road. “They are.”

They sounded nice. Unity tried to ignore her growing nervousness and instead focused on how close she and Thaddeus were sitting. She wouldn’t have to lean very far to her left to brush against him.

He’d changed from his suit into jeans and a long-sleeved shirt. His strong thighs were right there, she thought idly. It would be easy to just slide her hand over and rest it on his thigh. Then they would both be shocked, she thought, hiding her smile.

More quickly than she would have expected, they pulled into the driveway of a two-story house. She managed to climb out of the low car without flashing anything, then glanced back at the seat.

“Getting in is easy,” she said. “You just kind of point your butt and fall back. But there is no way I could get out of this car in a pencil skirt.”

“Do you own a pencil skirt?”

“Not at the moment.”

“If you buy one, we’ll take the Mercedes.”

Problem solved, she thought humorously. Okay—note to self. Next life, try to be born rich.

Before they were halfway up the path, the front door opened and Freddy and Lela hurried out to greet them.

“I’m Lela,” the pretty, very short brunette said, giving Unity a quick hug. “I’m so excited to meet you.”

She hustled Unity into the house. Unity had a brief impression of a two-story foyer and a living room before she was shown into the open concept family room–kitchen.

“This is wildly exciting,” Lela told her, leading the way to a massive sectional sofa. “I can’t remember the last time Thaddeus brought a girl over.” Her dark eyes were dancing with excitement. “I want to know everything about you, but if I get too intense, just tell me to back off. Freddy tells me I’ve gotten too good at interrogating the kids and it’s spilling over to the rest of my life.”

Unity had no idea what to say to any of that. She was spared from responding when Freddy and Thaddeus walked into the room.