“He was afraid Blake and I would kill each other if he didn’t referee.”

“Really? Why is that?”

He cleared his throat. “Blake thinks I order him around too much.”

Lauren laughed. “I have a hard time believing that. Blake must be exaggerating.”

He chuckled, a deep, sexy rumble that sent a wave of awareness rushing over her, and suddenly they were joking back and forth, and the stress of her upcoming case faded. With every word spoken, every smile exchanged, she found herself more drawn to Royce. By the time they pulled into a rented parking spot outside of his four-story, white brick building, Lauren was feeling as if she were talking with an old friend surprisingly at ease.

As he held the door open for her and she exited the vehicle, a cool breeze danced through her hair, lifting it, a signal that winter wasn’t quite gone yet. She took a deep breath, allowing the lingering season to conjure emotions both past and present. She glanced at Royce as he stepped to her side, wondering where he fit into those feelings.

She followed him into his building, sneaking covert looks at him, wondering how any man could look so good, so ruggedly handsome in a wrinkled suit with a one day beard. But he did look good, oh, how he did. He looked about as perfect as a man could look.

They rode the elevator several floors up, and when she finally stepped into his private apartment, she was pleasantly surprised at what she found. She wasn’t sure what she had expected, but it wasn’t what she saw but then, that seemed to be the theme for all things she had discovered about Royce Walker. She found herself standing inside a cozy, warm home, rather than a typical, cold and unfeeling bachelor pad, with a kitchen to her left and a bar that opened to a large living space that said Walker Security was doing well, because this was Manhattan, where space and quality came with a price tag. The decor was definitely masculine, warm hues of brown and tan, and free of female frills, with overstuffed chairs and a large couch. And of course, an oversized, manly flat screen television with large floor-to-ceiling windows on either side.

Standing just inside the doorway, Royce tossed his keys on the counter that divided the living area from the kitchen.

“Make yourself at home,” he said with a smile. “I’ll shower and change, and then we can be off again.”

Lauren nodded, eager to explore. “Take your time.”

Royce started to turn, but stopped, reaching for Lauren and pulling her into his arms. His mouth found hers for a quick kiss. “You can be nosy if you like.”

She grinned. “I plan on it.”

He laughed and started down the hall. Lauren’s gaze followed him, admiring his ogle-worthy backside until he disappeared into what she assumed was a bathroom or bedroom. For a moment, she simply scanned the room. She was standing in Royce Walker’s apartment. Who would have ever thought it could happen? Surely not her. The too hot, too sexy, Royce Walker who’d given her an amazing orgasm the night before. That was surely something to smile about, and so she did, slowly walking into the living room and stopping to look at various pictures sitting on tables and hanging on walls.

There were several photos of his brothers. At least she assumed that was who the two men in the shots were, judging from their resemblance to Royce. Then there was a picture of an older couple with enough of the same resemblance to him to have her guessing they were his parents.

“Hmm,” she murmured under her breath. She would never have thought Royce was so sentimental or family oriented. All his bad-boy charisma appeared to hide something deeper.

Interesting.

Settling down on the couch, she continued to survey her surroundings. The fireplace was massive, taking up half a wall to her left, and inviting images of cold, winter days snuggling with Royce in front of warm flames. Nice, she thought. Of course she wouldn’t be around to find out, so she wasn’t sure why she was even contemplating such a scenario.

Sighing, she wondered how she went from having her one and only one night stand with a bad boy, to being with Mr. Virtue, Mr. Dangerously Appealing and destined to break her heart. She grabbed a box of photos on the table and lost herself in what was a history of the family the Walker family. How long she sat there she didn’t know, but a knock on the door made her straighten. “Royce, it’s Luke. Open up.”

Surely, she should let Luke in, and admittedly, she was curious to meet the brother who had seduced her best friend and perhaps broken her unbreakable heart. She rushed toward the door, only to have another knock sound before she could get across the room. Impatience was evidently a Walker family trait. Opening the door, her eyes went wide at the handsome man before her. A girl could get overwhelmed surrounded by so much testosterone. It appeared good looks also ran in the family. As in the proverbial tall, dark, and handsome storybook men.

Before her stood a man much like Royce, but not Royce at all. He was smaller, not that the man was small, because he wasn’t. Next to Royce, small was actually pretty darn big, and Luke was well over six feet tall, impressively broad and muscular, with brown eyes and short hair he’d retained from his days as a Navy SEAL.

His brows dipped at the sight of her. “Who are you?”

"You Walker men have a way with words, don’t you?”

Luke frowned and then burst out laughing. “Sometimes we speak before we think.”

Planting her hands on her hips, she added, “And not nicely, I might add.” She stepped back from the door to let him enter.

As soon as the door closed behind him, Luke turned to Lauren and held out his hand. “Luke Walker. Can we start again?”