Lotus House is alive with energy when I enter, and my baby sis, Gracie, is hot on my heels. She’s wearing a bright smile and the new yoga outfit I bought her to celebrate her first day.

“Hey, Nick!” Dara waves from the front desk where she’s helping a blonde customer sign up for classes. Luna, the owner’s daughter, is behind her, filing something away in the cabinets.

“Ladies, bringing in my baby girl Gracie to teach her first Vin Flow class. You pumped, Gracie?” I ask, knocking her shoulder playfully.

“So pumped!” She squeals and does a little touchdown jig.

Dara smiles huge. “Girl, you know you got this. I’ve taken your substitute classes. Just remember, when you lose your place, breathe through it and go into tree, warrior, or child’s pose, depending on if you have them standing or on the mat.”

Gracie leans into the counter, bumping the petite blonde next to her. “Oh, sorry.”

The blonde looks up, but all I can see is her profile. And what a damn fine profile it is. Classic, proud chin, a small, straight nose, and bee-sting-reddened lips. Her skin is so pale I can see the light-blue veins running just under the surface of her long, swan-like neck. Her blond hair is a golden platinum that’s bundled up on top of her head, making her look more like a ballerina than a yoga student.

She mumbles something and then tips her head down, just as I round over to Gracie’s side so I can see her more clearly. Long, black, fanned eyelashes meet the top of her cheeks as she focuses on the initial new client paperwork in front of her.

Smoothly, or not so smoothly, I encircle Gracie’s bicep and ease her around behind my body and to the other side so I can be next to the willowy creature who’s yet to look up. Something about her is calling to me, forcing my hand as I touch her shoulder.

Her gaze flashes up, eyes a foamy see-through gray, like cloudy white quartz. With a mere glance, I’m lost. Gone.

Sorrow. Sadness. Pain. All those emotions flash behind her gaze before she licks her lips and looks back down. She drops the pen, her hand shaking when she picks it back up.

A barrage of images parades across my vision like a mini-movie. Looking at her eyes over dinner. Watching those eyes twinkle as I make her laugh. Staring into them, lust-filled with desire, as I press into her naked body. Sharing past sadness and helping her find peace while holding her in my arms. Her tears falling as she bares her soul.

For the first time ever, I’ve looked into a woman’s eyes and seen my future, and it centers entirely around me being the man for her.

I stand there like a numbskull while she finishes her paperwork and enters the main entrance with her new lotus-shaped entry card.

“Fuck. Did that just happen?” I whisper under my breath and press the palm of my hand against my forehead.

Dara places her hand over my fisted one on the counter. My entire body is strung tighter than a drum, and I have no idea why. “Loosen up. She’s taking your class in fifteen minutes.” She chuckles.

I turn my head and focus on my friend. She’s an exotic, stunning woman. Her brown skin and ocean-blue eyes are startlingly unusual and nothing like those of the delicate blonde I just blanked out on after a single gaze.

“Hmmm, I’m guessing that rule you’ve got about not dating clients…” she hedges.

“Out the fucking window,” I growl, staring at the closed doors, wishing I could see through it and catch one more glimpse of her.

Dara laughs hard, followed by Luna, who snickers and wiggles around doing a little dance. Christ, these women are as bad as my own sisters. Speaking of which, I do a three-sixty and realize that Gracie is gone. “Where’s my sister?”

“Cool your jets, man. She’s setting up for her first class,” Dara offers.

I hunch over and shake my head, trying to clear it of the woman I’ve just seen. “I meant to take her to her class.” My big brotherly duty is feeling neglected as I stand stupidly, my feet stuck to the floor.

“Oh, how sweet. Like she’s in kindergarten, and she needs her big brother to walk her in and protect her from the big bad yogis.” Luna jabs me in the chest with a pointy finger.

“Ouch!” I rub at the spot and realize what she’s said is the truth. Gracie doesn’t need her big brother hovering. “Just wanted to make her feel supported. I’m proud of her.”

Luna nods. “Then show her that by proving you know she can handle herself. No helicopter brothering at Lotus House. Got it?”

Her words are firm and brook no argument. I swear, if I had a dime for every time I was bossed around by a beautiful woman, I’d be rich as hell.

I toss my towel over my shoulder. “Fine. You sure the blonde is taking my class?”

Dara nods. “Yep. I offered Gracie’s Vin Flow, but she chose Introduction into Aerial Yoga.”

“Did you warn her that it’s a lot of hanging from silks above a mat?”

Dara grins. “Yep. She said something like ‘it sounds dangerous’ and promptly signed right up.”

“Huh. May be a risk-taker. I like it.” Definitely wouldn’t have assumed that from her hunched shoulders and lack of eye contact. If anything, she seemed extremely shy and introverted. Guess I’d have to figure her out.

“What’s her name?” I ask Dara.

“Dara…” Luna warns in that motherly manner from over her shoulder.

“Seriously, Luna. I know you’re vying for boss lady when the moms retire, but I’m just asking what the woman’s first name is, not the code to the safe.”

Luna purses her lips as her red bangs fall over her forehead. “Maybe she wants her name to be private?” She blinks innocently.

“Give me her freakin’ name or payback is a—”

She waves her hands as if she’s ringing off bad juju. “Okay, okay. Her name is Honor, but that’s all I’m giving you. The rest you can find out the old-fashioned way. By asking her!” She looks down her nose at me.

“Honor.” I let the name ping around in my head as I wave over my shoulder and head into the hallway leading to my assigned room. Good grief, if that isn’t the perfect freakin’ name for an angel like her.