by Bella Andre
They reached for each other’s hands at the same time.
“From here on out,” he said in a low voice that rumbled with warmth across the surface of her skin, “I promise I’m going to be there for you. No matter what.”
“Me too.” She smiled into his eyes. “You won’t be able to escape me. I’m going to be constantly hovering over you in my superhero cape.”
He leaned forward to press his lips to hers, then whispered, “Now I can’t stop thinking about how hot you’d look in a skintight superhero outfit. If I bought one online, would you wear it for me?”
She laughed as she said, “Perv,” then whacked him lightly in the gut—aka his rock-hard six-pack.
“There’s no point in pretending you don’t love it.”
“I really do,” she admitted, before forcing herself to get back to business rather than tearing his clothes off and making love to him again. “I also need at least one great picture of you wearing each frame before I can cut you loose.”
For the next two hours, they knocked out pictures of Rory in a dozen different frames. Of course, he looked fantastic in all of them. Fortunately, by the time he started to look a little weary of posing, they were done. She made them each a hazelnut latte, then quickly copied the digital photos onto her computer.
Wow. He hadn’t only given her a handful of good ones—she had her pick of great pictures.
“Anything you can use?” He had a faint foam mustache on his upper lip. Zara was glad she didn’t have to exercise restraint anymore—she leaned forward to lick it off.
“A better question is whether there will be any I can’t use.” She looked at one where they were both laughing. She doubted she had ever looked that happy before. That alive. “If the frames fly off my shelves as quickly as I think they’re going to with these photos, I’d be crazy not to beg you to model for my next set of ads.”
“Let me see what you’ve got.”
She waved him away. “There’s no time for comments from the peanut gallery.” Amazingly, he found a peanut in her office to throw at her, making her laugh as she batted it away. “You can see the pictures once I’ve put together the best ones for the ads.”
“Before this weekend, I’d have been worried about you using the ones where I’m cross-eyed. But now…”
“You’d still better be extra nice to me until the ads go live—just in case I switch the pictures out,” she joked.
“I’m more than happy to be nice to you, Zara.”
“Your mind really is always in the gutter, isn’t it?”
He put his hands on her hips and pulled her close. “Isn’t yours?”
There was no point in denying it. Not when her greedy mouth was already on his, and she was shoving his flannel shirt off his shoulders. “Always,” she confessed. “In fact, in the hotel in Camden, I believe you said you were wondering what kind of underwear I wear at the office. Do you still want to know?”
His eyes were full of heat as he said, “Hell yes.”
And as she did a sexy little striptease for him in her office—after which he made her see the most blissfully bright stars in the universe as he loved her up against her office door—she was amazed at how Rory was always there just when she needed him.
For so long, her blind faith in life going her way had died along with her mother on Washington Street in Camden. She hadn’t thought she would ever be able to embrace joy without the fear of losing the person she loved always hovering in the dark clouds above her.
But Rory had an amazing way of filling up her life with so much sunlight that, for once, the storm clouds didn’t dare rain all over her happiness.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
When Rory headed into his woodshop that afternoon, he was drawn like a magnet to his secret hope chest project. After pulling off the cover, he ran his hands over the shell. His own hopes were in every nail and dowel and joint of the cedar box.
The construction of the frame was fairly simple, but the inlay he had worked out for the top of the box would take every ounce of his concentration.
One hour passed into the next, the lunch he’d missed long forgotten as he worked. He was so deep in his work that he nearly dropped a heavy metal clamp on his foot when he heard a familiar voice say, “Uncle Rory, want to see the new magic trick I just learned?”
Rory tossed a sheet over the hope chest before turning to his nephew with a grin. “Hey, Kev.” He did the bro handshake with his nephew, then hugged his sister Ashley, before turning back to Kevin. “Show me.”
Kevin put on a top hat, then did the classic spoon-bend trick by pressing down on a spoon and appearing to bend it, then lifting it up a few moments later to show that it was still straight.
“That was awesome. Where’d you learn to do that?”
“Caleb showed me at school. We’ve started a magic club.”
“Can anyone join the club, or do you have to be ten?”
Kevin thought about it for a second. “We can probably make an exception for you. I’ll ask the guys.”
“Rory, I just realized I never fed you, and you must be starved. I ran out to get some sandwiches and chocolate cake.” Zara skidded to a stop in the middle of his workshop when she realized he wasn’t alone. “Hi, Ashley. Hi, Kevin. I didn’t mean to interrupt. I just wanted to bring Rory lunch since I made him work through it today.”
“You didn’t interrupt, Zara,” Ashley assured her. “And it’s great to see you again.”
Rory’s sisters clearly had a soft spot for Zara. Probably because they loved knowing she was always taking him down a peg.
“I hope my brother has been behaving lately?”
“He’s been really great, actually.” Zara’s blush told him she hadn’t forgotten what they’d been up to in her office only hours earlier.
And when she reached for his hand, he wanted to pump his fist and yell hallelujah. Because he knew this public display of affection—something she had been so opposed to before now—was another way of saying how much she wanted to be with him.
Pulling Zara closer, he turned to grin like a fool at his sister.
Ashley should have looked more surprised by their PDA. But clearly, Turner and Hudson had left the pub on Sunday night and spread the word that Rory was falling for Zara. Not that Rory had expected anything less, when being a part of his big family was like living life on a permanent speakerphone.
Still blushing, Zara turned her attention to Kevin. “I like your top hat.”
Rory was pretty sure his nephew had a crush on Zara, and this was confirmed by his stammering response to her compliment. Good to know Kevin had good taste in women. It would hopefully be one less thing for them to worry about as he got older. Though he wasn’t Rory’s kid, he’d always tried to look out for him as though he were.
“Kevin just did a killer magic trick,” Rory told her.
“I love magic,” Zara exclaimed. “Could you do the trick again for me?”
“Sure,” Kevin mumbled, looking embarrassed by all the attention. But by the way he recentered his top hat and cleared his throat, he was pleased by Zara’s interest nonetheless.
He did the spoon-bend trick again, finishing with, “Abracadabra.”
Zara clapped. “That was amazing!”
Kevin mumbled, “Thanks.”
Ashley’s phone rang, and her face paled when she saw who it was. “Hello.” Her voice was flat. “Really?” Her irritation seemed to mount at whatever the other person said. A person whose identity Rory could easily guess. “I’ll see what he thinks.” She put on a smile that didn’t read entirely true as she looked at Kevin. “It’s your dad. Do you want to talk to him?”
“Yes!”
She handed Kevin the phone, and he was already talking a mile a minute as he went to sit on the couch in the far corner of Rory’s workshop.
“His dad doesn’t call for weeks,” Ashley said in a low voice ripe with frustration, “and then suddenly, from out of the blue, he wants to be Kevin�
�s best friend. I’m sick of it.” She sighed. “Sorry, Zara, I don’t mean to air my dirty laundry in front of you.”
“It’s okay,” Zara said. “I’ve got heaps of dirty laundry myself, if you ever want to see it.”
Rory was glad to see his sister smile at Zara’s comment.
“I love your glasses, by the way. Whenever I see you,” Ashley continued, “I always regret not needing to wear any.”
“I love that you wish you had bad eyesight so that you could wear my glasses.” Zara was now beaming as much as Kevin. “Don’t tell Cassie, but you’re officially my favorite Sullivan now.”
Rory couldn’t resist saying, “I thought I was your favorite Sullivan.”
Zara leaned in to kiss him, which was good enough confirmation for him. He’d thought it was pretty damn great when she’d reached for his hand in front of his sister—but kissing him in front of Ashley felt like a straight-up public declaration of love.
“Sorry to toss you a sandwich and run,” Zara said, “but I’ve got to get back to work. Great to see you, Ashley. Tell Kevin I’d love to see more magic sometime. And, Rory, if you want to save some of the chocolate cake for later, I’ll share it with you.”
He couldn’t take his eyes from her as she left the room. And it wasn’t the fact that she’d just put the most glorious chocolate-cake-licking fantasies into his mind that made it impossible for him to look away.
No, the reason had absolutely everything to do with magic.
“I thought Turner and Hudson had to be pulling my leg,” Ashley said once he finally turned back to his sister. “But they’re right—you’re falling big-time for Zara, aren’t you?”
“I’m not falling, Ash. I’m already all the way there.”
“Wow.” She was silent for a long moment as she absorbed the big news. “You and Zara have always set off sparks when you’re together. It’s just that after what happened with Chelsea, I was worried you wouldn’t let yourself try with anyone else, even though it was obvious that she was never going to be the right one for you.”
“It was? I thought everyone loved Chelsea and wanted her to be a part of the family.”
“We did love her, but that doesn’t mean we loved her with you. Whereas Zara never takes any of your nonsense. She challenges you in all the best ways.” He was surprised to see Ashley frown. “How have you been able to do it?” she asked. “How have you been able to trust again after what happened with Chelsea? How have you been able to risk going to that scary place for Zara? Because as far as my experience goes, people putting their hearts on the line is a very rare thing.”
Rory had always taken his duty to look after his younger sister seriously. It killed him that during the years he’d been away at college, she’d hooked up with Kevin’s father. Though Rory knew he couldn’t rewind time, he still wished there was something he could have done to protect her. Everyone in their family felt the same way. Still, if she hadn’t hooked up with the scumbag, she wouldn’t have had Kevin. And the world would have been a much sorrier place without his nephew.
“Honestly, I never saw Zara coming.” Rory hadn’t always felt able to speak so openly to his siblings about his feelings. But Zara had opened him up in more ways than one. “For so long, I told myself that I couldn’t stop thinking about her because of how annoying it was when she whistled cheesy pop songs off-key, or left half-finished cups of coffee all over the warehouse, or argued with every word out of my mouth.” He shook his head at what an idiot he’d been. “Turns out I was just as blind a fool as you, Lola, and Cassie always say I am.”
“You’re not that bad,” his sister teased. But then she grew serious again. “I really am happy for you, Rory. And selfishly, it gives me hope. Because if you can find real love after what you went through, then maybe I can too, one day.”
“You made a mistake and trusted the wrong person, Ash. But you can’t beat yourself up for it forever. I’m absolutely positive that Prince Charming is out there for you.”
“I’m not looking for a hero—a nice, normal guy would be just fine. Although I probably wouldn’t kick the actor who plays Thor out of my bed for eating crackers.”
“That is not the kind of picture a guy needs his sister to put in his head,” he grumbled.
“You’re welcome,” she said with a laugh. “And thanks. I never thought I’d be coming to you for advice about love, but you’re actually pretty good at giving it.”
“Pretty ironic considering that just a couple of days ago, I was planning to ask you for suggestions on how to woo Zara.”
“Really?” Ashley’s eyes grew big. “Not only did I not think I’d ever see you all mushy and turned inside-out over a woman—but now you’re telling me you almost asked me for my advice rather than barking at me like a know-it-all. Wonders truly will never cease.” She still looked a little stunned as she said, “Well, if you ever do need my advice, you know where to find me.”
“Sounds like you think I’m going to screw things up.” The slightly aggressive words were out of his mouth before he realized they were coming.
She looked at him as though he were crazy. “Of course that’s not what I’m saying.”
“Sorry, Ash. I don’t know where that came from. Forget it.”
But she knew him well enough not to let it go just yet. “If you’re secretly worried that you’re going to make a wrong step and lose Zara—you’re wrong. The one thing I know for sure about you is that when you love someone, even if you do mess things up for a little while, you always work to find a way to fix it.” She looked around his woodshop at the intricate, detailed projects he’d completed, even the ones that had seemed impossible at first. “If anyone has the determination not to give up, it’s you.”
Kevin ran over, beaming from ear to ear. “Dad was mega impressed with my magic trick!”
“Of course he was.” Ashley smiled at her son as she slipped her phone back into her pocket. “What else did you guys talk about?” Rory could hear the wariness in her voice, though she was doing her best to disguise it.
“Stuff,” Kevin said with a shrug. He turned to Rory. “Hey, can you show me how to use the lathe again? We’re making a birdhouse at school, and my teacher said if I know how to use the lathe, I can be in charge of turning the dowel for the perch of the birdhouse.”
“Sure.” While Rory worked with his nephew, Ashley went over to the couch to send increasingly agitated texts, her mouth pinched and her eyes narrowed as she glared at the screen. She looked like that only when she was dealing with Kevin’s father.
“Everything okay?” he called over to her.
She smiled and nodded, but he knew it was entirely for her son’s benefit. When it came to Kevin’s dad, nothing was ever truly okay. Rory wished there was something he could do to help, but unfortunately, rearranging the guy’s face with his fists wouldn’t help either Kevin or Ashley.
“Okay,” she said forty-five minutes later. “It’s time for us to head home and get homework done. Thanks for letting us barge in.”
“Anytime,” he said, meaning it. “See you guys Friday night.”
Which reminded him—he needed Zara’s confirmation that she would come to family dinner with him. No doubt they were all dying to know her better.
Once Ashley and Kevin left, he took the sheet off the hope chest and poured everything he felt for Zara, every single one of his hopes and dreams, into it.
Hitting his stride, he worked with pure focus past sundown, stopping only to order pizza to be delivered for dinner and telling them to bring a second, fully loaded pizza to Zara’s office, along with a chocolate chip cookie pie for dessert and enough soda to fuel a major league sports team. Having prepaid for the pizza and tip on the phone, he barely looked up when the teenager delivered it. He ate a couple of slices while he waited for the individual inlay pieces on the chest’s lid to dry.
By the time he’d cut, sanded, and glued each piece, it was pitch black outside. A sliver of moon was high in the sky
, and there were only two cars left in the parking lot—Zara’s and his.
Rory uttered a low groan as he stretched his back. He knew better than to hold one position for so long without moving away from his workbench and walking around to keep limber. But he’d been totally in the zone.
He not only hoped the chest would be one more way for Zara to see how much she meant to him—he also hoped that it would be another way for him to help her heal from losing her mother.
He put the sheet over the chest, then headed for Zara’s office. If she was still racing against the clock to put her ads together, he would pitch in to help her in any way he could.
From the doorway, he smiled as he took in the scene. She was asleep at her desk, her hand clasping the computer mouse. The pizza box was open and empty, save for half a piece, and she’d demolished both her huge drink and dessert.
He squatted beside her office chair and put his hand on her arm, saying her name several times before she stirred. When her hand holding the mouse shifted, the computer screen came to life on one of the photos from this morning’s shoot.
It was a picture of the two of them staring into each other’s eyes. Not like a man and woman did when they were just friends. Not like temporary lovers either.
When he looked at that picture, all he saw was pure love.
“Rory? What time is it?” Her voice was slurred with sleep.
He looked at his watch. “Five past one in the morning.” He brushed the hair away from her face. “Did you get your ads done?”
She nodded, and her eyes closed again.
“Let’s get you home.”
Taking her hands in his, he helped her out to his car, where she dozed off again until he guided her from the car to the bedroom in her cottage. With great care, he stripped away her clothes. And though it was tempting to kiss every inch of skin that he bared, he knew she needed sleep more than anything else.
It felt so right to climb into bed with her and wrap his arms around her. Especially when she whispered, “I love you,” to him right before she fell asleep.