by Unknown
“Well, most of the famous love stories are completely tragic, for one.”
“Oh, you mean like Romeo and Juliet?”
Sophie nodded. “At this point, I’ve pretty much decided never to fall in love. Not if death and betrayal are what’s waiting at the end of the rainbow.”
Marcus was a week too late for Sophie’s epiphany. Especially because he had a bad feeling that every second that passed without being able to properly talk with Nicola pushed them one step closer to being another one of those love stories gone tragically wrong.
Just as he’d known she would, Lori argued with her twin more for the sake of arguing than because she wanted to be right about this particular issue.
“You’re the one who’s tragic,” Lori said, and then, “Trust you to ignore all the really great love stories, like Pride and Prejudice.”
Sophie scowled at her sister. “As far as I can tell, the way things ended in that story was nothing but blind luck.” She turned her scowl into a smile for Chase and Chloe. “Like the two of you. I still can’t believe you met on the side of the road in Napa and now you’re getting married. It’s so beautiful.”
“Hear that?” Chase said to his fiancée, clearly bemused. “Our relationship is nothing but blind luck.”
“If the worst day of my life turning into my best is blind luck, I’ll take it,” Chloe said softly.
They all knew about her previous marriage, how bad it had been, that her ex had hit her and she’d had to run. Marcus knew that, by comparison, he had nothing to complain about.
Still, he’d clearly been messed up enough about what had happened with Jill to completely blow a great thing with Nicola.
Sophie sighed wistfully as Chase kissed his fiancée. “What about you, Marcus? Do you have anything new going on lately?”
* * *
Nicola walked out into the backyard with a large tray of cut vegetables and dip just as Sophie asked Marcus what was new in his life. Thank God she was wearing flats, otherwise she surely would have tripped over her heels and the food would have scattered all over the neatly mowed lawn. She somehow managed to keep moving toward the table.
“I’ve been spending time in the city the past few days.”
“Really? Why didn’t you come by the library, then?”
Right then, Marcus turned his gaze from Sophie to her and what Nicola read in them had panic bubbling up even higher inside her. Oh God, he wasn’t going to say anything, was he?
She shook her head at him, as a silent signal that she prayed he’d understand.
We’re done, remember? Done!
He hadn’t wanted to tell anyone about her while they were together, had been just as on board with hiding their temporary relationship from everyone this week as she was. There was no reason to blow everything up now, just because it was uncomfortable having to be in the same place for a few hours after their no-strings fling had ended badly.
Finally, he said, “I had some unexpected things to take care of in San Francisco.”
“I’ll bet you did,” Smith muttered, shooting a look at Nicola.
Smith had been perfectly nice—had actually been flirting outrageously with her—until Marcus had arrived. Since then, every time she looked up he was frowning at her. Oh no. He couldn’t have figured out that she was the woman Marcus had brought to his house that night, could he?
Up until now, she’d thought the only one who knew about the two of them was their mother. Nicola had been stupendously nervous when she’d finally met Mary. Fortunately, his mother was as fantastic in person as she had been on the phone. And, amazingly, she didn’t allude to Marcus or their obvious affair in any way. Instead, she simply said, “It’s lovely to finally meet you, Nicola,” then welcomed her into the house as if she were part of the family.
But now, as Nicola chewed on the fact that Smith might have figured it out, she could feel her face flaming as she put down the platter. “There’s more to bring out from the kitchen,” she said, wanting nothing more than to escape again.
Unfortunately, Lori said, “No way. You’re our guest. You need to come sit down. I’ll help Mom.”
Nicola’s heartbeat was wild—borderline frantic—as she eyed her empty seat beside Marcus, knowing it would be super weird if she took a different chair. The problem was, she was so afraid she’d give herself away by accident, so worried she’d lose control and touch him…or, worse yet, give in to the desperate urge to kiss him in front of his entire family.
They were all being so nice to her right now, but if they knew that she’d had a fling with the brother they all loved and respected so much, the oldest brother who had done everything for them, they’d never forgive her for tramping her way into his life.
And they’d never forgive her for hurting him.
“Scoot, gorgeous,” Ryan said to her as he brought over a steaming platter of burgers and hotdogs.
Before she could go take her seat, Marcus growled, “Watch it, Ryan.”
His brother frowned at him, clearly without the first clue what the problem was. But Nicola instantly realized Marcus didn’t like his pro baseball player brother flirting with her or calling her gorgeous.
She would have had a harder time wrapping her head around all of these good-looking men in one family if she’d been able to focus on anything but Marcus. Technically, her brain told her that Zach was the best-looking of them all, with Smith not far behind, while the rest of them were still jaw-dropping. But to her, it didn’t matter how perfect their features were.
Marcus outshone them all and she could hardly tear her eyes away from him, even though she knew it was a dead giveaway to her feelings.
Thankfully, their mother appeared just then, along with Lori and Gabe. The three of them put the rest of the food on the table and for a few moments, everyone was focused on filling their plates.
Everyone except Marcus...and her.
“What can I get for you?”
It was the first thing he’d said to her today apart from the quick “Hi” right when he’d walked in. And even though he was only asking her if she preferred hamburgers or hot dogs, her body—and heart—reacted as if he’d just said the most sensual, intimate words in the world.
How she was going to miss the warmth of his low, slightly rough voice, as he held her, as he stroked her hair.
As he made love to her.
Her skin felt hot, her insides turning to goo beside him. “A hot dog. Thank you.”
But he didn’t reach for the food. Instead he caught her hand beneath the tablecloth.
For a long moment—way too long if she wanted to keep their relationship a secret for much longer—she was lost in his eyes, in the sweet caress of his thumb across her palm.
It took every ounce of the strength she had left after her sleepless night alone for her to mouth, “No.” Marcus deserved a great life, damn it, not the circus he’d get from being with her.
She reinforced the short word by pulling her hand from his and reaching for some of the food. She hoped no one noticed that she couldn’t stop her hand from trembling.
Once everyone had a full plate and was starting to dig in, Marcus’s mother said, “We’re so glad you could join us today, Nicola.” If anyone thought it strange that their mother hadn’t called her Nico, they were too polite to say anything about it. “I hope everyone has been on their best behavior while I was inside.”
“Everyone has been great.” Realizing she was mumbling, she made herself sit up straighter and smile at Mary. “I don’t get to see my family as much as I’d like to. I miss Sunday lunches like this.”
As Mary asked her about her family and she had them laughing with stories about the pranks she and her twin brothers would play on each other when they were kids, Nicola was almost able to relax.
The problem was, she was palpably aware of the fact that neither Marcus nor Smith were laughing along with the rest of them. It didn’t take long for everyone to realize something was up.
&
nbsp; “Marcus?” Lori asked. “You’re not eating and you look kind of, well, not so good.” She scrunched up her nose. “In fact, I can’t think of the last time you didn’t shave. Are you feeling okay?”
“No,” Marcus replied, “I’m not okay.”
Six faces—Chloe and all the siblings apart from Smith—went slack with shock. Clearly, this was the first time their overly capable big brother had ever admitted to having a problem in front of them.
Nicola was glad she hadn’t had more than a couple of bites of her hot dog, because it would have come back up all over the pretty tablecloth. He couldn’t be about to do what it looked like he was going to do, was he?
Okay, yes, the two of them had a few more things to say to each other. But not in front of his whole family.
Marcus had just turned to face her and was obviously about to say something when Smith abruptly stood up.
“There’s something I need to show you in the garage, Marcus.”
“We’re in the middle of lunch,” Mary protested, but there wasn’t any heat behind her words. In fact, she sounded strangely pleased with the turn events had taken.
“Sorry, this can’t wait.” Smith stood up and headed for the house. “Marcus needs to see it right now.”
For a moment, Nicola didn’t think Marcus was going to follow. But then, on a muttered curse, he threw his napkin down and shoved his chair back.
Nicola expected his mother to look upset at the way her meal was falling to pieces. Instead, she simply raised her eyebrows at her other sons and said in a mild voice, “Go ahead. I know you boys are dying to see it, too.”
A few moments later, Nicola found herself sitting alone with the women.
“Sullivan men.” Mary smiled at her. “They’re really something else, aren’t they?”
The understanding in Mary’s eyes nearly broke Nicola, and no matter what else went on here today, she needed Marcus’s mother to know. “You have a beautiful family.”
“I know, honey. I’m so glad you’re here with us today.”
And, amazingly, even though this lunch had been a struggle from the very first moment she’d walked in the door, Nicola realized she was, too.
Because she hadn’t just fallen in love with Marcus...she’d fallen for his entire family while she was at it.
Chapter Twenty-one
“What the hell is going on with you guys?” Gabe asked as he and Zach walked into the garage, with Chase and Ryan following closely behind.
“Marcus has been doing our pretty young guest.”
Marcus grabbed a handful of Smith’s shirt. “Watch it, asshole! Talk like that about her again and I’ll make sure you can only do horror films from now on.”
“Whoa,” Gabe said, moving to put himself between his brothers. “Hold on a second.”
Marcus was on the verge of letting Smith go when he said, “What the hell are you doing with someone like her? Isn’t she a little young and slutty for you?”
A split second later, Marcus was throwing the first punch. The two of them each got a couple of good slams in before Zach and Gabe worked together to pull them off each other.
“You don’t know the first goddamned thing about her.”
“And you’re telling me that you do? Beyond how wild she is in bed, that is."
“I warned you,” Marcus growled.
Smith held up his hands and took a step back, “Look, I’m not trying to piss you off. I’m just trying to talk some sense into you.”
“Hold up,” Zach said. “Somebody give me the Cliff Notes version of what the hell is going on.”
All eyes turned to Marcus and he bit out the words, “Nicola and I met after the engagement party. I didn’t know who she was at first.”
Gabe whistled low and long. “Trust old man Sullivan not to recognize a huge pop star. So, when did you figure it out?”
“When Lori invited me to the dance studio the next day for their rehearsal.” He ran his hand over his face. “I thought Nicola was one of the dancers.”
“You’re an idiot.”
Zach was right. He was an idiot. What the hell was he doing in the garage with his brothers when Nicola was outside in the yard with his mother and sisters? He’d vowed that the next time he saw her he’d fix everything. Instead, all he’d done was make everything worse.
“I’ve got to go talk to her,” he said, but Smith grabbed his arm. Hard.
“Do you have any idea what it will be like to date her?”
“I don’t give a crap about her fame.”
“That’s easy to say now,” Smith said, “but what about the fiftieth time you guys try to go out? You’ll think you’re having a private conversation about grapes or songs or whatever the hell you two talk about and someone will snap a shot that looks like you’re fighting. The next thing you know, the headline will be that you couldn’t hack it, that you were too different from the start. They’ll even throw in some quote from an anonymous friend saying Nicola always knew you were wrong together. You’ll want to trust her when she says it isn’t true, that she didn’t say that to anyone, but you’ll start wondering if she actually did.”
It was the most Smith had ever said to any of them about the trials of fame, but Marcus didn’t give a crap right now about how hard life could be for his hugely famous brother. All he cared about was the woman he’d hurt by being careless with her heart.
“I know you think you’re helping, but this is between me and Nicola, not you guys, and not the rest of the goddamned world.”
But Smith wouldn’t stay out of his face. “Listen to me, I get it, she’s probably great in the sack.”
Marcus came at him again, but Smith held his ground, despite the fact that Marcus’s hands were around his throat.
“But for a guy like you who likes his expensive wine, his peace and quiet out there in the grapevines, all that fame crap will drive you crazy. Fast.” Smith frowned. “What I don’t get is how the hell no pictures of you two have surfaced yet?"
Marcus abruptly dropped his hands from Smith’s throat. Hopefully he’d left one hell of a bruise.
“We’ve been careful,” he said between his teeth.
“You two are skulking around in corners? See, it’s already fucked up, man.” Smith gestured to his brothers. “We all get that Jill turned out to be a cold bitch and Nico is a hot rebound—a damned great rebound, bro—but her life is way too messy for a straight-ahead guy like you.”
Ryan nodded. “Hate to say it, but he’s right, Marcus. The press will drive you insane. Even playing baseball, they’re in my face way too often.”
Surprisingly, Chase nodded. “She seems great—much sweeter, more innocent-looking than I thought she’d be after some of things I’ve heard about her.” He pinned Marcus with his steady gaze. “But it doesn’t help that she looks like she’s barely graduated high school. Everyone is going to think you’re nothing but a dirty old man.”
Only Gabe broke in to say, “Hold up a sec. Are you in love with Nico?”
“Her name is Nicola,” Marcus shot at his youngest brother.
And Gabe wasn’t the one who needed to know that he was in love with Nicola. None of his fucking brothers were the ones who needed to hear those words.
The one person who needed to know exactly how he felt about her was sitting out in his mother’s backyard thinking he didn’t love her back.
All because he’d been too much of a pussy to own up to his feelings.
“Get the fuck out of my way,” he growled to his five younger brothers.
No one said another word. They just parted ranks to let him through.
“Jesus,” Zach swore as Marcus left the rest of them standing in the garage with their mouths open, “I can’t believe the six of us were in here talking like a bunch of girls about love and relationships."
“At least I tried to talk sense into him,” Smith said as they followed him out in single file. He shrugged. “But since he’s clearly a basket case over her, we might as
well get a good seat for the show.”
* * *
“Nicola, I can’t keep doing this.”
She looked up from the conversation he’d interrupted between the women with extreme alarm on her pretty face.
Marcus knew she didn’t want him to out their relationship in front of his entire family, but he couldn’t keep pretending he didn’t know her. He couldn’t keep acting like he didn’t love her. And he sure as hell couldn’t stand to listen to Smith talk about her so dismissively, like she was nothing more than a hot piece of ass.
Marcus wanted everyone to see her the way he did—as a smart, focused, brilliant artist and businesswoman.
So what if he didn’t fit into her world and she didn’t fit into his?
How could he give her up?
She was shaking her head, her eyes desperate as she silently begged him to stop talking. But he couldn’t stop now, knew he had to get it all out before another second passed where she didn’t think he loved her.
He moved to her, pulled her up out of her seat.
“No, Marcus.” She looked wildly around at his family, who were now all assembled in their seats at the table, their faces pressed up to the invisible glass. Hell, knowing them, they all wished they had bowls of popcorn to munch from. But he didn’t care. Nothing mattered now but Nicola.
And the fact that he was going to lose her if he didn’t do something quick.
“Don’t. Please don’t.”
Maybe if he’d gotten five minutes of sleep, he would have been able to see how serious she was, that his declaration was the last thing she wanted right now. But in that moment, all Marcus knew was how right it felt to touch her, to be close to her.
“I love you."
She backed away from him and would have stumbled on a tree root in the grass if he hadn’t been gripping her hands in his.
“Please don’t do this. Not here. Not now.” Her words were barely a whisper, but the backyard was so deadly silent, with not even a bird chirping or a breeze to sound through the trees, that everyone heard her plea loud and clear.