“Well I wouldn’t want you to be able hide your real feelings from me. Now what’s on your mind?”
She shifted on her feet. The summer sun had yet to reach its peak, yet she was blistering hot, both from nerves and from being around Ryan.
When it came to a guy or a relationship, she was usually the one in control. But she couldn’t get a handle on her feelings for this man. “I…We…Last night was amazing,” she said first, not wanting to gloss over something so important to them both.
“Yes, it was.” His voice dropped an octave. “But I hear a but coming.”
She shook her head. “Not a typical but.”
“What then?”
“Look…” She exhaled hard and forced her gaze up from her shoes to his face. “We met because of Sam. Because you’re her uncle and you want her in your life. And we didn’t tell her about you because I needed to be sure of you and your character.”
He propped his shoulder against the screen door. “And now you are?”
“Unfortunately, I am.” He was a good man. The best kind, really. She reached for his hand, holding it tight. “We need to tell Sam the truth.” Her stomach hurt just saying the words.
She couldn’t begin to imagine the fallout from the actual revelation. But it was time. She no longer had any justification to keep the truth from her family and Sam. They all had to stop living a lie, especially Zoe herself. She had to stop pretending Ryan could actually be a part of her life. She was becoming too attached to a man who was just passing through and who would leave nothing but spiraling upheaval in his wake.
Ryan glanced down at their intertwined hands. He opened and closed his mouth, unsure of what to say. He’d been so focused on last night and on Zoe, he hadn’t seen this one coming. True, he wanted Sam to know he was her uncle, but he’d been content to wait until the time was right. He and Zoe had been so close, the last thing he’d considered doing was putting a wedge between them.
Which made him wonder about her motives for doing so now. Could she be using his relationship with Sam to keep him at a distance? It was possible. After all, he’d seen her wariness this morning. He’d watched her wake up, stiffen and take too long to figure out how to handle the situation. No doubt, if she’d awakened before him, she would have bolted. For reasons he didn’t yet understand, he sensed Zoe was afraid.
He wanted more time to figure her out. To figure them out.
Yet she’d offered him the opportunity he’d come for and he couldn’t turn her down. “You’re sure the time is right?” he asked.
Zoe dropped his hand, putting physical and emotional distance between them. She tipped her head to one side and sighed. “As sure as I’ll ever be. I just need a chance to break it to my parents first.”
“Of course. And then what?” He flexed and unflexed his hands, nerves taking over.
Questions raced through his mind. Was she going to talk her parents into just letting him take Sam home, once they got through the New Jersey red tape, or did she plan to have him stay in town awhile longer? And how would Sam react to discovering she had family after all this time?
“I don’t—” Zoe started to speak.
“Elena, they’re back!” Sam’s voice struck him in his gut, and prevented Zoe from revealing her thoughts.
Zoe shot him a suddenly frightened look. He understood and wondered if Sam had overheard any part of their conversation.
The young girl fumbled with the lock on the screen door, but finally worked the catch, opened the door and waved them inside. “Come in! You left so early you never opened your presents,” she said to Zoe.
Sam didn’t meet Ryan’s gaze, but that wasn’t unusual and once he saw her excitement and smiles, his concern eased. She was too happy to have heard a thing. Now all he had to worry about was Zoe viewing his embarrassing gifts.
“Do you want to help me unwrap them?” Zoe asked Sam.
“Already done.” The young girl grabbed Zoe’s hand and they walked into the family room.
Ryan followed and seated himself on a chair across from them so he could watch.
Sam shook her head, her ponytail flipping behind her. “Elena said if you were gonna be rude and leave, we could still enjoy the traditional parts of a party, so I already opened the presents, well all except for the ones from Ryan,” Sam explained in a rush, as only a teenager could.
“I see. And what did I get?” Zoe asked, laughing.
“Aunt Dee and Uncle John bought you a subscription to an online dating service that lets you pick out whatever traits you want in a guy. They said you’d better make sure he’s Greek.”
Ryan didn’t have to glance at Zoe to know she was blushing. He also didn’t have to look down at his clenched fists to realize the thought of her with any other man didn’t sit well with him at all.
Sam ran through a litany of other gifts until she reached the end. “And Elena and Aunt Kassie said you already got your gift from them, not that I know what they mean.”
Ryan did and his gaze met Zoe’s, every moment of last night passing between them in that one look.
“And this is from me.” Sam pulled out a pillow that she’d been hiding behind her back. “I made it myself,” she said softly, suddenly shy. “Since you have one that Ari made you, I wanted you to have one from me, too. So I could be a real sister, too.”
“Oh, Sam.” Zoe pulled her into a huge hug and over her shoulder, Sam met Ryan’s gaze with a pleading one of her own. One that begged him, the “social worker,” not to take her away from these special people.
If only Sam knew the real damage he could do. He glanced from the hugging women to the hook-rug type pillow that said Sisters & Best Friends 4 Ever. A wave of nausea swept through him as he realized that in telling Sam the truth, he’d be depriving her of the security she had finally achieved in her otherwise unsettled life.
How could he do that to her? Ryan wondered.
Yet how could he not?
Sam pulled out of Zoe’s grasp. “It’s Ryan’s turn to give you his presents.” She stepped back to reveal the wrapped packages on the table behind the sofa. “We bought one of them yesterday when we went shopping, but there’s an extra thing here and I don’t know what it is. But I helped him pick out the big one.” She pointed to the larger gift as she practically hopped from foot to foot in eager anticipation of the big reveal.
Zoe’s eyes narrowed as she took in the presents. “Hmmm. What could Ryan have bought me? I think I’ll open this one first.” Zoe winked at Sam and started peeling the wrapping off the larger present.
“Oh I can’t wait to see,” Elena said from the doorway, joining them in time for Ryan’s mortification.
“Same here.” Nicholas strode in and seated himself in the large recliner chair.
“Oh man,” he muttered aloud.
Zoe pulled away the last of the wrapping. “These are wonderful,” Zoe exclaimed as she examined each fruit-scented item in the basket, from bath gel, foot cream, hand cream, body lotion, to the different textured sponges.
Ryan would rather die than look at her parents now, though a covert glance showed him that Nicholas was indeed scowling at him. No doubt the man also knew his daughter hadn’t come home last night and it was obvious she still wore last evening’s clothes.
Well, hell, was it his fault she was thirty and living at home? Still, he cringed.
“Sam, thank you for helping Ryan pick out my favorite scents.” Zoe’s soft voice interrupted his thoughts.
“It’s okay. You know I love you.” Sam sounded a little more subdued, Ryan figured because the excitement of giving her gift was over.
“How about opening Ryan’s other one?” Elena asked.
Now that he’d seen Zoe’s pleased reaction to the bath-shop gift, he wanted to take his more practical one and shove it into his pocket. But that wouldn’t be happening.
Elena, Nicholas and Sam crowded around as Zoe ripped apart the paper and pulled out the present he’d purchased to minimize the
impact of the first. No chance of that happening, he thought. Now that they’d made love, and now that her family knew they’d spent last night together, he couldn’t win with either gift.
He forced himself to look at Zoe. She stared at the Montblanc pen in the black box for so long, he thought he might puke.
“To sign your first contract with,” he said, his voice sounding as lame as he felt.
She met his gaze, her eyes filled with warmth, gratitude and, he thought, a hell of a lot more. “That’s the most thoughtful thing I’ve ever heard,” she said.
“And the most dorky and lame.” Sam grunted and rose from the couch. “I’m going to Michelle’s.” She was clearly as unimpressed with Ryan’s additional birthday present as she was with him.
“Be back for us to go shopping around three,” Elena called to Sam.
“Thanks, Sam. Everyone,” Zoe said. “I should put all this in my room.” Without looking at Ryan, she gathered her gifts in her arms.
He wondered what had her spooked this time. Either it was the knowledge that her parents knew about their relationship or she just wanted to run from last night as fast as she could. He’d been able to stop her this morning, when he’d kissed her senseless and reminded her of why she shouldn’t panic. He couldn’t do the same thing now.
In the silence, he heard Nicholas whisper to Elena in a not-so-quiet voice, “Another one that isn’t Greek.”
Elena laid her head on his shoulder and spoke into his ear. “As long as she’s happy, Nicky. She should have what we share, no?”
With those comments, Zoe bolted for the stairs leading to her room.
As Ryan rose to leave and said his goodbyes to Zoe’s parents, he was struck by the warmth between them. A love and understanding he’d never seen between his parents, growing up. In their home, formality ruled, even in personal, intimate relationships. Elena and Nicholas apparently adhered to no such rules of decorum. The family had told him last night that the couple’s fights contained fireworks that were something to see. So, too, did their making up.
He glanced at Elena and Nicholas again. Zoe couldn’t possibly fear relationships based on what she’d seen at home. Which meant she feared something about him.
All of which convinced him that his hunch about Zoe’s sudden wariness now was correct. She wanted to put space between them and telling Sam the truth would help accomplish her goal.
IN THE NEW OFFICES, Ari paced the linoleum floor that Zoe had just mopped clean. “A pen? The man bought you a pen for your birthday?” Ari asked, clearly in shock.
“Isn’t it the most honest gift you’ve ever heard of?” Zoe rolled the pen between her palms, the gift reminding her so much of Ryan and his contradictions. The hard exterior and the gentle man beneath. When she closed her eyes, she saw his face, warm and caring, and the gift cemented those emotions.
“Well at least you didn’t say it’s the most romantic present you ever received. What’s going on with you, anyway?” Ari asked.
Zoe lifted her gaze. “I’m going to try to explain this, but you may not get it,” she warned her sister.
“Well, try me.”
“This is a guy who was brought up in an uptight environment—that’s all he’s ever known and yet he doesn’t mind our family. The more time he spends with us, the more he loosens up.”
“Which explains the bath basket?” Ari guessed.
Zoe shook her head. “No, Sam explains the bath basket. Ryan bought the pen himself. It’s conservative, just like he is.”
“But you don’t like conservative,” Ari said, tossing her hands in the air in frustration.
“Exactly. If he’d bought the pen because it was the right thing to do, I’d hate it. But he picked it so I’d have something special to mark signing the contract with our first real client. He gets how excited I am about the business.” Which was why she had to pull back from him now, before anyone really got hurt.
“Aaah.” Ari nodded slowly. “I’m beginning to understand. The man gets you. And you’re going to repay him by handing over Sam?”
“Good question.” Quinn strode into the room and gave his wife a kiss on the cheek. “By the way, can we go with a darker yellow on the walls? This color is so cheery I may walk in and vomit every morning.”
Zoe rolled her eyes. “No. And no I am not just handing over Sam. Quinn, did you find out anything about the break-in? Like why the burglar would be in Sam’s room at all?”
He shook his head. “I haven’t a clue what Sam has that could possibly interest someone enough to break in and ransack the house.”
“Start with anyone in our family,” Ari said, obviously resigned to the fact that someone could be involved in a con of some kind.
She wasn’t wrong. Zoe knew firsthand that their scheming could lead to anything. Lord knew she’d ended up in a safe house, thanks to a simple matchmaking scheme.
Quinn eyed his wife with wariness and concern. “You know I checked up on them?”
She and Quinn glanced over, but Ari showed no signs of distress. Not long ago, just the mere mention of an old family prank or oddity caused Ariana to withdraw, if not as far as Vermont, then deep inside herself where she didn’t have to deal with the family’s oddities. Quinn had accepted the family right away and he’d helped Ari learn to value her close-knit clan.
Ari nodded. “Of course.”
Apparently her twin had come to terms with who and what the Costas family was. Zoe was grateful because it helped strengthen their relationship, too.
“And?” Zoe asked.
He groaned. “Well, let’s see. There have been some complaints about the new skin-care cream Elena created and the fishy smell, but as far as I can tell from the bookkeeper, those people have been reimbursed.”
“She’s working on finding a scent to cover the fish oil,” Zoe offered helpfully and grinned. “Anything else?”
“Elena had been giving massages to men and women, but after one male patron lodged a complaint about wandering hands, your mother instituted a policy that men work on men, and women on women.”
Zoe shook her head. “Makes no sense considering someone could just as easily lodge a complaint against the same sex.”
“When did any of Mom’s actions need to make sense to anyone but her?” Ari asked.
“Good point.” Zoe settled into a desk chair and began spinning back and forth. “Is that it?” she asked Quinn.
“Except the one person who claims they had something stolen from their wallet during a facial session.”
Zoe frowned. “Is there any reason we’re just hearing about this now?”
Quinn shrugged. “I don’t know. All I had to do was talk to the receptionist and she spilled all. I think your parents just want to succeed and don’t want you or Ari to worry about anything.”
Ari blew out a frustrated breath. “Just because of who they are, I’ll always worry. So there’ve been some complaints.”
“The police were only called in about the stealing issue, but the client decided not to press charges. Everything else was settled in-house and amicably. No reason for anyone to trash the house,” Quinn said, his frustration obvious.
Zoe stopped spinning herself and waited till the dizzying sensation subsided. “Quinn, the person who declined to press charges, could she have sent someone to break in to look for what she claims was taken? Maybe they thought it could be stashed in an un-obvious place, like Sam’s room.”
“It’s something to consider and we’ll look into it.”
Ari nodded. “I think you should.”
“Now how about Ryan’s family?” Zoe asked. “What did you find out about them?” She hated that she was prying into things she’d rather hear from Ryan himself, but desperate times and Sam’s welfare called for desperate measures.
Quinn pulled a pad out of the back pocket of his jeans. “They own Baldwin’s Department Stores, a ritzy chain scattered throughout New England’s wealthiest areas.” He glanced at his notes. “Baldwin
himself is a lawyer and has no part in the family business. It’s mainly run by his father’s brother, Russell. The family’s fairly conservative, which means boarding schools and country clubs and the like.”
Ari rubbed her hands up and down her arms. “Sam will die in that kind of environment.”
Zoe nodded. “From what I’ve got on paper, I agree. We’re going to have to see what happens beyond the basic introductions. Ryan understands she’s a sensitive kid despite her tough exterior. Once she knows the truth, he’s going to have to spend more time with her here. Then we’ll have to talk about what comes next.”
“I hate it,” Quinn muttered.
Zoe nodded. “Join the club.”
“When do we break the news to Mom and Dad?” Ari asked, resigned.
“Sam has plans to sleep at her friend’s tonight. We’ll double-check and if Mom and Dad are home alone, we’ll fill them in then.” Zoe laid her head in her hands, not wanting to face her parents with the dreaded news.
Especially after she’d spent the night with the man who could take Sam away. And what a night it had been. She still recalled every intimate moment, each sensual touch.
Zoe groaned. Quinn had suggested she stick close to Ryan as a means of measuring him as a person and keeping him from revealing all to Sam. Her mother had suggested the same, her motive being for Zoe to cozy up to the so-called social worker who’d ultimately determine Sam’s placement. Although Zoe had gone along with their suggestions, she’d never fooled herself into believing she’d been with Ryan for completely selfless reasons.
The attraction had been potent from day one and had exploded between them last night. So had emotions she had no business feeling. Even if she put his relationship to Sam aside, that didn’t change her reservations.
She and Ryan couldn’t be more different. He was a conservative man with a life and expectations far removed from her own. He lived in a city that was a solid four hours away. And he evoked an intensity of feeling that could cause untold upheaval in a life she was just beginning to reclaim.
Heaven only knew what kind of damage he could cause if she let him into her heart.
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