“Well,” her brother started, leaning an elbow over the polished cherry wood of the bar as he looked at her more closely. “I guess it’s supposed to mean he’s not a dick.”
Sasha paused. Her checkered dating history wasn’t exactly uncommon knowledge, and anyway, she’d brought Sully to this wedding for exactly the reason Jace had served up. He was supposed to be a distraction from her usual flying-solo status, and apparently, their ruse was working.
“I’m not sure if I should take that as an insult or a compliment,” she said, trying on a sassy smile.
Jace met it head-on. “It’s a compliment, believe me. It’s nice to see you dabbling in a healthy relationship.”
“Not you, too,” she said, coughing into her Cosmopolitan. “I know it’s the night before your wedding and you’re all love-is-in-the-air, but mom is bad enough. We’ve been through this, Jace. I don’t do fairy tales.” Although she’d meant to stick the words with a boatload of tough-girl moxie like usual, they came out strangely like a question.
“Ah. But you’re starting to think you might give one a try.”
Sasha’s head snapped up. “Excuse me?” Pondering the possibility that relationships might work out was a whole different ballgame than jumping feet-first right into one.
“Well, it looks like you’ve sworn off reckless dating—and thank you for that, by the way. As your brother, I’ll sleep a little better at night now.” Jace’s bright blue eyes crinkled at the edges as he took a sip of his beer. “And you don’t seem very happy being alone. So the fairy tale thing is really all that’s left,” he speculated, making it sound as if it made all the sense in the world.
She opened her mouth to let him know that she was happily embroiled in D) None of the Above—AKA Thrilling Just-Friends Sex Without the Fear of Actual Dating—but caught herself just in time. This wasn’t the time or the place for a big reveal on her sex life, and to be honest, she wasn’t quite sure how Jace would take the news that she’d brought Sully to his wedding as a buffer, anyway. She needed to keep her focus front and center, and that meant managing her family to keep the peace.
“I’ll leave the Prince Charming stuff to you. Since you have it down to a science and everything. But real relationships that end in happily ever after just aren’t for me.” Sasha pushed back from the bar, finishing her drink in a long, burning gulp.
But as she looked across the room and caught Sully looking right back at her with his wide-open, sexy smile, she couldn’t help but think the words tasted like a lie.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Sully leaned back against the soft cotton bed sheets in his room, feeling as loose and sweet as freshly rolled pastry dough. Sasha lay tucked in tight to his side, her bare skin enticingly warm as she adjusted her cheek against his shoulder. He dropped his chin to the crown of her head, the citrus scent of her hair sending a pulse of happiness through his chest that he hadn’t felt in…well, maybe ever.
He had to tell her he didn’t want to leave this behind when they went home on Sunday. Slip-sliding around his true feelings for her this morning had been bad enough, although he hadn’t lied to her outright. But Christ, she’d been so convinced that even casual sex would wreck their friendship, he had no idea how to tell her he wanted more without making her panic. Despite a few well-placed deflections to keep her parents at bay during the rehearsal dinner, they’d had an incredible night together, and an incredible day before that. Sasha had looked as happy as he’d ever seen her, her blue eyes sparkling with laughter at her brother’s gentle teasing and her responses to Sully’s public displays of affection as natural as inhale-exhale.
But whenever anyone had hinted at the two of them as a real-deal couple, Sasha’s smile became a little too tight, her stance a little too rigid, and damn it. He was going to have to step up his strategy as high as it would go in order to win her all the way over.
He needed to make her see that this was just the beginning of how good things could be between them.
Sully transferred his stare from the lazy flames in the hearth to Sasha’s pretty, blissed-out face. “So are you having fun on this trip?” Maybe if he focused on the positive, it would set the precedent for more yes.
“Is that what we’re calling it?” Sasha pulled back to gift him with a satisfied smile, her gaze going sultry and dark as she lowered it to the sheets knotted around his waist. “Because if it is, then I’m having the time of my freaking life.”
“My ego says thanks,” Sully said, taking a second to conjure up baseball statistics lest his cock get any brilliant ideas about round two right now. “But actually, I was thinking in terms of more clothing.”
Her smile dialed down to something a lot less readable, and she pulled the sheet around her chest nice and tight. “The trip isn’t as difficult as I thought it would be, if that’s what you mean.”
“I’m glad,” he said, opting for the truth even though he didn’t answer her question. He kept his breathing purposely calm, knowing Sasha would feel it against her body the way he’d just felt her go tense. “Your parents seem to have eased up on you since we got here.”
“Bringing you as my date is definitely having the desired effect. Plus, knowing I have a wingman does make all their scheming less stressful.” Her voice softened by a fraction, but the headway fell prey to her sardonic toughness in less than a blink. “I hate to say it doesn’t change much about my outlook, though. They were only manageable tonight because between the two of us, we kept them distracted. Pretty soon, they’ll be right back to shining a spotlight on my shortcomings. Not to mention bitching about each other’s.”
“Did you ever think that maybe your parents are the exception to the rule and not the other way around?”
“What do you mean?” Sasha asked, and Sully fought the urge to backpedal. Popping off at the mouth was never a good strategy. Sasha was in a vulnerable spot as it was. Diving into the truth without a plan to win her over couldn’t end well for him.
But one look at her wide, watercolor eyes in the dying firelight had the words avalanching right out of his mouth.
“Look, I know they’re your parents, and I don’t mean any disrespect. They have strong feelings about each other, and I’m sure they have their reasons for that. But they also have some pretty stilted expectations of you. Did you ever stop to think they’re just wrong?”
The second of silence between them became ten before Sasha finally said, “No. But…” She dipped her chin over his chest, shielding her expression as she continued in a whisper. “I’ve spent my whole life dodging relationships like giant, emotional land mines. I don’t have a clue how to be in one—not one that would last, anyway. I’m sure I’d screw it up.”
Sully’s gut went into lockdown, but one thought cut through the desire to tell Sasha in no uncertain terms how worthy she was of being loved.
If he told her the truth about his feelings right now when she was already vulnerable, chances were high she’d withdraw again, just like she had after lunch. Chilling her out was his MO. He had to make her comfortable in order to make this okay. Losing her wasn’t an option now that he had her, at least in the short term.
Even if he wanted her indefinitely.
“Nah,” Sully said, working up his most laid-back shrug even though his shoulders felt as if they’d been pressed hot and over-starched. “You wouldn’t screw it up. You’d start out slow, one day at a time. Like we’re doing here.”
Sasha’s head jacked upward, her heartbeat knocking against his side. “But this has an end date. We’re going back to being just friends.”
“Look, I didn’t know we’d end up sleeping together,” he started, and although it was a slightly crooked version of the truth, he kept going with extreme care. “And I don’t want what happened this weekend to change our friendship.”
“I don’t either.” She let out a breath, leaning in toward him so slightly she probably didn’t even notice the shift.
But Sully felt it, and damn, he wante
d her more than he wanted to eat or sleep or breathe. “Nothing is happening that we both don’t want, right?” He paused to lift her chin with two fingers, and Sasha had no choice but to meet his gaze or pull away.
She didn’t pull away.
“Right. But…”
“No buts,” Sully said, impulsively sweeping his fingers over her mouth and then following them with a kiss. “This is still us, Sasha. Remember?”
“And we’re still friends, like when we left home?” Her eyes went bright with tears, and her unexpected emotion kicked him right in the gut.
Sully pulled her in close, wrapping his arms around her rib cage as he fit her against his body from shoulder to hip.
“Still friends,” he murmured.
But as she drifted off to sleep in his arms, Sully knew that if he didn’t figure out the right strategy to make her take a leap of faith—and soon—Sasha was going to slip through his fingers.
#
Sasha stood in the hallway outside the door to her room at the Willow Cove Inn, her key in her hand and her heart in her throat. She’d been so busy keeping her parents separated and helping Jace and Delaney with day-of-the-wedding details that she hadn’t seen Sully since she’d left their room this morning before the bridesmaid’s breakfast. But after how she’d gone all gooey-in-the-middle on him last night, maybe that was a good thing. She hadn’t meant to let her guard all the way down—ugh, she’d even been within an inch of crying, for God’s sake. But the more time she’d spent thinking about relationships today, the more she realized what she might have been missing.
And the more she recognized that what she’d found with Sully really wasn’t something she wanted to leave in Ireland, despite her deep-seated fear of trashing their friendship with the risk.
“Okay, focus.” Sasha shook her head, delivering herself back to the hallway with a sigh. She had bigger fish to fry than her love life right now; namely the fact that she had exactly ten minutes to put on her dress and haul her cookies to the garden courtyard beside the church across the way.
A distinct wave of disappointment washed over Sasha as she opened the bedroom door to an empty suite. She palmed the heavy brass key, tiptoeing into the room inch by inch. The rhythmic whoosh of running water met her ears, and her belly swung like a Tilt-a-Whirl at the idea of Sully in the shower. Naked. And steamy.
Oh God, she was screwed. Sasha flat-out couldn’t get her mind off of Sully. The tiny thrill that raced up her spine every time he brushed a gentle touch over the small of her back to usher her through a door. The bigger jolt of sexy promise that coursed through her blood when he kissed her. The way he managed to get her to relax and have fun, even when she was faced with the most stressful situations.
And the pure, undiluted truth in his eyes when he cupped her face and promised she wouldn’t screw up a relationship if she dared to try one out.
Sasha lifted her dress from the cocoon of her garment bag and scooped up her dainty heels by the straps. With her hair and makeup having already been done in a ladies-only session in the bridal suite an hour ago, it only took her a minute to get ready by sliding into the column of coral-colored silk. The floor-length dress wrapped around her curves from shoulder to thigh before ending in a soft waterfall over her feet, and putting it on bolstered her growing excitement. She buckled the thin straps of her heeled sandals, glancing at the bathroom door as she stood.
Sully had been straight with her from the start, and being with him after this weekend was worth taking the risk. Even if the risk scared the hell out of her.
Sasha grabbed a pen and a piece of paper from the side table before her defenses could stop her. Only when she knew she couldn’t linger for another second without holding up the pre-wedding photos did she prop the note on the table and slip from the suite.
#
Sully looked down at the scrap of paper in his hand, his smile aching all the way through him as he shouldered into his suit jacket and re-read Sasha’s neatly penned script for the third time.
Help out a friend in need. Come to the garden next to the church and save me from these pictures. I’ll owe you big!
Although Sully had spent all day trying to come up with a Hail Mary strategy to cure Sasha’s fear of commitment, he’d arrived at jack with a side of shit. If he told her he wanted to be with her, she’d seize up and push him away. If he didn’t, he’d lose her the minute the plane touched down on US soil anyway. No way could they go back to just-friends status now that he’d been this close to having her.
It wasn’t hard to spot the wedding party in the lush, open-aired garden beside Willow Cove’s stone chapel. All Sully had to do was follow the palpable rush of excitement and the telling flash of the photographer’s camera. Jace’s two groomsmen stood off to the side, likely waiting to be called into assorted photos, while Jace and his father posed for a few pictures in front of an archway tastefully decorated with white flowers and greenery. Gigi stood by the entrance to the garden, wearing a bright yellow dress that tested the fortitude of Sully’s retinas. As soon as his dress shoes hit the stone path at the gate, her sights landed on him as if he were made of bulls-eye.
“Oh, hi sweetie!” She air kissed his cheeks, her cloud of overpowering perfume enveloping him like a force-field. Her gaze traveled up, then down, then up again as she slathered him with a smile. “Look at you, all dressed up. Maybe next time, it’ll be you in all the pictures, hmm?”
“Ah, maybe,” Sully said, burying the stab of unease flaring through his chest. “So, this is a great place to do some family photos. Very pretty.”
Gigi nodded, her dark hair as unmoving as sculpture. “Of course, Delaney’s already gone to the church with her parents and the bridesmaids. It’s bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the wedding, you know.” Gigi looked at Sully with dead seriousness in her eyes, as if she’d just entrusted him with government secrets.
“I’ve heard that, yeah.” He reached down deep for a smile. After all, he was still Sasha’s wingman, which meant keeping her parents in check with small talk, not big drama. “I don’t think we’ll have to worry about bad luck this afternoon, though.”
Sully looked around the garden, disappointment filling his gut. Sasha must’ve finished up her photos and headed into the church with Delaney before he could get there. He turned to politely excuse himself when a rustle of pink silk caught his eye from the side of the archway, and Sully’s whole world ground to a halt on its axis.
Sasha stood by the climbing flowers, her face illuminated in exactly the same manner it had been the night they’d sat in front of the fireplace. Her dress was a long stretch of shimmery silk, wrapped around her body just enough to tastefully showcase her curves. She held a transparent slip of white fabric over the back of her shoulders, barely covering them, teasingly showing off the skin underneath. Her eyes sparkled in the afternoon sunlight, and although she smiled on the photographer’s cue, her face was tinged with something Sully felt only he could sense.
Sasha was absolutely stunning, more so than she’d ever been. Standing there with time slowed down and nothing in the world in front of him except for what mattered most, Sully thought maybe it wasn’t so far-fetched that Sasha would want to be with him in the long run.
Maybe if he told her the truth, she’d say yes.
Just then, Sasha looked up and their eyes locked. She smiled at him with her flawless combination of attitude and pure honesty, and Sully felt it in the center of his chest, in places he’d swear never existed until she’d unearthed them.
There was no way he wouldn’t end up with her. If he wanted something, he went out and got it. No halfway. No exceptions.
And he wanted Sasha.
Sully didn’t waste any time moving up the stone path toward her, even though he barely registered the movement. As the photographer paused to check the settings on his camera, Sasha slipped from the front of the garden to meet him halfway.
“Hey.” Sully leaned in, biting back the urge t
o kiss her until they both ran out of oxygen, onlookers be damned. “I can either fake a sudden illness or start a small brush fire, but I think those are your only options for getting out of the rest of these pictures.”
Joking with her felt natural, and the unadulterated laugh it brought from her lips made him want to keep up the teasing just so she wouldn’t stop.
“The pictures haven’t been so bad. The whole setup for the wedding is really kind of nice,” Sasha admitted with a tiny smile. And she was serious.
“I’m sorry, who are you and what have you done with my date?”
Not even her exaggerated eye-roll could hide her growing smile. “Okay, okay. But in all honesty, you couldn’t crush Jace’s mood if you dropped a skyscraper on it.” Her eyes flitted over her brother, who chose that moment to unwittingly hammer his sister’s point home by laughing loudly at something one of his groomsmen had just said. “And even my parents are sort of behaving. So far, anyway. I guess the happiness is just catching.”
“Look out,” Sully said, stepping in toward her until they were face to face. “You sound like your glass is half-full.”
“Are you honestly giving me a hard time for being happy? You’re supposed to be my friend, you know.” Sasha’s words were too soft to be the scolding she’d surely intended, and she tilted her head to look up at him. The sweet-citrus scent of her skin so near to his was downright provocative, and Sully’s heart went straight for fifth gear.
“No. I’m glad you’re happy.” He dipped his chin to close the space between them a little more, precariously close to the kiss his body screamed for. “And I am still your friend, you know.”
Sasha looked up at him through shadowy lashes, and for a flash, he saw the beautiful, unguarded look he was fast becoming addicted to.
“Y-you…your tie is a little crooked,” she stammered, still not pulling away. She reached up to straighten the garment in question, and Sully steeled himself against her touch, as innocent as it was on his throat. He was supposed to be the one chilling her out, but whenever Sasha put her hands on him, he had to work for what little calm he had.
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