Author: Bella Andre

“How is David?”

Realizing there was no way Sophie would know about what had happened, she said, “He died.”

“Oh no.” Sophie looked horrified. “I’m so sorry, Megan.”

Wanting to reassure her friend, but not wanting to say too much with Gabe still standing there taking in every word, a glower still on his too-handsome face, she said, “It was a few years ago.”

Sophie looked toward where Summer was still the center of Station 5’s attention. “You’ve raised her all by yourself?” Before Megan could reply, she added, “Or did you remarry?”

“Nope. Just me and Summer.” She forced a smile that she hoped looked somewhat real. “We’ve been doing great.”

“And then that fire burned down your apartment. It just doesn’t seem fair.”

“Honestly, we’re doing just fine,” she said again, as much for Gabe’s benefit as Sophie’s.

Sophie put her hand on her arm. “I just wish things could have been different for you.”

“Soph,” Gabe bit out in a frustrated voice, “how many more times does she have to tell you she’s fine?”

He was clearly trying to warn his sister to back off a bit, and while Megan would have appreciated it another time, she knew Sophie was just expressing her feelings and emotions the way she always had. Straight from her heart.

Sophie simply scrunched up her nose at her brother before turning back to Megan. “You know what? Our mother is having her big annual holiday party this week near our old stomping grounds in Palo Alto. Please tell me you and Summer will come to meet everyone!” Before Megan could reply, Sophie added, “Don’t you think everyone would just love them both, Gabe?”

He was looking past them as he said, “Sure,” with shockingly little interest, just as he had in the hospital when Summer had asked him if he wanted to hear Megan’s frog impersonation.

Well, it was pretty damn clear to all of them what Gabe thought about this plan, wasn’t it? She could feel Sophie’s eyes moving between them, clearly trying to figure out what the deal was...and why he clearly couldn’t stand the sight of her.

In the awkward silence, Sophie finally said, “Actually, a couple of my brothers really love kids.”

Oh God. Sophie wasn’t trying to play matchmaker, was she? More than a little horrified at the thought of more than one man like Gabe in a family, she asked, “How many brothers do you have?”

“Six! But Chase and Marcus are taken and their girlfriends—well, fiancée in Chase’s case—are fantastic. So that leaves Zach and Ryan and Smith. They’re all free. At least as far as I know.”

Another light bulb went off. Smith Sullivan, the movie star, was Sophie’s brother. And so was Ryan Sullivan, the pro baseball player. Clearly, the Sullivan family was way too potent for its own good. Especially since watching Smith up on a big screen in a dark movie theatre and Ryan on the mound had never made her all tingly the way Gabe’s dark gaze was doing right this second as he frowned at her for daring to breathe in his presence.

Sophie continued talking while Megan processed...and worked to keep taking one slow breath after another.

“They’ll all adore you. I have no doubt my brothers will end up fighting over you. Don’t you agree, Gabe?”

“You’re actually trying to set your friend up with Zach and Ryan, two of the biggest players on the planet?” He shook his head. “Smith is even worse. God knows what would happen to a kid in his messed-up movie star world.”

Sophie waved away his concerns with a hand in the air. “I think all of you are awesome. And they’re only players because they haven’t met the right woman yet.”

Megan noticed Sophie said nothing about whether Gabe was a player or not. She hadn’t offered him up as potential boyfriend material, either. Probably because he had a girlfriend.

A girlfriend that Megan was absolutely sure she would hate.

Just because.

“Please tell me you’ll come, Megan? You and Summer would be such a welcome addition to the party.”

Truthfully, Megan didn’t want to have to spend any more time around Gabe than she already had, but the devil that very rarely sat on her shoulder sudden popped up and had her saying, “We’d love to come.” She got way too much enjoyment from the way Gabe’s stance tightened even further beside them. “What can we bring? I’m sure Summer would love to bake something really special for your mother’s holiday party.”

After Megan and Sophie exchanged phone numbers and email addresses, Sophie promised to send her all the information for the party.

With the deed done—and knowing she’d need every single second until Saturday night to make sure she was ready to completely lock down her foolish longings and hormones around Gabe at the party—she said, “Well, I think Summer and I should go and let everyone get back to work.”

She called out her daughter’s name and overrode her pleas to stay “just a little bit longer” because she was “having the best day ever” hanging out with the firefighters.

At long last, Summer finally took her mother’s hand and Megan was able to escape back out to the sidewalk, her heart beating even faster now than it had earlier that morning, even though they were going in the downhill direction.

All because this time she knew for sure that she was going to see Gabe Sullivan again.

* * *

“You’re not actually going to try to set her up with Zach or Ryan, are you?” The thought of either of his brothers touching even one single hair on Megan’s head had Gabe seeing red.

His sister shrugged. “I don’t see why not. She’s very sweet and smart, don’t you think?”

He wasn’t going to answer that. Because he sure as hell wasn’t going to let his sister know that he thought Megan was just about the prettiest thing he’d ever set eyes on.

“They’ll chew her up and spit her out.”

His sister crossed her arms over her chest. “She lost a husband and has raised a child all by herself. And it seems like she’s recovering really well from losing everything in that fire. I think both of those things prove just how strong she is.” Another shrug. “Who knows? Maybe she could be the chink in Ryan’s or Zach’s armor.”

Hell, no. Not when she’d already gotten under his skin. He didn’t need her getting under his brothers’ skins, too.

“I know what you’re doing, Nice.”

Normally, her nickname fit her. Not today. Today his little sister was clearly intent on messing with his mind by inviting Megan and her daughter into their inner circle.

Sophie gave him an innocent look, her brown eyes a little too big. “Megan is a friend from college. I like her a lot. I want to see more of her.”

“So you’re saying inviting her to the party has nothing to do with me?”

His sister pinned him with a gaze that told him she knew exactly what he was feeling for her old friend. “You tell me, Gabe. Does it?”

He grabbed the bag of whole-wheat nastiness from her. “Thanks for breakfast. I’ve got to get back to work.”

Before he could turn and walk away from the sister he normally liked quite a bit, he caught her smile. And knew exactly what she was thinking.

Sophie thought he was going to fall head over heels in love with Megan and her cute daughter.

She was wrong.

Chapter Five

Saturday night…

Megan had never been so happy about a flat tire in all her life.

She and Summer had just finished running one final errand and were pulling into their underground parking garage when she felt her car bump over something. The hiss of the air was loud enough for them to hear even through their closed windows. Knowing the tire repair shop would be closed by eight o’clock on a Saturday, she told Summer there was no way they could drive the thirty-five miles to Palo Alto on a spare.

She felt terrible about Summer’s disappointment at missing Sophie’s mother’s holiday party, but oh well, that was how things rolled!

Despite her daughter’s enormous energy levels, she was normally quite even-keeled about things like this. So Megan was surprised when Summer pitched a full-on fit about not being able to go to the party.

“It’s going to be a bunch of adults.” Megan didn’t get what the problem was. Or, rather, she didn’t want to get it. “I don’t understand what’s so important about this party.”

“You know exactly what’s so important about this party,” Summer accused, before stalking off to her room and slamming the door. “We should have already been there by now, but you kept making us late with your stupid errands that we didn’t even need to do tonight!”

Megan had to take several deep breaths to try and keep her temper in check.

It didn’t work. Not when she’d been riding on nerves all day just thinking about having to go to this party and see Gabe again.

“Don’t you dare slam the door on me, missy!” she yelled through the door. “You’d better open it up right now.”

A few seconds later, the door opened a crack. Megan was about to push it open the rest of the way and demand an apology, but she stopped herself just in time.

They were both making a big deal out of nothing. In a couple of hours, everything would go back to normal, and they’d be snuggling under a blanket on the couch watching a movie about Rudolph.

She walked back to the kitchen and picked up her phone to let her friend know she wouldn’t be able to make it to the party, which was likely already in full swing. Expecting to get Sophie’s voice mail, she was surprised to hear her friend answer.

“Megan, are you and Summer having trouble finding the house?”

“Actually,” she explained, “we won’t be able to make it after all.”

“Oh no! Why not? One of you didn’t come down with a cold, did you?”

Megan suddenly wished she’d thought to fake a cough. Only, she didn’t believe in lying. And she certainly didn’t want to teach her daughter to do something like that. “No, we’re both perfectly healthy. My car isn’t faring quite as well, though. I’ve got a flat tire and I won’t be able to get it fixed until Monday.”

“Can I call you right back?”

Megan agreed and hung up the phone. As she waited for it to ring again, she got a bad feeling about things. A bad feeling she tried to tell herself was ridiculous.

“Great news!” Sophie said a couple of minutes later when she called back. “Gabe hasn’t left yet and he’d love to come pick you guys up.”

Megan leaned her head into the wall and closed her eyes. “That’s really nice of him, but I’d hate for him to go out of his way. We’re really sad about missing the party, but—”

“He lives really close to your place,” Sophie assured her. “It’s no problem at all. Can I give him your address?”

No!

“Okay,” she said, and then, knowing she was doing a terrible job of being grateful, added, “Thanks, Sophie. Summer will be really thrilled to hear that we’re back on.”

It was dark enough outside for Megan to see her own reflection in the kitchen window as she hung up. She wasn’t surprised that she looked shell-shocked. Worried, too. But there was something else in her expression, something that shouldn’t have been there at all.

Anticipation.

She turned quickly from the window. “Good news, Summer,” she called out with forced cheer. “Looks like we’re going to the party, after all.”

Summer let out a happy squeal and then ran into the kitchen to cut up the fudge she’d made that morning into bite-sized pieces for the party.

* * *

Sophie had sounded positively gleeful over Megan’s flat tire, Gabe thought as he double-parked his truck in front of an apartment building and got out to pick up his two impromptu passengers. In fact, while she was at it, his sister had given him hell for not having already offered to take her friend and her daughter to the party.