If You Were Mine (The Sullivans #5)(21)

“I know his brother.”

Shoot, what was wrong with her?

Heather slung her purse over her shoulder and tried to stand up, but Brenda clamped her hand on her arm, holding her in place in her seat. “Whose brother?”

They were the only two people left in the theatre and the cleanup crew was coming in with their garbage bags.

“Smith Sullivan’s brother.”

Brenda squealed so loud that Heather winced. “Oh my God! When were you going to tell me?”

Never had been the plan, because Zach wasn’t supposed to play any kind of important—or long term—role in her life at all.

“Zach is one of my new dog training clients.”

“Does he look like Smith Sullivan?”

Heather felt her cheeks turning pink at the way her friend said his name like they were kids out on the playground and he was the popular boy they all had a crush on.

“Actually,” she admitted, “he’s even better looking.”

Her friend pinned her with a look she couldn’t escape. Brenda was the only one who knew all about Heather’s family. She’d met her father and mother and had seen their icky dynamic—the charmer and the charmed, the liar and the enabler—firsthand.

“Is he really just a client?”

Brenda’s voice had softened and Heather knew the question didn’t have anything to do with her one degree of separation from a movie star, but the fact that her friend genuinely wished for Heather to find true love one day, despite everything.

“Yes.” She stood up and went to throw away the empty popcorn box. “Seriously, I wouldn’t have mentioned him if we’d seen another movie.”

Brenda blocked her way out of the theatre. “What does Zach do? He’s not the baseball player, is he? Or the winery owner?”

Heather narrowed her eyes. “Why do you know so much about Smith Sullivan’s life?”

“I’m a fan,” Brenda said without the slightest hint of defensiveness. “So, which one is he?”

With a sigh, Heather said, “He’s the mechanic.”

Brenda’s eyes went wide. “You’re kidding, right? He’s not just a mechanic. He’s a mogul!”

“A mogul?” She shook her head. “He owns an auto shop.”

Her friend almost looked disappointed in her. “I know you’ve been really busy with your business lately, but you really should know more about one of the most famous families in San Francisco. Your new client owns a zillion auto shops. They’ve made him filthy, stinking rich.” Her friend was practically drooling. “Talk about an eligible bachelor.”

Well, it explained the big house in the pricey neighborhood, at least. Funny, though, even with all the money she now knew he had, he certainly hadn’t tried to woo her with it, the way her father had always worked to buy her and her mother’s love with lavish gifts and trips.

In fact, she found herself thinking, with a small smile she couldn’t contain, even if Zach didn’t have money, she was certain he’d be just as irritatingly sure of himself.

“Please sleep with him and tell me how it is.”

Heather had to smile. Only two people who’d known each other since college could say things like that to each other with a straight face.

“Sorry. I don’t think it’s going to happen.”

“But he wants to, doesn’t he? And don’t deny it, I can tell by the way you’ve been blushing this whole time that he’s more than just a client.”

Heather couldn’t lie to her best friend. “You’re right, I think he wants to. But I’ve already shut him down.”

“Why would you do that when you have the chance to sleep with a Sullivan?”

That one was easy. Because if keeping the walls up around her heart with Zach while they were fully clothed and training the dogs was hard...well, it would be downright impossible if she were naked and in his arms.

But all she said was, “It wouldn’t be a good idea.”

Heather could tell Brenda wanted to say something more, but she simply put her arm around her and said, “Let’s do this again soon, okay? Maybe make it a double date?”

Heather shook her head. “Ever the hopeful one, aren’t you?”

“For love,” her friend replied, “always.”

Chapter Nine

The next morning when Heather got to work, feeling cranky and tired, Tina was clearly excited about something. “A package came for you a few minutes ago.”

The sugar from last night’s slushie had given Heather a headache, which was exacerbated by the fact that every time she closed her eyes, she saw Zach and herself dressed in the period clothes from the movie acting out a scene where he pulled her into his arms and kissed her like he’d been waiting his whole life for her love.

She stopped at the threshold of her office when she saw the big red rectangular box sitting on her desk. Atlas immediately ran to it and started sniffing it, his tail wagging fast.

No one ever sent her gifts.

She had her hand over her pounding heart as she moved close enough to pick it up. Even though her assistant was clearly dying to know what it was, thankfully, Tina respected Heather’s privacy enough to give her some space.

She looked for a card, but there wasn’t anything but a huge red bow on the outside of the box. Slowly lifting the cover, she had to blink a couple of times to make sure she was seeing things right.