If You Were Mine (The Sullivans #5)(30)

Of course, she hadn’t meant to insult the older brother Sophie and Lori clearly worshipped, so she said, “Zach is a nice guy. I’m sure he’ll find someone great one day.”

“I hope so,” Lori said with a sigh. “I know he acts like he doesn’t need anyone, but I’ve never bought his act. Then again, maybe it’s because he’s my brother and I love him and I don’t want him to be alone forever.”

“He loves you, too. All of you.” She’d known that ever since the first time he’d spoken of his family, before she’d ever met them. “He has pictures of you all over his house.”

Lori shot Sophie a look before saying, “You’ve been to his house?”

Heather clarified, “He had a bit of an emergency with Cuddles the first night they spent together. We had an emergency training session.”

One that ended with her hand in his and his lips on her cheek.

Strangely, Lori picked that moment to stop torturing Heather. Instead, she leaned back in her seat, popped a handful of popcorn into her mouth, and said around it, “Sophie’s right. I shouldn’t have said all that stuff to you. I was just so caught up in a fantasy of having someone like you as a sister-in-law instead of one of the awful girls he usually hooks up with.” She sighed. “It figures you’d be too smart to want anything to do with him.”

Jealousy hit Heather at the same moment as the urge to defend Zach did. Clearly, he could have—and regularly did have—any woman he wanted. Heck, as they’d been watching the game hadn’t every woman in their section been drooling over Zach, with Sophie’s good-looking husband coming in a close second?

“Trust me,” Lori continued, “I totally get why you don’t want to date Zach, but I have a couple of other great brothers who are single. Smith and Ryan are total catches, if you ask me.”

Heather was flattered, but couldn’t imagine being with a movie star or a professional athlete. “Thanks, but I’m not looking for a relationship right now.” Or ever.

Before Lori could get in one more word about her brothers and what great catches they all were, Heather turned to Sophie and asked her about her pregnancy. Heather loved kids as much as she loved dogs and as she edged closer to thirty, she was thinking more and more about when she was going to try to have them. She was beyond glad that there were so many options for a single woman, between in-vitro and adoption.

“Are you excited about having twins?”

Sophie lit up. “Yes. When I’m not terrified about having them.” Her face went all dreamy. “Jake is going to be a great father.”

Lori made a puking sound. “It’s bad enough that you’re all over each other like Saran Wrap. Save us from the love is perfect soundtrack, would you?”

Even though she silently agreed with Lori on the whole love thing, Heather was amazed that Sophie didn’t look the least bit insulted. Instead, she started singing, “Love is perfect, oh so perfect,” to the tune of I Feel Pretty.

Lori covered her ears and started singing Love Bites in a perfect imitation of Def Leppard’s singer until the three of them collapsed into giggles.

Suddenly, Heather actually wished she could date Zach. Not just because her hormones wouldn’t leave her alone, but because there was no doubt in her mind about how fun it would be to be a part of the Sullivan family.

But, even as she let herself envision that for a brief moment, she knew the reality was nothing like the fantasy. Regardless of how well things might start for her and Zach, no matter how much he seemed to like her and want her in the present, she knew with utter certainty that he wasn’t the kind of man who would ever commit to one woman forever.

So if a part of her was at all envious at the way Jake had continually kissed his pretty wife, if she secretly longed at all for a man to look at her with such complete adoration, all she had to do was remember the vow she’d made to herself when she was seventeen and had found out the truth about the extent of her father’s lies.

Never. She would never put herself in a position to be treated like that. Because she would never make the mistake of letting herself fall in love.

* * *

“Heather’s a pretty girl.”

Zach tugged Atlas away from the lamp post he was admiring and directed him toward a bush. “Pretty? Are you blind? She’s gorgeous.”

Jake nodded his agreement just as Cuddles got into a position that had Zach groaning. The blue bags were burning a hole in his pocket and he really wanted to keep it that way. It was one thing to clean up after the puppy in his backyard...

He muttered a curse that perfectly described not only what the puppy was doing, but Heather’s huge dog as well. Jake hadn’t stopped laughing at him since they’d left their seats and he only laughed harder now.

“So Heather’s just training the puppy?”

Zach wasn’t going to admit to his closest friend that he’d struck out with Heather a half-dozen times already and that the only way he’d gotten her here today was by tricking her into it.

“She’s one hell of a dog trainer.” And one hell of a woman, too.

Lord knew she had him wrapped so tightly around her little finger that he barely knew which way was up anymore. He only knew he wanted her more with every passing second...even as she tried to push him farther away.