Let Me Be the One (The Sullivans #6)(32)

Ryan made a mental note to give his movie-star brother yet another round of thank-yous for helping Vicki with great advice.

“Well, you do happen to have a pretty damn gorgeous smile.” He pulled her hand up to his mouth and pressed a kiss to it. “What do you say we hit my beach with enough booze and pizza to forget about all this for a little while?”

The smile Vicki gave him almost had Ryan forgetting to keep those four little letters to himself.

Chapter Twelve

The next morning, as they walked from his parked car toward the diner on the corner, Ryan rubbed a soothing circle on her back. “Relax. They’re your friends, not a firing squad. You didn’t sleep well, did you?”

Did he have any idea what it did to her when he looked at her like that? As though she was the only person in the world who mattered?

She couldn't bring herself to pretend again that she had, in fact, slept well in his awesome guest bed. “I’m not a big sleeper.”

She never had been, not even when she was a kid. Almost as if she had to be ready and alert to throw her things in a bag and head off to the next town at any moment. Still, last night had been a particularly bad night. More than ever before, she’d wanted to go into his bedroom and climb into his bed, just so that he could hold her in his arms.

But that wasn't what had her blinking once, twice, then just plain gasping.

Her face was on the front page of the newspapers in the rack behind him.

Vicki read the headline out loud: “Who is the mystery woman engaged to San Francisco’s most eligible bachelor?” Each word was more hollow than the one that came before it. The paper had paired the article with an old, and very unflattering, picture of her.

Ryan’s jaw was tight as he pulled her away from the curb. “Ignore it. We’ll be yesterday’s news soon.”

His siblings were already at the table by the time they walked inside. Vicki was surprised by the low-key restaurant the Sullivans had chosen to meet in. Then again, she supposed they’d have to know places off the beaten path if they wanted to get together with Smith and Ryan and be left alone.

Lori jumped up to give the two of them a simultaneous hug, and her energy was so infectious that Vicki smiled despite her dark mood.

Sophie pushed out of the faded brown booth before Vicki could tell her to stay where she was.

“Oh my, you’re gorgeous, Sophie! Congratulations.”

Ryan’s other twin sister hugged her, or tried to anyway, with her belly big and round between them. “It’s so great to see you again, Vicki. It’s been way too long.”

“When are you due?”

Sophie laughed. “Not soon enough.” She put her hand on her stomach. “I think they’re starting to get a little too happy in there.”

Gabe was the next one to pull her in for a hug. He looked every inch the rugged fireman. “Look at you,” she teased, “all grown up.”

“Same goes for you,” he said, pulling back just far enough to give her an appreciative enough glance to make her blush.

Chase had been at the high school at the same time she and Ryan had attended, and even though she’d never gotten to know him very well, she’d been following his photography for a long time.

He held out his hand and shook hers. “It’s great to see you again, Vicki.”

“You, too. And I have to tell you what a fan I am of your photography.”

“Right back at you,” Chase said with a grin. “Your sculptures are fantastic.”

Ryan slid into the large booth and pulled her in beside him, holding her hand in his on top of the table as everyone else settled back into their places.

“You met Smith at the game yesterday,” Ryan said, “so I think we’re all good here. We’re heading to Palo Alto to talk to Mom about everything after breakfast.”

The gray-haired waitress came by to take their orders and Vicki didn’t see even the barest flicker of excitement or recognition in her eyes when she looked at Smith or Ryan. It was clear she couldn’t care less who was eating at the diner that morning.

Even though Vicki doubted she could swallow a thing, she ordered a fruit salad.

“She’ll also have a side of bacon and a short stack,” Ryan told the waitress before he launched into his own order.

A part of her wanted to rebel, to tell the waitress she didn’t want those things, but she knew Ryan was only trying to look out for her. He was the kind of man who couldn’t stand to see her want for anything. And hadn’t that been why she’d texted him? Because she knew he’d drop everything and come to help her?

And yet, she continued to wonder how much of what he’d done for her this past week had been because he still felt that he owed her a debt for saving his life when they were kids. After all, hadn’t that been one of the first things out of his mouth that night when she’d apologized for dragging him into her mess?

As soon as the waitress went into the back, Ryan shot her a smile and she knew he was about to tell his siblings the truth. But Vicki had already decided she needed to be the one to explain it.

“We’re not really engaged,” she said in a voice that couldn’t possibly be overheard by anyone but Ryan’s family in their corner booth.

Everyone’s eyes automatically moved to her and Ryan’s linked hands on the table, but even though her fingers immediately stiffened, he only held on tighter.