birthday.”
She followed her mother to the back of the restaurant where there was a small party room. “What’s going on?” Zoe asked.
“Just a game to make the party more fun.”
Zoe rolled her eyes. “Ari and I are too old for games.”
“Not this kind.” Elena held a scarf in front of Zoe’s face.
“Isn’t that from Sam’s party? Orlando Bloom’s not quite my speed, Mom.”
“That’s because he was too flat.” Her mother wrapped the scarf around Zoe’s eyes. “Your surprise is real.”
Zoe tried to pull the scarf off, but her mother slapped her hands, then turned her around three times, making her dizzy by the time she stopped.
“Okay, now go.” Elena kissed Zoe’s cheek and pushed her forward.
From behind her, Zoe could have sworn she heard Elena tell her to “Go pin the hard-on, Ryan Baldwin.”
Zoe’s Aunt Kassie had walked Ryan into the back room in the guise of showing him the rest of the restaurant. She left him there and asked him to wait a minute, and she’d be right back because she needed his help with Zoe’s birthday gift. Enough time had gone by that he figured he’d been had when a blindfolded Zoe stumbled inside, and the door slammed shut behind her.
He grabbed Zoe before she could fall, then he heard Elena and Kassie’s voices beyond the door. And finally, one of them opened the door, flipped off the light and closed them inside once more.
He shook his head and laughed. “They can’t be serious.”
“Oh you don’t know the half of it,” Zoe said as she pulled the blindfold off and shook out her hair. “They’re over the top to begin with, but add me turning thirty to the mix, and I think they’ve lost their collective minds.”
“Don’t they realize that the light switch is inside the room so we can turn it on ourselves?”
She laughed.
“Or that it’s not quite dark out yet and there’s light coming through the window?”
She laughed again. “You don’t get my family, Ryan. They really just want you and me together. Scratch that. Me and anybody together.”
“Now that hurts my feelings.”
She stepped closer, her body language and sultry tone making it clear she was fully aware of the sexually charged air around them. They had been set up by her family, yet Zoe obviously didn’t mind.
“I wouldn’t want you to feel insulted,” she murmured. “Especially when you could be feeling so much more.”
She had a point, and the bulge in his pants and desire pulsing through him proved it.
He met her gaze and let his hand caress the soft skin of her cheek. “I think we should get out of here.”
“You’re reading my mind.” Her gorgeous green eyes sparkled with desire, but her serious expression indicated the time for jokes was over. “Unfortunately I live with my parents. The same people we’re looking to avoid.”
He chuckled at the reminder. “Fortunately I’ve got a motel room,” he said, knowing full well the step they were about to take. Zoe Costas was many things, but a one-night stand wasn’t one of them.
“You know you’re the first guy who could use that line on me and not end up flat on his back.”
“Can I take that to mean you’re sure about this?” There were too many issues and feelings for either of them to take this lightly.
She nodded, and he released the breath he hadn’t been aware of holding. “Think we can get out the front door without too much of a fuss made by the posse?” he asked.
“No chance in hell.” She stepped on the chair and then climbed onto the tabletop and unlocked the window. “I know you’re a by-the-book kind of guy, but how would you feel about sneaking out the back way instead?”
Zoe couldn’t remember the last time she’d had to sneak around with a guy in order to avoid her family, but she didn’t want an audience nor did she want to provide more ammunition for their questions tomorrow. She’d have enough questions for herself come morning.
Somehow they made it out of the restaurant, through the parking lot and into Ryan’s car without being seen. He drove to his motel like someone who knew the area, already comfortable with the New Jersey highways and cloverleaf turns. And now, holding hands, they made their way along the catwalk to his small motel room.
Her heart pounded hard in her chest, her desire for him as strong as her determination to be with him tonight. She just didn’t understand how a man like this affected