Summer of Love - Carly Phillips Page 0,61
folks get away with belittling you and being so hard on Sam?”
“Let’s say I wasn’t sure what to expect, but…you impressed me, Ryan.” Her voice dropped an octave when she said his name.
The desire that he’d managed to hold at bay washed over him with desperate force.
“Weren’t you afraid?” she asked, pegging his deepest emotions, the ones he’d thought were so well hidden.
Obviously, they weren’t, and he wasn’t about to explain it to her from a distance. He patted the empty space next to him, and without hesitating, she scooted closer, curling up beside him. Only the glow of the television provided light in the room, and they lay together comfortably.
“What could I be afraid of?” he asked lightly.
She reached out and caressed his cheek. “Losing your family the way Faith lost her family.”
He shut his eyes, unable to believe this woman understood him so well. “My whole life I lived with this double message that always tested me. In my heart I knew what my parents did to my sister was dead wrong and the only way I could make it right was to search for her. Every birthday of mine that passed marked another year closer to finding Faith.”
“You’re a good man,” she murmured, as her soft fingers stroked his skin, encouraging him to continue.
“But I also knew the consequences for stepping out of those boundaries my parents set for us kids. I could lose my family and everything that was familiar to me if I misbehaved. Toeing the line was second nature.”
Zoe leaned her head against his shoulder, her breath soft on his neck. “Yet you became a lawyer and didn’t go into the family business.”
“Only because J.T. did and because being an attorney would help me if they suddenly decreed it was time I helped run Baldwin’s, too.” He’d just never faced the possibility that that day might arise.
“You became your own man,” Zoe insisted, and he laughed at her determination to make him see himself the way she viewed him.
“Still, my sister no longer existed for them and I knew…heck, I know that if I cross them, I may no longer exist, either.” Despite himself, he shivered at the prospect.
“Yet you stood up to them tonight, and you did it for Sam.”
“And for you.”
She narrowed her gaze.
“You doubt me?” he asked. “Or do you just want to make believe what I said isn’t true?”
“Why would I do that?”
“I don’t know. Every time things get intense between us, you back off in some way.”
A smile teased her lips, but it wasn’t a happy one, more like an acknowledgment of his words.
“Care to tell me why?” he asked.
“If you want honesty, I’ll give you honesty. You’re a threat to me, Ryan. An honest-to-goodness threat.”
Her admission let him know that her feelings for him ran as deeply as his did for her. The difference was, he refused to run away.
“I’m a threat? Or your own feelings are?”
She breathed in deep, and he felt the tremors wracking her body. “A little of both, I suppose.”
He narrowed his gaze, not surprised and yet confused at the same time. “You come from an open, loving family. One that isn’t afraid of expressing their feelings, good or bad. You can’t possibly be afraid of falling in love.”
Love? Not yet, but the possibility wasn’t completely incomprehensible. Still, he couldn’t believe he’d said the word out loud.
Neither could she. Her eyes opened wide, but to her credit, she held on to her composure as she tried to explain. “I’m thirty, and I’ve never fallen in love. Never said the words to a man who wasn’t a family member. I’ve watched my parents live the emotion and saw my sister fall firsthand. I’ve long since accepted that it isn’t going to happen for me. And it definitely can’t happen between two people as different as us.”
Well, he’d asked. Now he knew. And his stomach cramped as he realized how tightly she held on to her notions.
“Differences aren’t always a bad thing,” he reminded her.
She shook her head and laughed. “You’re determined to make this difficult, aren’t you?”
“Not at all.” He reached out and stroked her cheek. “You’re scared of feelings you never thought you’d have. Join the club, sweetheart. I’m thirty, and I’ve never been in love. Never said the words or even thought I’d fallen hard.” And he wouldn’t say them outright just yet, either. “It’s something we do have in common.”
She glanced down at the comforter. “My life is at a crossroads. Surely