There Goes My Heart (The Sullivans #20) - Bella Andre Page 0,43

to her that I’m someone she can count on. But I only have until Saturday to convince her that we should be together.” Frustration roiled through him that he still hadn’t come up with a foolproof plan.

“Why Saturday?” Flynn asked.

“That’s the deadline we’ve given ourselves to break up.” At the other men’s confused expressions, Rory said, “Again, I can’t explain why without breaking her confidence. Regardless, the clock is ticking down on our last five days together—unless I can figure out how to convince her to stay.”

“Bring her chocolate,” Hudson suggested. “That’s always worked for me. At least it used to.”

“Good tip,” Rory said, though he knew it was going to take a heck of a lot more than chocolate to convince Zara to give her heart to him.

“If I had your talent,” Flynn said, “I’d make her something tangible to show her what she means to you.”

“Another good suggestion.” If only Rory knew what to make that would strip away her wariness about being with him. He shifted his attention to Turner. “Got any brilliant ideas to add to the mix?”

“If I did, I wouldn’t be going home to an empty house, unlike these two. Although I have to wonder, what are you doing here with us when you’re on such a tight deadline with Zara?”

Turner was right. If Rory headed out now, he could make it to the grocery store to pick up some chocolate cake—she’d mentioned it was one of her weaknesses, after all—before it closed. And then he could beg Zara to let him share it with her tonight.

Despite the fact that his glass was still full, he stood. But before he left, he asked Flynn, “Am I still on to babysit Ruby tomorrow afternoon?”

“If you’re sure you’re up for it. She can be quite a handful now that she’s mobile.”

“Of course I’m up for it. Drop her by my woodshop as early as you need to.”

Rory headed straight for the grocery store. It wasn’t until he was walking inside that he realized the song playing over the store’s speakers was Can’t Fight This Feeling by REO Speedwagon. He had to laugh at just how on point the cheesy pop song was. And before he knew it, he was channeling Zara by whistling along as he walked the aisles.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

As soon as Rory had dropped Zara off at her cottage, she’d decided to tackle the most difficult item on her to-do list: Call her stepmom and advocate for a change of wedding location for Brittany.

Margie wasn’t an evil stepmother. Truthfully, she had never been anything but kind and patient with Zara. That didn’t mean she was a pushover, however. And perhaps Zara would have had a more difficult time convincing her to switch wedding venues during their phone call had Margie not been so distracted by questions about Zara’s unexpected party date.

Her stepmother wanted to know absolutely everything about Rory. Specifically, did Zara think Rory was the one?

Though she knew she had to keep pretending if she wanted everyone in her family to think they were an item, she should have laughed inwardly at the preposterous idea of Rory being the one for her.

But she hadn’t laughed.

Instead, she’d stuttered and stumbled over her words until Margie said in a delighted voice, “That’s exactly how I was both times I fell in love—first with Brittany’s father and then with yours. I was hardly able to string two words together. And I was glowing with happiness, just the way you were last night. I’m so happy you’ve been able to move on with someone so wonderful.”

In love?

In love?

Was that how Zara and Rory had seemed to everyone last night? Yes, they were now friends. And they obviously had the hots for each other.

But had they been signaling something more in the way they’d looked at each other?

In the way they’d talked?

In the way they’d touched?

Zara had never come close to falling in love. Even with Cameron, her hurt feelings had far more to do with his cheating on her than with breaking her heart.

So how on earth could the guy she’d been bickering with day in and day out at work end up being the one to break through to her heart? Even if it turned out that Rory was a far nicer, sweeter, more thoughtful, and caring guy than she’d ever imagined.

No. She shook her head hard enough to make it ache.

Just no.

Still, even after she texted Brittany with the good news about the wedding location, she