There Goes My Heart (The Sullivans #20) - Bella Andre Page 0,5

now she was falling far short of them.

It was utter bliss to splash cold water over her face. She put her glasses back on, then finger-combed her hair as best she could, and used some toothpaste on the tip of her finger to freshen up. With that taken care of, she took a deep breath and left the bathroom to deal with the complications of her big drunk mouth.

Rory was standing by the living room window, looking out at the ocean. It wasn’t just the house of her dreams—this view was also one of the best she’d ever seen. She could so easily imagine wild swimming in the ocean at sunrise, or beneath a full moon.

“Thanks for looking after me this morning.” It was far easier than she’d expected to express gratitude to Rory. No question, he had done her a solid by whisking her out of the warehouse before the others showed up and got an eyeful of her emotional breakdown.

“No problem.”

Amazing. She would have expected him to hold this incident over her for all eternity. Not to shrug off her thanks as though this was all in a day’s work for a highly in-demand furniture maker.

He must really feel sorry for her.

Certain there were few things worse than being the object of Rory’s pity, she said, “I’m really sorry to have taken you away from your work for so many hours, but I’m good to head back to the warehouse now.”

“No worries, and no rush on my part. I’ve been getting plenty done here.” He pointed to the kitchen table, where his sketchbook was open to a black-and-white drawing. Even from across the room, she could see that he was designing yet another gorgeous piece of furniture. “I’ve been wanting to get these ideas down for a while now. Your snoring was the perfect soundtrack.”

Ah, there it was. A snarky comment. Her rapidly beating heart settled. He must not pity her too much if he was game for teasing her the way he always did.

“You should have recorded them for instant playback,” she retorted.

“Who says I didn’t?” She hoped he was joking as he handed her another cup of coffee. “Probably best if you drink this before we head back.”

Though she felt almost completely sober now, she could use the caffeine infusion. Not to mention a little more time to get her head around things before facing everyone at work with a smile. Plus, one whiff from the mug told her that he stocked fantastic coffee, possibly even the same artisan brand that he’d stolen from her on her first day at the warehouse.

As she drank, she forced her brain to rewind the morning. First, the text with the news. Then, the selfie of the ring. Then, drowning her sorrows in a bottle of Prosecco. Then, Rory had arrived and—

Wait. No. He couldn’t have offered to go to the engagement party with her, could he?

And she couldn’t have reciprocated by accusing him of wanting to get into her pants, had she?

She couldn’t hold back her groan. This would teach a lightweight to drink. Next time she was upset, she was going to sprint around the block to work off her angst, or go to one of those places where you could throw plates against a wall, instead of getting hammered.

“Of course you’re off the hook for tomorrow,” she told him. “It was nice of you to offer to go with me to the engagement party, but it will be better if I go alone.”

“Are you sure about that?” With one eyebrow raised, he looked insufferably sexy. “To my way of thinking, showing up with me would go a long way to convincing both of them that you don’t give a damn what they do.”

“I love my stepsister,” she protested. It was a tiny bit harder to force out the words, “I’m happy for her.”

“Then she’s lucky to have you. But being supportive of her doesn’t mean being her doormat.”

“I’m not Brittany’s doormat!” Although hadn’t she had thoughts along those lines once or twice in the past? “Anyway, you’d be bored stiff at her party.”

“One thing I can say for you, Zara, is that I’ve never been bored when we’re together.”

Unable to figure him out, she asked point-blank, “Why are you so hell-bent on going with me?”

“You’ve met my sisters.”

Cassie was a regular visitor to the warehouse, making frequent candy deliveries to the makers in the building. Ashley had also been by for a couple of openings, as had