There Goes My Heart (The Sullivans #20) - Bella Andre Page 0,63

be there. And despite how shaky she’d felt in the aftermath of spilling her guts to him about her mother, for the first time in a very long time, Zara felt hopeful.

Hopeful that maybe, just maybe, she had finally moved beyond her mother’s death—and could start living her life anew.

“I know you have to get into work soon for your photo shoot…” Rory said, his voice still a little gravelly with sleep as he stroked his big hand across her bare hip, then rested it over her stomach. “But I’m okay with quick if you are.”

She grinned at him over her shoulder as she said, “I went to bed with Rory Sullivan…and woke up with Mr. Speedy.” But she followed up her teasing by pressing her hips into his.

And while it was definitely quick—all it took was the barest touch of his lips against her breasts and his fingers between her thighs for her to be more than ready for him—their lovemaking was no less emotional than the night before. Nor was it any less explosive as he gave her not just one orgasm, but two in rapid succession, before he finally let himself go with a groan of pleasure.

Zara had never felt this solid with anyone. Though they both could be total firecrackers, what they were creating with each other felt so right. No question, he was exactly the kind of man her mother would have wanted for her.

For the first time, thinking about her mother didn’t rend Zara’s heart.

Fifteen minutes later, after she’d showered and put on one of Rory’s long-sleeved shirts as a temporary dress until she could change at her cottage, they sat down to a breakfast of cereal and orange juice at his kitchen table.

Normally, she wolfed down breakfast, but she was so busy gaping at the morning sun glinting off the water that her shredded wheat started to get soggy. “I could get used to having breakfast here,” she mused. “This view is incredible.”

“Any other reasons?” he said, obviously fishing for compliments.

For once, she didn’t feel like making a show of teasing him. “The fact that we love each other is the biggest one,” she said simply. And then, “Who would ever have thought the two of us would fall in love?”

“Cassie said she knew all along.”

“She did?”

He nodded. “She thinks our bickering hid a deeper passion.”

Zara digested that information for a few moments. “If your sister saw it even before we did, then maybe it isn’t so crazy after all.”

“Even if it is,” he replied, “there’s no one I’d rather be crazy with.”

Of course she had to push her cereal bowl aside to kiss him. Which meant that Zara was breathless with desire by the time he reluctantly pulled away.

“You can’t be late for your photo shoot,” he reminded her.

It took her brain several long moments to accept that there was more to her life than making love with Rory as often as possible. “Right.” She gave one last longing look at his lips, before checking the clock and verifying that they really did need to get a move on. “We should go.”

They swung by her cottage so that she could change, then headed into the warehouse. Zara was just leaning across the stick shift to kiss Rory good-bye in the warehouse parking lot when her phone rang.

She was on such a high that seeing Brittany’s name on caller ID—and knowing her stepsister was surely about to press her case for help with wedding planning—couldn’t even bring her down. “Hey, Britt, what’s up?”

“Z, I have bad news.” A tiny pinprick pierced Zara’s joy bubble. “Both James and Angel have come down with chicken pox.”

“Both of them? How is that possible?”

“Well, they’re dating,” Brittany explained, “so I’m assuming that’s how. I can try to find two more models, but I doubt they’ll be able to do the shoot today.”

This photo shoot was Zara’s biggest to date. The two models were a large expense, but nothing compared to the cost of the advertising spots Zara had booked for the promotions they would be starring in. She’d never spent this much money to advertise her glasses before, but she believed she finally had enough customer data and previous sales to warrant making her first really big business investment.

In the early days, Brittany had been nice enough to model the frames. Once Zara had earned enough from selling her glasses to invest in upgrading her branding, Brittany had come through for her again by connecting her with