There Goes My Heart (The Sullivans #20) - Bella Andre Page 0,67

it?”

He put his hands on her hips and pulled her close. “Isn’t yours?”

There was no point in denying it. Not when her greedy mouth was already on his, and she was shoving his flannel shirt off his shoulders. “Always,” she confessed. “In fact, in the hotel in Camden, I believe you said you were wondering what kind of underwear I wear at the office. Do you still want to know?”

His eyes were full of heat as he said, “Hell yes.”

And as she did a sexy little striptease for him in her office—after which he made her see the most blissfully bright stars in the universe as he loved her up against her office door—she was amazed at how Rory was always there just when she needed him.

For so long, her blind faith in life going her way had died along with her mother on Washington Street in Camden. She hadn’t thought she would ever be able to embrace joy without the fear of losing the person she loved always hovering in the dark clouds above her.

But Rory had an amazing way of filling up her life with so much sunlight that, for once, the storm clouds didn’t dare rain all over her happiness.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

When Rory headed into his woodshop that afternoon, he was drawn like a magnet to his secret hope chest project. After pulling off the cover, he ran his hands over the shell. His own hopes were in every nail and dowel and joint of the cedar box.

The construction of the frame was fairly simple, but the inlay he had worked out for the top of the box would take every ounce of his concentration.

One hour passed into the next, the lunch he’d missed long forgotten as he worked. He was so deep in his work that he nearly dropped a heavy metal clamp on his foot when he heard a familiar voice say, “Uncle Rory, want to see the new magic trick I just learned?”

Rory tossed a sheet over the hope chest before turning to his nephew with a grin. “Hey, Kev.” He did the bro handshake with his nephew, then hugged his sister Ashley, before turning back to Kevin. “Show me.”

Kevin put on a top hat, then did the classic spoon-bend trick by pressing down on a spoon and appearing to bend it, then lifting it up a few moments later to show that it was still straight.

“That was awesome. Where’d you learn to do that?”

“Caleb showed me at school. We’ve started a magic club.”

“Can anyone join the club, or do you have to be ten?”

Kevin thought about it for a second. “We can probably make an exception for you. I’ll ask the guys.”

“Rory, I just realized I never fed you, and you must be starved. I ran out to get some sandwiches and chocolate cake.” Zara skidded to a stop in the middle of his workshop when she realized he wasn’t alone. “Hi, Ashley. Hi, Kevin. I didn’t mean to interrupt. I just wanted to bring Rory lunch since I made him work through it today.”

“You didn’t interrupt, Zara,” Ashley assured her. “And it’s great to see you again.”

Rory’s sisters clearly had a soft spot for Zara. Probably because they loved knowing she was always taking him down a peg.

“I hope my brother has been behaving lately?”

“He’s been really great, actually.” Zara’s blush told him she hadn’t forgotten what they’d been up to in her office only hours earlier.

And when she reached for his hand, he wanted to pump his fist and yell hallelujah. Because he knew this public display of affection—something she had been so opposed to before now—was another way of saying how much she wanted to be with him.

Pulling Zara closer, he turned to grin like a fool at his sister.

Ashley should have looked more surprised by their PDA. But clearly, Turner and Hudson had left the pub on Sunday night and spread the word that Rory was falling for Zara. Not that Rory had expected anything less, when being a part of his big family was like living life on a permanent speakerphone.

Still blushing, Zara turned her attention to Kevin. “I like your top hat.”

Rory was pretty sure his nephew had a crush on Zara, and this was confirmed by his stammering response to her compliment. Good to know Kevin had good taste in women. It would hopefully be one less thing for them to worry about as he got older. Though he wasn’t Rory’s kid, he’d always tried to look