Summer Lovin’ (Costas Sisters #2)(19)
Author: Carly Phillips

"What party?" he asked.

Elena paused. "What party?" she repeated and stared as if he ought to know the answer. "Zoe and Ari are turning thirty today. Tonight we’re throwing a surprise party at Paradeisos."

"We need you to be the decoy," Sam said, bouncing down the stairs and joining them. Her eyes were bright and happy, no sign of trauma from the incident earlier.

"Decoy, huh? How do I do that?"

She tossed her long ponytail over one shoulder. "I told you he’s dense," she muttered, and then before anyone could reprimand her, she continued. "You call Zoe, on the phone. You know, a tel-e-phone. Ask her on a date— "

"And then bring her to her aunt’s diner again? Somehow I don’t think she’d buy that as a real date," he said laughing. "Now who’s dense?" he asked, proud he’d one-upped Sam.

The young girl blinked. "Uh, the answer to that is still you. Because what happens is that you’re going to take her to this very fancy restaurant where you’ve made a reservation, and then on the way, Zoe’ll get a frantic call from Elena at Paradeisos and then Zoe’ll beg you to turn around and come see what’s wrong with me."

"Then hopefully Quinn will get Ari there at the same time and everyone will yell surprise!" Elena said with a grand sweep of her arm.

"And if Ari gets there first? Or later?" he couldn’t stop himself from asking.

"Then we yell surprise twice, of course."

"Of course."

"So now that you’ve helped with the furniture, what can we do for you, Mr. Baldwin?" Elena asked.

He cleared his throat. "First, please call me Ryan. And second, I was wondering if I could steal Sam for an hour."

Sam stiffened her shoulders. "Why? I didn’t do anything wrong. The pig’s allowed to stay. Zoe said so." She uttered Zoe’s name with reverence and awe. The big sister Sam probably had never thought she’d have.

Meanwhile she stared at him as if he were the pond scum who wanted to steal everything she held dear. Which, he thought, wasn’t far from the truth.

He drew a deep breath. "The pig’s fine. I just thought that we could go for ice cream and I could ask you some questions." Deceit wasn’t a comfortable fit for him and he tried to keep his answers as honest as possible.

Elena nodded. "That’s a wonderful idea."

Sam merely glared. "No matter what you say to me, I still want to be adopted and live here forever."

A slicing pain ripped through his gut. "I understand what you want, Sam. I just want to get to know you better. That’s all."

"Can I get a sundae?" she asked.

"If I say yes, will you come with me?"

Sam walked over to the phone, picked up the receiver and handed it to him. "After you ask Zoe for a date tonight."

Ryan shook his head and laughed because if he hadn’t known that they needed him to get Zoe to her party, he’d think the kid and Elena were actually matchmaking.

Chapter Five

AFTER SPENDING A FEW HOURS in a shopping mall with a fourteen-year-old, Ryan had been spent. First he’d taken Sam for ice cream as promised, where she’d ducked behind him every time she’d seen a boy she knew from school. Then he’d had what he thought was a brainstorm and he’d asked her to help him shop for a birthday gift for Zoe.

Sam had dragged him into an all-natural beauty store that smelled ultrafeminine and too seductive for his peace of mind. Clenching his mouth shut tight, he’d stood back as Sam had chosen Zoe’s favorite scents in body scrub, body wash, body splash and he was sure there were more items he couldn’t remember. He couldn’t very well tell the kid that they were in way too intimate territory when she was so pleased with her selections, so he’d gone ahead and purchased her choices.

The store clerk had insisted on wrapping them in a gift basket with some courtesy products, including a loofah sponge he couldn’t stop envisioning running over every part of Zoe’s body, inch by tantalizing inch. His desire for her grew each time he saw her. His need to taste her again, to possess her body and learn her secrets, was with him day and night.

Now hours later, he was driving Zoe to a surprise destination for their date. His nerves were on edge as he waited for the phone call redirecting them to her aunt’s diner. Each time he inhaled, he took in her fresh-like-summer scent, forcing him to shake his head in an attempt to stop thinking about Zoe and sex. Sleeping with her would compromise his emotions, he knew, and in turn he’d jeopardize his goal to take Sam to Boston with him.

Instead he focused on the trip he’d made after taking Sam back to Elena’s. He’d gone back to the mall to purchase another, more practical gift for Zoe. One that had a purpose, but wasn’t in the least bit romantic. Though he knew he’d have to give both wrapped packages in order to protect Sam’s feelings, he hoped the more simple one would take away from the innuendo implied by the bath and body basket— even if his skin were tingling as if she’d used that loofah sponge on him, then followed it up with her hands, and then those luscious lips he’d tasted the other day.

Zoe placed a hand on his shoulder, her soft touch doing nothing to help him repress his desire to sleep with her as soon as possible.

"It was so nice of you to ask me out for my birthday, even if I’m certain Sam put you up to it," she said, laughing.

He grinned. "The kid has a way about her, that’s for sure. It’s true she might have told me it was your birthday, but I would have asked you out, anyway."

"Really?"

"Eventually," he admitted. "When these things between us got more settled." When there was no agenda between them.

Which might be never, he thought to himself.

She raised an eyebrow, her understanding as strong as his. "Settled isn’t necessarily going to be a good thing, so let’s just enjoy now, why don’t we?"

He nodded. "Good thinking."

A glance at the road signs told him they were only five minutes away from the restaurant Elena had suggested for their "date" and he wondered when the hell Zoe’s cell phone would ring and put the real plan into motion.

As if by command, he heard the distinctive sound of a cell-phone ring coming from her bag. She answered, spoke to the person on the other end, argued some and then finally agreed to do whatever was being asked of her.

"I said I’ll be right there," she grumbled before she hung up and looked over at Ryan.

"Something wrong?" he asked.

"Only adolescent angst."

He glanced at her questioningly.

"We call it the old stomp, stomp, slam. In other words, something set Sam off and she stormed into another room and slammed the door."