by Andre, Bella
When he scowled, she belatedly realized she might have gone too far.
Oops.
“Don’t worry,” she reassured him, “we’ll make sure none of my family or friends see us. Just my ex.”
“Does this guy have a name?”
The way Jake looked right then, as if he was going to tear her ex apart with his bare hands, told her it wouldn’t be fair to give him Alex’s name.
Thinking fast, she said, “I don’t like saying it aloud.”
Her answer didn’t seem to make him any happier as he growled, “Did he hurt you?”
She was glad she hadn’t had too much to eat for breakfast. Otherwise, it would have threatened to come back up as she moved her hand over her heart and said, “Only here,” in an overly theatrical way.
Sophie was certain anyone else would have seen through her terrible acting job, but Jake was so bound and determined not to notice anything about her it looked as if she was actually going to get away with this.
Knowing it was make-or-break time, she played her final card. “Please, Jake. You’re the only one I can ask to help me get a little revenge on a big jerk.” She leaned in close to his ear and said in a hushed voice, “It will be our little secret.”
God, he smelled good, so good she wanted to rub her lips over the faint stubble on his cheek. Instead, she forced herself to shift her weight away from him.
He ran one hand through his hair and shook his head as if he already knew he was going to regret helping her, then finally said, “Fine. If you’re that desperate, I’ll do it. Although I still don’t think this plan of yours has much of a chance of working.”
“Oh,” she said softly, the word desperate grating along with princess and Nice, “it will work, all right. I’ll make absolutely sure of it.”
***
What the hell had just happened?
Jake McCann knew how he was supposed to feel about Sophie Sullivan. He was supposed to love her the way a guy loved his little sister, to watch over her, to make sure she was safe and happy. He was supposed to be blind to the way Sophie had filled out over the years. And he was supposed to hope she found a nice, easygoing guy who would always be careful with her.
He shouldn’t have been appreciating her curves beneath her jeans and sweater as she’d stood in the middle of the vineyard and surveyed the wedding preparations. And when he’d accidentally touched her while putting her baseball cap back on her head and her eyes had gone all dreamy, he sure as hell shouldn’t have felt the crazy urge to drag her against him and kiss that soft mouth and find out just how soft her curves would feel pressed against his hard muscles.
But, even knowing those things, he couldn’t manage to drag his eyes off her as she walked away, couldn’t stop thinking about how soft her cheek had felt against the pad of his thumb and the way her hair had slid like silk through his fingers.
Damn it.
How long had he worked to deny the way he felt about Sophie?
How many years had he told himself his need for her was nothing he couldn’t work out of his system with other women? Women who were good for a few hours in the sack, but who didn’t have an ounce of Sophie’s natural elegance. Her brains. Her gentleness.
And how the hell was he going to make it through an entire wedding with Sophie when his self-control had been slipping a little more each time he’d seen her over the past few months as he’d helped her with putting Chase and Chloe’s wedding together? Sitting close to her as she’d run through the wedding plans with him, breathing in her sweet scent, wondering if she would taste just as sweet against his tongue, had been slowly driving him crazy. Day by day, she’d crept into his thoughts, his dreams, and every time she stayed longer.
Sophie had always been special, even as a little girl. Not only the prettiest thing he’d ever seen in his life, but also so smart she’d blown him away even at five years old. And she was brave, too. So much braver than she gave herself credit for. As the smallest, quietest one in a family of eight kids, she wouldn’t even flinch as she walked into the middle of flying elbows and knees. And somehow, like magic, the sea of limbs would part for her, as if her silent power was so much bigger than her brothers’ muscles or her twin sister’s constant hollering.
Just a few minutes ago, as he’d been standing in the middle of Marcus’s vineyard with Sophie near enough to pull into his arms, Jake had been caught between two impossible choices. Reach out and finally claim her the way he’d fantasized about taking her for far too long…or push her away for her own good. Because it was one thing for a McCann to be friends with a Sullivan girl. It was another thing entirely to think that he could claim her for himself, and keep her forever.
He’d always known that wasn’t possible, that Sophie deserved better than the son of an abusive drunk who poured beer for a living. Unfortunately, knowing that hadn’t made the wanting go away.
His chest clenched with regret as he remembered Sophie’s wounded expression after he’d made those cracks about her clothes and needing to be made pretty for the wedding. She was the last person in the world he wanted to hurt, which was exactly why he’d made sure to keep his distance as much as possible over the years.
Jake hated to think that some guy she’d dated had done a number on her, and actually had the nerve to show up at her brother’s wedding. She deserved to be with someone who would give her everything. A house in the suburbs and a white picket fence. A handful of cute kids with big brains like their mother’s.
He pushed his knuckles hard against his sternum, trying to physically shove away the tightening in his chest that began with the images of Sophie being picture-book happy with some other guy. Jake wasn’t sure about her plan to make her ex jealous, but he was already planning to get the guy alone and teach him a lesson about what happened when somebody messed with a Sullivan.
Just then, Chase stepped out onto Marcus’s terrace and called Jake’s name, jolting him out of his thoughts.
Chase’s brothers were all groomsmen and Marcus had gotten a special license so that he could officiate the ceremony. Jake was the only non-Sullivan to be given the honor of standing up with the groom, even though Chase had plenty of cousins who could have been chosen.
The ninth Sullivan. It was always how they’d made him feel, like he was one of them. Back when he was a kid and he’d hung out at their house, Jake had pretended he was home. And the truth was, Mary Sullivan’s house had been the only real home he’d known until a few years ago when he’d bought his own place. By then his Irish pubs were booming and he was able to easily afford the kind of house he’d only dreamed of having before.
Jake was happy for Chase on his wedding day. The first time Jake had met Chloe, he’d been struck by what a perfect fit they were for each other. Sure, he had been surprised by the way his friend had fallen so quickly, and by how happy he was about the whole husband/father thing being dropped into his lap. But just because Jake wouldn’t ever let himself get tied up in that ball and chain, he would always support a Sullivan.
Being a groomsman at Chase’s wedding and running the bar was all part of giving back to the family who had helped raise him when his own family hadn’t given a damn.
The two men shook hands and exchanged a hug. “How’re you feeling on the big day?” Jake asked.
Chase grinned. “Good.” His grin widened. “Really good.”
Jake had seen Chase and Chloe together enough to know this was one seriously happy dude. Chase didn’t seem to have one regret about giving up having his pick of hot models and finally settling down.
“Have you seen Chloe?” Chase asked. “Do you know if she needs anything?”
As soon as Chloe had announced her pregnancy, Chase had become a carbon copy of every other overprotective dad-to-be. It was exactly the kind of crazy behavior Jake would never understand. Which was why he made damn certain none of his sexual partners could get knocked up.
“I was just talking with Sophie,” he told Chase. “Sounds like ev
erything is under control with the girls.”
“Good.” Chase nodded, then grinned at him. “Come inside. Smith is telling us about an orgy he walked in on a couple of weeks ago at an awards show after-party. I’m guessing it’s a warm-up for his speech after the wedding.”
Jake grinned, then said, “So you’re really not going to miss all of that, huh?”
Chase didn’t hesitate before shaking his head. “Chloe is worth so much more.”
In companionable silence, the two men headed for the house, and Jake could hear the Sullivans laughing as they walked inside. He loved the family as if they were his own. He would take a bullet for any of them.
Especially the dark-haired beauty he couldn’t manage to get out of his head.
Or his heart.
Two
“There you are! We were just about to send out a search party for you.” Kalen, the makeup artist Chase usually worked with on his photo shoots, grabbed Sophie the second she stepped into the guesthouse. “Everyone else is putting on their dresses already.” She looked carefully at Sophie’s unpainted face. “Fortunately, all you need is some light mascara and lipstick.” As Kalen laid out the products she was planning to use on Sophie, she added, “I swear, all of you have such good genes. I wish I could have worked on your mother when she was a model. She’s so beautiful now, she must have been absolutely extraordinary when she was younger.”
“Next time you’re over at the house, you should ask her if you can see her scrapbooks,” Sophie suggested. “I used to spend hours going through them when I was a little girl. I could hardly believe the woman in the pictures was my mother.” And while Sophie had been going through her mother’s scrapbooks, her sister, Lori, would be playing in front of the mirror with her mother’s eye shadows and powders and lipsticks.
Normally, Sophie would have agreed with Kalen to keep her face close to bare. She’d never been all that comfortable in makeup. Sophie had always been more interested in reading aloud to Lori from the books she’d found on makeup application, rather than being in the makeup chair herself.
“Actually,” she said, her heart pounding hard at what she was about to do, “I was hoping you could work a little of your magic on me.”
Kalen raised an eyebrow. “Magic?”
Sophie nodded, forcing herself to admit, “There’s this guy…”
“A guy, huh?” Kalen gave Sophie a slow grin. “Well, in that case, I’d be happy to work a little of my magic on you. He won’t know what hit him.” She called out to the hairstylist friend she’d brought with her. “Jackie, can you come here for a sec?”
A few minutes of hushed conferencing later—in which Sophie made it clear that she didn’t want to look overly made up or trashy, just a whole lot sexier than she normally did—the three women had formulated a plan.
Sophie sat back in front of the mirror and tried to ignore her rapidly beating heart as they transformed her from Nice into someone entirely different.
***
Kalen and Jackie had just finished doing Sophie’s hair and makeup and were helping her change into her bridesmaid’s dress without messing up their brilliant work when Lori walked into the room.
She’d always moved quickly, but one look at Sophie had her stopping dead in her tracks and going as still as Sophie had ever seen her twin.
Lori stared at her in shock. “What the heck have you done with my sister?”
The two of them hadn’t been getting along so well for the past year. Sophie hated to see the way Lori was letting that jerk she’d been dating in secret walk all over her. Everyone saw her twin as so fierce, so fearless, but Sophie knew Lori was simply better at hiding her emotions than the rest of them.
Every time Sophie had tried to bring up the situation, instead of confiding in her, Lori had blocked her out of her life more and more. Lori was a master of sharp, sarcastic barbs, as Sophie knew all too well, and she’d been lashed out at one too many times in recent months. But beneath everything that had come between them in the past year, she loved her sister.
How could she not, when they’d always been two halves of a whole?
Today was one of those days when Sophie needed her twin’s reassurance. Lori was the only one who could automatically understand everything about her on a DNA level.
In the heat of the moment, when the way Jake had treated her had pushed her into finally making the decision to shake things up, it had seemed so empowering to let Kalen and Jackie get creative with her look. But for someone like Sophie, who’d always been perfectly happy disappearing into the background, this hair, this makeup, this attitude, was a big departure.
What if people laughed at her?
What if Jake laughed?
She’d die. Oh, yes, right then and there in the middle of Chase and Chloe’s special day, in front of three hundred people, she’d wither up and drop dead.
Lori moved closer, then did a full circle around Sophie standing perfectly still in her deep-pink satin strapless dress. She’d been the last one to meet Chloe at the bridal store to pick out her maid-of-honor dress. Although it was definitely more conservative than Lori’s, Sophie had forgotten how well the satin hugged her curves, closer than anything else she owned, that’s for sure. It was classic movie-star-style, à la Marilyn Monroe’s “Happy Birthday, Mr. President” dress, with a long slit up one leg. Her dark hair had been blown out so that it looked impossibly glossy and soft as it fell around her shoulders just to the upper swell of her breasts.
Finally, Lori said, “You look amazing, Soph.”
Sophie breathed a heavy sigh of relief. “Thank God.”
“But,” Lori added with a slight frown, “you don’t exactly look like you.” Her frown deepened. “Did Kalen convince you to do this?”
Sophie shook her head, knowing that if this all went horribly wrong, she would have no one to blame but herself. “The makeup was my idea. So was the hair.”
Lori frowned again. “I don’t get it. I mean, you look absolutely gorgeous, but you’ve never wanted to try anything new before. Why now?”
Sophie forced a shrug, as if it didn’t matter to her at all if her sister got it or not. Even though it did matter. So much. “I just wanted to see what it would be like to look different for one day.”
“Hmm.” Lori scanned her again, head to toe, and Sophie knew the exact moment the truth hit her sister, because her eyes grew big and she started shaking her head. “Oh, no. Please tell me you didn’t do this to try to get J—”
Sophie leaped toward her sister to cover Lori’s mouth with her hand before Jake’s name left it. God forbid any of their brothers overheard their conversation, or figured out what she was planning. She wished she could tell Lori her transformation had nothing to do with Jake, but even though they’d been at odds recently over Lori’s current jerk of a boyfriend, Sophie couldn’t lie to her twin.
“I know what I’m doing.”
Lori yanked Sophie’s hand from her mouth. “You don’t have a clue what you’re doing, Soph. You’ve never played games with a man before, and he’s definitely the wrong man to decide to mess around with. I love J—”
“Lori!”
“—him like a brother, but that doesn’t mean I don’t see his faults. Especially where women are concerned.” Lori pinned her with a hard gaze. “Please don’t do this. Not today. Not with him.”
Sophie had never thought to admit this to anyone, not even to her sister, but now she found herself saying, “You don’t know what it’s like to be invisible.” She instinctively lifted her chin and pushed back her shoulders. “I’m sick of it.”
She hoped her twin would understand, but instead of encouraging her, Lori said, “You love to tell me when and where I’m screwing up.” Sophie tried to interject, but her sister put her hands on her shoulders and made her turn around to face the full-length mirror. “This time you’re the one who needs to listen. Don’t do this, Soph.” Lori squeezed her shoulders tightly. “Don’t. Do. This.”
&nb
sp; Sophie stared at the incredibly sexy woman staring back at her in the mirror. She’d never have been able to pull this together without professional assistance.
It was now or never.
And she was sick to death of the never she’d been living her whole life.
“I have to.”
Lori looked as serious—and worried—as Sophie could ever remember seeing her. “The boys are going to be beside themselves seeing you looking like that. I mean, they’re used to me playing up the goods, but you… Nope. They aren’t going to like it. Not one bit.”
Sophie figured it was a good test to muster up the bravado to say, “Too bad.”
Finally, Lori almost smiled, but then she asked, “What’s going to happen if your plan backfires?”
Sophie’s heart stuttered in her chest at the thought of just how many things could go wrong with her brilliant plan to teach Jake a lesson for ignoring her all these years. Still, she thought she sounded confident and secure as she assured her sister, “It won’t.”
And even though she could still feel the heated imprint of Jake’s fingers against her cheek where he’d touched her, she told herself it was the truth. Because if there was one thing everyone knew about Sophie Sullivan, it was that she never, ever lied. Not to anyone.
And certainly not to herself.
Ellen, Marcus’s winery manager, who had helped Sophie with plenty of the wedding details, popped her head into the room. “Wow, the two of you are gorgeous.” She spent a few extra seconds looking at Sophie, a faint hint of surprise on her face, before saying, “Beyond gorgeous, actually.”
Sophie momentarily forgot about her transformation as she asked Ellen, “Is everything going well out there?”
Ellen smiled. “Perfectly. The guests are gathering, the string quartet sounds great, the weather is perfect and the bride is simply radiant.”
Sophie breathed a sigh of relief. “Good. I want Chase and Chloe’s day to be perfect.”
