by Bella Andre
She gave him another smile, one that was just a little bit crooked, an imperfection that only managed to make her more beautiful. “Actually, I didn’t come to quiz you on your feelings about love and marriage. I was wondering if you’d seen Mia. The photographer needs all the Sullivan girls together soon and since I’m not a Sullivan I volunteered to find her.”
Since he’d actually been looking for Mia, too—even from the far end of the pew he’d thought something hadn’t seemed quite right about his sister during the ceremony—he said, “I’ll help you look for her.”
The two of them headed toward a grove of oak trees, where the bartenders were doing a steady business in Marcus’s wine. A light breeze over the vineyard blew Tatiana’s scent to him. It was fresh, sweet, and so mouthwateringly tantalizing that he had to work to push back his arousal at simply being near her.
“Mia said you flew in from London for the wedding. When do you need to go back?”
“First thing tomorrow morning.”
“I only have today away from the set in Boston, too. But next time I’m in London, it will be nice to know there’s family there. Well, almost family, since as soon as Valentina and Smith say their own I do’s, you and I will be...” She scrunched up her gorgeous face and turned to him to ask, “What exactly will we be since I’m Valentina’s sister and you’re Smith’s cousin?”
It was hard to think of this gorgeous woman next to him as family. Just as hard as it was to remember that she was even younger than his sister. Both really, really good reasons for Ian to have absolutely no business mentally stripping her dress off her.
But, Lord, even those extremely rational reasons couldn’t stop him from wondering just how soft her skin would be...and if she would taste as good as she smelled.
“We’ll be cousins by marriage.”
They’d made it to the grove of oak trees by then, but neither of them could spot Mia. Ian looked out over the rolling, vine-covered hills. “She’s been to enough of these weddings to know pictures are about to be taken,” he mused aloud. “Where could she have gone?”
Tatiana touched his arm to get his attention. Their eyes met as undeniable electricity rushed between them. With the sun shining down over her, he could see her pulse beneath the skin on her neck. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d wanted a woman this much. Not even the woman he’d so foolishly married.
Pulling back her hand from his arm, the heat from her touch remained as she asked, “Do you think she could be with Ford Vincent?”
“Ford Vincent is here?”
“He slipped in the side door right before the ceremony started and sat next to Mia. Didn’t Marcus mention he was coming?” When Ian shook his head, Tatiana said, “Nicola seemed pretty thrilled that Ford was able to rearrange his schedule to make it. I kind of figured he might come in incognito like that—with a hat on—since people can get weird about musicians.”
“Don’t people get weird about actors, too?”
“They do, but even the other engaged and married girls were freaking out last night about Ford coming today. He’s really popular. Even more than Smith is, I think.”
Worry for his sister was the only thing that could possibly have made Ian forget his attraction to Tatiana. Because, damn it, Ian could only imagine what moves the really popular rock star was trying to pull on Mia. He knew his sister wasn’t exactly innocent, but though Ian had taught her enough martial arts as a teenager to make sure she could fend for herself, he couldn’t risk leaving her alone with some guy who thought he was God’s gift to women...and likely acted accordingly.
Where, Ian asked himself, would he go if he were a rock star intent on getting some from a pretty girl he’d just met at a wedding? Especially if he wanted to get her alone before the rest of the guests discovered that he’d arrived and started making a fuss over him?
Ian scanned the grounds with narrowed eyes. It didn’t take him long to realize that the outbuilding beside the barn would be the perfect place for an impromptu post-wedding tryst.
“Over there.”
His long legs ate up the distance between the oak grove and the barn, but though Tatiana was at least a foot shorter and was wearing heels, she kept up with him. “Why do you think they’re in that small building?”
“I’m a guy. I know how to think like scum.”
She reached for his arm again as if she were trying to slow him down. “Wait. What if she is in there with Ford? Maybe we shouldn’t just barge in on them like that. I mean, if I were trying to steal a little private time with someone, I know I’d be upset if my sister interrupted us.”
It didn’t even occur to Ian that Tatiana could have a point, or that Mia could have made the choice to fool around with the rock star today. He yanked open the door to the storeroom so hard that it slammed back against the wall...to find exactly what he’d feared.
The bastard didn’t just have his hands all over Mia, but his mouth was on her too. Ian immediately saw red as any appreciation he might have had for the guy’s music disappeared.
“Get your filthy mouth off my sister.”
Chapter Fifteen
Clearly, neither Mia nor the scumbag who was holding her had heard the door open or Tatiana’s gasp of shock at finding them wrapped around each other like that. The horrible picture of the guy pawing and drooling all over his little sister was seared into Ian’s brain. He didn’t think he’d ever be able to forget it.
“Ian? Tatiana?” Mia’s skin was flushed, and her eyes remained slightly unfocused. Until, suddenly, she seemed to realize just how bad things looked.
He was halfway to lunging across the storeroom to wrap his hands around Ford’s throat, when Mia pulled out of the guy’s arms and grabbed Ian. With surprising strength, she dragged Ian away from both the storeroom and the guy whose face he wanted to rearrange with his fists.
“I can’t believe you just did that!”
She looked furious and embarrassed, but Ian was so lost in his haze of fury that he couldn’t stop himself from shooting back, “I can’t believe you were in there with that scumbag!” He worked to pull away from her grip. “You and I are going to have a long talk about just what the hell you were doing later. After I tear him to pieces.”
“No!” She yanked harder on his suit jacket, until they both heard a seam begin to tear. “I can handle him myself.”
“That was handling him?” He cursed, one harsh word that landed between them like a stone. “Did you want him to kiss you?”
She paused just a little too long before sighing and saying, “You know what, I actually think I did.”
“Damn it, Mia, it’s my job to protect you. You’ve got to let me—”
“If you do one more thing to embarrass me like that again, I’ll never forgive you.”
His sister had always been full of fire, but he’d never seen her quite this worked up.
“You know I’d never do anything to hurt you,” he tried to explain in a calm, reasonable voice, “but I can’t let anyone else hurt you, either. And I’ve known guys like him. They’re too rich, too famous, to think they need to play by anyone else’s rules. You’ve got to understand that.”
Now that they were standing behind a large hedge of roses, she’d relaxed her grip on his jacket. “I do understand. And you’ve been the best big brother ever, but what happened between me and Ford isn’t something I want anyone to know about until I’ve figured out exactly how I feel about him. This reaction you’re having is exactly why I didn’t tell you about him five years ago.”
Ian’s blood pressure shot all the way back up as he asked, “You didn’t just meet him here today? What the hell, Mia? How could you keep a secret like this from me?”
“Because if you’re acting like this when I’m a twenty-eight-year-old woman who runs her own very successful business, how do you think you would have reacted five years ago if I’d come to you and said, ‘Guess what, big brother, I’m dating a rock star. Can I have your blessing?’ Would y
ou have actually given it to me?”
He had to admit, “I would have hunted him down.”
“Exactly. And the thing is, you’ve always let me make my own mistakes in business, but never with love.” She put her hand on his arm more softly now. “I know you don’t ever want me to get hurt, but what if falling in love sometimes means risking enough to royally screw up a few times along the way?”
Intellectually, Ian knew his sister was an adult. But there was a big difference between respecting her business acumen...and accepting that she could lose her heart to some douchebag without his being able to protect her.
“So you’ve been together with him for five years without any of us knowing?”
“No. It was just one week. I didn’t see him again until a couple of days ago.”
“What does he want now that he’s back?” She’d never been able to lie to him, and he knew how difficult it must have been for her to keep her relationship with Ford a secret for so long. “Apart from the obvious,” he added in frustration.
“A fresh start.”
Ian wanted answers to a dozen other questions, but there was really only one that mattered. “Are you in love with him?”
His sister sighed again, and there was so much pain in the sound and in the expression on her face that Ian put his arms around her.
“Once upon a time I thought I was, and then I was sure that I wasn’t.” She laughed against his chest, but there was no humor in it, only frustration. She pulled back to look up at him. “Have you ever wanted to punch and kiss someone at the same time?”
He grimaced. “Please don’t remind me of that kiss again if you want me to keep my fists from changing the entire shape of his face.”
“Does that mean you’ve agreed to stay on your side of the ring today?”
This time he was the one sighing. “For today,” he agreed against his better judgment. “But no promises come twelve-oh-one.”
She laid her cheek against his chest and snuggled against him the way she always had from the time she was a baby. When their mother hadn’t been able to get her to stop crying as a little girl, all Claudia Sullivan had to do was hand Mia over to Ian and she’d immediately settle.
They’d always been so close that he hated to think she’d kept something from him because she thought he couldn’t handle it. Then again, he’d never really talked with her about his marriage, had he? Both of them had kept secrets from each other, and even now that she’d told him hers, he was still keeping his.
Forcing down his frustration at not being able to deal with Ford the way he wanted to, Ian gently brushed her hair back from her forehead. “Looks like they’re ready for pictures with you now.”
Mia stepped back and smoothed a hand over her dress. “Do I look okay?”
“You’re absolutely beautiful, as always, little girl.”
“And you’re devastatingly handsome, as always, big brother.” As the two of them headed toward the area where the wedding photos were being taken, she said, “I wonder what Tatiana is thinking after what she saw?”
Damn it, he’d left her behind with Ford. But when he turned to look back at the storeroom, he didn’t see either of them nearby.
“Why were you and Tatiana together, anyway?” Mia wanted to know.
“She was looking for you.”
He thought he’d been careful to speak about Tatiana with absolutely no inflection, but when Mia shot him a sidelong glance heavy with curiosity, he knew he’d blown it.
“She’s beautiful, isn’t she? And so nice I keep forgetting to be awed by what a great actress she is. Hey,” she said when he didn’t immediately respond, “wouldn’t it be amazing if Valentina married Smith and then you and Tatiana—”
“She’s not my type.”
Mia actually laughed at that one. “Are you kidding? She’s everyone’s type. Heck, I’m not the least bit into women, and I can barely keep from drooling over her every time we’re together.” She patted his hand as if he shouldn’t blame himself for already being a lost cause. “I want to see you happy, too, you know.”
With that, she pressed a kiss to his cheek, and left him to go be in the pictures.
* * *
“Any chance you can fill me in on what just happened there?” Ford asked.
Tatiana had a feeling she looked just as shell-shocked as Ford. Not because she’d been particularly stunned to see him and Mia kissing, but because she had wanted to pull Ian Sullivan into some other private room on the property and kiss him just like that.
She’d never felt that kind of electric attraction to anyone before. His eyes were such a deep brown she’d gotten lost in them, even as she’d felt as though he was looking all the way down into her soul. Men had always come a distant second to acting. She rarely dated, and when she did, she often wished she was alone with a script or spending time with her sister. But for the first time in her life, she understood the kind of desire that could drive people to do crazy things...like wanting to head back out into the throngs of wedding guests to find Ian again so that she could give him a kiss that would, hopefully, blow both of their minds.
“Mia’s brother was looking for her.”
“No wonder he looked like he wanted to kill me. I’m surprised he hasn’t come back to tear my heart out through my throat.”
Tatiana felt she should be honest with him. “Actually, based on the way he was acting when he found out you two might be together, I’m kind of surprised, too.”
“I knew I was going to have deal with her brothers soon, anyway. But it’s a small price to pay if she’ll have me.”
Wow, he was going to willingly offer himself up to Ian, Adam, Dylan, and Rafe, who were all tall and full of muscles and had grown up wrestling with each other? Tatiana sighed at how sweet it was that Mia obviously meant that much to him.
“I’m Ford, by the way,” he said as he reached out to shake her hand. “I’ve seen your last couple of films. Great work.”
She smiled at him. “I like your work, too.”
There wasn’t even a speck of attraction between them. Only the immediate bond that she sometimes felt with other people who were also in the public eye. Life for people with their kinds of careers was great in lots of ways, of course, but could be difficult, too, when simple things like going out to get a cup of coffee could be a trial. Sometimes Tatiana felt like a hermit holed up in her house because it was easier to order in than put on makeup and an outfit and do her hair just to go out to pick up some milk.
“I don’t think he’s got anything against you personally,” she said, wanting Ford to understand. “It’s more that he wants to protect his sister against all men.”
“Smart guy.” He took off his hat and left it on a rough wood shelf. “Care to join me in what could very well be my last drink if Ian Sullivan gets a hold of me?”
Laughing, she took the arm he held out to her as they stepped into the very bright sunlight. “I’ve seen you on stage. You’re pretty fast. I think you could outrun him if you really needed to.”
“How about you distract him so I can get a head start? Maybe drag him into a dark corner and kiss him senseless before he realizes I’ve gotten away?”
The deep flush that took over her cheeks instantly gave away just how much she liked that idea.
“Ah,” he said in a gentle voice, “so that’s the way the wind blows.”
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “Ian and I just met last night. And we’ve only spent fifteen minutes together today.”
“Sometimes,” he said very seriously, “fifteen minutes is all it takes for your entire life to change.”
But before he could say anything more, a large group of wedding guests finally realized they had a rock star in their midst, and he was completely surrounded by fans.
Chapter Sixteen
For the next half hour, the photographers took dozens of shots, first of the girls and then the whole family together. Mia had hated knowing how upset Ian was about
what he’d seen, but though his nickname for her was little girl, he had to know that she wasn’t one anymore, right?
Of course, it didn’t help that just a few minutes after Mia had made it to the group for pictures, Ford finally emerged from beneath his dark hat. The wedding guests’ excitement began as murmured exclamations of surprise, but soon escalated to the point that Mia was starting to feel like she was in the audience at one of his shows.
Nicola, thankfully, didn’t seem the least bit bothered by the commotion, and when she jokingly rolled her eyes and said, “Musicians always have to be the center of attention, don’t they?” everyone laughed. Everyone except Ian, who looked as though he was barely restraining himself from tearing across the grounds to pummel Ford.
Mia shot him a pointed look between photos. You promised.
Today only, was the reminder he sent back in just as pointed a manner.
Through it all, Mia was pretty darn pleased with how well she pulled off her relaxed smile. Only Ian and Brooke knew just how hard she was having to work to manage it.
The second the photographer declared the family photo session finished, Brooke pulled her aside. “How are you doing?”
“Well,” Mia said in a low voice that she made sure wouldn’t carry to anyone else, especially her other brothers, “I’m glad I gave Ford a piece of my mind.”
In the way that only a true friend could, Brooke raised her eyebrows as she scanned Mia’s slightly messy hair, obviously well-kissed lips, and flushed skin. “It certainly looks like you gave him something.”
“I didn’t break my promise!” Mia insisted. “There were no tongues in either direction.”
“Well, that’s good, I guess,” Brooke said in a rather doubtful voice.
“It was good,” Mia had to admit. So good that she could still feel the imprint of his lips all across her skin. “At least until Ian walked in on us.”
Brooke’s eyebrows shot up twice as high as they’d been before. “How is Ford still alive?”
