Page 30 of Summer of Love (Costas Sisters 2)
In her mind, she was making a promise she absolutely intended to keep.
At her reply, a low groan reverberated from deep in his throat, cut off because at that moment the jukebox began to play and her family began to clap and dance, drowning out any chance at conversation.
She exhaled hard, aware of the break they’d just been given, knowing it was just a temporary reprieve. Still, she wasn’t about to let the relatives separate her from Ryan. He’d asked her out on a date, and she wanted to spend the evening with him. Before one of her cousins could drag her off, she grabbed Ryan’s hand. They spent the night in true Costas style, eating, dancing and eating some more.
Her male relatives pulled Ryan aside, and although she pitied him, she decided to let them have some fun. Ryan could handle any question they threw at him, and since they believed him to be Sam’s social worker, he wouldn’t be subjected to questions about his manliness, as Zoe’s and Ari’s past boyfriends had been, she thought wryly.
Stifling a laugh, she turned to find her mother standing by her side.
“It’s so good to see you happy,” Elena said.
Zoe shot her mother a sideways glance. “I’m always happy.” She paused. “Aren’t I?”
Her mother shrugged. “I suppose, but you have a light in your eyes I haven’t seen in quite some time. Maybe never. I like to see it, and I bet that nice Mr. Baldwin has something to do with putting it there.”
Zoe shuffled her feet and did her best not to look around for Ryan, lest she give credence to her mother’s innuendo. “Maybe it’s just turning thirty. It’s a good age.”
“Ha.” Elena waved a hand dismissively. “Now come with me. I have something special for your birthday.”
She followed her mother to the back of the restaurant where there was a small party room. “What’s going on?” Zoe asked.
“Just a game to make the party more fun.”
Zoe rolled her eyes. “Ari and I are too old for games.”
“Not this kind.” Elena held a scarf in front of Zoe’s face.
“Isn’t that from Sam’s party? Orlando Bloom’s not quite my speed, Mom.”
“That’s because he was too flat.” Her mother wrapped the scarf around Zoe’s eyes. “Your surprise is real.”
Zoe tried to pull the scarf off, but her mother slapped her hands, then turned her around three times, making her dizzy by the time she stopped.
“Okay, now go.” Elena kissed Zoe’s cheek and pushed her forward.
From behind her, Zoe could have sworn she heard Elena tell her to “Go pin the hard-on, Ryan Baldwin.”
Zoe’s Aunt Kassie had walked Ryan into the back room in the guise of showing him the rest of the restaurant. She left him there and asked him to wait a minute, and she’d be right back because she needed his help with Zoe’s birthday gift. Enough time had gone by that he figured he’d been had when a blindfolded Zoe stumbled inside, and the door slammed shut behind her.
He grabbed Zoe before she could fall, then he heard Elena and Kassie’s voices beyond the door. And finally, one of them opened the door, flipped off the light and closed them inside once more.
He shook his head and laughed. “They can’t be serious.”
“Oh you don’t know the half of it,” Zoe said as she pulled the blindfold off and shook out her hair. “They’re over the top to begin with, but add me turning thirty to the mix, and I think they’ve lost their collective minds.”
“Don’t they realize that the light switch is inside the room so we can turn it on ourselves?”
She laughed.
“Or that it’s not quite dark out yet and there’s light coming through the window?”
She laughed again. “You don’t get my family, Ryan. They really just want you and me together. Scratch that. Me and anybody together.”
“Now that hurts my feelings.”
She stepped closer, her body language and sultry tone making it clear she was fully aware of the sexually charged air around them. They had been set up by her family, yet Zoe obviously didn’t mind.
“I wouldn’t want you to feel insulted,” she murmured. “Especially when you could be feeling so much more.”
She had a point, and the bulge in his pants and desire pulsing through him proved it.
He met her gaze and let his hand caress the soft skin of her cheek. “I think we should get out of here.”
“You’re reading my mind.” Her gorgeous green eyes sparkled with desire, but her serious expression indicated the time for jokes was over. “Unfortunately I live with my parents. The same people we’re looking to avoid.”
He chuckled at the reminder. “Fortunately I’ve got a motel room,” he said, knowing full well the step they were about to take. Zoe Costas was many things, but a one-night stand wasn’t one of them.
