I stepped back instinctively, like a kid being caught doing something naughty.
“Gran’s crazy,” she said to me, not seeming to notice the thick heady air in the kitchen, or the way my chest seemed to be struggling with each breath.
I felt dizzy and slightly sick when I looked away from Ryan. “Yeah.” I made a point of avoiding his gaze, moving away from the magnetic pull of his body. “So I’m going to get the tractor and start pulling the chairs and tables from the barn in back. And then I’m making a cake.” I glanced at Ryan, who smiled at this, like we shared a secret.
“The caterers aren’t doing that stuff?” Juliet looked vaguely annoyed at the thought of manual labor and baking.
I shook my head, wiping my hands on my jeans. “Nope, just the tent. Now that it’s up, I’ve gotta get the stuff in there. They’re going to arrange it tomorrow morning.”
“I don’t know why you didn’t just let them do everything.” Juliet rinsed her dish and slid it into the rack. Ryan was still watching me. I could feel those piercing eyes on me, and a sheen of sweat was threatening on my brow. It was going to be a very long weekend, since I couldn’t seem to manage to behave like a normal person around him.
“Money, Juliet. It’s a way to save money.” I shrugged and glanced at Ryan, who I was sure didn’t have to worry about regular-people things like money. But I wasn’t about to pay someone else to do something I could easily do myself. I pulled my shoulders up straight, pushing away the heat of embarrassment that was replacing the warmth that had flooded my cheeks just moments before.
Juliet waved a hand, as if she’d heard enough, saying, “I’d help, but I have a few calls I have to return and then I need to start reading lines for my next movie.”
Liar. She’d never been big on helping if it meant the potential to break a nail or a sweat. “It’s fine,” I said, refusing to be annoyed. My sister was here for one weekend. I could deal. “Is Gran done?”
Juliet shrugged.
“Can you sit with her until she goes back for her rest, please?”
“Sure,” Juliet said, but she sounded distracted, or put out, like she had something else she needed to be doing. But she didn’t leave, she just stood, staring out the window at the lawn where the guards still patrolled.
Ryan had been quiet this whole time, standing nearby, watching me. Suddenly he said, “I’ll come help you with the furniture and then we’ll make cake.”
My eyes slid to him, even though I knew looking his way was dangerous. Why would a movie star want to do manual labor? Juliet definitely didn’t.
That got Juliet’s attention. “You don’t have to do that stuff, Ryan. My sister just insists on being a martyr sometimes,” she said.
I frowned at her, trying to figure out what was making her grumpy. She had always been work-averse, but she’d never really been mean. “What?” I asked.
Juliet’s expression changed immediately, and she reached for my hand, looking sad. “I’m sorry, Tess. I’m just…I’m really wound up and distracted. All this divorce stuff…” she trailed off, shaking her head.
“I’ll help,” Ryan said again. “I’m happy to.” He was too handsome, and my body seemed to have a mind of its own when he was close. I should have been listening to my normal, sane mind. The one saying: movie stars who are dating your sister are not fair game no matter how they are looking at you.
And he was looking at me in a way I could only call … hungry.
Man, he was a good actor. I knew he was acting—or just kind of naturally wore an “I want you” kind of look, because historically, any man who’d shown interest in Juliet did not find himself looking at me in a hungry kind of way. We were like chocolate and vanilla—people only had one favorite. And it wasn’t usually whichever one I was. Was he playing some kind of game? Trying to impress my sister by being nice to me?
“Tess.” Juliet bumped my shoulder, forcing me to realize I’d been staring silently at Ryan McDonnell instead of answering his offer of help like a sane person might do.
I cleared my throat. “Okay, yeah,” I said, even though I knew it would be best to stay as far away from him as I could. He was just being friendly, and my body was reacting as if he’d invited me to bed, my lady parts all hot and wet and my mind running all kinds of scenarios that featured him and me, and had little to do with setting up chairs and tables or baking cakes.
I wanted nothing more than to spend time with him, but I wasn’t sure I could trust myself. “I’ll be out back in the barn. Right there. The” —I pointed to the left side of the back yard, where the hulking red form of a barn was evident through the window— “the barn? Over there?” Oh my God, I was losing my mind.
“Hard to miss the enormous red barn out back,” Juliet muttered, turning to leave the room.
“I’ll be right behind you,” Ryan said, grinning at me. “Gotta do one thing first.”
My knees actually weakened with the force of his smile, and I spun on my heel and went back outside before I did
