Her eyes widened and her breath hitched, making her gorgeous chest swell before she let out a quick huff of breath. “I mean … the party is tomorrow night, and …”
“So let me help you get ready. What can I do?”
“I mean … I guess it’s mostly done, really. The cake is done. The caterers will do the rest.”
“So do you have some time?” I should have stayed back, let her tell me she didn’t want anything to do with me, let her tell me that because I’d lied, whatever magnetic pull was between us meant nothing. But I couldn’t. I needed to see if she felt it too, now that I was free to try. I stepped closer still, until we were just six inches apart. I could feel the heat of her body against my own, and longed to close the distance, to pull her into my arms. “Please show me around,” I said, my voice low.
Her eyes didn’t leave mine, and I saw it the second she gave in, her body relaxing slightly. Relief washed through me. “Sure,” she said on a whispered sigh. “Okay.”
“Great,” I said, trying to push down the excitement building in my veins at the idea of a day spent at Tess’s side. “I’ll get ready.”
“Sure,” she said again, looking a little baffled as she shook her head lightly. “Okay. Fifteen minutes?”
“Perfect.” I was about to start for the stairs to get ready when Juliet walked in, spotted us inches from one another, and stopped in her tracks. “Everything okay in here?” Her nose wrinkled and she cocked her head to the side, trying to decipher the odd atmosphere, mistaking intimacy for trouble.
Tess turned back to the sink and rinsed her hands again. “Just planning for an afternoon of sightseeing. You in?”
I didn’t want Juliet to say yes, but schooled my expression into something friendly.
Juliet laughed lightly, but glanced over her shoulder back at the porch before responding. “I think I’ll pass. I’ve seen it all. Plus … if I go, we might get mobbed. Do you mind showing Ryan around on your own?”
I ignored the unspoken assertion that I was not so famous we’d get mobbed, mostly because my heart was busy swelling in my chest and my stomach had just filled with little trapeze artists at the thought of having Tess all to myself for the afternoon.
“Yeah, that’s fine,” Tess said.
“I’ll look after Granny.” Juliet said. “You don’t mind, do you Ryan?”
Mind? I was trying to hide how very much I did not mind. “Not at all,” I said. “It’ll give me a chance to get to know your sister a bit better and see a little more of Maryland.”
That strange look passed over Juliet’s face again, as if someone wanting to get to know Tess was actually a little confusing. But she covered it quickly with a smile. “Great.”
Fifteen minutes later, I stood on the front porch waiting for Tess. The front door opened, and Granny stepped out lightly, and gave me a direct look, one eyebrow raised. She wasn’t holding a shotgun or anything, but her look made it clear she had something to say to me. When the door swung shut behind her, she faced me, her thin arms crossed over her narrow chest, the pale dress she’d worn for the photos looking incongruous in place of her usual track suit.
“Tess says you two are going out for some sightseeing.”
“Yes ma’am.”
“Don’t fuck with my granddaughter,” she said plainly.
Shock trickled through my chest like ice water. “Uh, no ma’am.”
“Don’t ‘no ma’am’ me. I know your type,” she said, pointing a bony finger at me. “Too big for your britches, full of yourself, maybe. Good-looking guy like you … well, you need to know that Tess is strong and smart and happy, just the way she is. And if you screw any of that up, you’ll have me to answer to.”
I wasn’t quite sure where this was coming from, but I tried to accept the warning and reassure this fierce old woman that I had no intention of hurting either of her granddaughters—not if I could help it. She still believed I was dating Juliet, as far as I knew. “Both of your granddaughters are incredible,” I told her. “I’m lucky to know them both.”
She eyed me then, crossing her arms again. “Well, you’ll have to pick one,” she said, and then turned on her heel and went back into the house.
Gran was just being protective, and I thought both Tess and Juliet were lucky to have her looking out for them. I didn’t want to hurt anyone, and I hoped I could get to know Tess and try to make my heart happy while keeping my agreement with Juliet—hopefully making both of our careers better.
I tried to shake the tension from my shoulders, swinging my arms as I waited for Tess, who appeared a minute later. Her hair was pulled back again, as it had been this morning, but now it was swinging behind her in a ponytail, with just a few tendrils around her face. She’d removed some of the makeup from earlier, and her cheeks glowed pink beneath those luminous eyes. My nerves stirred up again at the sight of her, my stomach flipping when she smiled at me. “Ready?” she asked.
“Definitely,” I said. I wanted to add something about how amazing she looked, how happy I was to get to spend some time alone with her, but I wasn’t sure I was completely off the hook for lying to her in the first place about Juliet. I decided to just be a good sightseer, go along for the ride and find out if the potential I felt could be something real.
“Did Granny say something awful to you?” She looked back toward the door.
“Not at all. She was just warning me that if I
