In a millisecond she went from dragging and tired to abundantly alive. At the same time, her unstoppable pleasure at seeing Zach made her mad.
Mad at herself for not having any self-control, even though she knew better. And mad at him for outmaneuvering her time and time again. Because all the things that hadn’t made sense about her ticket upgrade, suddenly did.
“I can’t believe I forgot—your brother plays for the Hawks, doesn’t he?”
Zach settled into the seat next to her. Too close. Close enough that she could feel the heat of his thigh against hers. Why had she worn shorts instead of jeans?
“I’ll introduce you to Ryan after the game.”
She ignored the offer. “You switched my tickets, didn’t you?”
He grinned at her, actually had the nerve to look proud of himself as he leaned closer and lowered his voice, his breath warm and far too seductive by her ear as he said, “You’re welcome.”
She rolled her eyes. “Most people wait to hear the words ‘thank you’ first.”
Just then, a beautiful pregnant woman stopped at their row and said, “Zach, what are you doing here?”
* * *
Damn it, thought Zach, his sister Sophie had told him they were planning on skipping this game because they had to deal with one of Jake’s out-of-town pubs.
Sophie’s husband, Jake, quickly zeroed in on Heather before looking back at Zach with a clearly amused expression on his face. “Isn’t this one of the biggest NASCAR races of the year? Never thought you’d miss one of those.”
It was, but Zach had barely given it a second thought when he’d bailed after Wednesday night’s dinner with Heather. Sullivan Autos sponsored one of the racers, but his staff could handle the event.
“Heather, this is my sister Sophie. And Jake.”
His old friend pulled Sophie closer and clarified in a possessive voice, “I’m Sophie’s husband.”
Heather stood up to say, “It’s so nice to meet you,” but as she reached out to shake their hands, Atlas decided to make his move on a popcorn seller who was almost within reach.
Sophie gasped as Heather’s feet were yanked out from under her by her oversized mutt. All three of them reached for her, but Zach got to her first, pulling her down onto his lap before she could hit the cement.
Pleasure shot through him as she instinctively wound her arms around his neck and breathlessly gazed into his eyes. “You keep saving me,” she said softly enough that he was the only one who could hear.
Eighty thousand people and their dogs ceased to exist as her warm curves shifted against him. He was stunned all over again at how beautiful she was with her hair falling out of her braid, in a long-sleeved T-shirt and shorts that shouldn’t have done anything to showcase her figure, but managed to all the same.
“You’re welcome.”
This time, instead of forcing herself to remain irritated with him, she let herself give in to a smile.
It was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.
“Thank you.” Another small smile before she frowned. “I don’t know what’s come over Atlas lately. Maybe it’s the puppy energy rubbing off on him.”
Hell, thought Zach, forget her dog. What had come over him? It was one thing to enjoy the feel of her curves pressing against him because she was a beautiful woman.
It was another entirely to want to hold her just because.
Unfortunately, Heather obviously remembered that they had an audience as she too quickly pushed out of his lap. He was impressed with how well she played off what could have been an awkward moment by joking with Sophie and Jake about the dangers of owning a dog who was twice as big as she was.
Zach almost groaned at the fact that he and Heather were going to be on display for the next two and a half hours. Sure, his siblings were used to seeing him with women. Lots of women. What they weren’t used to, however, was seeing him with a woman like Heather.
As soon as they realized the two of them weren’t sleeping together yet, there were going to be questions.
And if they realized that he actually liked her, the questions might never run out.
He’d never told his brothers or sisters about the way he felt about his father’s death, or the impact it had made on his life and his beliefs about his future.
He didn’t want to start having to explain now.
Fortunately, his sister and her new husband were pretty wrapped up in each other. Just as long as only one of the twins came today, he’d live through—
“Yay, it’s a party! Scoot over.”
Damn it. Lori had come, too.
It was turning into a Sullivan family reunion at the baseball stadium.
He scowled at the new arrival. “Aren’t you supposed to be on tour with Nicola right now?”
His other little sister gave him an evil smile, the one she’d patented by the time she could speak her first word. Clearly, she’d not only seen Heather sprawled across his lap as she walked into the stadium...but she’d likely seen the way he’d been looking at her, too.
“We’re on break for a few days and I haven’t caught one of Ryan’s games yet this season.” She leaned over him and held out her hand to Heather. “Hi, I’m Zach’s other sister. It is so nice to meet you.”
“Great to meet you too,” Heather said as she shook his sister’s hand. “I’m Heather. And this is Atlas.”
Lori’s eyes lit up as she cooed over Heather’s huge dog. “Oh my God, he’s gorgeous!”