I Love How You Love Me: The Sullivans (6 page)

He reached out for Mason’s little hand and stroked it softly to try to get his attention. As plump wobbly lips and eyes that were just starting to fill with tears met his, Dylan widened his eyes and stuck out his tongue. Thankfully, soon Mason was imitating him by sticking out his little tongue and giggling.

“I’ll take him outside,” Grace whispered as she started to move away from the rest of the group, but Mia was already saying, “This is so perfect, saying our vows while the cutest baby ever giggles at the silly faces everyone is making at him.” She looked back at Ford. “I want one of those. Soon.”

He leaned over to kiss her, but even though he spoke in a low voice, they could all hear him say, “We’ll get started tonight.”

Adam groaned again as the two lovebirds clearly forgot there was anyone else in the living room with them. “Ian, I think that’s your cue to get started.”

With a grin and a nod, Ian began. “We’re here tonight to witness the joining of a man and woman who have proved beyond a shadow of a doubt not only that they are meant to be together, but also that they have what it takes to make love last. All any of us have ever wanted for you, Mia, is happiness and true love. Knowing that you’ve found that with Ford makes this one of the best moments of our lives, and we’re thrilled to be able to share in your vows with each other tonight.”

Dylan could hear Grace’s breath hitch in her throat as emotion swamped her, and he reached out to put his hand over hers.

Ford brought both of Mia’s hands up to his mouth and pressed a kiss to them before he began to speak. “You are everything to me, Mia. My dreams. My heart. My soul. Every day when I wake up with you beside me, then fall asleep with you in my arms, I know I’m the luckiest man alive.” He pressed a kiss to each of her cheeks, wet with tears, before kissing her on the mouth. “I can’t wait to have forever with you.”

Mia had never looked happier than she did right then as she smiled at Ford, even while her tears continued to fall.

“I always knew I wanted what my parents had.” Mia turned to smile at their mom and dad, who were holding tightly to each other, their hearts in their eyes as they watched their youngest say her vows. “A love so deep and true that nothing could ever come between them. I was so sure I knew what that love would look like when it came. I had it all planned out—the perfect guy who would say all the right things and sweep me away like a princess in a perfect fairy tale. But then, there you were. Not out of a fairy tale, but better. Because you are real. Raw. Honest. And with a heart so big that I’m constantly astounded by everything you are and everything you do. Especially the way you love me without holding anything back. I can’t wait to be your wife, Ford.”

When they turned back to Ian, he was clearly working to pull himself together so that they could finish the ceremony. “Mia, do you freely and without reservation give yourself to Ford in marriage?”

“I do.” Mia slid Ford’s wedding band on his left hand. “With this ring, I am yours and you are mine. Wear this ring forever as a sign of our love.”

“Ford, do you freely and without reservation give yourself to Mia in marriage?”

“I do.” Ford reached into his pocket for a simple platinum wedding band and put it on Mia’s ring finger. “I give you this ring to wear with love and joy. As this ring has no end, our love is also forever.”

“May the wedding rings you exchanged today remind you always that you are surrounded by enduring love. And now, by the power vested in me by the City of Seattle, it is my honor and delight to declare you husband and wife. You may seal this declaration with a kiss.”

And as the new husband and wife kissed to seal the deal, Mason let out a whoop that had all of them joining in.

CHAPTER SEVEN

A couple of hours later, they carried Mason and all his things up the stairs to her apartment. Earlier, she’d planned to say a simple thank you and good night to Dylan at the end of the evening. But after the evening they’d just shared, one full of love and family and promises of forever, nothing seemed clear cut to Grace anymore.

Nothing except the fact that she wasn’t ready for the night to be over.

“If you don’t mind waiting for me to tuck Mason in, I’d be happy to make us some coffee.”

“Sounds good.” He ran his hand lightly over her son’s head. “Good night, buddy.”

She took Mason into the bedroom the two of them shared, put him into a dry diaper, and zipped him into soft blue jammies. When she whispered, “Sweet dreams, baby,” he finally woke enough to turn his mouth to hers for a smooch. Her heart overflowed with love as she kissed him, then tucked him into his crib, his favorite stuffed giraffe in his hand, his blanket over the little butt he immediately stuck up into the air when he rolled onto his stomach.

Knowing she couldn’t go back out to Dylan feeling this soft, this vulnerable, she went into her en suite bathroom to brush her hair and splash some cold water on her face. Unfortunately, the woman who stared back at her didn’t look at all like a professional journalist. On the contrary, with eyes that bright and skin that flushed, she looked far more like a woman who was falling head over heels for the gorgeous man in her living room.

She gave herself a mental and physical shake. She couldn’t do that.
Wouldn’t
do that. Not when there was a little boy sleeping just a few feet away who depended on her to protect him. She was done making mistakes with good-looking, wealthy men.

Grace had always trusted her instincts, at least until she’d fallen for Richard. After having gotten things so horribly wrong with him, she’d been keeping her guard up, to protect both herself and her son.

She’d never be able to forget what his parents had said to her when they’d paid her a surprise visit the day after she’d told Richard about her pregnancy:
“Our son has a weakness for inappropriate girls like you, unfortunately. But his temporary mistake cannot become a permanent stain on our family.”
She’d been stunned when the esteemed former senator and his wife had handed her two certified checks drawn on an account with no identifiers on it. One for an abortion…and the other as payment for her silence. She’d started planning her move that same day, to a city as far away from Washington, D.C., as she could get.

But as wealthy and powerful as the Bentleys were, Grace was pretty sure that the Sullivans were even more so. Would any of them ever deal with “accidents” in this way? By buying off and burying them?

She couldn’t imagine that they would, couldn’t wrap her head around any of the men or women she’d met tonight doing anything that terrible. Then again, how could she know for sure? After all, she’d only just met them all. And hadn’t Richard snowed her, too?

As renewed wariness crept back into her, she decided it was good that Dylan was still here. That way, she could make it perfectly clear before he left that the two of them were never going to move beyond the story she was writing.

Because even if Dylan and his family were as good, as honest and kind, as they’d seemed tonight, the truth was that it would only make things harder. Maybe if Dylan had been like his architect brother and Realtor sister, whose lives were about putting down permanent roots, then that fantasy might have had a chance of coming true. But if she’d learned anything during her two-hour interview this afternoon on his parents’ back porch, it had been that the man on the other side of her bedroom door was meant to sail away wherever the wind took him, whenever it started blowing. Once upon a time, she might have been able to believe in fantasy happy-ever-afters and go with him. But she couldn’t do that now. Building a safe, loving home for Mason was her top priority.

Looking up into the mirror, she saw that the brightness on her face was now gone. In its place was acceptance…and determination not to get swept up in attraction or romance.

“Sorry that took me so long,” she said when she returned to the living room. “I needed to get Mason changed before tucking him in.” Not to mention the time it had taken to get her head back on straight.

“It gave me time to admire your pictures.”

Dylan was standing in front of one from the day Mason had been born. Seven pounds, two ounces, wrapped in the hospital’s swaddling blankets, he’d been red-faced and hairless. Grace still remembered how awed she’d been by the life she’d created…and how terrified she was at the thought of taking him home all by herself.

“It was the best day of my life.”

“I’ll bet it was.” She could feel Dylan’s eyes on her now, instead of the picture. “Everyone in my family loved the two of you. Just the way I knew they would.”

“Your family is fabulous,” she said as she walked into her small adjoining kitchen to put the coffee on. “Mason was in heaven playing with everyone. And they were all so kind, even when he almost ruined your sister’s wedding.”

“He didn’t come anywhere close to ruining anything. Trust me, Mia meant it when she said it was her perfect wedding.”

Grace knew she needed to get serious with Dylan, but there was something she needed to tell him first. “Tonight was amazing. Mia and Ford’s wedding was the most beautiful one I’ve ever been to. They’re so perfect for each other, and the fact that your brother Ian officiated made it even better.”

“Mia’s always had a knack for doing things her own way.” She could hear how much he loved his sister in his voice, see the obvious affection in his eyes. “I’d say the wedding tonight was exactly right for her and Ford.”

“It was
beautiful.
Did you really not know anything about it?”

“Nope, nothing. Ian and Mia have always been especially close, so it’s not surprising that they’d have cooked this up. They would have known how much my parents would love it, too, more than having to contend with hundreds of strangers and paparazzi everywhere.”

Grace had never really understood the pressure that someone like Ford might have to deal with until tonight. Obviously, none of the Sullivans was complaining about their good fortune, but it definitely added another layer to why Dylan might choose to keep his distance from the press. She sincerely hoped her story about him didn’t end up opening a can of worms for him.

“Your parents really did love it,” Grace said with a smile as she handed Dylan a cup. “Everyone was so happy that even Mason couldn’t resist cheering at the end.” And she hadn’t been able to resist moving into Dylan’s arms to hug him and share in the joy all around her.

Remembering how warm, how good, it had felt to be in his arms, jolted her into realizing that all this wedding talk had veered her even further toward the personal. Knowing she needed to build up her professional boundaries once more, she made herself circle back to the real reason she and Dylan were spending time together.

“I hope I didn’t worry you when I told your family that an article like this often takes more than one in-depth interview for me to put it together. I won’t take up too much of your time, though.”

“Whatever you need, just let me know,” he said with one of his easy grins, the epitome of the carefree sailor. “Are you free tomorrow?”

Surprised that he was that excited about moving forward with their story, she said, “I need to transcribe the recording of our interview before I can ask you any intelligent questions during round two. Monday would probably be better.”

“Monday’s fine for the interview, but tomorrow night I’d like to take you and Mason to an aquarium for kids that one of my friends owns. From what I know of your little guy, and how curious he is about everything, I’m pretty sure he’d get a huge kick out of sticking his hands into the tanks to touch the sea creatures.”

“We can’t.” The two words were some of the hardest she’d ever said, when she knew that not only would Mason
love
to play at that aquarium, but also that going with Dylan would make it even better for him.

“How about Sunday, then?”

“No, that isn’t what I mean.” Her apartment was way too small for the sparks that were jumping between the two of them, despite her most determined efforts to douse them. “We both had a great time with you tonight, but from now on I think we should only see each other when we’re working on the story.”

“You told me you don’t have a husband, and that there’s no boyfriend, either.”

“There isn’t.”

“You, me, Mason—we all get along pretty well, don’t you think?”

“Yes, but that isn’t the point.”

“Then tell me what is, Grace. Tell me why you won’t let me take you and Mason out to have some fun tomorrow night after both of us have finished our work for the day.”

In less than sixty seconds, Dylan had transformed from carefree to utterly determined. She should have seen it coming, should have realized that anyone who could pilot a forty-foot sailboat through dangerous and unpredictable seas would have more determination in his little finger than most people could even comprehend.

And in that moment, she realized that was precisely what Dylan was.
Dangerous.
Because for as sweet as he was with Mason, with her, with his family…he was also incredibly, shockingly dangerous to her peace of mind. To her future.

She thought she’d wanted him on Tuesday when she’d first met him at his boathouse, and then again tonight when he’d picked them up. But that was nothing compared to how much she wanted—
needed—
him now. Despite a past that had taught her to know better.

She was so flustered, the first thing that came out of her mouth was, “If we spend too much time together, I might not be able to remain objective about my story.”

“I’m not sure I see how objective you have to be about some guy who likes sailing and boats.” His gaze went too deep, saw too much. But she still couldn’t look away. “That’s not why you think you need to keep your distance, is it?”

All afternoon, she’d asked him to tell her the truth about his life, about his love for sailing. And after witnessing his honest love for his family firsthand, how could she possibly lie to him now? “No, that’s not the real reason.”

“One day,” he said in a gentle voice, after the silence had drawn out between them for several long moments, “I hope you’ll trust me enough to tell me what it is.”