Was it only twenty-four hours ago that Zach had been standing outside the front door holding a pizza box, acting like he owned the rest of the world and he wanted her to become another one of his many possessions?
Atlas finally gave up on Cuddles and watered a bush in the corner, but he didn’t look all that relieved. Heather knew she probably looked the same way. Irritated and lost.
She needed something to take her mind off Zach. Knowing more work wasn’t going to do it, she texted her best friend. Up for a movie tonight?
Brenda texted back in the affirmative and that she’d pick up tickets to a sweeping historical drama she’d wanted to see for a while and meet Heather at the theatre for the 7 p.m. show.
Heather had just enough time to drop Atlas off at home before heading out. At the theatre, she hugged her friend, careful not to knock the huge container of popcorn she was holding onto the floor. “I’m so glad you could come.”
Brenda grinned and linked their arms together. “Me too. It’s so much better to drool over Smith Sullivan with you, rather than trying to sit there with my husband and pretend that I’m not getting hot all over.”
Heather stiffened from head to toe. “We’re watching a Smith Sullivan movie?”
Her friend picked out seats right in the middle of the theatre and people started to fill in all around them, trapping Heather.
“Even better, I hear he has his shirt off for half of it. My husband is so going to get lucky tonight.”
Oh God. Heather had needed a night out at the movies to take her away from Zach...not to remind her for two straight hours about the man she was trying so desperately to forget.
“So,” her friend asked, right on cue, “have you been seeing anyone new lately?”
Heather choked on the popcorn and reached for the red slushie Brenda had bought for her, sucking it down so fast she got nailed with brain freeze.
“No,” she said, although Brant, a guy she’d casually dated for the past few months, had called and left her a message today about wanting to see her. She liked him well enough, but if she agreed to meet him for dinner she knew what he’d expect. And right now, she couldn’t imagine getting naked with anyone except—
Her groan of self-disgust was cut off by the start of the previews. Heather sank down in her seat and gritted her teeth. Somehow she’d make it through the movie. After all, how similar could Zach and his famous brother be?
* * *
Really freaking similar.
Brenda was still wiping away her tears as the lights came up in the theatre. “Wasn’t that an amazing love story? To have a man like that want you so badly...I can’t even imagine.”
Heather pressed her lips together. She was going to keep her mouth shut. She wasn’t going to say—
“I know his brother.”
Shoot, what was wrong with her?
Heather slung her purse over her shoulder and tried to stand up, but Brenda clamped her hand on her arm, holding her in place in her seat. “Whose brother?”
They were the only two people left in the theatre and the cleanup crew was coming in with their garbage bags.
“Smith Sullivan’s brother.”
Brenda squealed so loud that Heather winced. “Oh my God! When were you going to tell me?”
Never had been the plan, because Zach wasn’t supposed to play any kind of important—or long term—role in her life at all.
“Zach is one of my new dog training clients.”
“Does he look like Smith Sullivan?”
Heather felt her cheeks turning pink at the way her friend said his name like they were kids out on the playground and he was the popular boy they all had a crush on.
“Actually,” she admitted, “he’s even better looking.”
Her friend pinned her with a look she couldn’t escape. Brenda was the only one who knew all about Heather’s family. She’d met her father and mother and had seen their icky dynamic—the charmer and the charmed, the liar and the enabler—firsthand.
“Is he really just a client?”
Brenda’s voice had softened and Heather knew the question didn’t have anything to do with her one degree of separation from a movie star, but the fact that her friend genuinely wished for Heather to find true love one day, despite everything.
“Yes.” She stood up and went to throw away the empty popcorn box. “Seriously, I wouldn’t have mentioned him if we’d seen another movie.”
Brenda blocked her way out of the theatre. “What does Zach do? He’s not the baseball player, is he? Or the winery owner?”
Heather narrowed her eyes. “Why do you know so much about Smith Sullivan’s life?”
“I’m a fan,” Brenda said without the slightest hint of defensiveness. “So, which one is he?”
With a sigh, Heather said, “He’s the mechanic.”
Brenda’s eyes went wide. “You’re kidding, right? He’s not just a mechanic. He’s a mogul!”
“A mogul?” She shook her head. “He owns an auto shop.”
Her friend almost looked disappointed in her. “I know you’ve been really busy with your business lately, but you really should know more about one of the most famous families in San Francisco. Your new client owns a zillion auto shops. They’ve made him filthy, stinking rich.” Her friend was practically drooling. “Talk about an eligible bachelor.”
Well, it explained the big house in the pricey neighborhood, at least. Funny, though, even with all the money she now knew he had, he certainly hadn’t tried to woo her with it, the way her father had always worked to buy her and her mother’s love with lavish gifts and trips.
In fact, she found herself thinking, with a small smile she couldn’t contain, even if Zach didn’t have money, she was certain he’d be just as irritatingly sure of himself.
“Please sleep with him and tell me how it is.”
Heather had to smile. Only two people who’d known each other since college could say things like that to each other with a straight face.
“Sorry. I don’t think it’s going to happen.”
“But he wants to, doesn’t he? And don’t deny it, I can tell by the way you’ve been blushing this whole time that he’s more than just a client.”
Heather couldn’t lie to her best friend. “You’re right, I think he wants to. But I’ve already shut him down.”
“Why would you do that when you have the chance to sleep with a Sullivan?”