And the fact that he was going to lose her if he didn’t do something quick.
“Don’t. Please don’t.”
Maybe if he’d gotten more sleep, he would have been able to see how serious she was, that his declaration was the last thing she wanted right now. But in that moment, all Marcus knew was how right it felt to touch her, to be close to her.
“I love you."
She backed away from him and would have stumbled on a tree root in the grass if he hadn’t been gripping her hands in his.
“Please don’t do this. Not here. Not now.” Her words were barely a whisper, but the backyard was so deadly silent, with not even a bird chirping or a breeze to sound through the trees, that everyone heard her plea loud and clear.
“I should have told you before. I was a fool to let you go, to let you believe I didn’t love you, too.”
Nicola was trying to pull her hands from his and clearly wanted nothing more than to escape. But he couldn’t let her go, not without making her face what was between them.
Marcus knew there were a million different ways he could have done this better, but right now there was nothing left for him to do but pull her against him and kiss her...in front of his whole family.
Her body was stiff against his, her mouth tight and closed. But then, their connection took over despite the fact that she clearly wanted to fight him, and the passion neither of them had ever been able to hold back from each other came crashing through. They kissed each other like it had been years since their mouths had touched instead of twenty-four hours.
Abruptly, Nicola shoved at his chest, knocking him away from her. Both of her hands were clamped over her mouth and her eyes were wide with horror.
Nicola turned in the general direction of his family. “I’m sorry I ruined your lunch,” she said in a broken voice, then turned and ran toward the house.
Marcus had never put his heart out on the line to anyone like that before, only to have it returned sliced and diced into tiny little pieces. His pride told him to let Nicola go, that he hadn’t needed her before and he didn’t need her now.
At least this time he knew enough to tell his pride to go straight to hell.
A heartbeat later, Marcus Sullivan was chasing down the pop star who had stolen his heart.
* * *
“Wait a minute,” Lori said in the wake of Marcus’s departure. “What just happened here?”
Her twin snorted. “Seriously, are you still the only one who’s completely clueless? Can’t you pay attention to anyone’s life but your own for three seconds?”
Before Lori could turn around and jump down her twin’s throat, Zach said, “Looked to me like Marcus just completely blew it.” He shook his head, looking less than impressed. “Man, that was messy.”
“It might not end up being quite so funny when it happens to you,” his mother told him with a pointed arch of one eyebrow.
“No chance,” Ryan said. “The rest of us are perfectly content to leave love out of it.”
Knowing it would irk his siblings, Chase said, “Not all of us,” then planted a big wet kiss on Chloe’s lips. She laughed and kissed him back.
“I just don’t understand,” Lori said. “When did Marcus and Jill break up?”
Speaking as if she were addressing a two-year-old, Sophie told Lori, “I guess he finally dumped her and now he’s in love with Nico.”
“He says her name is really Nicola,” Smith pointed out and Sophie shot him a death glare.
“As I was saying, the only problem is that she doesn’t seem to be in love with him.”
Gabe’s radio went off suddenly, a loud shrill noise that couldn’t be missed, along with a quick burst of information about the situation that they all listened in on as he turned the volume up.
He was already standing and pushing away from the table before the fire dispatcher stopped speaking. “Sorry to eat and run, especially when we’ve just gotten to the good stuff.”
Mary stood, too, and gave him a hug and kiss. “After all these years, I should be used to watching you leave on a call.” She reluctantly let him out of her arms. “Be safe, honey.”
“Don’t worry,” Gabe replied. “Nothing’s going to happen to your favorite son.”
“He’s right,” Smith joked. “I’m going to stay here and be just fine.”
Everyone laughed but Lori. As soon as Gabe left, she said, “I can’t help feeling responsible for everything with Marcus and Nico. I mean, Nicola.” Her usually bright smile was completely nonexistent. “I mean, I’m the one who introduced them and then left them to have dinner alone.” She bit her lip. “Or whatever else it was they ended up doing.”
“Don’t feel bad, Naughty. Evidently he met her before you introduced them.”
Lori looked at Chase with huge eyes. “No way. He had no idea who she was when I introduced them and she—” Her words fell away. “Oh my God, Marcus must have been the guy she was telling me about that day at the studio. And then they both tried to act like they didn’t know each other. No wonder he was so weird that afternoon and she kept forgetting the steps that she’d known all morning.”
Everyone leaned in closer. “What did she say to you about him?” Sophie asked.
Suddenly, Lori seemed to realize that she was spilling Nicola’s secrets. “I shouldn’t tell you guys.”
Ryan and Smith grinned at each other, both of them knowing how close they were to getting more dirt on their until-now perfect older brother. “We’ve already seen the worst of it, Lori,” Ryan said, followed by Smith with, “Maybe we can help him if we know more.”
Seeing right through her sons, Mary said, “Smith, Ryan, I think we’ve already seen and heard enough about their private business.”
“Mom’s right,” Lori said. “Besides, all she said was that she met some guy the night before and then she fell asleep on his lap before they’d even kissed.”
Zach laughed out loud. “Poor sap couldn’t even keep her awake.”
Mary shushed her kids. “Enough. We’re not going to sit here gossiping about your brother when there are tables that need clearing and plates that need washing.”
After everyone hopped to attention, Chloe said to Chase, “Your mother is so sweet that sometimes I forget she raised eight children on her own and knows perfectly well how to handle all of you.”