"Done." A cheeky grin lifted her lips, and he knew he had her back.

No more distance.

He leaned in and brushed his lips over hers, tasting a mix of Riley and citrus from her juice.

She moaned and kissed him briefly before pulling away. "One more thing."

"What would that be?" he asked, enjoying her way too much.

"I have to tell Alex, and I have to do it my way. He won't be happy, and I need him to understand. I need him in my corner. That's nonnegotiable."

Ian closed his eyes and groaned, not because he objected to how she handled his half brother and her friend, but for far more serious reasons. "I think that may be a problem," he told her.

She stiffened and pulled back. "Ian, I said nonnegotiable, and I meant it. Alex isn't just my friend, he's my family." Her entire body trembled. "For a long time, he was the only person I had in my life who protected me." She flinched at her own words. Obviously she hadn't meant to reveal that much.

But she'd said it, and now he wondered. Protected her? From whom? There was a story there, Ian knew, and if they had time, he'd ask her about it.

"The point is, if you can't give me that then-"

"I'd give you time to talk to him if I could, but it's too late. That call I got this morning? It was about this."

He grabbed his iPhone from the counter, opened the email that had come in earlier, a link to a well-known sports blog that had posted a photo of the two of them taken last night as they exited the restaurant.

Her cheeks were flushed. Her hand in his. There was no doubt they were together. Or intended to be.

She took the phone and stared at the photo filling the screen. "Oh G.o.d." She jumped up from her seat.

"My phone. I need my phone from your car." She started for the door then turned back to him. "Why didn't you tell me about the picture before?"

"It's only been ten minutes since I found out. I was trying to find out how far it spread."

"And?" she asked.

"It's gone viral, in the Miami sports blogs anyway."

She winced. "What are they saying? What's the caption?"

"Is it important?" he asked, not wanting to get into that.

She eyed him warily. "The fact that you asked that tells me it is," she said in a cool voice.

He met her gaze. "Miami Thunder President, Ian Dare, and his latest fling. What are the odds this one makes it beyond the weekend?"

"Wonderful," she muttered.

He refused to lose her over something he couldn't control. "It only matters what goes on between us, and we've already had this conversation. You don't need to worry."

"It's not me I'm worried about," she said, her expression panic-stricken. "I need to call Alex."

Of course she did. Somehow he managed to stop the words from coming out of his mouth. "Use my phone," he said.

When she hesitated, he said, "It's faster than waiting for my car to be brought around."

She swallowed hard. "Thanks." She dialed and waited for the other man to answer.

Ian knew he ought to give her privacy, but he couldn't bring himself to walk out. He didn't like being in the dark, and when it came to Riley and Alex, he wasn't just the one being blacked out, he was entirely on the outside looking in. The thought turned his stomach.

"Hi, it's me," she said.

"Dammit, Riley-I've been calling you all night. Then I wake up this morning to that photo of you and Ian?"

Ian stood close enough to Riley that Alex's voice carried from the other end, and he clenched his hands at his sides.

"I was waiting until you came home from your trip to tell you in person." She glanced at Ian and turned away. "He offered me a job with the Thunder."

"And he's f.u.c.king you at the same time?" Alex yelled.

"It's not like that!" she shot right back.

Except it was exactly like that, Ian thought, and they both knew it.

"You're home from LA, right?" she asked.

Whatever his answer, he'd lowered his voice, and Ian could no longer hear.

"Okay then. I'll see you this afternoon. In the meantime, calm down." Silence followed, then, "Love you too. Bye."

Resisting the urge to punch something, Ian waited for her to turn back toward him. When she did, she appeared much more subdued than he'd have liked.

"He hates me that much?" Ian asked her.

She shook her head. "No matter what he said, it's not all about you. It's about me and Alex. And me keeping this from him for the last week."

"You said he's your family."

She looked up at him, eyes wide and gla.s.sy. "He is. Alex and my stepmom. They're all I have."

Ian wanted to be included in that short list. It didn't matter how little he really knew her, what he did know had only convinced him she was special. The right person for him in an otherwise empty personal life. Other than family, who he'd do anything for, he hadn't had anyone he'd felt so strongly for-ever. Losing her before they ever got started wasn't an option.

"What about your parents?"

She swallowed hard. "My mom died when I was sixteen. And my father...I don't have a relationship with him, and I don't discuss him. Ever."

Ian accepted that declaration. For now.

"Can you take me to get my car?" she asked.

"Sure." The morning had imploded in a way he'd never expected, and he saw no way of salvaging things.

Until she made her peace with Alex, no amount of coaxing by Ian would make things better. Which made Ian's overture to his half siblings tomorrow night that much more important.

SEVEN.

Riley stripped out of her clothes and stepped into the shower, eager to wash away the stress of the day. But all the hot water in the world couldn't erase the knowledge that Alex wasn't pleased about her relationship with Ian. To say he hated it would be an understatement. He wouldn't stand in her way, but he couldn't say he was happy. He didn't trust his half brother, and she understood why.

From the time they were kids and Alex had found out he had an older brother, he'd been eager to get to know him. Someone to have his back, instead of him having to have theirs, as he did with his siblings. Ian had played football in high school, like Alex. Ian had gotten a scholarship to the University of Florida, like Alex. But no matter how many similarities the teenagers and then the men shared, Ian froze Alex and his family out.

It made sense, of course. Alex's sister Sienna and her childhood leukemia had exposed their father's affair with Alex's mother. Sienna had needed a bone marrow donor, and Robert Dare had revealed the truth in the hopes one of his other children would be a match. Avery had been, which had led to Avery, Olivia, and Sienna bonding during hospital time.

The sad thing was, Savannah had always known about Robert Dare's wife and kids. She'd accepted it because his marriage to Emma St. Claire had been one of convenience, while he'd loved Savannah. And though Alex had been an oops baby, their relationship had taken hold, and he'd built a family with them. Spent time with them. More time than he had with his real family.

So Sienna's illness had been the catalyst for destroying Ian's family. Of course he wanted nothing to do with the kids his father had with another woman. Even Alex rationally understood that, but as they grew to be adults, instead of getting beyond their father's mistakes, their compet.i.tion only grew, with Alex being drafted by the Tampa Breakers, while Ian had already begun his climb within the Thunder organization. Just another rivalry to separate the men.

And now, just when Ian had reached out, Riley stood between the two men. Which meant she had to do whatever she could to make it possible for Alex to accept Ian's overture.

To start with, she wouldn't go to the Sunday dinner, giving them time together alone. And she would keep her distance from Ian until the two men got used to each other. Until then, she had no other choice but to pray they could learn to get along.

Although Riley had planned on eating at home on Sunday night, when her stepmother called and invited her for dinner, Riley had agreed to go. Anything to keep her mind off what was going on at Ian's between him and his half siblings. She worried the two men would come to blows as much as she worried they'd ignore each other and nothing would get worked out. Going out with Melissa meant she had something else to concentrate on.

Melissa chose n.o.bu, a sushi restaurant at the Sh.o.r.e Club on Collins Avenue. Riley dressed for the occasion, pulling on a white sundress with silver flat sandals and funky jewelry. Melissa picked her up and drove them to the restaurant.

The other woman had just returned from her honeymoon with her second husband, a neurosurgeon at University of Miami Medical Center. Her blonde hair was even lighter from the sun, her fair skin pink, her expression relaxed and happy. She looked younger than her years and always had.

They were escorted to their table in the center of a room with low lighting, surrounded by white curtains. Melissa ordered a gla.s.s of Chardonnay, Riley a club soda.

"So, how are you, Mrs. Masterson?" Riley asked, emphasizing the other woman's new t.i.tle.

"Wonderful. I highly recommend it," Melissa said, beaming.

"What? The honeymoon or marrying a doctor?" Riley teased.

"Both." Melissa grinned. "And how are you?"

"I'm great." Riley forced a smile, not wanting to worry the other woman with her problems when she was so relaxed and happy.

Her stepmother pushed the menu aside without looking at it. "You never could lie to me, so don't start now. I can see the tightness in your expression. What's wrong?"

"I'd much rather hear about your cruise around the Greek islands than talk about myself."

Melissa narrowed her gaze. "That can wait. What happened?" Her stepmother pinned her with a determined gaze. "How about I start with the photograph that made the rounds on the Internet yesterday?" she asked when Riley remained silent.

"Since when do you read sports blogs?" she asked.

"I don't. David does," she said of her new husband. "So...is there something you want to tell me?"

Riley winced, but Melissa had always been the best of both a mother and close friend, so she decided to confide in her. "I slept with Alex's half brother, Ian."

"Complicated."

She nodded. "Alex has always been there for me. He's hurt I'm working for Ian's sports team, hurt I kept it from him and-"

"Jealous maybe?" Melissa asked.

The waiter stopped by to take their order.

"Whatever you want. You're the sushi expert."

Once the order was placed, Melissa pinned Riley with a look that told her she wouldn't be dropping their previous conversation.

"I don't think he's jealous. We're just friends. We never thought of each other that way."

Her stepmom propped her chin in her hand. "I don't know. He's been protective of you ever since-"

"Protective isn't the same as having those kind of feelings. He just doesn't want me to get hurt."

"Would Ian hurt you?" Melissa asked, getting to the crux of the matter.

Riley blew out a long breath. "I don't know. He's such a contradiction. One minute he's bossy and telling me we're going for dinner, I need to do things his way, and he infuriates me." She omitted the fact that his dominance extended to the bedroom.

"And the next minute?" Melissa perceptively asked.

"The next I'm feeling completely cared for and...secure." Riley looked away, unable to meet the other woman's gaze.

Melissa was the strongest woman Riley knew, her role model in all things. When Riley's father had bullied Melissa, she'd pushed back, and when he'd turned on Riley, she'd left him for good. It was Melissa who'd taught Riley to be her own person.

As opposed to Riley's mother, who had been a too-loving, too-caring, and too-sweet woman. Although she'd loved Riley unconditionally and Riley still missed her, she was grateful she'd had Melissa's example to follow. And she found it difficult to remember her mom because, with those memories, she was forced to recall the physical and emotional abuse her male chauvinist father had heaped on them both and the meek way her mother had accepted it, becoming more subservient as the years pa.s.sed. She shuddered at the very thought.

"Riley, where did you disappear to?" Melissa placed her hand over Riley's.

She swallowed hard. "Somewhere we both promised never to go again."

Melissa's bright smile faded. "Honey, don't think about your dad. You can't change him, so there's no reason to put yourself back there."

Riley shook her head. "I'm not. Well, not that way. I was just thinking how lucky I was that Dad married you."

Melissa reached out and grabbed her hand. "You're the one good thing that came out of that period of my life. You're my daughter, Riley. There's nothing you can't discuss with me. So what is it about Ian that scares you? Because I can tell something does, and it's not all about Alex."

Amazed at how well her stepmother read her, Riley laughed. "You're pretty perceptive."