In those final months leading up to her divorce, Vicki's ex-husband Anthony had told her again and again that the only reason she'd had any success at all was because he was one of the foremost sculptors in the world, and that she'd be nothing without him. Since then, she'd heard whispers from friends in the European art community that he'd been working to turn people against her. She wouldn't be at all surprised to find out that it was true. His once awestruck wife leaving had been a blow that Anthony's ego had never seen coming.

Vicki had come to San Francisco to win the coveted fellowship and prove once and for all that she had what it took to make it as a sculptor. Not just to her ex, but to herself.

It was long past time to prove to herself that she hadn't wasted her life chasing a dream.

"I do want it, Ryan." She paused. "But even more than that, I need it. It's the next step for me and my career, the perfect way to start fresh and build my reputation as a sculptor in the United States. So if I win the fellowship-"

"When you win it," he cut in.

"-I want to know that I got it because of the quality of my work." Not because she'd agreed under pressure to sleep with one of the board members.

"I wanted to kill the creep for touching you." A muscle jumped in Ryan's jaw. "h.e.l.l, I still want to tear him apart for even looking at you the wrong way."

"All these years, when I thought about us seeing each other again, I never thought it would be like this. I'm really sorry for roping you into my mess."

"I like ropes," he teased her with the naughty grin he was so famous for.

How could she do anything but smile back at the most beautiful man she'd ever set eyes on? Vicki was amazed to find out nothing had changed since they were teenagers. Ryan was still just as able to send heat all through her body as he was to make her laugh.

She'd never met anyone like him before or since.

His hair was lighter than most of his siblings, shot through with highlights due to all of his time spent in the sun. His long-sleeved cotton shirt had an extra b.u.t.ton open at the top, giving her a glimpse of just enough tanned skin to make her lose her train of thought all over again.

"Promise me you won't be alone with him again, Vicki."

"Don't worry, I won't make that mistake again. Thanks again for being my ten-minute boyfriend."

"Ten minutes?" Ryan looked surprised to be let off the hook so easily. "When is the board going to decide on the fellowship?"

"Next week."

"In that case, sign me up to be your one-week boyfriend."

"What? No. You can't do that for me." When Ryan lifted an eyebrow at her quick refusal, she said, "Seriously, thank you so much for stepping in tonight. But you don't have to pretend to be dating me for a week. If James asks about the two of us, I'll just explain that we had a fight and are taking a break. And I'll be beyond careful not to put myself in any more situations like this with him again."

Unfortunately, Ryan looked anything but convinced. "You asked me to come here tonight because you felt like you were all out of options, right?"

She blew out a breath. "Right."

"When we were kids, you were nearly killed pushing me out of the way of that car. You saved me, Vicki. Big time. Now it's my turn to return the favor."

Everyone thought Ryan Sullivan was so easygoing. And it was true that he was quick with laughter, that he made everything look easy. But she knew how much focus went into his ease. When she'd be at her potting wheel in her parents' garage, he'd throw b.a.l.l.s at a soft target he set up on her driveway over and over until her fingers were working in time to the constant thud of the ball into the target.

Now, his focus was on protecting her from James's less than pure intentions. Ryan was too great not to back her up. And he wouldn't dream of walking away if he thought she needed him.

He reached into his wallet and tossed a couple of twenties down on the table. "Let's get out of here. This place gives me the creeps."

She felt the same way, surrounded by all that leather and velvet. Everyone at the Pacific Union Club looked like they had metal beams shoved up their you-know-whats.

Ryan stood up, then waited for her to scoot over to the edge of the couch. And even though she knew his sweetly seductive kiss had all been part of their big act, she was hyperaware of her body around him.

The fact that her dress was hiking higher and higher up her thighs as she slid along the couch.

The knowledge that he must have a perfect view of her ample cleavage. The expensive, sky-high heels she'd put on to pretend an Army brat like her belonged in a place like this.

His hand was warm on her back as they headed for the exit. She tried to remind herself that it was no different than what any other gentleman would have done. But her body refused to listen.

How could it, when it felt so good to be touched by him?

She'd never been more glad for fresh air. Now all she needed to do was STOP THINKING ABOUT THAT KISS and everything would be fine. Which, unfortunately, meant she should probably call it a night. Because every second she spent with Ryan only made her want to do it again.

"Why didn't you call me to tell me you were back in town?"

"I know how busy you are with the team and your family and-" Your girls. "-your social life."

"I'm never too busy for a friend."

It was exactly why she'd texted him. Because she knew that if anyone would come through for her in a pinch, it would be Ryan. He'd always been different from the other men she knew. Not just because he was worlds better looking than the rest of them, but because she'd never doubted how much he liked her.

After the star-struck valet asked for an autograph and then went to fetch Ryan's car, he asked, "Where's your hotel?"

Not wanting him to see the dump she was staying in for the time being, she said, "In the Mission. But I can take a cab." A bus, actually, because she didn't have the money to waste on a taxi.

His eyes narrowed. "The Mission? No way. We're going to get your things and you're moving in with me."

Shock rolled through her at his suggestion. "I can't move in with you, Ryan."

"Of course you can."

He was so sure. Was acting like it all made sense, like her moving in with him was no different than his giving her a ride home.

"You have a life and I can't just barge in on it."

Honestly, just the thought of being in his house while he was making love to another woman under the same roof practically did her in. Plus, if she were being perfectly honest with herself, she wasn't at all sure she trusted herself to be that close to him without giving in to the urge to strip herself naked and beg him to take her.

"If I had known you were coming to the city," Ryan said as he pulled into traffic and headed toward the Mission district, "I would have asked you to stay with me. After not getting to see you for so long, I'm planning to keep you here for as long as I can this time."

It was impossible to hold back her smile. Over the years, whenever Ryan had texted or emailed, or if they'd managed to catch each other on the phone for a few minutes, he'd never failed to brighten up her day.

It was lovely to know that he seemed to feel the same way.

How had the years come and gone between them so fast? She'd moved away from the Bay Area after soph.o.m.ore year and slogged her way through to high school graduation in the Midwest before finally escaping to art school in New York City. She'd loved every minute of finally being with people she understood and who seemed to understand her. Still, she'd always missed Ryan and had even tried to attend a couple of his College World Series games on the east coast, but the game dates and her test schedules had always conflicted.

Before she knew it, she'd met Anthony and graduated and was married and living in Europe. Her husband had been possessive and jealous of her platonic relationships with other men.

Especially her friendship with Ryan.

No wonder it had never worked for the two of them to actually meet up again. She'd been too worried about damaging her marriage, and Ryan had obviously been just as wary of getting in the middle of it. It wasn't until she'd finally left the marriage that she felt she could reach out to Ryan again. But by then, according to the tabloids, he was dating an oil heiress. Of course she wasn't going to cry on his attached shoulder. It wouldn't have been fair to him-or to the heiress girlfriend. By the time the tabloids declared his relationship to be over, she'd vowed to get her life back together on her own so she could laugh with him again instead of wasting any more time crying.

She'd thought this fellowship opportunity was going to be a part of finally getting her life back on track, rather than finally being a reason to drag Ryan into her messy life.

He didn't say anything when they got to her motel, but he didn't need to. The disgusted look on his face said it all.

"You should probably stay with your car," she suggested. Wouldn't it be the icing on the cake if his fancy car was broken into or stolen, on top of everything else she'd already put him through tonight?

"Screw my car." He looked around at the very sketchy men and women loitering on the sidewalk. "I'm coming with you."

As they climbed the stairs, the sounds of yelling and crying and babies wailing felt like the perfect soundtrack to the fiasco of her life. She'd never wanted to be the woman in need of saving, had scoffed at girls like that.

And now, here she was, with her very own knight in shining armor.

The only saving grace in the whole thing was that it was Ryan. But even though rationally she knew he wouldn't judge her, she was a little short on rational thought right now.

Mortification, on the other hand, was in healthy supply.

Especially when Ryan got to the bathroom before she could and walked face-first into the bra and panty sets she'd hand-washed in the sink. They were drying on the rusted shower rail, the towel holder, and the doork.n.o.bs.

Was he shocked by the fact that her underthings were more suited to a high-cla.s.s kinkster than a woman who had been a virgin until she was twenty-two and had only slept with one man in her whole life?

She watched as, almost in slow motion, Ryan reached for a pair of panties and the matching bra. Her breath caught in her throat as his fingers slid over the lace.

"Pretty."

She barely had enough breath left in her lungs to say, "Thanks." She moved into the very small bathroom with him. "I can grab the rest of them."

Only, to get to the colorful lace hanging from the curtain rod, she had to slide past the sink and the tub. Which was right where Ryan was standing, still holding her unmentionables. Every inch of her body that came in contact with his felt hot. Super-sensitive. Fl.u.s.tered, she yanked so hard at a particularly naughty bright pink thong that it nearly shredded.

She forced herself to stop, to take a breath, to re-center.

Ryan was her friend. The two of them were never, ever going to be lovers.

Never.

Ever.

So getting all fl.u.s.tered and out of breath and nervous around him like this was ridiculous. They were friends, and friends would be laughing about this.

She turned around and looked pointedly at the lingerie he was still holding. "You planning on keeping those for yourself? Don't worry, I'm not going to judge you for whatever you're into," she teased.

He held the bra up to his chest. "Do you think it's my color?"

She laughed as she grabbed it from him and took the stack over to her bags. The dresser drawers had been too gross for her to take much else out, so she was ready to go as soon as she zipped her lingerie into one of her bags. Of course, Ryan took her bags from her, then held the door open for her, always the perfect gentleman.

Was it bad that, instead of appreciating that fact, she momentarily found herself wishing he'd act like a caveman instead?

Chapter Three.

Vicki tried not to act like a total doof when Ryan pulled into the Sea Cliff neighborhood of oceanfront mansions.

All these years that they'd kept in touch over email and texts and the occasional phone call, in her head he'd still been the fifteen-year-old boy who liked to climb the big tree in his mother's backyard. Sure, she knew he'd been a top draft pick out of college and was one of the best pitchers in pro baseball. But she'd never actually put it all together into what his life must be like now, had never compared her transient life with her ex-husband as they traveled between artists' colonies in various countries with Ryan's top-flight life as a bona fide celebrity athlete.

Within blocks of leaving her seedy motel, the San Francisco neighborhoods had become progressively nicer. For all that she'd wanted to keep up with Ryan's life over the past years, she'd always been careful-too careful, she'd often thought since her divorce-not to rub her friendship with Ryan into Anthony's face. So she truly had no idea how much Ryan's annual contract with the Hawks was worth even though at his level it was probably public knowledge.

"This is me." He clicked open the front gate and turned into the driveway of a positively gorgeous two-story oceanfront home.

Trying to act cool about it, despite the fact that her mouth was all but falling open, she joked, "Yup, I'd say your place is definitely at least a couple of steps up from my motel."

He grinned at her. "I had a pushy Realtor, one of my Seattle cousins who was working in the city for a while. She knew I didn't have a prayer of saying no to her."

Vicki grinned at that, knowing exactly what kind of sucker Ryan was for his female relatives. It was so sweet, sweet enough that her heart did more of that melting thing it had already done way too much of tonight.

"When I told her the place was too big, she swore the value would double in under ten years. But she was wrong."

"How wrong?"

Another grin came. "It tripled."

"In that case, Chinese is on you tonight."

He grabbed all three of her heavy bags and she followed with her purse. She'd noticed the way he favored his non-pitching arm when they'd been leaving the motel earlier. Now, she caught his slight wince as he adjusted one of the bags over his right shoulder.

Knowing he was too much of a guy to let her take it from him, she said, "Hey, Ryan, there's something I want to make sure I remembered to pack in that bag. Could you put it down for a sec?"

"I'm pretty sure there wasn't anything left in your room," he said as he set it on the garage's cement floor.

"You know how disorganized I can be. It might take me half the night to root through everything I stuffed in here."

"I'll put these in the guest room and come back for that one."

As soon as she couldn't hear his footsteps anymore, she started dragging the bag across the floor, only bothering to lift it up when she stepped inside the house and hit hardwood. She'd planned on bringing it all the way into the guest room, but as soon as she saw the view from his windows, her feet stopped moving.

Water had always been her weakness. It was why she'd chosen to go to Prague after leaving her ex-husband. The river had soothed her as she walked for hours along it, out of the city and then back again when her mind had been quiet enough to return.

As Ryan came down the stairs, she said, "Your view is incredible."

"It's better from over here."

He reached out a hand for her and she forgot all about her bag as she moved toward him. As she put her hand into his, warmth sizzled all the way up her arm.

He pointed with his free hand. "Farallon Islands to the left. Alcatraz to the right. Heaven's straight up."