“Looks good.” Bianca stood there, looking uncomfortable. “Can I do anything?”
“Nope,” he answered. “Got this down to an art.”
Bianca nodded, glancing at Zach, who shrugged.
What the hell was going on?
“What would you like to drink?” Spence asked, all smiles.
“Oh, some tea would be lovely.” Bianca glanced at Patton’s empty beer bottle. “Your beer is empty. I’ll get you a new one.” And with that, she and Zach disappeared into the house.
Patton stared after Bianca, confused.
“She thinks you don’t like her,” Cady’s voice was low and husky, rolling over him and setting his nerves on edge and his hunger on fire. He glanced at her, but she didn’t look at him.
“Patton doesn’t like many people,” Spence teased. “But he sort of hugged her and he did say more than two words to her, so she should feel pretty good right now.”
Patton ignored his brother. He’d much rather talk to Cady...and get her to look at him. “Did she say why she thought I didn’t like her?” He drew in a deep breath and looked at her, really looked at her. It was hard work, not staring at those full red lips or the ear she exposed when she tucked her blond streak of hair behind it.
Cady shook her head. “She wants you to like her—since you’ll be family soon.” She glanced at him, her brown eyes sweeping over his face before she looked away. “What an amazing garden.”
“Mom takes a lot of pride in it,” Spence offered. “There’s some rose tour the Horticulture Society has every fall—it’s sort of a big deal—she gets kind of crazy over it. She and Bianca are two peas in a pod. Do you garden?”
Patton heard the nervousness in his brother’s voice. So Spence was interested in Cady. His stomach felt cold and hollow.
“No.” She laughed. “Bibi’s got the green thumb. I’m good at not gardening.”
“No gardening.” Spence teased, “What sort of hobbies does a high-power executive have?”
Patton watched her closely. He’d seen her naked, touched her, tasted her, but he had no idea what she liked to do with her spare time. Had he always been such a dick? It wasn’t as if he didn’t want to know her—he did. But whenever they were together things got carried away. His attention wandered to her mouth... He tore his gaze from her, directing all of his attention on cleaning up his work space.
“I play music and I work out,” she admitted, almost shyly. “I work out a lot.” She shrugged.
Patton grinned. He did know that. The working out made sense; she didn’t like to sit still.
“Hey, you must be the best friend?” Lucy held out her hand to Cady. “I’m the cousin. One of the cousins. Actually, the only girl cousin. Out of nine. Feel free to sympathize.”
Cady took her hand, laughing. “I’m not sure what to say to that. Except...wow.”
Lucy nodded. “Yep.” She glanced at Spence then at Patton. “So you know these Ryan brothers. But there are more. My brothers—” she turned and pointed “—are over there. Dean and Jared. I know they look a lot alike, but Dean’s hair is a little blonder. And Jared has a scar through his eyebrow. They’re trying to act like they’re not checking you out right now. But Jared is totally checking you out.” She paused, glancing at Patton so quickly he almost missed it. “They’re single and sweet—in case you’re interested?”
Patton glared at her. Lucy’s smile was huge. He realized what she was up to then and felt like a complete idiot. She was trying to figure out his feelings. And, boy, had he taken the bait.
9
CADY HAD DONE her best to avoid him, she’d had to. She’d never felt so out of control. One moment she wanted to tell him everything—to admit she was falling for him. The next, she knew she needed to keep her mouth shut and get the hell out of there. When they were done destroying this engagement, they were done, too. How could there possibly be a future for them? When Bianca and Zach were so important to their lives.
When Patton started cleaning up outside, she offered to help tidy up inside. As long as she kept some distance between them, she’d make it through the night. She was covering bowls of green beans and potato salad with plastic wrap when Bianca came in.
“What’s going on with you?” Bianca asked, placing the fruit salad on the counter. “What is up between you and Patton?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Cady looked at her as if she was crazy.
“Come on, Cady. He’s been watching you since we got here.” She sounded excited, almost hopeful. “There’s this weird tension between you.”
He’d been watching her? Every time she’d dared look his way, he seemed completely oblivious to her. Cady shrugged. What could she say?
“Nothing? Really?” Bianca prodded. “You’re acting weird.”