Let Me Be The One by Bella Andre Page A

coffee?” When Vicki shook her head, her friend grinned and said with uncanny precision, “In that case, I’ll leave you to get back to your dirty thoughts about Mr. Gorgeous.”
    Oh God, was she that transparent?

Chapter Eight
     
    That night, when Ryan walked through the door, his smile made her tingly in the kinds of places friends shouldn’t get tingly in when looking at each other. Still, she tried not to beat up on herself too much for being a normal woman with normal hormones. Of course she got tingly with him. Who wouldn’t?
    It was one thing to feel those zings of desire for the gorgeous man walking toward her. It was another thing entirely to be stupid enough to actually do something about them.
    Of course, he sure didn’t make it any easier for her to stuff down her perfectly normal and human female hormones when he drew her against him for a hug. Oh, what wouldn’t she give just to melt here against him...
    “It smells amazing. Did you find everything you needed in the kitchen?”
    “Are you kidding?” She made herself step out of his arms. “Professional chefs don’t have it this good. I didn’t know you were into cooking.”
    He looked a little sheepish. “I’m not. One of the women I was dating for a while was taking cooking lessons, so...”
    She turned back to the stove while trying to look like it didn’t bother her at all that some other woman had cooked for Ryan here, a woman who had probably been tall and slim, with perfect breasts and a small butt. Since Vicki couldn’t help her lack of inches in height—or the extra ones around her hips, either—she silently told herself to stop acting like an idiot.
    Of course, it didn’t help that she remembered all too vividly his dating in high school, even without having seen some of the pictures of his beautiful companions these past years in the international press. It was the downside of knowing someone so well for so long. There wasn’t much that could stay hidden, even if you wished it would.
    Wanting to push past the slightly awkward moment, she said brightly, “I caught the last few innings of your game. Congrats on the win.” Ryan hadn’t been pitching, but she’d enjoyed the glimpses of him in the dugout.
    “It’s a good group this year.” He snagged a slice of bell pepper from her cutting board. “If everything keeps going well, I think we’ve got a pretty good chance of winning the World Series again.”
    When he uncorked a bottle of red wine, she shot a glance at the bottle and then at him. “Can we agree in advance that if I fall asleep on you again tonight, we’ll both pretend it never happened and that I can totally hold my liquor?”
    “Agreed,” he said with a grin. He handed her a glass before pouring his own and lifting it in a toast. “Here’s to finally making it past first base with the potting wheel today.”
    She laughed as she clinked her glass against his. “And to ex-girlfriends who went absolutely crazy at Williams-Sonoma.” At his confused expression, she laughed again and said, “It’s a cookware store.”
    She was about to take a sip when he leaned in as if he were sharing a secret. “She couldn’t cook worth a damn.”
    Relief shouldn’t have bubbled up in her that she had something on the supermodel who had previously graced his kitchen. But she forgot all about being petty as she got her first sip of wine.
    A moan escaped her lips. “My God. What is this?” After one incredibly smooth taste, she wouldn’t be surprised to find out it cost more than her monthly rent in Prague.
    “One of Marcus’s special vintages.”
    She took another sip and closed her eyes to really savor the taste. “Yet another reason why you have the best family ever. You don’t know how many times I wished I was a Sullivan.”
    Her eyes flew open as she realized what she’d just—stupidly—blurted. Quickly putting her glass of wine down, she busied herself with turning down the burner, plating their salads,