He held the door open for her and she saw a stunning woman down on the floor stacking blocks alongside Mason.
"Hi, I'm Mia. And your son is the cutest thing I've ever seen."
"I agree," Grace said with a smile. "I'm Grace, and it's nice to meet you. Thanks for keeping him so entertained."
She looked up just then to see Ford Vincent walking toward her with his hand outstretched. Despite knowing the rock star might be here tonight with Mia, given that she was his fiancee, Grace still came this close to freezing up with shock.
"Hi." Somehow she managed to get her hand into his without shaking or sweating or doing any number of other embarrassing things. Not, however, that she was rewarded for that with a reprieve, because literally a moment later, Tatiana Landon came into the room.
"Tatiana," Dylan said, "this is Grace and her son, Mason."
The movie star looked pleasantly surprised--delighted would be a better word for it, actually--by their presence. "It's lovely to meet you. I can't wait to hear all about how you and Dylan met. He never brings anyone to dinner."
Oh no, they all assumed she was dating him. "Actually, we're just--"
Before she could finish her sentence, Mason tossed a block across the room, nailing a man in a suit right in the knee.
She dashed over to pick it up, but the blindingly good-looking man beat her to it. He was smiling as he handed the block to her. "Your son has a great arm."
"No kidding," Dylan agreed, the grin in his voice clear without her needing to see it. "You should have seen Mason toss his toy in front of my boathouse earlier this week."
The man raised his eyebrows at this tidbit before turning back to Grace and saying, "I'm Dylan's brother Ian."
She had never been comfortable as the center of attention and could feel her composure, which had been shaky at best a few minutes ago, rapidly shredding to pieces as they all stared at her, especially this brother whose gaze was just a bit more intense than that of the others.
"I'm so glad you and your son were able to come to dinner with all of us tonight." Right on cue, Mason chucked another block at Ian, upon which he bent down to gently lob it back at Mason's feet.
When Mason giggled with glee at having another new friend to play with, Claudia said, "Isn't Mason great? I had the privilege of watching him for the past couple of hours while Grace and Dylan did their interview."
Another couple walked into the kitchen. "Dylan actually agreed to do an interview?" asked the dark-haired man who looked so much like Dylan. "Has the apocalypse come?"
"Meet Rafe and Brooke," Dylan said as Mason crawled over to his feet and lifted his arms. Without pause, Dylan picked him up. "I'd like you guys to meet Grace and Mason."
When Brooke waved at the baby, he gleefully waved right back. "Isn't he sweet?" Mia said as Ford helped her up to stand in what looked to Grace like impossibly high heels.
"So sweet," Brooke and Tatiana both agreed.
The way everyone immediately fell in love with her son helped Grace regain a little of her composure. Of course, that was right when one more brother walked in, saw Mason with his sleepy little head resting on Dylan's shoulder, and asked, "Whoa, did you adopt a kid on your last sailing expedition?"
"Grace, this is Adam. I'm sure you're going to be really surprised to hear that he's still single."
That was when Adam turned and saw her. "The baby's yours?" When she nodded, he gave her a really flirtatious grin. "No wonder the kid is so cute."
By then, what else could she do but laugh? Dylan had talked during their interview about learning to walk on the deck of a sailboat during a storm without being tossed off. Now she thought she knew exactly what that felt like simply from having met his entire family in the past five minutes.
Or nearly the entire Sullivan clan, because when a handsome man with gray hair came in and every person in the room beamed at him, she now knew exactly how handsome Dylan would be in thirty years--and also how much the children he'd have would adore him. And when Dylan's father took Claudia into his arms and kissed her, Grace couldn't hold back her sigh at how sweet it was to see two people so much in love after so many years.
No wonder there was so much love in the house.
Normally, Mason would be tired and cranky by now, but he was completely in his element with all the women cooing over him and all the men saying he was probably going to be a pro ball player with an arm like his.
Of the two of them, she was the one overwhelmed, not only with her feelings for the subject of her magazine story, but also by his magnificent family. So when Claudia asked if Grace could help her put together the salad, she was thrilled to be able to step out of the big group. Their mother, Grace had already figured out, was the calm eye at the center of the storm.
"Thank you, again, for watching Mason while I interviewed Dylan."
"Anytime you need someone to watch your son, you know who to call. He's all changed and clean, by the way. Did your interview go well?"
"Listening to Dylan talk, I felt almost as if I were out there in a sailboat with him. Your son is a fascinating man."
Grace looked up from the cucumber she was slicing to sneak a glance at him. Only to find that he was already looking at her. Flustered again, she had to steady her hands before she resumed work with the knife.
"Mason reminds me of the way Dylan was as a child," Claudia told her. "Sweet. Always ready to laugh." He was laughing right then in Brooke's arms as she bounced him. "Happy to spend hours building things. In fact, he was so easygoing that we realized it would be really easy to leave him be, especially when his brothers and Mia all seemed to need us more. So when Max saw that he was fascinated by sailboats, we both decided we would learn how to sail with him. It was, truly, one of the best things we've ever done, because that's when we really got to know our son...and he got to know us, too."
"In the cockpit confessional," Grace said with a smile, referencing one of the things Dylan had said to her during their interview. "So do you also believe that you can't keep a secret when you're out on a boat?"
"You'll find out for yourself the first time you go sailing with him."
Just then, Mason let out a little wail, and she hurried over to take him from Brooke. "I think he misses his mommy," Brooke said.
Grace pressed a kiss to his forehead. "It's been a big day for him, meeting so many new people." For both of them. "He's probably hungry and thirsty, too." She reached into his bag nearby for a bottle. He cuddled into her chest and started drinking like he'd just crossed the Sahara Desert.
Dylan brought them over to the dining table, where he pulled out a chair next to his. She'd intended to put Mason in his portable high chair, but after he had his bottle he crawled into Dylan's arms and immediately dozed off.
It was, Grace thought, the cutest, sweetest thing she'd ever seen--a big, strong man holding a sleeping baby so gently. One who obviously felt so safe that Mason wasn't the least bit disturbed by everyone else coming into the dining room, laughing and teasing each other in the way only a truly close family could. Grace noted that she wasn't the only one who thought Dylan and Mason painted a beautiful picture--she was pretty sure Claudia's eyes got a little glossy, too.
Heaping platters of food were passed around, and with Dylan's hands full, Grace filled both their plates with some of everything. She thought she'd be too nervous to eat in a group of famous strangers, but the minute she took her first bite of his mother's delicious food, she realized she was starving.
Sitting down with everyone at dinner finally gave Grace a chance to study his family a bit. Still a little star struck, at the same time she was amazed by how normal they seemed. They joked, they teased, they flirted--especially Adam. From what Dylan had told her, they all got together on a regular basis.
Tatiana, who was sitting on her left, said, "I'd love to know more about the story you're writing, Grace. Especially since Dylan is usually so reluctant to be interviewed."
More than a little surprised th
at Tatiana didn't seem the least bit wary around her because she was a journalist, Grace told her, "It's a piece about the heart of a sailor and why people are drawn to getting out on an ocean that can be both beautiful and dangerous. I've read a ton about sailing this week, but two hours with Dylan has been more helpful than an entire library of books would have been."
"It sounds fascinating," Tatiana said. "I've always admired people who are skilled at culling a ton of information into just the parts that matter. What's your secret?"
"Brilliant questions," Dylan answered.
"Endless questions, anyway," Grace said. "If you hadn't all shown up for dinner, I would probably still be peppering Dylan with them."
"So you're not done with him yet?" Mia asked.
Mason shifted in Dylan's arms so that he was halfway in hers, too, and Grace focused on helping him get more comfortable as she replied, "Not even close. The two of us have still got a lot of ground to cover."
When she looked up, everyone was grinning like crazy. What had she just said to make all of them look so happy?
Fortunately, that was when the conversation changed to their cousin Ryan's winning pitch at last night's baseball game, so Grace finally let herself relax into her seat. As much as she could relax, anyway, with Dylan's thigh pressed against hers beneath the crowded dining table.
With her son sleeping on both of their laps and his family right there, too, she shouldn't have had to keep fighting back her desire for him.
But she did.
CHAPTER SIX
"Since everyone is here tonight," Mia said when everyone had finally eaten their fill, "Ford and I want to talk with you about something we've been thinking a lot about."
"Please tell me it doesn't have anything to do with weddings," Adam begged, looking trapped. "I swear that's all any of you talk about anymore."
"Actually," she said with a wide smile, "our wedding is exactly what we want to talk about with all of you." Ian and Mia shot each other a look that read to Grace like a secret, silent code between brother and sister.
Meanwhile, Adam informed Dylan, "It's just the two of us left now." A moment later, however, when his gaze flashed to Grace and Mason, he shook his head, then picked up his beer and took a long pull.
"As most of you know," Mia continued, "I've been planning my wedding since I was a little girl." When Adam groaned again, his sister socked him in the shoulder. "I always thought the bigger the better, probably at an exotic destination with a week-long party on an island. But now..." Mia paused when Ford threaded his fingers through hers and lifted them to his lips while they shared a look so loving Grace could feel it in the center of her chest.
"Now all we want," Ford finished for her, his voice just as deep and mesmerizing as it was when he was singing one of his hit songs, "is to have our family with us. We had thought about getting married up at the lake, but we don't want to take away from Rafe and Brooke's special day this summer."
"Of course you should get married at the lake," Brooke immediately protested, but instead of agreeing with her, Rafe pressed a kiss to his fiancee's forehead. "Something tells me they've already got something else in mind."
Ian cleared his throat. "Sounds to me like the two of you are ready to say your vows, aren't you?"
Dylan's oldest brother looked and sounded truly choked up, not at all as if he were teasing. And when Mia's eyes also filled as she nodded, Grace barely held in her gasp of surprise.
Oh my God, Mia and Ford weren't about to get married tonight, were they?
"That's exactly what we're ready for," Mia confirmed. "Ford and I don't want to wait any longer. And we don't want to have a big circus of a wedding with helicopters and paparazzi. We'll have a big party later for everyone to come to, but for tonight, we just want you guys."
Tears were already streaming down Claudia's face by the time she made it around the table to throw her arms around her daughter and her soon-to-be son. "I can't believe you all planned this in secret! A wedding right here in our living room." Dylan's mother sounded overwhelmed. And absolutely thrilled.
Grace was so stunned by what was about to happen that it wasn't until Dylan started to help her out of her seat that she realized she was still sitting at the dining room table gaping over the fact that one of the biggest rock stars in the world was about to have a totally secret wedding in front of her!
But despite how shockingly cool all this was--how amazing did a family have to be to actually do something like this?--the unavoidable truth was that she was intruding on a private family moment.
She turned to Dylan. "Mason and I shouldn't--"
"Stay." He reached for her hand, his expression so full of warmth that her heart, already swelling with the heady romance swirling throughout the room, skipped a beat. "Please."
By the time she finally managed to look away from his mesmerizing eyes, Ian was standing with his back to the big stone fireplace. Mia and Ford were holding hands in front of him, while the rest of the family gathered around them...and Grace knew there was nowhere else she'd rather be.
*
Dylan knew none of them would ever forget this wedding. Not only because Mia, Ford, and Ian had sprung it on them all so brilliantly, but because of a baby who suddenly decided he was done napping and wasn't the least bit happy about how quiet everyone else was being.
As Grace took Mason from him and tried to rock him back to sleep, Adam and Rafe were trying not to laugh. Dylan would have been right there with them both were it not for the fact that he could see Grace panicking as she tried to soothe her little boy, to no avail.
He reached out for Mason's little hand and stroked it softly to try to get his attention. As plump wobbly lips and eyes that were just starting to fill with tears met his, Dylan widened his eyes and stuck out his tongue. Thankfully, soon Mason was imitating him by sticking out his little tongue and giggling.
"I'll take him outside," Grace whispered as she started to move away from the rest of the group, but Mia was already saying, "This is so perfect, saying our vows while the cutest baby ever giggles at the silly faces everyone is making at him." She looked back at Ford. "I want one of those. Soon."
He leaned over to kiss her, but even though he spoke in a low voice, they could all hear him say, "We'll get started tonight."
Adam groaned again as the two lovebirds clearly forgot there was anyone else in the living room with them. "Ian, I think that's your cue to get started."
With a grin and a nod, Ian began. "We're here tonight to witness the joining of a man and woman who have proved beyond a shadow of a doubt not only that they are meant to be together, but also that they have what it takes to make love last. All any of us have ever wanted for you, Mia, is happiness and true love. Knowing that you've found that with Ford makes this one of the best moments of our lives, and we're thrilled to be able to share in your vows with each other tonight."
Dylan could hear Grace's breath hitch in her throat as emotion swamped her, and he reached out to put his hand over hers.
Ford brought both of Mia's hands up to his mouth and pressed a kiss to them before he began to speak. "You are everything to me, Mia. My dreams. My heart. My soul. Every day when I wake up with you beside me, then fall asleep with you in my arms, I know I'm the luckiest man alive." He pressed a kiss to each of her cheeks, wet with tears, before kissing her on the mouth. "I can't wait to have forever with you."
Mia had never looked happier than she did right then as she smiled at Ford, even while her tears continued to fall.
"I always knew I wanted what my parents had." Mia turned to smile at their mom and dad, who were holding tightly to each other, their hearts in their eyes as they watched their youngest say her vows. "A love so deep and true that nothing could ever come between them. I was so sure I knew what that love would look like when it came. I had it all planned out--the perfect guy who would say all the right things and sweep me away like a princess in a perfect fairy tale. But then, there you were. Not out of a fai
ry tale, but better. Because you are real. Raw. Honest. And with a heart so big that I'm constantly astounded by everything you are and everything you do. Especially the way you love me without holding anything back. I can't wait to be your wife, Ford."
When they turned back to Ian, he was clearly working to pull himself together so that they could finish the ceremony. "Mia, do you freely and without reservation give yourself to Ford in marriage?"
"I do." Mia slid Ford's wedding band on his left hand. "With this ring, I am yours and you are mine. Wear this ring forever as a sign of our love."
"Ford, do you freely and without reservation give yourself to Mia in marriage?"
"I do." Ford reached into his pocket for a simple platinum wedding band and put it on Mia's ring finger. "I give you this ring to wear with love and joy. As this ring has no end, our love is also forever."
"May the wedding rings you exchanged today remind you always that you are surrounded by enduring love. And now, by the power vested in me by the City of Seattle, it is my honor and delight to declare you husband and wife. You may seal this declaration with a kiss."
And as the new husband and wife kissed to seal the deal, Mason let out a whoop that had all of them joining in.
CHAPTER SEVEN
A couple of hours later, they carried Mason and all his things up the stairs to her apartment. Earlier, she'd planned to say a simple thank you and good night to Dylan at the end of the evening. But after the evening they'd just shared, one full of love and family and promises of forever, nothing seemed clear cut to Grace anymore.
Nothing except the fact that she wasn't ready for the night to be over.
"If you don't mind waiting for me to tuck Mason in, I'd be happy to make us some coffee."
"Sounds good." He ran his hand lightly over her son's head. "Good night, buddy."
She took Mason into the bedroom the two of them shared, put him into a dry diaper, and zipped him into soft blue jammies. When she whispered, "Sweet dreams, baby," he finally woke enough to turn his mouth to hers for a smooch. Her heart overflowed with love as she kissed him, then tucked him into his crib, his favorite stuffed giraffe in his hand, his blanket over the little butt he immediately stuck up into the air when he rolled onto his stomach.