She still didn't know how she'd ended up accompanying Sam to Boston with Ryan. She'd fought the good fight with her parents and Quinn, but even she'd agreed Sam needed to get out of town. And everyone including Zoe felt that Sam couldn't go alone with Ryan.

For his part, Ryan had been understanding of Sam's feelings. He'd even shocked Zoe by convincing his uncle that meeting Sam right now would be too traumatic. So after staying one night with Ryan, Russ had gone home and neither Zoe nor her family had had to deal with him just yet.

Just when she thought she'd pegged Ryan, a conservative man with whom she had nothing in common, he went and did something that put him back into high esteem, leaving her confused about her feelings. She shook her head, knowing she'd lied. She wasn't confused. She desired Ryan Baldwin. She liked the man a whole lot. Unless he morphed into the uptight man she'd first met. Then he scared her. And now they were heading to his territory, a place where she had no bearings and where she feared he'd definitely become a man she couldn't understand.

For now she sat in the middle of a mini war zone with Sam having entrenched herself in the back, determined not to like Ryan. She'd wanted to bring Ima and though Zoe had agreed, she'd had a gut feeling Ryan would not. So she'd instructed Sam to put Ima in the dog tote they'd bought for her until she became too big to be a lap pet, and Zoe had placed the covered bag in the back with Sam when Ryan wasn't looking. Sam had already learned how to keep the pig happy and relatively quiet and each bathroom trip Sam made, she took Ima with her so the pig could relieve herself somewhere besides the car or the carrier.

Unfortunately, taking along Ima hadn't appeased Sam. She'd spent their first hour on the road sulking in the back seat. Ryan had long since stopped trying to make conversation with her and after a short talk about the Red Sox and Yankees, in which Zoe discovered that being a Mets fan made her rise further in Ryan's estimation, they'd reverted to a silence that included Sam's prolonged sighs and groans.

For her part, Zoe tried not to stare at Ryan's handsome profile or reach out and touch his hand to reassure him that in time he would win Sam over.

"I have to pee," Sam said from behind them.

Ryan glanced in the rearview mirror. "I just stopped for you not fifteen minutes ago."

"Yeah, well, I have to pee again."

Zoe shook her head. Between Sam's language and rest stop commands, she was sorely testing Ryan's patience. Not even Ima, who'd already begun to train, needed to relieve herself that often.

"I'll make you a deal. You watch your mouth, especially when we hit Boston, and I'll stop as many times as you need without complaining." Despite his dark sunglasses, Zoe could tell he was watching in the mirror for a reaction from the teen.

Zoe turned toward the back seat in time to see Sam shrug, but she didn't volunteer a yes or no answer.

Although Zoe agreed that Sam needed to refine her choice of words, she couldn't help but fear that Ryan's demand had more ominous undertones, ones that had roots in his late sister's behavior and the reasons she'd run away from home. Zoe didn't want to see Ryan, the relaxed man she'd come to enjoy in New Jersey, revert to the stuffier man she'd first met. The one she'd seen again when his uncle had arrived.

"I'm waiting for an answer," Ryan said.

Zoe shivered and pushed up the air-conditioning vents so they pointed away from her, but the chill remained.

"I don't see that I have a choice but to follow your rules unless I want a flood back here," Sam muttered.

A muscle twitched in Ryan's cheek. "You just reminded me of my next condition. No more soda until we get there."

Sam started to stick out her tongue, then obviously thought better of it and whipped her head around to the side, glancing out the window. "Whatever you say, oh great one," Sam muttered.

Ryan raised an eyebrow Zoe's way. "Is she always this pleasant?"

Zoe couldn't help but stifle a chuckle. "I have to say she reserves her best behavior for you."

"I feel so privileged." Ryan grinned and they shared their first easy laugh of the day.

True to his word, he pulled off at the next rest stop and drove up to the entrance of a small mini-mart with bathrooms around the side.

Sam yanked on the handle, obviously intent on storming out of the car.

"Come right back," he called after her.

She saluted and marched out of the car, slamming the door behind her.

Zoe rolled her eyes and leaned back in her seat. "I hope you don't think you've won this round."

"What does that mean?"

"Just that I expect Sam will stop ordering you to pull over now that you promised her that her demand for pit stops won't bother you."

He lowered his sunglasses. "And wasn't that the point?" he asked with all the confusion of a man unfamiliar with children.

His puzzled expression was endearing, showing her yet another side of this multifaceted man. She shook her head and laughed. "Ryan, you have a lot to learn when it comes to teens. I mean, just don't think she's letting up because you put one over on her or because she's found some sort of respect for you. You just took the fun out of her game. She'll find another way to torture you instead."

He turned in his seat. "Well I'll call it a draw, then."

She inclined her head, giving him this one. Heaven knew Sam would find enough ways to challenge him in the days ahead. But without the frequent pit stops now, Zoe knew they might not have another chance to talk alone.

"Ryan, something you just said bothers me," she stated bluntly. She bent one knee beneath her, accidentally brushing her leg against his thigh. She sucked in a deep breath and tried to focus.

He whipped off his eyeglasses, placing them in the empty cup holder, and his deep gaze bored into hers- so warm, so darn sexy, she thought she'd melt right then and there. She flipped the vents again so the cool air blew directly onto her skin.

"What's wrong?" he asked, sounding as if he truly cared.

She badly wanted to believe that he did. "We already talked about you not trying to mold Sam into some perfect child your family will accept."

He opened his mouth to speak, but she held up a hand, forestalling him. "I'm not suggesting her current language is appropriate or even acceptable. She needs discipline and I agree with how you're handling her."

"Thank you for that." He tipped his head to one side. "Then I don't see what the problem is."

She sighed. How to explain and not insult him at the same time? "The problem is you need to accept her for the free spirit she is. So does your family. Otherwise not only will they have learned nothing from your sister's running away and subsequent death, but you'll end up running Sam off, too."

Despite Sam's frequent over-the-top behavior, Zoe had seen firsthand the fun and joy he experienced watching her just be herself. That was the man Zoe enjoyed, too, and she didn't want to lose him when they reached Boston.

Her fingers twitched with the desire to reach out to him, her emotions warring with her mind. Her emotions won. She placed a hand over his warmer, more roughened one. "Am I making any sense to you?"

Ryan nodded. Her soft fingers wrapped around his hand and the heat shot straight through to his heart. This woman affected him. She made him want to please her in ways he'd never thought or cared about with any woman who'd come before. For that reason he was listening to her concerns and honestly trying to keep an open mind. But the truth was that coming home would mean a reversion of sorts and that included a stricter code of behavior. Especially if he was going to convince his parents to accept Sam, as they hadn't accepted their own daughter.

Ryan had never faced a greater challenge. Except for keeping Zoe happy. He had no idea how he'd accomplish both goals.

"I'll try to be more understanding," he promised, not just for Sam's sake, but for his and Zoe's. The key to any kind of future with this woman lay in her believing in him.

She nodded. "That's all I can ask for."

Her hand still lay on top of his, and as gestures went, he knew it was a big one.

They waited five minutes more, but there was no sign of Sam. "Want to go in after her?" he asked.

"I guess I'd better." Zoe reached for her seat belt buckle when a piercing scream shattered the silence.

Both Ryan and Zoe darted out of the car.

He ran to the end of the small building in time to see Sam running and shrieking.

"Come back!" she yelled and began to run toward the patch of grass on the boulevard.

In that instant, Ryan somehow knew exactly what was going on and he sprinted past Sam, determined to stop the wandering pig. Unfortunately Ima had other ideas and the little runt continued to bolt toward the grass. The highway lay just beyond.

He managed to step on the leash, which gave him a chance to reach for the pig, but she was more than an arm's length away. He stumbled and she scooted ahead, giving him no choice but to dive into the grass and grab her leash just in time.

He rose to his feet, trembling pig in hand, to find Sam and Zoe staring at him with wide, frightened eyes.

"Your stowaway, I presume?" He held Ima out for Sam.

She grabbed her pet, first wrapping her hand around and around the leash so the animal couldn't run away again. "You saved her from becoming roadkill," Sam said, obviously grateful he'd shown up when he had.

Zoe cleared her throat loudly.

"Thank you," Sam added.

"You're welcome." He met her gaze and for a brief moment, all her teenage anger and resentment disappeared.

Only gratitude and pleasure shone in her blue eyes and Ryan warmed, happy to be the recipient of something other than her disgust.

"What happened?" Zoe asked.

Sam shrugged. "It was so fast, I'm not sure. I used the bathroom and then I took Ima out so she could do the same thing. Somehow the leash slipped out of my hands and she bolted. I was so scared when she started running for the highway." She shivered. "I didn't want some car makin' bacon out of her."

Ryan shook his head and tried not to laugh at her description. "You should have told me you wanted to bring her along. Then you wouldn't have had to sneak her out for walks behind my back."

"We were afraid you'd say no," Sam said.

"We were afraid?" He glanced Zoe's way.

She clasped her hands behind her back and began whistling, deliberately not meeting his gaze.

She definitely wasn't innocent. "You didn't have much faith in me, did you?" he asked her.

She looked away. "I guess not."

The admission hit him in the gut and hurt more than it should have. He wasn't sure what disappointed him more, her lack of trust or himself and what he'd done to bring it on.

In silence, the three of them walked back to the car. Before getting in he paused to brush the dirt off his arms and khaki slacks, figuring he resembled a major-league ball player after a long skid home.

Unable to help himself, he glanced up at the sky and laughed.


* * *

SINCE RYAN WOULDN'T HEAR of Sam staying in a hotel and Sam wouldn't remain at Ryan's without Zoe, Zoe found herself unpacking clothing in one of the two extra rooms in Ryan's townhome in downtown Boston.

The condo was an old brownstone duplex apartment that had been renovated inside with gorgeous crown moldings and auburn-colored wood floors. Although the apartment had obviously been decorated by a professional, Zoe couldn't fault Ryan for going to excesses. Every piece in the apartment served a purpose or looked as if it belonged.

For warmth and personal touches, on the shelves she'd passed in the living room he'd placed photographs- Ryan and a couple that had to be his parents, Ryan and his uncle, whom Zoe hoped to avoid on this trip because he made her uncomfortable, and a photo of his sister, Faith, at Sam's age. Forever young because of her untimely death.

Zoe liked Ryan's home, and the fact that it lacked the uptight, artificial feeling she'd feared she'd find here, gave her hope. Hope that Ryan had more of the man she liked inside him.

It had been a day of contrasts, she thought. Her mind strayed back to the incident at the rest stop with the pig. He'd thought nothing of his own safety or his good clothing, as he'd dived into the dirt to save Ima because he knew how much the animal meant to Sam. And because he knew his life wouldn't be worth squat if Sam lost her pet.

His expression when he'd handed the pig back to Sam had been priceless, a man so proud of his accomplishment- until he'd realized even Zoe hadn't trusted him enough to ask permission to take Ima along. The hurt and desolation in his gaze stayed with her even now.