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Her internal radar went on the fritz when he stepped closer and she sne, while her sto Still, he hadn't introduced her to his companion and he held himself apart from her in a way that told her their inti herself that she'd pulled away fro

"You told her, didn't you?" he asked, guessing accurately

"Come on in and I'll explain" She pushed the front door open wide and gestured inside

When they were all seated, she inclined her head toward the older gentleuished air "And who is this?" she asked

Ryan shook his head "Sorry, my manners seem to have failed me," he said rather formally "Uncle Russell, meet Zoe Costas Uncle Russell came down because…He…"

Ryan's voice trailed off and Zoe understood the reason for his sudden discomfort "He wanted tonobody but you has see to hold her feelings back, but unable to aze as she did so

Beside Ryan, his uncle stiffened

"That was coumption," his uncle said in an equally formal voice

She couldn't tell if his comment was land accent and the haughty attitude, he hid his true feelings well

"I always have gu fa adoption papers is just a for herself to speak aloud a conviction she no longer believed was so sihtforward

Ryan set his jaw "We'll see about that"

She narrowed her gaze Never in all the tiether, first as adversaries and later as lovers, had this subject come up They'd each trodden carefully around the other's feelings, wanting as best for the teenager, and respecting the other's position and desires Yet in front of his uncle, Ryan took a definitive stand that froze Zoe inside and out

But she'd started it bythe adoption and suddenly she knehy, just as she kneas different about Ryan now His deh he'd only been in New Jersey a short time, in the past few days he'd relaxed around Zoe and her family He'd accepted their outspokenness and come to enjoy their uniqueness, like Elena's kis that would never be accepted in his Boston ho sandwiched between Zoe and his uncle, he was faced with two disparate choices The Costases' eccentricity versus the values of his conservative relatives Any feelings he ht have developed for Zoe versus his loyalty to his own faht As had hers, since it was obvious whom he would choose Ryan's aloofness and the clothes he'd chosen all put a barrier between hiut instinct had been correct all along More than the physical distance between New Jersey and Massachusetts separated her from Ryan More separated theulf between thereater Heaven help her when he discovered Sam had run away