Basic Attraction (12 page)

“Good luck,” Rick said with a smile that showed he thought she would need it.

She took a deep breath, hoping that her deception had produced at least something besides animosity between Luke and Sheri. She pulled her key out of her purse and wondered if she had gone too far by returning home two days earlier than she had told Luke.

Her reasons were simple enough. She was dying of curiosity. Besides, if Luke thought she trusted him to oversee the moving and unpacking of her entire life’s possessions, he was insane. She had been learning to relax the last few months, but she was still a control freak about certain things. Starting with her expensive ivory sofa and ending with her glass table.

“Hello,” she called cheerfully as she stepped inside. “Ohhh, look at the carpet,” she added as she took in the new plush floor covering. “Sandpiper. I like it.”

She heard a muffled curse from the back bedroom. Good. Luke was awake.

If he hadn’t been asleep, he would have sworn he heard his sister’s voice. But he was asleep, he told himself irresolutely. Or was he?

He pried an eye open. He was fairly sure today was Thursday. Angel wasn’t due back until Saturday. He heard the low voice murmuring again in the hallway, and he grimaced. Maybe it really was Rick’s mother this time.

A glance to his right showed Sheri curled up next to him, lusciously naked. He cursed.

Pulling on a pair of jeans, he attempted to cover her with one of his T-shirts. It left a thing or two still showing, and his mouth watered. She stirred but didn’t wake up.

Determined to get rid of whoever it was, he left the room and pulled the door firmly shut behind him. It wasn’t Rick’s mother. It was Angel, standing in the living room, moving her bare foot back and forth across the carpet.

“Hi, Luke. The carpet’s great. Have you felt it?”

Yes. Naked. Several times. “Hey, Ang. What are you doing back so soon?”

She shrugged with a smile and slipped her foot back into her sandal. “We were just hanging out there hoping to ease the transition for Kiri, but she was anxious to get here, so we changed our plans.”

“Where is she?” He was suddenly terrified that the kid would walk in on Sheri.

“She’s in the backyard.”

Good. Time to warn Sheri to get dressed. He was intent on that when he saw an orange blob sniffing carefully around the floor.

“That’s not Greedy.” He looked around for his cat.

“Greedy? What are you talking about? It’s Mookie. I found him on the front steps, Luke.” She bent over and petted her cat protectively. “I thought you understood he was an inside cat. It’s a good thing I had Sheri coming over to check on him.”

He stared in amazement. How was that possible? Where the hell had Mookie been this whole time? Talk about a coincidence that the bastard had reappeared right now. Mookie looked up and gave him an accusing stare. Had that thing really been outside in the yard the whole time? He stared back, narrowing his eyes.

“Uh, sorry, Ang, I don’t know how he got out. He’s been in as far as I’m aware.” He avoided her eyes studiously and cleared his throat. He wasn’t much of a liar.

She didn’t seem to notice. Brushing past him, she merely smiled and said, “That’s okay. He doesn’t look any worse for the wear.” Heading down the hall, she added, “I wonder which room Kiri will want?”

Her hand was on the doorknob to the bedroom he had been using. He yelled, “Don’t open that!”

Angel stopped and looked at him like he was insane. “Why?”

“Umm, well, there’s umm—”

“Luke?” Sheri’s voice came sleepily out to them. “Where are you?”

His sister’s eyes went wide, and she grinned an unholy grin before throwing the door open. She gasped.

He grimaced.

Sheri screamed.

Angel clapped her hand over her mouth. “Sheri? Oh, I’m really sorry.” She pulled the door quickly shut again and turned to him in shock.

He shuffled his bruised feet back and forth. “So, ah, yeah. That’s why.”

His sister was astonished. She was also grinning. “You and Sheri?”

He said in a low voice so Sheri wouldn’t hear him, “Yeah. You surprised?”

“Yes, since she’s treated you like a communicable disease every time she’s met you,” she whispered in return.

As if he needed reminding. “Well, not anymore. And don’t go embarrassing her about it either, all right? She’s very sensitive.”

Her eyebrows shot up. “She’s my friend, Luke. I’m not going to embarrass her. And aren’t you quick to jump to her defense?” She put her hands on her hips. “It’s very…interesting.”

Great. Now Angel was conjuring up images of fall weddings. He made an exasperated sound that could be construed as a growl.

The door opened, and Sheri stood there awkwardly, dressed in tan shorts and a baggy T-shirt. “Angel, what a surprise! I didn’t think you’d be home so soon.”

“Obviously.” Angel smirked.

Sheri blushed. She turned to him and shot him a pleading look. “Can you just give us a minute here, Luke? I want to talk to Angel.”

He didn’t like the sound of that. He shook his head. “Why can’t you talk in front of me?”

Her anxious expression softened into a smile at his defensive words. “Don’t worry.” Leaning over, she squeezed his hand.

It was a gesture to show Angel that they were together, that they were more than a one-time roll in the hay. At least that’s the way he was determined to think of it. Or at the very least that she wasn’t ashamed of having banged him. Or having had him bang her. In any case, she had dispensed with his agitation just by touching him.

He stroked her hand and found himself saying easily, “That’s cool. Take as long as you want, gorgeous.” Then he startled them all, including himself, by leaning over and dropping a possessive kiss on her lips.

He turned and left them gaping right as he heard the back door fly open and a little girl come tearing in, saying, “That’s the biggest backyard I’ve ever seen in my life!”

He met up with Rick and Kiri in the kitchen. He wondered vaguely where the kid came from if she thought this was a big yard. He would have called it merely adequate. He had the strange feeling that, despite living the last ten years in an apartment, he would like an acre or two to ramble around on. He pictured taking up dirt biking. That could be a lot of fun on all those hills.

“Hey, Rick. How was the trip?” He clapped his future brother-in-law on the shoulder and grinned down at a cute kid wearing pigtails and a pink sundress. “I’m guessing you’re Kiri.”

“Yep.” She stared up at him curiously. “Who are you?”

“I’m Luke, Angel’s brother.”

Her toothless grin widened. “Wow! Thanks for the doll!”

“No problem.” He wasn’t sure what had possessed him to send a gift to her, but it just seemed like if Angel was going to marry Rick, they should all get off on the right foot with the kid. He remembered fondly the stepmothers he’d had who had made a significant effort to connect with him after they had married his dad.

Luke squatted down to look her in the eye. “It’s cool we’re going to get to hang out before I go back to Chicago. If I start to sound too much like a parent, reminding you to chew with your mouth closed or something, you just tell me and I’ll stop.”

She smiled. “When my dad marries Angel, he said I’ll have three uncles.” She held up the appropriate amount of fingers for emphasis.

He raised his eyebrows at Rick. “So it’s definitely marriage, huh?”

Rick shrugged. “Yep. It’s pretty much a foregone conclusion at this point. I asked, Angel said yes.”

“It’s a bit fast,” he couldn’t help but say. “But I know my sister. She’s not impulsive, so I think it’s safe to say she knows what she’s doing.”

“When it’s right, it’s easy,” Rick told him. “It just all makes sense.”

Hm. That was something to think about. Later.

“I’m the oldest,” he told Kiri, “so that makes me your first uncle.” Not to mention that he wouldn’t trust his brothers in the company of a small, impressionable child. “Maybe you’ll get to meet your uncle Jake and your uncle Eddie before you leave.”

“Okay.” She nodded and wiped her hands on her dress. “Do you think you can make me some cousins soon?”

He darted a startled glance at Rick, who was shaking his head and shrugging. “Oh, uh, well, you know…”

“I know.” Kiri patted his arm. “I know you have to be married first and everything before babies can be born, but I was hoping you’d hurry up.”

Rick muttered, “Thank God.”

He bit his lip to keep from laughing. “I’ll see what I can do.”

Rick’s eyebrow shot up.

Kiri smiled. “That’s good. Why aren’t you wearing a shirt?”

“Kiri.” Rick put his hand on her shoulder. “Enough with the questions.”

Shrugging, Luke said, “It’s hot in here.” Lying to a small child. That was nice.

“What happened to your sun? It got blowed up.” She reached out and traced the beginning of his sleeve tattoo above his wrist. “Does any of this wash off when you take your bath?”

Her chubby little fingers were tickling him. “No, it’s permanent.”

“Perm’nent?”

“It stays,” Rick clarified then gently pulled her back. “Sugar, let’s go pick your room out.”

Red alert. He stood up hastily. “Rick, let’s wait until Angel and Sheri come on out, all right?”

Rick stopped in his tracks. “Sheri?”

“Yeah.”

Rick’s gaze took in his shirtless and shoeless state and his rumpled hair and came to the correct conclusion. He grinned at him. “Sheri, huh? You’ll have to tell me all about that later.”

Not all about it. Some things he was just keeping to himself. “We’re seeing each other.” That was a good summation of their relationship. They were
seeing
a lot of each other.

Rick shook his head in wonderment. “I can’t believe Angel was right.”

“What?” What did Angel know about it?

“Nothing.” Rick shook his head.

His future brother-in-law wasn’t any better of a liar than he was, but he let it drop.

Sheri had never slept with her friend’s brother before—with good reason. This was darned uncomfortable. Especially since Angel was grinning at her like a loon.

Angel spoke as soon as Luke turned the corner into the living room. “Wow, he really planted one on you.”

She blushed. “It’s not what it looks like.”

“Well, then what is it? Because it certainly looks like you’ve been sleeping with my brother.”

That was blunt. And embarrassing. “Well, that’s true, in a manner of speaking, but…”

Angel laughed. “Sheri, I’m your friend. You don’t have to be embarrassed. Nor do you have to tell me anything.”

“Oh, good.”

“But I was hoping you would.” Angel’s eyes slid over to peer through the open doorway. “I thought you hated Luke.”

Since Angel could see clearly the rumpled sheet on the mattress and the box of condoms ripped open and scattered over a three-foot area, Sheri decided that it was better to come clean with her friend than let her imagination run wild.

“I didn’t hate Luke. I just thought he was intimidating…and a little rough around the edges.” Here came the confession. “And drop-dead gorgeous.”

Angel grinned. “Awww, I knew it. I just knew it!”

“You did?”

“That horror on your face was because you couldn’t believe you were attracted to him. Am I right?” She was practically bouncing up and down in her denim miniskirt in her enthusiasm.

All Sheri could think was that it was sad that Angel had known her better than she had known herself. She raked her hands through her hair and leaned on the wall. “It’s true! I admit it. But I couldn’t help myself. He’s so sexy-looking with that hair falling in his eyes, and his broad chest, and those tattoos! I can’t stand tattoos, yet on him, it turns me on…” she tapered off in realization of who she was talking to. “And I’m talking about your brother! How gross is that?”

“I don’t mind,” Angel said. “Of course, to me, he’s just Luke, but I’m thrilled that you like him. I told you he was a big softie underneath the image.”

“You did. And you were right.” She sighed. “I think I’m in trouble here.”

“Why?”

“Because he’s going back to Chicago.”

“Oh, well.” Angel waved her concern off. “Things have a way of working out.”