Basic Attraction (13 page)

Hah. Easy for her to say. She was living with the man of her dreams. Sheri’s only option was to enjoy the time she had with Luke before he left. In a day or two. It wasn’t a pleasant thought.

“Thanks for watching Mookie, by the way.”

Holy crap, she’d forgotten about Angel’s cat. “Sure,” she choked out.

“He’s in the living room still sniffing the new carpet suspiciously. I bet he hid the whole time the installers were here.”

She stared at Angel dumbly. The cat was in the living room? How was that for nothing short of miraculous? “Yeah, we hardly knew he was here.” At all.

“You going to come say hello to Kiri?”

“Of course. Then I’ve got to go home and change then go to work. I’m supposed to be there at nine, and I don’t have much time.” Glancing at her watch, she saw that it was eight twenty. She should have packed her uniform in her overnight bag instead of another sexy bra and panties set.

“Well, why don’t you come by after work and we’ll have a cookout? We’re going to buy all our garage stuff today, like garbage cans and a grill, so Rick will be eager to test it out.”

She wasn’t sure she could sit there and act like she hadn’t been caught naked with Angel’s brother, but she did want to see Luke. And she didn’t want her friendship with Angel to suffer. Luke was leaving. Angel wasn’t.

“Sounds good. I’ll be by about five -thirty, okay?”

“Great.” Angel started down the hall and called, “Kirsten! Come and meet my friend Sheri.”

Sheri prayed that she didn’t have the look of a woman caught in the act. She didn’t want to be responsible for sullying the innocence of a five-year-old. She put on her best ranger smile and thought about Luke’s laundry pile. That ought to kill any afterglow that still remained.

Luke was staring at Sheri. He couldn’t help himself. He was sitting on the patio in one of the new plastic chairs Rick and Angel had bought that afternoon, nursing a beer, and staring at Sheri.

Rick was happily grilling barbecue chicken on his new grill that had taken most of the afternoon for the two of them to put together. Angel had taken Kiri to the grocery store to fill the empty refrigerator and returned with her entire trunk bursting with bags.

Kiri had happily showed Luke her favorite cereal, her favorite cookies, and her favorite Popsicle. It seemed Angel was a pushover.

Angel and Sheri were sitting in their own plastic chairs while Kiri played in her new wading pool in her new swimsuit. Rick was a pushover too.

He was still trying to justify it. Rick said, “It makes sense, you know. She’ll be here for four weeks. She’s got to have something to do. And hopefully we’ll have her every year hereafter for the whole summer.”

Angel smiled. “I know, Rick. It makes perfect sense.”

“And she’ll use this for a few years still.” Rick flipped the chicken.

Angel rolled her eyes. “Yes, she will.”

Luke heard them with half an ear as he stared at Sheri. She was aware of his gaze. She kept darting him questioning looks, a slight flush on her cheeks. He didn’t want anything or mean anything by staring. He just couldn’t help himself. She was so gorgeous he just wanted to admire.

He had fallen for her.

For her vulnerability and her strength. For her shy smile and her bold touch. He was gone. He was going to talk to her tomorrow about finding a way to keep things going. This hadn’t been just a week of fun for him. He wanted her long term.

He had no idea how she would react to that. Aside from her hesitant reassurances in the tree that this was unusual behavior for her, he had nothing to go on. All he knew was that she loved making love to him. What was in her heart was anybody’s guess.

There had been that moment when he’d stepped out of the tree that she had called him honey, but that had sounded more like what you’d say to a kid who’d scraped his knee or a dog with a thorn in its paw. It hadn’t really been lover-like. Sheri was just a compassionate person. It didn’t mean that she thought of him as anything special to her.

He had really, really wanted to spend the night with her tonight in her apartment. Unfortunately, with Kiri on the scene, he couldn’t bring himself to do that. Even though they wouldn’t be staying here at Angel’s, Kiri was bound to ask where he was. He wouldn’t put his sister and Rick in a position of having to explain that to Kiri.

Sheri cleared her throat and said to Rick, “Are you coming back to work on Monday?”

“Yes. With the movers coming tomorrow, that gives us the weekend to straighten things out, and I’ll be back on Monday. How’s the kudzu cutting coming along?”

Luke had no clue what kudzu was, but Sheri groaned. “Oh, it’s horrible, like always. And with it being eighty-five degrees, it makes it even more unbearable.”

Angel beat him to it. “What’s kudzu?”

Sheri was aghast. “You don’t know what kudzu is?”

Rick laughed. “These are Northerners you’re talking to, Sheri. City folk at that.”

Sheri laughed with Rick, sharing their little private joke. He felt himself growing surly. So what if he lived in the city? What did it matter if he spent most of his time in a dim bar instead of the woods? That didn’t make him uncool or whatever.

Angel didn’t seem to be offended. In fact, she was smiling at Rick as if she understood what was so funny about his statement. Luke didn’t see it at all, and he stood up abruptly, heading for the back door.

“Where are you going?” Sheri asked him in surprise.

“To get another beer. Is that all right with you?” He snarled at her. God, what the hell was wrong with him? Was he actually jealous that Sheri had an inside joke with Rick, his own sister’s boyfriend?

This was the result of not knowing where he stood with her. It made him a douchebag.

Her mouth fell open and her eyes filled with hurt. Damn.

Angel reprimanded him. “Luke! Why are you snapping at Sheri?”

“I’m not. I’m just getting a drink.” He had, but he wasn’t going to admit that now. What was he supposed to say? That he was jealous that Angel’s soon-to-be husband knew Sheri? Worked with her side by side every day?

That was going to sound real mature.

He flung the back door open and stepped into the hot kitchen. This house needed air conditioning. He pulled at his sticky T-shirt, which was free of any phrasings, and yanked open the refrigerator door.

Someone came in behind him, and he immediately knew it was Sheri. He could smell her soft berry scent, and he sensed her awkward stop a few feet behind him.

“Luke? Is something wrong?” Her voice was quiet, uncertain.

“No.” He turned around and forced a smile out. “Listen, you know I’m not going to be able to spend the night with you tonight.”

She shifted nervously. “Oh?”

“Yeah. With Kiri, it would just be awkward, you know… Angel having to explain where I was. It’s just better if I stay here.”

“But they don’t have any furniture. Just that mattress. You can’t all sleep there.” She tried to smile at her comment, but it didn’t reach her eyes.

“Kiri has a sleeping bag and Angel has one of those inflatable beds. They told Kiri it’s like camping until the movers come tomorrow.” Not that he wouldn’t have preferred spending the night with Sheri in her bed, but he had to think of his sister.

Or maybe that was just a lame justification for not wanting to get himself in any deeper. If he saw Sheri’s place, stayed in a bed with her, how was he going to feel about leaving? He already felt shitty. She might find herself with an unwanted roommate if he went over there tonight.

“Oh, okay.”

“I’m going back to Chicago on Saturday.” It had been his original plan. Then he had wondered if he couldn’t stretch that to Sunday and spend all day Saturday with Sheri. Luke and Eddie were watching the bar for him.

But now he didn’t think it was such a good idea. He had the sneaking suspicion that he had been living in a world of no furniture, takeout food, and Sheri in his arms. Fitting a relationship with her into the real world wasn’t so uncomplicated.

Her life was very different from his. He lived in Chicago. And as far as he knew, she’d just been enjoying the orgasms, nothing more.

She blinked hard and hugged her arms across her chest. “Oh, uh-huh. Well, can I see you before you leave?”

“Can I come to your place tomorrow night when you’re through with work?”

She nodded. “Sure. Should I cook like we planned?”

“Yeah.” He wanted one more perfect night with her before reality intruded. In fact, he would tell Angel and Rick that he was leaving tomorrow at dinnertime and then he could actually head out from Sheri’s Saturday morning. They would know he was lying, that he was spending the night with Sheri, but it didn’t matter.

He added, “I’d like that.” He reached out and touched a strand of her soft hair. “I like you.”

The wary look on her face receded. “Then why the sour face?”

“Because I don’t know what kudzu is.” He finally remembered to grab a fresh beer and close the refrigerator door.

He didn’t know what else to say, and she stared at him for a second before forcing out a small laugh. She said carefully, “It’s an exotic vine that grows rapidly, wrapping around native foliage and strangling it.”

It figured. Twisting, strangling, outsider vines. He felt like kudzu.

After twisting the cap off his beer bottle, he took a drink and flipped the cap in his free hand. She waited for him to say something. He didn’t. If he opened his mouth, he had no clue what was going to come sailing out. Better to keep the damn thing shut.

They heard a hissing from the living room. Greedy and Mookie had discovered each other earlier in the day, and neither was pleased with the other.

Sheri said, “Oh, the cats. I’ll go break it up.” She paused as if waiting for him to say he’d come along, but he didn’t.

He just nodded. She gave him another long searching look and left.

He leaned his head against his cold bottle. What was the matter with him?

“Got a headache?” Angel stood in front of him, her arms crossed over her melon-colored shirt, her leg stuck out defiantly, a flip-flop tapping up and down.

“No.”

“Then why are you being such a grump? You practically bit Sheri’s head off.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Deny, deny, deny. Probably the best advice his father had ever given him.

Angel wasn’t buying it. “Yes, you do. But if you don’t want to talk about it, that’s fine. I understand. I don’t want to pry into your business.”

She stared up at him, eyes filled with hurt, her lip pouting. It was an act. He knew it was. He didn’t say anything. Tears rose.

He couldn’t stay strong against tears and she knew it. He cursed. His sisters had been pulling that shit with him since birth. She grinned when he caved.

“I didn’t mean to snap at Sheri, okay? I just felt a little left out. That’s all.”

He’d admitted it. And his sister was gaping in astonishment, followed quickly by a knowing grin. She grabbed his arm and whispered dramatically, “You’re in love with her, aren’t you?”

Without waiting for a response, she let out a happy squeal. It was a good thing, because he wasn’t talking. He could barely admit the truth to himself, so he wasn’t about to blab it to his sister. Love was a strong word. He wasn’t going to just toss it around casually. But there was some serious-like going on.

“I’m so happy for you! I knew it. That’s what I told Rick, that I just knew the two of you were perfect for each other.”

He might as well halt her gushing right now. “I’m leaving tomorrow.”

“So?” She waved this off. “We’ll work it out. You’ll be so happy, Luke. Sheri is such a wonderful person.” She enveloped him in a hug. “And I can’t believe you got a cat. She must be good for you.”

He still couldn’t believe that Angel had swallowed his lie about wanting his own cat after spending time with Mookie, but she had. He was glad that her fat cat had reappeared and spared him the trauma of telling her that her pet was gone. He hugged her back in amusement and relief.

“Don’t get carried away now, Ang. Sheri and I were just having a little fun. That’s all.” Yet he wished it could be more.

“Famous last words, Luke. I believe Rick and I said the exact same thing to each other. Two days later, we were living together.”

“In two days I’ll be back in Chicago assessing how much money Jake and Eddie lost me by giving away free drinks to their friends.” It sounded lonely when he said it out loud. Sort of pathetic. But he didn’t suppose there was any way he could talk Sheri into quitting her job and being a barmaid for him.

There was a reverse solution to the problem though. He could live here in Pigeon Forge. Hadn’t he said that there weren’t enough bars to support the burgeoning tourist business? It might work, give him a chance to see if this whatever with Sheri could have legs. And if it didn’t, he was still a businessman. He could make a new venture profitable, and it might just be time for a change. He’d have to think about it.

He hoped something
would
work so that he wouldn’t have to walk away from sweet Sheri permanently. He had the worst feeling that doing that just might suck a lot.