“Yes, I’m ready.”
“Excellent,” he murmured. He dipped his head and kissed her again. She could tell he’d meant it to be a chaste kiss, just like in the car. When he felt her step into him, however, seeking out his hardness, his heat, he groaned and deepened the kiss.
So Colleen had no one to blame but herself for the fact that when she greeted her mom and children several minutes later, her cheeks were flushed pink and her pulse throbbed, fast and furious.
Three and a half hours later, Colleen sat on the plush carpet in Eric’s family room before a large coffee table littered with the various pieces from a board game, several soda cans and a few candy wrappers, mostly distributed in front of Brendan.
Like the rest of the house, the room where they sat was luxurious, spacious and yet comfortable all at once, a place where it was just as easy to entertain as it was to cuddle up with a book and blanket. Colleen had asked him if he’d hired an interior designer earlier, and he’d said Natalie had orchestrated the decor. Colleen had seen Natalie’s darling town house and knew her plans for the beachside cottage she’d soon share with Liam, so she’d not been surprised to hear she was behind the tasteful decor in Eric’s home.
A fire crackled cozily in the large fireplace. Eric, Colleen, Brendan and Brigit each sat one side of the coffee table, engaged in a heated contest of Trivial Pursuit. Brendan and Eric were beating Colleen and her mother hands down, but the ladies were not accepting defeat easily. During the commercials of her favorite television show, Jenny came over to ask about the score and join temporary forces with the female contingent.
They’d all worked on the boat for several hours together. Eric had already done the strenuous task of stripping the old varnish, so Brigit, Colleen and Jenny had laid on the first new coat of varnish. Meanwhile, Brendan had helped Eric with the task of affixing some of the new brass railings and hardware.
Lucy was looking very pretty indeed by the time they all trooped tiredly into Eric’s house for pizza. It’d been fun during dinner, talking about the work they’d accomplished and speculating on how Liam and Natalie would respond when they were presented with the priceless antique boat. The hard work and camaraderie had invested them all in Lucy’s makeover.
Colleen fiddled with her empty diet soda can and watched as Eric and Brendan conferred over their question from the Science & Nature category. She was quite sure Eric knew the answer, but as he had for most of the questions, he encouraged Brendan to come to an educated guess on the correct one. It was surprising how much a sixth grader had learned already about science, and even more amazing how well he could divine the correct answer when guided to it by a sharp, brilliant mind like Eric’s.
Brendan flushed in pleasure a moment later when his reply to the question won them the game. Colleen smiled broadly as she watched the opposing team celebrate with a fist pump and many self-congratulations. She glanced aside and saw her mother watching her with pointed interest.
She ducked her head, hiding her embarrassment. She and her mother were close. Colleen had been the only Kavanaugh child to choose Harbor Town as her permanent home after she’d married. She’d never admitted it to anyone, but part of her longing to settle in the quaint lakeside community had been her concern for Brigit, living all alone in the large, rambling house in a town where citizens were still known to look down their noses at her due to Derry’s actions. Her mother had played a vital role in raising Brendan and Jenny. Colleen didn’t know what she would have done without her.
And of course, her mother was a sharp, observant woman. It was no wonder she’d noticed her daughter’s admiring glances at Eric.
Brigit stood from the caramel leather couch and stretched. “I’m beat—in more ways that one,” she said, winking at her grandson. “I’d better get home and rest, or else we might have pizza for Thanksgiving dinner, too.”
Colleen also stood from her position on the floor. “I’ll be over in the morning just as soon as I can rouse this crew out of bed,” she said, nodding toward the kids. She always went over in the morning to help prepare the Thanksgivin
g feast.
Brigit nodded. “No hurry. Marc said they wouldn’t get there until around noon.”
“Can Grandma bring us over after we get back from Chicago to work on Lucy again?” Brendan asked Eric.
“I’ll take any help I can get,” Eric replied.
“Can we, Grandma?”
“Sure, if it’s all right with your mother,” Brigit said. Colleen became aware that everyone was staring at her. Eric’s gaze might have been the most interested of all. Nervousness flickered in her belly. Was it really wise to allow her children to get involved so early, when she’d just decided to attempt the risky adventure of seeing Eric?
“Mom? Can we?” Brendan prodded.
She smiled. “It’s fine with me. As long as I get to help, too.”
What choice did she have, really? Eric was becoming part of the family. It wasn’t just because of Colleen that he’d become friends with her children.
“Yes,” Brendan said triumphantly before he wandered off to see what was happening on Jenny’s show. His bandages had been removed a week ago, and much to Colleen’s relief, her son was now walking without a limp or experiencing any pain.
After her mother left, Colleen helped Eric clean up the mess from the living room while the kids became absorbed in another television show. When she entered the large, modern kitchen carrying several soda cans, she was highly aware that he was just behind her. Ever since what had happened in the car earlier, she felt both more comfortable around him and more hyperaware of him at once.
She smiled as he tossed a handful of candy wrappers into the garbage. “The last of his Halloween spoils. At least I hope so.”
“I’m glad I’m his orthopedic surgeon and not his dentist.”
Colleen snorted with laughter and turned to the sink, prepared to clean up the few dishes they’d used during dinner. Eric caught her hand, halting her. She turned to him in surprise. His expression was somber as he studied her, but as usual, his eyes were warm as they moved over her face. He reached for her other hand. He held both next to his legs. Her knuckles pressed against his outer thighs. Since when could the sensation of hard male muscle beneath jeans seem like the height of eroticism?
She really needed to get a life.
“Brendan told me that he and Jenny are spending the holiday weekend in Chicago,” he said quietly.