Authors: Eve Gaddy
“It’s early,” he said, opening her car door after another trip to McDonald Observatory. “Do you want to pick up a movie?”
“Okay. But we’ll have to watch it at your place, our DVD player is acting up.”
“My place?” He sounded uneasy.
“You know, Eric, if I didn’t know better, I’d think you were hiding something from me. You’ve never let me see your apartment.”
“I didn’t know you wanted to. It’s just an apartment.”
“Which you don’t want me to see.”
He glanced at her, looking baffled. “If it’s that important to you, why didn’t you say so before?”
“It seems a little odd to me that you’ve never taken me there.” The more she thought about it, the angrier she grew. She’d made the mistake of believing too easily before.
“There’s nothing at all odd about it.”
Now he sounded exasperated and that made her even angrier. “So you admit you’ve been avoiding taking me to your place?”
Eric pulled off the road into one of the roadside stops. “Hell yes, I admit it. What do you think is going to happen if you and I are alone together at my place?”
“Absolutely nothing, if the last week is anything to go by,” she said, stung into blurting out another concern.
He gripped her arms and his mouth came down on hers, hard, hot and not at all brotherly. Shocked, she opened to the invasion and moaned, sliding her arms around his neck. With rhythmic persuasion, his tongue thrust and withdrew, meeting hers, teasing her, tempting her.
Against her lips, he spoke roughly. “Trying to keep my hands off you has been driving me nuts.”
“I thought you didn’t want
. . .
” She gasped, realizing he’d undone her blouse. Her bra clasp gave way and he spread the material open, staring at her bare breasts. Her heart beat faster, her nipples hardened and responded to his intent gaze.
His lips trailed down her neck, tracing a heated path. When he reached the peak of her breast he drew the aching tip into his mouth and closed his lips around it. Her heart pounded, her blood ran hotter still while he suckled her breast, the heat and the feel of his lips and tongue pushing her to a reckless desire. Lost in pleasure, she arched her back and felt one of his hands slide down to the juncture of her thighs. It felt so good. Too good. He played her like a master and she blossomed under the expert care. No, she couldn’t, she wouldn’t. She put her hands against his chest and pushed.
He drew back, looked at her while his hand continued fondling her breast. She knew that he wasn’t unaffected. His heavy breaths and the hard line of his jaw told her, as well as the certainty that if she let her glance fall to his lap she’d see unmistakable evidence of his reaction.
“That’s why I haven’t taken you to my place. Much more of this and you’ll be on your back with me inside you.”
His blunt words sent a thrill through her, but though she wanted to, she couldn’t permit herself to respond.
“You’re still not ready, are you?”
“I’m sorry,” she said in a choked voice. “You must think
. . .
”
“Shh.” He covered her mouth with his fingers. “When we make love, I don’t want there to be any regrets.”
No regrets. Piper wondered if that were possible. He kissed her again, then started the car while she rearranged her clothes.
“You can come over tomorrow night. But bring Cole with you.”
Ashamed of doubting him, she nodded. If only she’d been as suspicious with Roger. But if she had, she wouldn’t have Cole.
Another sleepless night.
Eric swore, got out of bed and went to the window. Leaning against the sill, he had a momentary wish that he could get drunk. Tonight he was covering for Steve Forrest, so that option was out. He wasn’t much for drinking anyway. Dammit, the only times he ever had insomnia were when he was worried about a patient. Otherwise he slept, even during the worst crisis. So what was he doing, pacing his bedroom at three o’clock in the morning? Again.
Losing his mind from sexual frustration, that’s what. He wanted to make love to Piper so badly, he was flat losing it. And she wasn’t ready. That was abundantly clear. Maybe he wasn’t either. He laughed at that thought. Physically, sure. But mentally
. . .
this wasn’t about rational thought processes. It was about a basic need that he’d left unsatisfied for quite a while.
Simply because he liked her, respected her, enjoyed being with her didn’t mean he’d fall in love with her. Or want to marry her, God forbid. One failed marriage was plenty. Eric wasn’t a man who took failure well. No, the problem was that he didn’t want to hurt Piper. She wanted to be with him, but she was afraid. And how could he convince her that she wouldn’t be hurt when he couldn’t possibly guarantee that?
He slapped his hand against the window frame and groaned. No relief in sight, he thought, suspecting his nurse would be willing to take a contract out on him, he’d been so hard to get along with. Frustration was close to killing him. He knew the remedy for what ailed him. Too bad it didn’t look like he’d be cured any time soon.
The next day Eric stood at the door to Piper’s greenhouse. He remembered the first time he’d seen her. Though he still had the same gut punch reaction to her, he now knew there was much more to Piper than her gorgeous face and body. Smart, courageous and amazingly sweet. He shifted, uneasy again at his train of thought. Sexual desire was understandable, but liking her—that was far more dangerous. That could lead to serious things, and he wasn’t ready for serious. He swung the door open and walked in. From the sounds he realized she was at the potting bench in the back.
“You’re late,” she said with her back to him.
“Am I?”
Piper whirled, the large pot she held dropping from her hands to fall with a crash on the gravel floor. Her hand clutched ineffectually at her chest. “Eric! You scared me to death. I thought you were Gus.”
“No.” He dug his hands into the pockets of his pants and leaned back against the bench. “Are you spraying again?” She wore a Mickey Mouse T-shirt and looked sexy as hell in it.
“Spraying? No.” Silent for a moment, she gazed at him. “I wasn’t expecting you.”
“Do you want me to go?”
“No.” Her tongue touched her top lip. “What did you want?”
You, he wanted to say. “To see you,” he said instead. His stomach tightened. Nervously, she licked her lip again and his groin tightened, too. “I can’t sleep. Hell, I can hardly think. I want you so much it’s driving me crazy.”
Her eyes were huge, intensely blue and fixed on his face. “I can’t sleep, either,” she said quietly.
“Why?”
“The same reason you can’t.”
In two strides, he closed the distance between them and took her in his arms, kissing her with barely restrained violence. He felt her go pliant against him as she responded, kissing him back, her hands racing over his body, just as his did over hers.
“Eric, this is crazy,” she said, her lips against his.
“No, this is good.” He cupped her bottom and pulled her more tightly against him. Buried his head in the curve of her neck and smelled her fragrance. Ran his lips along the smooth line of her throat and heard the thud of her heart, her choppy breathing. He wanted to lay her down, here among the flowers and plants, here on the gravel floor of the greenhouse and make love with her until he was finally sated, but he remembered that he was a civilized man. And she deserved much more than that. So he placed his hands on her waist and drew his mouth away from the beckoning curves.
“Tonight? You’ll come to my place,” he asked huskily.
She looked as dazed as he felt. “When?”
Her lips were swollen from his kisses, her eyes wide, the pupils dilated. “Seven?” He kissed her again. “Six-thirty.” Again. Harder, longer. “Six.” He stared at her for a minute and said, “To hell with it. Can you lock that door?”
She gave a shaky laugh. “I don’t think I’d better.”
“Are you sure about that?” One hand grazed her bottom, the other fit the small of her back and pulled her closer.
“Seven,” she murmured, but she kept kissing him.
“Darling,” an amused feminine voice said, “if I’d known you were involved with a man instead of those grubby little plants, I’d never have walked in. Definitely an improvement.”
They turned to look at the woman standing a few feet away. Piper started to pull away but Eric tightened his hold.
“Don’t stare so, darling. Surely you recognize me, it hasn’t been that long.”
“Mother? What are you doing here?”
“Interrupting, obviously,” she said, her voice rich with amusement. “Do introduce me. I’ve yet to meet the man who can take you away from your posies.”
Eric stifled a groan. Piper frowned at him and turned around, beginning to pull away. He caught her shoulders, holding her in front of him. “Stay put,” he muttered in her ear, knowing by the flush rising up her cheeks that she’d realized his dilemma.
Haltingly, Piper introduced them. The wicked laughter in her mother’s eyes left no doubt that she knew his problem, too. “Charmed to meet you, Mr. Chambers. And call me Kimberly.”
“It’s Dr. Chambers,” Piper said.
“Eric,” he said. While it was clear they were related, at first the differences between the two women were more apparent than the similarities. That might be due to the way they were dressed. Piper wore a T-shirt, cutoffs, neon green socks and sneakers. Her mother wore a pale pink suit that screamed designer, complete with matching pumps and purse.
Kimberly’s hair, pale blonde and cut to shoulder length, was perfectly coifed, sprayed and groomed. Her daughter’s hung in a wild mass of blonde curls to the middle of her back. Piper didn’t suffer from the comparison. He much preferred Piper’s turbulent beauty to the ice princess looks of her mother.
“Shall I go out and come back in? Or would you prefer that I just leave?” Kimberly asked.
Eric realized with a spurt of amusement that she’d been sizing him up too. “No need, I was leaving,” he said, under control now. “I’ll see you tonight, Piper. At six.”
“Seven,” she corrected him, not missing the look he gave her. She doubted her mother did either.
“Fascinating,” Kimberly said after Eric left. “Your taste is improving. Deliciously sexy, don’t you think?”
“Mother—”
“Of course you do,” she said approvingly. “Oh, don’t worry darling, I’ve sworn off men.”
Piper snorted inelegantly. “I’m sure Leonardo would be devastated to hear that.”
Her mother gave an airy wave of her hand. “A thing of the past.”
No doubt. Kimberly changed men nearly as often as other women changed underwear. Leonardo had lasted a record three months. “Why are you here?”
“To see you and my grandson, of course.”
“Hiding again, Mother?”
She laughed, a musical tinkle. “Really darling, you could always read me so well. Leonardo thinks I’ve flown off with a new lover. Jealousy is so mundane, but sometimes there’s nothing like it for getting a man’s attention.” She looked around the greenhouse and shuddered delicately. “Can we go inside before I positively melt from this humidity?”
“You go ahead, I’ve got to clean up this mess.”
“I want to hear all about this new man when you come in.”
And wouldn’t rest until she did, Piper thought, bending to pick up the broken pieces of clay.
A short time later, Piper found her mother in the living room. Kimberly sat on the sofa sipping a glass of chilled white wine and observing her daughter, for all the world, Piper thought, like she was conducting an interview with one of her models.
“I’d love to stay and chat,” Piper said breezily, “but I have a date. Cole will be back soon. I’m sure he and Grandpa will be happy to see you.”
“The day Charlie is happy to see me,” her mother stated, “I’ll be in a coffin.”
Piper laughed, not contradicting her. Charlie wasn’t a subtle man. “Cole always enjoys seeing you.” Kimberly and Cole got along surprisingly well, considering Kimberly didn’t have a maternal bone in her body.
“Tell me about your new man before you go.”
“He’s not my new man, he’s a
. . .
a friend of mine.”
“A friend?” She arched a delicate eyebrow. “My dear—”
“Mother, I’m not one of your models you can quiz at will. Why are you so interested?”
“Well darling, I need something to do while I’m here. And to my knowledge you haven’t been involved with a man since the regrettable Roger.”
“What makes you think I’m involved now?” Nonchalantly, she hoped, she crossed her arms over her chest.