by Lori Wilde
Breaking the kiss, he gave her a self-satisfied male smile. “I bet you don’t think I’m so adorable now.”
Obviously breathless and aroused from the kiss, Erin stared at him for a couple of seconds. Then a smile slowly grew on her face.
“I wouldn’t, except you just walked us into the linen closet. Now that’s adorable.”
Trent glanced around. Ah, man, he had. He’d taken them straight into a walk-in linen closet. So much for his lady-killer instincts.
He did the only thing a guy could do in these circumstances, he laughed.
“Dang. I give up. I’m trying to get you all excited and turned on, and all I’m managing to do is make you think I’m adorable.”
Taking his hand, she said, “This time, follow me.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He let her lead him out of the linen closet and down the hallway to the last room on the left.
“I should warn you, I haven’t redecorated this room since I moved in. It’s a little...odd.”
“Does it have a bed?”
“Yes. But it’s—”
“As long as it has a bed, it’s great.”
As soon as they entered the room, he leaned down to kiss Erin, but a flash of orange out of the corner of his eye made him stop and look around. “What the—”
The bedroom looked like a disco. The walls were painted vibrant orange and pink, with small, geometric-shaped mirrors placed all around. With a grin, Trent looked up and laughed when he saw that instead of a traditional overhead light, the room had its very own disco ball to flash splatters of light around the room.
“Now this is what I call a bedroom.” He slowly studied the room. “Definitely makes you want to strut your stuff. Are you sure you didn’t decorate this?”
“Hardly,” she said dryly. “It looked exactly this way when I moved in. So far, all I’ve redone is the kitchen. I keep meaning to redo this room, but since I’m the only one who sees it—”
He grinned. “Until now.”
She grinned back. “Until now. Anyway, I haven’t a clue who did this. I was told when I rented the building that it had been vacant for a long time.”
“Not that long.” He studied the room again. “The previous tenant was Tina Zeffner. She ran an arts and crafts shop downstairs.” He walked over and turned on the disco ball. “Tina was almost eighty. She closed her shop a couple of years ago to go live by her daughter in Des Moines. The lady was always a lot of fun.” He watched the globe spin overhead. “I guess I didn’t realize just how much fun she was. Way to go, Tina.”
“Well, if you find the room too distracting, we can go to your house,” Erin offered. “Of course, we will be wasting time, but it’s your call.”
And Trent wasn’t in the mood to waste any more time. Seeing Erin standing in the middle of this wild room with the sparkling effect of the lights dancing off the mirrors was making him crazy.
“I’m through wasting time,” he said with a smile.
She smiled back. “Good boy.”
Erin woke with a start. Something was different. She glanced down at the masculine arm wrapped around her waist.
Oh, yeah, something was most definitely different.
Hoping Trent was a sound sleeper, she tried to slowly slip free of his arm. Gingerly, she lifted a couple of his fingers in an attempt to loosen his grip. But the man proved as stubborn when asleep as he was when awake.
“Stop fussing with my hand. I like it exactly where it is,” he murmured in her ear.
Unfortunately, before she could say anything, reality returned when Brutus started yapping from down the hall.
Trent chuckled as he slowly kissed Erin. “I think the furball is getting the hang of this male bonding thing. This time, he waited until I was awake to start barking.”
He gave Erin another kiss but kept it short this time. “Let me take him out for a bathroom break, then I’ll be right back.” He winked and added, “Don’t go anywhere.”
Erin laughed and assured him, “I’ll wait right here.”
“Thanks.” As she watched Trent pull on his jeans and then head out the door to get Brutus, she leaned back in the bed, contentment filling her. She’d never been with a man just for fun before, but she had to admit, there were distinct advantages.
For starters, there were no awkward moments this morning. She and Trent had fooled around simply for pure enjoyment. And she’d had a terrific time. A really terrific time.
And now today, there were no awkward attempts at small talk. They weren’t worried if the other person liked them or would fall in love with them. Instead, they were two people enjoying each other’s company for as long as it lasted. Simple as that.
Trent came back into the bedroom with Brutus hot on his heels. The puppy jumped up on the bed, but Trent scooped him up and set him on the floor.
“No, stay there, furball.”
Brutus wagged his tail, and after Trent sat down on the mattress next to Erin, the puppy immediately hopped up on the bed again.
“Dang, this dog is never going to learn.” Trent put him on the floor again.
“Born to be wild?” Erin teased.
“Something like that.” Trent leaned over and kissed Erin, but before the kiss could catch fire, Brutus jumped on the bed yet again.
“That’s it,” Trent said, standing and picking up the pup. “If monkeys can learn to read, you’re going to learn to listen to me.”
Erin couldn’t help smiling because the whole time Trent was delivering his stern speech, he was scratching Brutus under the chin. The he-man chief of police was a real softy at heart.
And one heck of a nice guy.
“Brutus likes you and wants your attention,” Erin said.
“Well, I like you and want your attention,” Trent countered.
“I’m pretty sure if we give each other any more of our attention, neither of us will be able to walk straight.”
Trent shrugged. “Walking straight is overrated in my opinion.”
She laughed and tucked the sheet firmly beneath her arms when he made a move to join her once again on the bed. “Be that as it may, I have a business to run. I need to get up and dress. You and your puppy need to leave.”
Trent sighed and grabbed his shirt off the floor where she’d tossed it last night. “Guess you’re right, although I hate to admit it. But I need to run Brutus home and head into work myself.”
After he’d gotten dressed, he kissed her one last time. “Can I see you tonight? Maybe even take you to dinner this time?”
Erin nodded. “Absolutely.”
“And we’re still going to the wedding together next week, right?”
The wedding. She’d completely forgotten she’d been invited to Trent’s brother’s wedding. When she’d agreed to go, she hadn’t expected to go with him. What she had with Trent was so new, it felt odd to think about letting everyone know.
By the same token, she didn’t want to keep what was happening with Trent a secret forever. She had nothing to be ashamed of, so there was no reason the world couldn’t know they were seeing each other. No reason to keep it hidden.
Besides, this was Honey. Secrets lasted about as long as an ice cube in the Sahara. Sooner or later, everyone would know.
“Sure,” she said.
“Great. See you tonight.” With that, Trent headed out the door. She heard him talking to Brutus on the way down the stairs.
The man really was adorable.
And she could hardly wait until tonight to see him again.
8
“Your brother is here,” Trent’s administrative assistant, Ann Seaver, announced. “Shall I send him in?”
Trent rubbed his neck. Man, he was exhausted, but for a spectacular reason. Like every other night this week, he and Erin had spent hours making love, only to fall asleep for a little while, then wake up and make love again. The past few days with Erin had been unbelievable.
He was one happy camper today, and he didn’t feel like putting up with either of his b
rothers or their nonsense. They’d take one look at his goofy I-had-a-great-time-last-night face and razz him like crazy.
“Tell whichever one it is that I’m not here,” Trent said.
After a pause, Ann asked, “What do I do if there’s two of them?”
“Both of them are here now?” He needed this like a kick to the head this morning.
“Yep. The second one just walked in. Want me to tell them you aren’t here? I don’t think they’ll believe me since they can tell I’m talking to you, but I’m willing to give it a try.”
Trent sighed, resigned to his fate. “Very cute. Fine. Send them in.”
The door to his office flew open before he’d even finished speaking.
“Hey, there, baby brother,” Chase said, crossing the room and dropping into one of the chairs facing Trent’s desk. “You look like hell this morning.”
“Good to see you, too,” he said dryly, then looked at Nathan. “Go ahead. Say it. Say I look like hell.”
Nathan sat in the other chair facing his desk. “You don’t look like hell.” He studied Trent for a second, then added with a laugh, “You look...stupidly happy. Doesn’t he, Chase?”
Chase leaned back in his chair. “Why, I do believe you’re right, Nathan. He does look stupidly happy. I wonder if the fact that he had lunch with Erin Weber at Roy’s Café yesterday has anything to do with his expression. Megan heard from Emma that Trent and Erin looked cozier than a newlywed couple.”
Ah, hell. He should have known better than to meet Erin for lunch so soon after they’d become lovers. Now the whole blasted town knew they were involved.
“Is that a fact?” Nathan smiled at Trent. “You and Erin had lunch together?”
Trent ignored the question since they obviously already knew the answer. “Why are you two bozos here? To see if I’ll tell you anything?”
Chase glanced at Nathan, then back at Trent. “I don’t believe we need any answers. I think most of Honey has heard what’s going on between you and Erin Weber. So much for your claim that you were never going to fall in love and get married.”
Trent held up his left hand. “Do you see a ring here?”
Nathan held up his left hand. “I don’t have my wedding ring on yet, either. The ceremony’s not for three more days. But that doesn’t mean I’m not in love and in a committed relationship.”
Trent started to tell his brother that he wasn’t in love, and he wasn’t in a committed relationship, but for some insane reason, the words refused to pass his lips. The truth was, he might not be in love yet, but he sure did feel like he and Erin had a lot going for them.
He stared at his brothers, uncertain for the first time in his life what to say.
“We seem to have left him speechless,” Chase observed. He stood and said to Nathan, “Let’s leave him alone to think things over. We’ll see him at the wedding on Saturday.”
“Bring Erin,” Nathan said.
“I’m not in love,” Trent finally managed. “We’re just having fun.”
“Megan and I were just having fun, and now we’re happily married and still having fun,” Chase pointed out.
“Emma and I were just having fun, and our wedding is on Saturday,” Nathan stated.
“It’s different with Erin and me,” Trent said, but for the life of him, that’s all he could think to say.
“You just never know,” Chase said. Then he headed for the door. “Come on, Nathan. I think our work here is done. I want to head on over to the library and see if I can corner Megan in her office and make her blush.”
Trent watched his brothers walk out. Despite what they thought, things really were different between him and Erin.
Weren’t they?
“Heck of a wedding, wasn’t it?” Leigh nudged Erin. “Doesn’t it make you long to walk down the aisle? To have flower girls drop rose petals at your feet? To have a handsome, wonderful man waiting to spend the rest of his life with you?”
“Not particularly,” Erin said, taking a sip of her champagne. And boy did she mean it. Today’s wedding had been lovely, but it had brought back more than a few memories of her own wedding day fiasco. At least Nathan Barrett had actually married Emma Montgomery, not told her he’d changed his mind and then sprinted toward the exit with the maid of honor in tow.
“No weepy moments of envy? No mental images of china patterns flashing through your mind?” Leigh prodded.
“Not a one,” Erin assured her. In fact, the only images that had drifted through her mind were of the amazing things Trent had done with and to her last night. The man was phenomenally talented.
“Not even a teensy, weensy thought about wedded bliss?” Leigh continued.
Erin sighed. “Leigh, I’m not marrying your brother, so stop pushing on me. Today’s wedding was wonderful for Nathan and Emma. But I don’t want to get married.” Deciding to turn the tables, she asked, “What about you? Any deep-seated marital desires bubble up inside you during the ceremony?”
Leigh rolled her eyes. “Puh-lease. I’d rather remove my own appendix than tie the knot.”
Okay, so maybe Erin didn’t feel quite as strongly about avoiding commitment as Leigh did. But she did like her life the way it was. No strings. No ties. No heartache. Just really great sex.
It definitely worked for her.
Thinking about Trent made her wonder where he was. She glanced around the crowded wedding reception. As far as she could tell, the entire population of Honey had turned out for the wedding.
And Leigh was right—it had been a lovely ceremony. Very sweet, with the bride and groom writing their own vows and looking so very deeply in love.
Love suited some people. That was true. But it was also true that she didn’t happen to be one of those people.
Erin was still searching the crowd for Trent when a pair of strong arms circled her waist from behind.
“Want to dance with the best-looking guy in the room?” Trent asked over her shoulder.
Erin leaned back against him and pretended to glance around. “Sure. Where is he?”
Leigh laughed and pointed at her brother. “You should see your expression—it’s hysterical. You two are cute together. Despite what you said, Erin, I bet it won’t be long before I’m at your wedding, too.”
Trent’s arms around her waist tightened the tiniest bit, but Erin hadn’t a clue what that meant. Hopefully it meant he had as little interest in orange blossoms and wedding bands as she did. But something in his attitude the last couple of days made her wonder. He’d been acting...oddly. More interested in cuddling after lovemaking. More interested in talking about hopes and dreams and plans over dinner.
Not exactly the behavior of a man who was only interested in sex. Of course, she could be wrong about what he was thinking.
But when he said to his sister, “You never know what the future will bring,” Erin realized maybe she wasn’t wrong after all.
What kind of denial was that? Erin tipped her head and looked at him. The scary part was that he didn’t seem to be kidding. But he had to be kidding. She insisted he be kidding.
“He’s joking,” she told Leigh firmly. Then more to Trent than to his sister, she added, “He feels the same way I do—why mess with something that’s working? And what we have together is working beautifully.”
From over her shoulder, Trent said, “I still believe that no one knows what the future will bring. Things change. People change. Agreements change.”
Erin sighed. Oh, no. She and Trent needed to have a long, hard talk and soon. Glancing at Leigh, she asked, “Would you excuse us for a moment? I’d like to dance with your brother.”
Leigh laughed. “Okeydokey. You two go dance. And let me know how your dance turns out. Keep in mind that my schedule for the fall is pretty much booked. At the moment, I only have a couple of weekends free in November and one in early December. See if any of those dates work for you.” Then before Erin could once again explain that she had no interest in getting married,
Leigh spotted an opening in the buffet line and bounded off.
Trent snagged Erin’s hand. “Come on. I think you had a great idea. Let’s dance.”
Erin trailed after him, teasing as she went, “I guess I’ll dance with you since that good-looking guy is nowhere to be found.”
Trent flashed her a wicked grin. “Oh, you’re going to pay for that later.”
“I sure hope so,” she said, hoping his lighthearted comment meant he’d only been kidding earlier with Leigh. He had to be kidding. Trent Barrett wasn’t the type to marry and settle down. She was absolutely positive about that.
Well, close to positive.
When he took her in his arms, he slowly swayed to the music.
“Um, Trent, you know they’re playing a fast song, don’t you? Why are you slow dancing?”
He ran one hand up from her hip to her shoulder. “Because this way, I get to slide my hands all over you and pretend I’m just dancing instead of taking advantage of you,” he said, demonstrating once again as his hand made the return journey to her hip, lingering in a few places on the way.
Erin laughed. “You’re a rascal, that’s for sure.”
“I am, but only with you.”
“For the moment,” Erin said, figuring now was a good time to clarify her feelings. “That’s what’s so nice about our casual relationship. There aren’t any long-term expectations.”
For a couple of seconds, Trent was quiet. Then he said, “We could always think about making things between us a little less casual. Like I told Leigh, things change.”
Erin stopped dancing and leaned back in his arms so she could look him dead in the eyes. “Trent, don’t let this wedding make you get all gushy and sentimental. We agreed we’d keep things between us simple. No strings. No ties. No broken hearts.”
“First off, I’m never gushy. I’m the chief of police. I don’t gush.”
She hoped his nonsense meant he really wasn’t getting serious on her. “Fine, you’re not gushy. But there’s no reason to change things between us. We’re doing great. Having fun. It’s perfect.”
Trent started dancing again. “I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but I’d kind of like things to move forward. If not completely forward, then a couple of steps in that direction.”