by Jenny Lyn
“I’m gonna kick your ass, dickhead,” he grumbled.
Luke, who hadn’t stopped grinning since he’d walked through the door, swept the cap from his head and tossed it at Sean. “I borrowed it from my sister specifically for this occasion.”
Sean scowled. “Since I like your sister, I’m not going to touch that with a ten-foot pole.”
Luke laughed and slung his duffel bag off his shoulder. They’d even made sure that Luke used the same brand and color as Sean’s for continuity. “Should we change shirts? I did show you some mercy in that department,” he said, pointing at his navy polo. “I thought about snagging one of my dad’s loud Hawaiian numbers.”
“You come from an odd gene pool, Avery,” Sean said as he whipped his gray T-shirt over his head. “Just remember, paybacks are a bitch.”
Luke followed suit, nailing Sean in the chest with his shirt. “Bring it on, asshole.”
A soft “Oh my” came from behind them. Sean turned around to Erin standing there, her fingers across her lips and laughter dancing in her eyes. “Two gorgeous half-naked men in my living room. What ever did I do to deserve this?” she drawled, fanning her face with her hand.
He couldn’t move. His tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth and his feet to the floor. Erin looked amazing. What she wore was completely respectable, not anywhere near as revealing as the dress she’d been wearing the night they’d met. The skirt grazed her ankles for fuck’s sake, and the blouse barely showed a hint of cleavage through a little keyhole opening in the scooping neckline.
It was what it did to her that had him speechless. She looked so wholly feminine he wanted to weep. The sliver of bare skin peeking out above the top of the skirt and the bottom of the shirt made his mouth water. Her hair fell in soft waves across her shoulders, curling down to the tips of those breasts he wanted to immortalize in bronze. And the blouse… Christ, the color made her eyes look almost unnaturally blue, as if he could dive right into their depths and get lost forever.
It was going to be a long night.
Luke, the bastard, found his voice before Sean could. “Talk about gorgeous.” He strolled over to Erin and took her hands, lifting her arms out at her sides. Her top rode up her waist, showing more of that silky skin Sean knew tasted like sugar. “You, Doc, are the very definition of the word.”
Sean wanted to punch Luke right in the mouth, friend or not.
Erin giggled. Giggled. Fuck, he needed to open his mouth. “Luke, put your shirt on and stop putting the moves on my date.”
“Easy there, partner. Just paying the lady a compliment.” When Luke lifted Erin’s hand to brush his lips across her knuckles, Sean’s rigor mortis vanished, and he shoved him out of the way. Luke laughed and fished another T-shirt from his backpack, abandoning Sean’s in favor of one of his own.
Sean pulled the polo over his head, using the moment to get the green-eyed monster under control. He winked at Erin, then leaned forward to whisper in her ear, “You do look good enough to eat, honey.”
Her cheeks flushed with color, and everything below his belt buckle noticed. Yeah, this was going to be a damned long night. At least until he could get her back to her apartment. Or his. His was closer to his parents’ house. Hell, he might even take her in his old bedroom, christen his virgin twin-size bed while his baseball trophies watched.
The way he craved this woman shocked him to the soles of his feet. He enjoyed sex as much as the next red-blooded male, but this… This he couldn’t put a name to. It was more than lust. And it was more than like. Did that make it love? Had he fallen for Erin that quickly?
Luke popped him on the back. “You’re one lucky son of a bitch, Rembert. I shoulda had that detail at Blue, and then you’d be sittin’ on your ass while I squired Miss Taylor—correction—Doctor Taylor around town.”
Sean grinned. “Tough shit.”
“Oh, dear.” Erin patted Sean’s cheek. “We better go before you two start thumping your chests and arm wrestling.” Ah, the voice of reason had returned.
“Good idea,” Sean said with a nod.
Erin told Luke to help himself to whatever snacks he wanted, and Sean reminded him about keeping the lights low and staying away from the windows. Luke flipped him the finger. “Go have fun with the Doc. Tell your father I said happy birthday.”
Sean slid his sunglasses on his face before slapping the ridiculous cap onto his head. Erin bit her lip when she read it, fighting a smile. “It’s the asshole’s fault,” he said, tilting his head toward Luke. “Laugh and I’ll spank your ass later,” he murmured when they reached the door. Her eyes went a little round. Then he added, “With my belt.” Her cheeks turned as pink as her nipples, and he fell a little harder.
* * * *
Every once in a while Sean glanced in the rearview mirror as they drove toward his parents’ house. Beside him, Erin had loosened the death grip she’d had on her skirt. He reached over and took her hand in his, giving it a quick squeeze. “We weren’t followed. Pete would’ve called if he’d seen anything suspicious as we left your apartment complex.”
“Okay.”
Chances were good that she wasn’t being watched during the day anyway. The suspect probably had a regular job, maybe even a wife and family. All the past attacks had happened in the middle of the night, so there was no reason to think he’d change his ways now, not when it had been working for him thus far.
Erin relaxed back in the seat of his Charger. It’d about killed him to let Luke drive it, because he knew how Luke treated his own vehicles, but it was necessary under the circumstances.
“So tell me about your family, Sean. Are you close?”
“Yeah, we are, which can be both blessing and curse at times.”
Shit, he shouldn’t have said that, considering Erin didn’t have much of a family. At least one that was close by and tight like his was. He glanced over at her, but she was staring straight ahead, her eyes hidden behind her dark sunglasses.
“We all live here in Jacksonville, so that means a lot of get-togethers,” he said. “My mom finds any excuse she can to do big dinners.”
She smiled. “It sounds nice.”
“Once a month is nice. Once a week is trying.”
Her mouth dropped open. “Once a week?”
“Every Sunday night.”
“Oh. Wow. That is…”
“Too much. You can say it. Trust me, it won’t hurt my feelings.”
“Does she get upset if you don’t show up?”
“She used to. Oh, I still get the guilt-trip dumped on me when I don’t come, but what are you gonna do? I’m a cop. My schedule is crazy.”
Erin smirked. “And you can use that as a convenient excuse when you don’t want to come for dinner.”
Sean grinned back at her. “The voice of experience?”
“You know it. If you hadn’t gathered already, I’m a homebody when I’m not working. Tess does her damnedest to get me to go out with her whenever she can, but I need time to decompress. Not all doctors are like that, I’m sure. In fact, most of them lead busy social lives outside the hospital. I’ll do the occasional holiday dinner party to stay in a boss’s good graces if I have to, but it’s not my favorite thing.”
“There’s nothing wrong with that,” he said.
She glanced over at him, surprise on her pretty face. “Really? You like your own company too?”
He picked up her hand and kissed her knuckles before placing it on his thigh. “You and I are a lot more alike than you think, Erin. My job stresses me the fuck out most days. When I get off the clock, all I want is a decent meal, a cold beer, and some mindless television to zone out to so I don’t have to think about the disturbing crap I dealt with that day.”
She squeezed his leg. “And here I thought opposites were supposed to attract.”
“Go figure.”
They rode in silence for a while, which was one more thing Sean liked about her. Not that she talked too much, or he didn’t enjoy the
ir conversations. That wasn’t the case at all. She just wasn’t one of those women who were constantly chattering away about themselves or asking him a million questions about the cases he worked. Instead, she tilted her head back on the seat and watched the city pass by outside the car window.
That was until he turned onto River Road.
He noticed she perked up beside him in the seat, her head pivoting from side to side as they passed luxury home after luxury home. Her hand eventually slid from his thigh to join the other in a knot on her lap, and he felt a sudden pang of guilt.
When he turned into his parents’ drive and rolled down the window to punch in the gate code, she gasped, then leaned forward slightly to stare through the front windshield. “Are you kidding me with this, Sean?”
“Relax, honey, it’s just a house.”
“Just a house?” she said. “I’ve seen shopping centers smaller than that house!”
Sean parked in the spacious brick courtyard between the garages, shut off the ignition, and turned to face her in his seat. “It’s still just a house.”
“How many bedrooms?” she asked.
“Six, not counting the two in the guest house.”
“Mm-hmm. And bathrooms?”
Sean inhaled through his nose. It was a damned big house, now that he saw it through her eyes. A sprawling red-brick monstrosity that you could get lost in if you weren’t careful. Sean had become immune to its impact since he’d grown up behind its walls. “Eight full and two half.”
“Right. Did you know there are only four bathrooms in my entire ER?” She held up that many fingers. “Four.”
Sean chuckled and grabbed the hand in front of his face. “Okay, so it’s a big house.”
“On the water.”
He sighed, mentally berating himself for not having this discussion with her before now. “I’m sorry I didn’t explain before we got here, but if I told you my family was rich, you might’ve balked at coming.”
“Oh, you can bet your sweet ass I would’ve balked. I’d be torturing Luke with DVR’d episodes of Househusbands of Dallas all night while you celebrated your dad’s birthday without me.”
“Like hell you would,” Sean all but growled. “You and I would’ve been getting sweaty on your living room floor while Luke’s butt went numb in the back of that stinking carpet van.”
Erin laughed. “Okay. You were right not to tell me beforehand, but still…you could’ve at least prepared me just a little.”
“There’s no easy way to slip that kind of thing into a conversation without sounding like a braying jackass.”
“So”—she made a sweeping gesture toward the grounds with her hand—“how did all this come to be? Explain so I don’t look like a total hick to your family.”
Sean frowned. “Your father was a doctor. You went to medical school. Your brother went to Embry-Riddle. Surely you grew up with money.”
She shook her head. “Not really. My dad was a family practitioner in a small private practice. A lot of times he’d provide free medical care for patients who couldn’t afford it or didn’t have insurance. There was some insurance money when my parents were killed, but with our living expenses and Will’s tuition, it wouldn’t cover everything. Will worked two jobs while he went to school. I was lucky enough to snag a few scholarships and grants myself, but I still had to take out student loans.” She made a wry face. “I’ll be paying those damn things back until I’m old and gray.”
Now he really felt like an ass. He’d assumed that because her father was a doctor, there was money in her background. And then she’d made that statement the first night they’d met about bringing home the bigger paycheck. Maybe some small part of him wanted to show her the differences in their incomes wouldn’t matter to him, because he had something to fall back on if he needed it.
His parents didn’t spoil their children the way a lot of wealthy families did. In fact, they’d always made Sean and his siblings earn whatever they’d been given, either through good grades in school or by working for it. But if he were to stick out his hand, his father would write him a check as long as the request was within reason. And his mother was always sneaking into his apartment and leaving presents for him—new towels or sheets, a rug or a piece of artwork. It was her way of circumventing his refusal of a complete remodel. Instead, she did it one small piece at a time.
Shit. He rubbed his jaw. “Christ, I don’t know what to say. I’m sorry I jumped to those conclusions.”
“Well, I did too. I made that stupid remark about making more money than you the first night we met. It was tacky and uncalled for, and I apologize.”
“But you had a valid point. There are men out there who would have a problem with the money you make. I’m not one of them, and yes, my family’s net worth has a lot to do with it, but I live on what I make, just so you know that too. I don’t take handouts from them, even though my mom tries her best to class me up. And I know you earn every penny you make. So are we good now?”
“Yes, once I get over the shock of the enormousness of that house,” she said, tilting her head sideways.
“To be fair, my dad inherited this piece of land from my grandfather. He just…built the—fuck, I’ll shut up now. All I’m doing is digging the hole deeper.”
“No, you’re not.” She reached out to cup his cheek.
Sean grabbed her wrist and held it there for a moment before dropping a kiss into her palm. He liked her so much already, he hardly knew how to process it, how to behave, how to even consider what it would be like not to see her every minute of the day once this case was over. It was ridiculous, he knew. Nobody wanted to spend twenty-four hours a day with another person. Nobody.
Even though it was out of necessity right now, he would miss her when the time came to go back to normality. He’d crave her body and her mouth and her scent, just like he was doing right now, with her sitting two feet away from him. He’d crave all her little idiosyncrasies and perceived flaws, though he saw none. Most of all, he’d crave Erin.
“What does your family do?” she asked.
“My dad’s a lawyer. Corporate real estate mostly, but he’s semiretired. My great-grandfather was a shipping magnate back when the Port of Jacksonville first opened in the early 1900s. My grandfather worked for him before taking over when his health declined. Not long after, they sold their company. Grandpa believed in investing in real estate heavily. Almost everything he bought was on the St. Johns River, so you can imagine what kind of values we’re talking about, even back then.”
“Is your grandfather still alive?”
Sean shook his head. “He died from a brain aneurysm when I was twenty-two.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“He was a pretty cool old man. Collected model trains, Remington bronze art statues, and young wives. That’s probably what killed him.”
Erin grinned. “It can happen. The heart gives out before the spirit does, or the libido.”
“At least he went out with a smile on his face.”
“And what about your siblings? What do they do?”
“Caleb and Travis are both lawyers in dad’s practice. Olivia’s currently a professional student. She’s changed majors three times. If she starts asking you questions about medical school, my parents’ heads might explode.”
“If she does, I’ll be sure and highlight all the nasty aspects of the job, like those wonderful hospital smells, copious amounts of body fluids, and sleep deprivation.”
“My parents would love you forever,” Sean said, thinking he was going to be right there with them in that sentiment. He knew it as sure as he knew his own name. He was falling for her, and there wasn’t a damned thing to be done about it except hope for the best. “And if we don’t go in soon, the party will come to us. Ready?”
Erin fussed with her blouse, then peeked at herself in the visor mirror. “As I’ll ever be.”
Sean climbed out of the car and circled around to help her out. When
he closed the car door, he pulled her close for a quick kiss. “You’re beautiful inside and out.”
Her cheeks flushed at his compliment. “Thank you.”
“And despite the outward appearances here”—he hitched a thumb toward the house—“my family is very warm and down-to-earth. They won’t expect you to know which fork to use for the salad or frown at you for eating with your elbows on the table.”
“Well, there’s a mercy.”
Chapter Eleven
Sean’s description of his folks as warm and down-to-earth was true, but Erin found that it was also rather inadequate. They were much, much more—funny, boisterous, affectionate, like a Hallmark movie come to life. All of them, including children and significant others, had enveloped her as if she were an old family friend, not some random stranger they’d never laid eyes on before.
His brothers, Caleb and Travis, were a lot like Sean in both looks and disposition, and they in turn were all clones of their father, Tom. Olivia was reed thin and beautiful, but fairer in coloring than the males in her family. She favored her mother, Caroline, and possessed the same bubbly personality and mannerisms. They both talked with their hands a lot and laughed freely. The brothers were very laid-back and, in typical brotherly fashion, enjoyed finding ways to rib one another. Being around such a close-knit bunch was heartwarming, but she couldn’t deny an annoying needle of envy over the close family dynamic.
So far, the afternoon was going without a hitch. The conversation was pleasant without being too nosy, and she hadn’t learned any bizarre childhood secrets about Sean that would come close to tempering her attraction to him. At this point, she was confident nothing would accomplish that task, shy of finding out he’d drowned puppies in the backyard swimming pool during his youth.
When asked about how they had met, Sean made up a convincing yet simple story about bumping into each other in an aisle of the grocery store. By the time he finished embellishing, Erin had gone a little mushy inside, as if the fun fairytale meeting had been real.
The only member of Sean’s family Erin was worried about was his father. It wasn’t that he was rude or even standoffish toward her. There was just something…off about him that she couldn’t pinpoint. The moment Tom Rembert found out she was a doctor, he’d stopped making eye contact with her. That usually only meant one thing, and it wasn’t good. Erin regretted where her mind had gone, because it dampened the experience of getting to know them better.