The Chef's Surprise Baby

by Brenda Harlen

  “Despite the whole dinner fiasco, I’m glad they stopped by,” she said now. “And that I got to see the video of their wedding. It was a beautiful ceremony, wasn’t it?”

  “Sure,” he agreed. “Though I’m not sure a Vegas wedding is legal if it’s not officiated by Elvis.”

  She smiled again. “Well, legal or not, I hope they have a long and happy life together.”

  He hoped so, too, but he didn’t think the newlyweds were as head over heels in love as they were pretending to be. Because while Erin was watching the video of the bride and groom exchanging vows, Kyle had been watching the bride and groom.

  Erin was adamant that any feelings she had for Nick Burnett were long gone, but Kyle had picked up a different vibe from her ex that made him suspect their romantic history wasn’t as firmly in the past for him. And the way Anna had clung to her husband, constantly touching him to draw his attention back to her, the man’s bride knew it, too.

  Throughout the course of their friendship, Kyle had heard a lot of Erin’s family stories, so he knew that Anna wasn’t just the youngest of four children but her mother’s obvious favorite. He might have wanted to dispute the claim, but Erin had said it in such a matter-of-fact tone, without resentment or blame, that he’d realized even if it wasn’t true, she believed it to be so.

  “My mom almost died giving birth to me,” she’d explained to him a long time ago. “But with Anna, she barely broke a sweat during labor.

  “‘The most perfect childbirth experience ever,’ she always said. ‘Resulting in the most perfect baby.’

  “Not just perfect but beautiful,” Erin confided. “With pretty blond curls and big blue eyes.”

  In fact, she’d been such a beautiful baby that Bonnie Napper had entered her youngest daughter in a local beauty pageant for infants and toddlers, leading to Anna being named “Cutest Little Hooker” three years in a row.

  Kyle had choked on his drink when Erin told him that, certain she must be joking. But apparently the brilliant minds behind the pageant in Silver Hook saw nothing wrong with the title.

  To his way of thinking, Erin would have been well within her rights to resent Anna, but he got the impression—not just from everything she’d ever told him but also from what he’d observed during tonight’s visit—that she adored her little sister as much as everyone else in the family did.

  Sitting close to both sisters at dinner, he’d noticed that there was a definite resemblance between them in that they both had blond hair and blue eyes. But Erin’s hair was thicker and shinier, her eyes darker and bluer. It was as if Anna was a less vibrant copy of her older sibling, and judging by the way she kept pushing herself into the center of the conversation, she was well aware of it.

  To her credit, though, she seemed sincerely devoted to her husband. And while he suspected that she could have set her sights higher than Nick Burnett, it was a bigger surprise to Kyle to meet the man who’d once won Erin’s heart. The outdoorsman was tall and skinny, with thick-framed glasses and spiky hair that had probably been a popular style when he was in high school—which was, of course, when he’d actually dated Erin.

  “I just hope they’re ready to be parents,” she said now. “Anna’s barely twenty-eight and Nick acts even younger.”

  “If they’re not ready now, they’ve got almost seven months to get ready,” Kyle pointed out.

  “I know Nick’s always dreamed of having a big family, but I can’t recall Anna ever mentioning wanting kids. Then again, I’m probably not the one she’d confide in. We don’t talk about things like that,” Erin admitted. “I’ve certainly never told her that, as much as I sometimes think I want to be a mom, I’m afraid I’ll replicate the relationship I have with mine.”

  “I know you and your mother aren’t exactly close,” he acknowledged, “but why would you think that would affect your relationship with your own child?”

  “I always assumed it was the physical trauma of childbirth that prevented her from connecting with me. But what if there’s some kind of maternal gene that helps a new mom bond with her baby...and what if I don’t have it?”

  “Not that I’ve given it much thought in anything more than a vague sure-I’d-like-to-be-a-mom-someday kind of way,” she continued, without giving him a chance to respond to her question. “But maybe that’s because I haven’t had sex in forever and a real relationship in a lot longer than that.”

  He should circle back to her concerns about motherhood and offer some kind of reassurance, but the last part of her remark seemed much more relevant in the here and now.

  “How long is forever?” he asked, his curiosity piqued.

  She shook her head, her cheeks turning pink. “I didn’t mean to say that part out loud.”

  He grinned. “But since you did...how long is forever?”

  She ignored the question. “The problem is that you’re so easy to talk to, I sometimes forget to filter what I say.”

  “That’s not a problem. We’re friends. You shouldn’t have to filter what you say to me.”

  “And tonight was a reminder of only some of the many reasons I’m glad we’re friends,” she said. “I can’t thank you enough for being here.”

  “Because I rescued the pasta?” he guessed.

  “Your impressive culinary skills are the least of it,” she said. “You also knew I was on edge before Anna and Nick got here and you managed to distract me.”

  “How did I do that?”

  She sipped her wine. “You’re going to make me say it, aren’t you?”

  “If you don’t say it, how am I supposed to know what you’re talking about?” he pointed out reasonably.

  “Fine, I’ll say it,” she decided. “Because not talking about it hasn’t stopped me thinking about it.”

  He waited.

  But she took another sip of wine before she said, “I’m talking about the kiss.”

  He shifted on the sofa then so that he was facing her. “The barely-a-kiss that was interrupted by the untimely arrival of the newlyweds?”

  She gave a jerky nod.

  “You think that was intended as a distraction?”

  She stared at the burgundy liquid in her glass. “I can’t think of any other reason that you’d kiss me.”

  “How about the fact that you’re smart and beautiful and, after more than six years, I finally decided to stop ignoring the attraction that’s been simmering between us since the beginning?”

  Erin swallowed another mouthful of wine to moisten her suddenly dry throat.

  “I guess that could be an alternative explanation,” she finally acknowledged.

  “It’s the truth,” he said.

  “Now I wish Anna and Nick had shown up at least thirty seconds later.”

  “Why thirty seconds?” he asked.

  She shrugged. “I figure that’s how long it would take for me to know how it feels to really be kissed by you.”

  His lips curved. “It would take a lot longer than that.”

  The words sounded like more than a statement of fact—they sounded like a promise. And everything inside Erin quivered with anticipation, ignoring the warning of her brain that they were edging toward dangerous territory.

  She lowered her feet to the ground and set her wineglass on the coffee table, then sidled closer to him. “Show me.”

  Kyle dipped his head, and anticipation caused Erin’s breath to back up in her lungs as butterflies took flight in her belly. But instead of finding her mouth, his lips brushed over the curve of her cheek, then skimmed her jaw below her ear, making her shiver. His touch was gentle, more of a caress than a kiss, and unbelievably arousing.

  “You’re supposed to be kissing me,” she said, feeling breathless already.

  “I am,” he told her, as his lips continued to graze her skin.

  Hers parted on a sigh of p
leasure when he finally captured them with his own. His mouth was warm and firm, with just the right amount of pressure. And when his tongue touched the seam of her lips, she welcomed the deepening of the kiss.

  He was right. Thirty seconds wasn’t nearly long enough to experience the pleasure of being kissed by Kyle Landry. But as their tongues dallied and danced together, time lost all meaning for Erin. She didn’t know how long the kiss went on, she only knew that she never wanted it to end.

  He continued to kiss her as he drew her onto his lap, so that she was straddling his hips with her knees, her skirt up around her thighs. His oh-so-skillful hands moved over her, sliding up her back, down her arms, making her shiver. Making her yearn.

  She pressed closer to him, relishing the heat and hardness of his body against hers, reveling in the sensual assault of his mouth on hers.

  Who knew that he could kiss like this?

  Certainly not Erin, because if she’d known, there was no way she would have resisted her feelings for him for six years.

  Or maybe she would have, because they were friends.

  And a surefire way to ruin their friendship would be to give in to the attraction between them. He was right about that, too. The attraction had been there all along, simmering beneath the surface, leading inexorably to this moment.

  She remembered the first time she’d ever met him, five days before Lucy and Claudio’s wedding. The bride had sent her brother to pick up her maid of honor from the airport in Elko, and when Erin had turned away from the luggage carousel and her eyes had met Kyle’s, she’d felt the reverberations right down to her toes. Of course, that was before she’d known who he was. Because while the idea of a holiday romance was momentarily intriguing—especially to a woman who hadn’t been naked with a guy for longer than she could remember—she knew it was a Very Bad Idea to hook up with her best friend’s brother.

  As soon as Kyle introduced himself, Erin realized that she should have recognized him from the numerous photos her roommate had shown her over the years. But those photos hadn’t done him justice—and they certainly hadn’t prepared her for meeting the man in the flesh.

  And she was admittedly disappointed to know that nothing could ever happen between them, because something could only lead to all kinds of awkward the morning after. Instead, she ignored the tingle that skated through her veins when he shook her hand, the tremble that weakened her knees when he smiled at her and even the tug of longing that pulled in her belly every time she breathed in his scent on the forty-five-minute drive from Elko to Haven.

  Because he was off-limits.

  Her best friend’s brother.

  Over the next few days, she’d spent a fair amount of time with him as they helped with preparations for the wedding. During that time, she discovered that he wasn’t just incredibly handsome but charming and funny—and an amazingly talented chef who chafed at the restrictions imposed upon him by his boss at Jo’s Pizza, who also happened to be his mom.

  Having some mother issues of her own, Erin had empathized with him over a sausage and roasted red pepper pizza. While they were chatting, Quinn Ellison had come in to pick up her order and commented to Kyle that the pizzeria’s revamped website had forced her to admit that she needed to update her own. Kyle was happy to introduce the local suspense writer to the creative talent behind the vision, which ultimately led to Quinn hiring Erin to redesign and maintain her website. And in the years since, the bestselling author had become not just her biggest client but one of her best friends.

  Erin would always be grateful to Kyle for helping her make that connection, which was yet one more reason she’d felt the need to ignore the hum of attraction whenever she was with him. It didn’t seem right to repay his helpfulness by making a move on him. Especially when he’d given no indication that he might welcome such a move.

  So she’d buried her feelings deep, but recently, they’d started to push their way to the surface again.

  She hadn’t noticed—or maybe she hadn’t let herself hope—that he was attracted to her, too. But the way he was kissing her right now definitely held promise.

  After what seemed like only minutes but might have been forever, he finally eased his mouth from hers, his breathing as labored as her own.

  “I should probably head over to the restaurant,” he said, when he managed to speak.

  But his arms were still around her, as if he was reluctant to let her go.

  And she didn’t want to be let go.

  Not yet.

  Not when there was still so much new and interesting to explore between them.

  “No.” Erin shook her head. “You should stay.”

  Chapter Five

  Kyle held her gaze for a long minute. “Are you sure?”

  Erin didn’t hesitate to respond: “I’m sure.”

  His lips curved slowly. “Bedroom?”

  She knew he was asking permission rather than directions, and she nodded.

  He lifted her with him as he rose to his feet. She hooked her legs around his waist and linked her arms around his neck, holding on to him as he made his way down the hall. He paused inside the doorway of her bedroom and lowered her feet to the ground, then dipped his head and kissed her again.

  She sighed in blissful pleasure as his tongue slid between her lips, and shivered as his hands moved over her body, his palms caressing her skin through the silky fabric of her dress, stoking her desire. But she wanted to touch him, too. She wanted to feel the press of his naked body against hers, inside hers. She opened the button and unzipped his jeans, then reached inside his boxer briefs to wrap her fingers around his hard, velvety length.

  With their mouths still fused together, she felt as much as heard him groan as she stroked him. Once...twice...before he captured her wrist and gently removed her hand.

  “We’ve waited too long to rush this now,” he told her.

  “We’ve waited too long,” she agreed. “I don’t want to wait another minute.”

  He tipped his forehead to rest against hers. “I’m trying to show some restraint here.”

  “I don’t want restraint. I want to know that you want me as much as I want you.”

  “I do,” he promised, and whisked the dress over her head before dispensing with his own clothes and lowering her onto the bed, covering her naked body with his own.

  She trembled, more eager than nervous, as his weight pressed her into the mattress. She knew he worked out—he often joked that he needed to hit the gym to compensate for the number of calories he consumed in the kitchen, sampling this and that. Still, she hadn’t expected his muscles to be so sculpted, his skin so taut. Her hands moved over his body, a truly pleasurable exploration and discovery.

  “Do you have a condom handy or should I dig my wallet out of the pocket of my pants—which are somewhere on the floor?” he asked.

  “I’ve got one,” she said, reaching for the drawer of her night table, then hesitating.

  “Please tell me you’re not having second thoughts now,” he said.

  “No second thoughts,” she promised. “I’m just trying to remember when I bought the box of condoms shoved way in the back of this drawer.”

  “Considering that you haven’t had sex in forever,” he said, quoting her. “It was probably a long time ago.”

  She pulled out a square packet and held it close to her face, looking for a date imprinted on the wrapper and breathing a sigh of relief when she found it—and confirmed that it wasn’t outdated.

  “We’re good,” she said, offering him the square packet.

  He carefully tore open the wrapper and sheathed himself.

  “Tell me again that you’re sure,” he said, brushing his lips over hers.

  “I’m so sure that if you’re not inside me in the next thirty seconds, I’m going to scream,” she told him.

  “I’
m hoping that you’ll scream when I am inside you.”

  She couldn’t believe he was teasing her at a time like this—but even as she felt her cheeks flush with heat, she countered with “Make me.”

  He nibbled playfully on her bottom lip. “You know I can’t resist a challenge.”

  “I do know,” she admitted, as his mouth moved over her jaw, down her throat, trailing kisses along the way. His hands were just as busy as his mouth, exploring her curves and contours, touching and teasing until she was quivering all over. Her heart was pounding; her blood was pulsing; her body was yearning.

  “Kyle. Please.”

  He nudged her legs apart, and her breath quickened in anticipation of his hard length inside her. Filling and fulfilling her. Then anticipation became reality, and it was So. Much. Better. than she’d imagined.

  His movements were deliberate. Slow, deep strokes that seemed to touch her very center, pushing her closer and closer to the edge...and finally...over.

  She cried out as the first wave of the climax washed over her, proof that he’d met her challenge. And his lips were curved in a smug smile as they captured hers again, swallowing her sounds of ecstasy as wave after wave of pleasure crashed over her and swept her away.

  * * *

  It was dark when Kyle awakened, with Erin’s naked body snuggled close to his. They’d made love two more times during the night, and yet arousal stirred in him again. It took every ounce of willpower he possessed to inch away from her and ease out from under the covers when what he really wanted to do was roll her onto her back and join their bodies together again.

  Though it was early still—too early for most people—he had places to go. The local farmers would soon be stocking their market shelves with fresh produce, and he was always one of the first customers, as happy as a kid in a candy store to explore the various offerings and imagine how he might incorporate them into his menu at the restaurant.

  Erin didn’t stir as he dressed, quickly and quietly, in the dark, and he breathed a sigh of relief as he slipped out of her apartment. They were going to have to talk about what had happened the night before, there was no way around it. But while he had no regrets about making love with her, he was admittedly a little apprehensive about that chat.