Another love, p.12
Another Love, page 12
Obviously Sandy wasn’t happy, and Greg was feeling her stress. Hell, he knew his daughter could try the patience of a saint. Still, he loved Shana and hoped this time with him and Sandy would restore the closeness he missed. “Shana doesn’t much like anybody who tries to tell her what to do. From what I’ve heard, most kids her age are like that. I’ll bet you gave Erin and her husband some rough times when you first went to live with them.”
Sandy smiled, a nervous little motion of her lips that didn’t reach her eyes. “I guess. I don’t know how to be a stepmother.” She wouldn’t look at Greg.
The way she stared at the spa and pool that looked like a natural feature of the back yard landscape made Greg very nervous. “You’ll learn, love. And I’ll be here to help smooth over any rough spots.” He wished he felt half as confident as he sounded.
“But you’re away so much at night, and I’ll be here with her all by myself. Greg, what if I can’t make her like me? I already loved Erin when I moved in with her and Bill.”
“Hush. I’ve hired an associate, and he’ll be taking call every other night. Besides, you took my office in hand and you’ve made it run like a top. Handling one little girl half your age should be a piece of cake.”
“All right.” As if determined to put the prospect of becoming a full-time stepmom out of her mind, Sandy got up and came to Greg, letting out a sexy little whimper when he pulled her down on his lap and tweaked her nipples through the flimsy material of her red string bikini top.
Her fingers tangled in the hair on his chest when she searched out and teased his nipples as he was doing to hers. He groaned when she shifted around to face him fully, wrapping her legs around his waist and lining up his suddenly burning erection with her warm, moist pussy.
“Interested, are you?” Her tongue darted out and moistened her inviting lips as she looked down at his cock as it rose against the confines of his tight, black swim trunks. He shuddered and grew even harder when Sandy slid his suit down, exposing his cockhead and stroking it slowly with a teasing finger.
She had a way of making him feel like he was the only man in the world. And of erasing everything from his mind but the need to fuck her until they both collapsed in a sweaty, satiated heap. “Don’t stop there, take it all the way off.”
Once she had him naked, she bent and lapped at his cock with her tongue. If she didn’t stop, he’d explode. As it was, he was so hot he could barely breathe.
Desperate to get lost in her hot, wet cunt, he clasped the warm, naked skin of her buttocks. She might as well not have bothered with the tiny T-back scrap for all it covered. It easily slid aside, exposing her sopping pussy to take his hard, fast thrust.
She was so hot and tight…so wet. “Oh, yeah. Squeeze my cock. That’s it. God, you feel so good. How could I have gotten so lucky?”
He forced his eyelids not to close. Looking at Sandy when they were making love was worth the effort of holding back, teasing her with long, lazy strokes. Damn it, he loved the way she writhed against him. Loved feeling her cunt tightening around his cock like a vise. Even the sexy way her mouth slackened and she cried out his name when she came made Greg feel ten feet tall. Not until he felt her jerk and constrict around his cock for the third time did he close his eyes and let go, thrusting one more time and giving himself up to a shattering climax.
“I love you, baby.” He held onto her silky thighs, not wanting to give up the pleasure of being deep inside her even after the fire inside him had been doused.
“Baby?”
“Yeah. You’re my sweet, loving baby.”
Sandy nuzzled at his neck like a friendly kitten. “I’m your woman, not your baby. Shana’s your baby.”
“Shana, and the ones we’re going to have together. Still, I’ll call you my baby if I want to.” Greg felt himself hardening again. It had never felt so good, so natural, before. He had felt her hot, welcoming wetness ease his way, enjoyed the feel of their body fluids mingling when he spilled his seed deep into her womb.
He hadn’t protected her.
“We may have one of those babies sooner than we planned, honey,” he murmured as he lifted her off him and adjusted their bodies to fit side by side on the generously wide chair. “I forgot to use a condom.”
“I know.”
“And you didn’t say anything?”
Sandy reached out and caressed his cheek. “I think I said please.”
Greg met her gaze and felt the love he had been searching for since he was a boy. “Please knock me up?”
“I wouldn’t mind if you did. I want your baby. Several of them. By the way, it’s the twelfth day of my cycle.”
“In that case, it’s my professional opinion that you should start planning your wedding, then, Ms. Daniels.” Greg laughed, but he was only half joking.
He wouldn’t worry about how the two women he loved would get along, living for a time in the same house. Life was too short for agonizing over details. He’d let each day take care of itself. Maybe he was overoptimistic, but he had a feeling that while he, Shana and Sandy would have to adjust to being a family, everything would work out.
* * * * *
Every day over the next month, Blake gave Erin conflicting signals. One moment he would be warm, friendly, and teasing. The next, he’d turn cool and distant, but only with her. Since Jamie was born, Blake had doted on the baby and Timmy, whose finalized adoption papers Blake brought home to her yesterday afternoon.
More important, Blake had suddenly started springing surprises on her, such as his love for horses that he hadn’t indulged for years. Tomorrow they’d fly out to his great uncle’s ranch to choose a few to have shipped home for them to ride. Excited, because riding had been her own childhood passion, Erin stepped into the stable at the back of Blake’s property, anxious to see the results of renovation work that had been going on since last week.
“I’m glad you ride. It always made me feel bad for Blake that I was scared to death of horses. You know, this is the first time I’ve ever been inside the stable.”
Erin recognized Glenna’s voice at once, although it took a few minutes for her to find the ghost hovering behind a half-closed storeroom door, as if afraid of the horses that weren’t there.
Why had Glenna come here? It was painfully obvious to Erin that this must be the last place the ghost would have chosen to go. “I’ve always liked to ride. It’s been years, though, since I’ve been on a horse.”
“Blake, too. He got rid of his horses when he realized how much they frightened me. His dog, too.”
Erin smiled. “I wondered if Blake would mind Timmy having a puppy. After his next surgery, that is.”
“He won’t mind. He’d go as nuts over a dog as he has over the boys. Well, maybe not quite that nuts, but close.” She shot Erin an impish grin.
“I don’t know what to make of Blake. Sometimes I think you’re right, that he’s giving us a chance to have a real marriage, but then he clams up and won’t let me in to help him heal.”
Glenna glided close enough that Erin almost felt her ghostly aura. “Those times when he shuts you out are going to get shorter and farther apart. Hang in there. As much as I hate to admit it, you’re going to be a better match for Blake than I ever was. What you need to do now is get back to the house and set a scene. It’s your baby’s one-month birthday, in case you forgot. Celebrate with Jamie. Then start seducing Jamie’s daddy.”
Erin’s mouth dropped open. “It’s too soon for that.” Not to mention that talking to Glenna about seducing the ghost’s widower struck Erin as bizarre. And incredibly awkward.
“Maybe for the main event, but not for a preview of what you two can look forward to in another couple of weeks. Don’t kid yourself. Blake hasn’t had sex for months. He can’t help being horny. So—seduce him. Make him so hot that when Greg gives you the go-ahead, he won’t be able to resist. I would, if I were still alive.”
Erin mulled over Glenna’s outrageous suggestion as she watched the ghost fade out of sight. Why not? The idea of seducing Blake wasn’t all that outrageous when she considered it had been not months but years since she’d had sex. Suddenly Erin was starved. And her husband-in-name-only looked good enough to eat. Literally.
After taking one last look around the stable she strolled back to the house and started to make preparations. Later that afternoon, Erin thought she heard Glenna murmur her approval at the menu she asked Mary to serve in the small sitting room in the master suite.
Erin went about her business, picking out linens and dishes to set the table. Maybe those dark blue pottery plates. There was nothing romantic about them. Well, maybe that would be best. No use being blatant about seducing him. Still, she hesitated.
“Use them. They used to belong to Blake’s grandmother. He likes them because they’ll hold a huge hunk of steak. Might as well find his mother’s gold-plated silverware and use it, too. I hated it, so he hasn’t seen it for years.”
Obviously Glenna wanted this seduction to work, which unnerved Erin. Still, if the ghost wanted to help who was she to object? She selected a pair of crystal wineglasses. “Will these do?” she asked, barely whispering for fear Mary would hear her and think she had gone over the deep end.
The stemmed glasses levitated out of Erin’s hand as if by magic and returned to their places in the china cabinet. As she stared, aghast, two glasses made of jewel-toned carnival glass came out of the cabinet and nestled in her hands. “Use these,” Glenna commanded sweetly.
When Erin had finished setting the table, Glenna badgered her into going to the attic, where she found a pleasant landscape and several accent pieces. Once she’d hung the picture and set a trio of colorful glass decoys on the mantel, the sitting room reflected a personal touch that had been missing from the coldly elegant bedroom and sitting room.
“He’ll like it—and you,” Glenna said as she floated away.
Good. Two hours left before Blake would be home. She’d use the time to pamper herself now that Jamie was fed and in the capable hands of Theresa, his nanny, and Timmy had settled down with Mary to help with dinner. Looking forward to the evening, Erin rifled through her limited wardrobe, settling on a body-skimming caftan woven of dark blue cotton shot with metallic threads of gold. She assumed Blake would like it since he was the one who’d brought it to her in the hospital, the day after Jamie was born. Maybe tonight, it would appeal to him more, since she’d shrunk down to her pre-pregnancy size—almost.
She rifled through her underwear drawer, pushing aside plain white nursing bras and matching panties. There they were, the sexy-as-hell navy satin-and-lace thong and matching bra that Sandy had given her before her wedding. When she held the miniscule bra up against her swollen breasts, she laughed. No doubt she’d look far sexier than the bra’s designer had intended. Good. Even if Blake never knew that beneath his tasteful, luxurious gift was underwear that ought to raise the interest of a dead man, Erin would know.
Luxuriating in the ritual of beautifying her body, Erin methodically waxed her legs. She’d always hated the feel of razor stubble, so much that she hardly felt the sting anymore when she jerked off each strip of hardened wax. Next she dumped fragrant oil into the tub while it filled with water, breathing in the damp, sweet air that permeated her skin while she shampooed her hair and applied a light cleansing mask to her face. Then she climbed into the tub.
“You’re going to knock him clear off his feet.” Glenna laughed when Erin reflexively crossed her hands across her breasts. “What’s that fragrance?”
“Something Sandy got some free samples of at La Parfumerie. The bath oil came out of that tube over on the makeup table.”
Glenna reached out and lifted the tiny sample container. “I don’t believe this! Erin, this is an omen.”
“What do you mean?”
“Do you know what this is?”
What was Glenna getting at? “It’s La Mer l’Été. It means ‘Summer Sea’. Just like it says on the package.”
“Blake bought me a huge bottle of the perfume once, after he smelled it on a woman in the shop. He loved it. On her. Unfortunately, when I put it on, I smelled like a scared skunk. He was awfully disappointed.”
“You don’t think I should wear it?”
“Oh, yes, you definitely should wear it. You should run out and buy the biggest bottles you can find of the stuff. It smells the way it’s supposed to on you. Blake won’t be able to keep his hands to himself, not that he would for long, in any case.”
“You really think so?”
“Yeah. I do. Relax and enjoy your bath. I’m going to make myself scarce.” With that, Glenna faded away, leaving Erin to her bath and her reading.
Half an hour later, the timer’s shrill buzz brought Erin from the fantasy world she had found in her book, an erotic romance with a tall, dark, gorgeous hero who reminded her a lot of Blake. She set the book down and climbed from the warm tub to subject herself to icy needles of water that pulsed from four jets in the separate shower.
Rough-soft terry cloth soaked up the water from her skin, leaving a faint, sweet smell of lemon, flowers and herbs. Beginning with her toes and working all the way up to her neck, she massaged cool lotion into her skin, strengthening the fragrance just a bit. Finally, she took up the tiny vial that held pure essence of La Mer l’Été and dotted drops of it between her breasts, at each elbow, and on the hollows behind both knees.
Pampering did wonders toward making Erin feel pretty and sexy. Her tummy still looked a little convex above the tiny thong bikini, and her legs could use a bit more firming exercise, she allowed as she looked critically in the mirror. All in all, though, she liked how she looked. If Blake saw her naked for the first time tonight, he shouldn’t be too disappointed.
After all, he saw her breasts almost every day, when he watched her nurse their baby. He’d seen her pussy, too. Erin’s cheeks grew warm when she recalled he’d been there watching when Jamie had emerged from her straining body. Not a sight to set a man’s blood boiling, she thought ruefully.
She glanced at the clock. Blake would be home soon, and she wanted to be ready. Hurriedly, she dried her hair, applied light makeup, and slipped into the caftan, noting with satisfaction how it emphasized her new slimness with a subtlety that belied the frankly sexy way she felt inside. As she stepped out of the dressing room, she heard Blake’s voice from Jamie’s room.
* * * * *
“Would you like to bring Jamie in the sitting room?” Erin asked a few minutes later when she joined Blake in the nursery. “He could join us while we enjoy his birthday dinner.”
Blake regarded his sleeping baby. “Maybe we should let him sleep. I brought him a pony.” He reached into the crib and showing Erin the black and white stuffed animal. “It’s got a music box inside.” Before setting it down he wound it up, and a tinkly version of “Home on the Range” began to play.
“You’re spoiling him. And we have dinner waiting.”
“Where?”
“In the sitting room.”
At least it wasn’t in her bedroom, where Blake knew damn well he wouldn’t be able to keep his thoughts off what he’d like to be doing in that big new king-size bed. “I’ll wash up and join you in a minute.” As they left the nursery together, he tried to recall where he’d had smelled that incredibly erotic perfume before.
He should have brought Jamie in here. Timmy, too. But Blake doubted anything could take his mind off Erin…and the fact they were alone together, in shouting distance of a bed his cock was practically screaming to break in. That scent of hers…he tried to put it out of his mind but couldn’t.
The food tasted great, but for all the enjoyment Blake got from eating it, the prime New York strip steak might just as well have been old shoe leather. Try as he might, he couldn’t take his eyes off Erin. She’d always been attractive. Tonight, though, with her shoulder-length dark hair loosely curled around her face Erin took his breath away.
Her blue eyes sparkled when she looked at him. And her beautifully shaped lips tempted him to taste them. The long dark blue cover-up he’d brought her in the hospital skimmed slimmed-down curves his fingers itched to explore. God, how she and that elusive, airy scent she was wearing turned him on. Blake wanted her badly, and from the looks she gave him, he was pretty certain she wanted him, too.
What could they talk about? Before they finished their steaks, they’d exhausted the subject of the trip, and they’d praised Jamie’s and Timmy’s various accomplishments over salad. Blake was desperate to keep the conversation going, if for no other reason than to keep his mind off what he knew he shouldn’t have. Couldn’t have, at least not now.
“Greg bought Sandy a ring today,” he told her as he sank a fork into a piece of apple pie. “What would you think about our giving them an engagement party three weeks from this Friday?”
Erin’s smile nearly took his breath away. “Sandy would love it. She told me yesterday that she wished she could give a small party, so she could show Greg off to her friends from school. It won’t be too expensive if I have her keep her guest list small. I can handwrite the invitations, and we can serve cake and maybe some simple sandwiches.”
Blake held up a hand. “I’m not worried about the cost. Greg’s one of my closest friends, and Sandy’s your sister. Besides, the party will be a good setting to introduce you as my wife,” he added, recalling Kay Halpern’s snide remarks the day Jamie was born.
“Oh. How many people are we talking about?” Erin asked warily.
“A hundred or so, plus whomever you and Sandy want to invite, give or take. A cocktail dance would probably work best for that many guests, don’t you think?”
Erin raised her eyebrows expressively. “I think that’s an awfully big party to put together in three weeks’ time. I suppose I can do it, though.” The long, slender fingers of her left hand tapped out a nervous rhythm on the smoked glass tabletop.
“You’ll have plenty of help,” he said, wanting to allay her obvious discomfort at the thought of hosting such a large gathering.
