Feels Like Family

by Sherryl Woods

  The first wave of pleasure caught her by surprise, a quick, intense burst that erupted at her core, then rippled through her. While she was still savoring that, the sensations deepened in intensity, gathering force like the eruptions of a volcano, each one washing over her in wave after sensual wave.

  When Erik’s body finally tensed in release, Helen was already shuddering, every inch of her body covered in a sheen of perspiration. It took only one quick brush of his finger, one touch of his mouth to her breast, and she came apart with him in a dazzling explosion that left her heart thundering in her chest and her mind reeling.

  Never so at a loss for words in her life, she looked into Erik’s eyes. The moment demanded something, some expression of appreciation, or at the very least an awestruck “Wow!” She couldn’t even manage that.

  “You okay?” he asked, regarding her with concern. “You look a little dazed.”

  “Dazed doesn’t begin to cover it,” she whispered.

  He grinned with smug, male superiority. “Really?”

  “You know you’re good at this. You must.”

  “It’s been a while. I thought I might have lost my touch.”

  “It hasn’t been that long. This is the second time tonight.”

  He laughed. “I meant before tonight.”

  “Well, obviously it’s all come back to you,” she said.

  “You didn’t do too badly yourself.”

  “I can do better,” she said. “I was a bit out of practice, too.”

  “Any better and we’d both be dead,” he commented. “Now for the tricky part.”

  “Which is?”

  “Are you going to stay the night or are you going to scamper out of here like a scared rabbit?”

  She didn’t much like the imagery, especially as she’d considered making up an excuse to leave. “What makes you think I’m scared?”

  “I can see it in your eyes.”

  “Well, I’m not,” she protested. “I’m staying.”

  To his credit, he didn’t gloat. He merely nodded. “I’m glad. You hungry? I could fix something.”

  Helen considered the offer. “You know, I never eat this late, but I’m starved.”

  “Good. Me, too. You stay here. I’ll be right back.”

  “All this and he cooks, too,” she murmured as he climbed out of bed. “What did I do to deserve this?”

  “I think we both know the answer to that,” he said wryly. “Back in a minute.”

  When he’d left the room, Helen glanced around. She’d noticed very little about his house when they’d arrived. They’d come here, not because he’d insisted, but because it was closer than hers by a block. By then, they’d both been intent on getting out of their clothes and into his bed. Now she had time to look at the very spartan decor. The dresser had no pictures on top, just a small TV at one end. The nightstand beside the bed had only a lamp on it, aside from the candle Erik had grabbed from a table in the living room as they’d passed through it.

  The flame from that unscented candle was the only illumination in the room now, keeping most of it in shadows, but even so she could tell he’d done nothing to make the bedroom his own. She even wondered if he’d rented the place furnished, since the furniture had that sturdy, uninteresting look to it. Even the room’s one chair was utilitarian—a place to toss clothes, rather than the kind of comfortable chair a man might choose if he intended to relax in his room watching late-night TV or a ball game.

  In fact, even without getting a good look at the living room, she had a feeling this was the home of a man who’d never really intended to stay in Serenity. She was surprised by how much that bothered her. Obviously, in one regard, it’d be more convenient for her if he did decide to leave at some point, yet just the idea of that happening made her heart contract with pain.

  She was still pondering that when he returned carrying a tray with two plates. He’d made a frittata, mixing the eggs with slivers of onion, peppers and tomato, along with a combination of cheeses, then baking it in the oven and cutting it into thick, fluffy wedges.

  “This is amazing,” she said, when she’d taken her first bite.

  “Don’t sound so shocked. I am a chef.”

  “I know, but I can’t even imagine having enough ingredients in the refrigerator to make something like this.”

  “I noticed your cupboard was nearly bare the night I was there to camp out. You don’t cook at all?”

  “I can follow a recipe under duress,” she admitted. “But my lack of skill in the kitchen is a very good thing for Sullivan’s. I’m your best customer.”

  “True enough,” he said, still regarding her curiously. “If you don’t cook, which I assume means you don’t enjoy it, why are you so willing to pitch in at the restaurant?”

  “It’s Dana Sue’s. I’d do anything to help out a friend.”

  “And The Corner Spa? I know for a fact that you’re not an exercise nut. Did you provide the seed money for that because Maddie needed work?”

  “In a way,” she replied. “And in theory, it was supposed to encourage me to exercise. The doctor was all over me about my blood pressure.”

  “It’s high?” he asked, alarm in his eyes. “Why didn’t you mention that?”

  “It was high,” she said. “It’s under control now. I manage to make myself do enough exercise to relieve at least some of the stress. And I have a little pill to do the rest. No big deal. Why would I mention it to you? It’s not exactly relevant to this.” She gestured at the tangled sheets.

  He frowned at her glib tone. “You’re too young for a problem like that. You need to take better care of yourself.”

  “I’m trying, especially lately.”

  “Good,” he said, then fell silent. When he spoke again, he sounded uncertain. “How do you want to handle this?”

  “Handle what?”

  “You and me,” he said, then gestured at the rumpled bed as she had a moment earlier. “This.”

  “We could pretend it never happened,” she suggested, only partly in jest.

  “That implies it’s not going to happen again,” he said. “I think we both know otherwise.”

  Helen shivered at the implication. “Do we?”

  “I do. Don’t you?”

  “It would be a shame not to repeat something that incredible,” she admitted, grinning at him.

  “Okay, then, do we tell Dana Sue or not?”

  “Absolutely not,” she said at once, which had his frown deepening.

  “Okay, I have one reason why that makes sense, but something tells me you have an entirely different reason,” he said.

  Helen wasn’t about to explain that Dana Sue might immediately put two and two together and come up with her baby plan, so she said, “Isn’t it obvious? She would make way too much out of this. Besides, I don’t think I could stand to have her gloating about it. She’s been predicting it for months.”

  He laughed. “Yeah, the gloating would be hard to take. So, for now, we keep this just between us?”

  “Agreed,” she said.

  “Any idea how we’re going to pull that off?” he asked.

  “No kissing, no touching, no lingering looks in public,” she suggested. “And I’ll act like I’m furious with you. That shouldn’t be hard. You usually do or say something on a daily basis to infuriate me.”

  “I’ll be sure to continue,” he promised.

  But despite Helen’s conviction that secrecy was the right way to go, she couldn’t deny feeling a little pang that she couldn’t share this with her two best friends.

  But share what? she asked herself. It wasn’t as if she’d started a relationship that might lead somewhere, one that Dana Sue and Maddie would be elated to hear about. She’d started an affair that she hoped would result in a pregnancy. That was something best left unsaid. She knew in her heart that neither of her friends would congratulate her for that. Right this second she wasn’t sure she was very proud of herself, either.

 
; Erik was in the storage pantry at Sullivan’s when he heard Maddie talking to Dana Sue. Though Dana Sue knew he was nearby, she didn’t seem to censor herself or warn Maddie that they might be overheard. Dana Sue took it for granted that he’d be discreet. He’d already learned far more of the intimate details of Maddie’s post-pregnancy recovery than he needed.

  “Do you have any idea what’s going on with Helen?” he heard Maddie ask. “I haven’t seen her for a couple of weeks now. It’s not like her to avoid us.”

  “You think that’s what she’s doing?” Dana Sue asked, sounding surprised. “I just assumed she was busy. You know how she gets when she’s working on a big case. She goes into hibernation. The final hearing in the Holliday case is coming up soon and she’s determined to get Caroline everything she deserves.”

  “I don’t think that’s it,” Maddie said. “She has been consumed with the Holliday divorce lately, but Caroline tells me that’s just about wrapped up. And she’s already handled Tess’s problem with Jimmy Bob West.”

  “I know,” Dana Sue responded. “Tess is ecstatic. Diego’s back home and working again already. She thinks Helen hung the moon.”

  “Okay, then, with those two things under control, Helen should have some free time. Where is she? Have you even spoken to her?”

  “Now that you mention it, no,” Dana Sue replied. “She was popping in here just about every day for a while, but suddenly that stopped.”

  “Well, what do you make of it?”

  “New man in her life?”

  “Why wouldn’t she tell us about that?” Maddie demanded. “She tells us everything.”

  Erik decided it was time to make an appearance before Dana Sue’s agile mind leaped to a conclusion it would be best to avoid. He’d known Helen’s absences were going to spark speculation. He also knew she’d opted to avoid Sullivan’s rather than risk Dana Sue spotting some slip that would reveal their new relationship—she hadn’t been that confident that either of them could stick to their plan.

  Emerging from the pantry with bags of flour and sugar, he smiled at Maddie, who was beginning to regain her shape after her pregnancy. He thought she’d looked amazing while pregnant, but he had a hunch she was happier with her more slender figure.

  “How’s the new mom?” he asked. “You’re looking fit.”

  “I’m feeling great,” she said. “But I’m bored out of my mind. Dana Sue and Helen insisted I let Jeanette run the spa for six weeks. I’ve been antsy for four of those weeks, even with Elliott coming by the house to make me do these horrendous workouts for the past couple of weeks.”

  “Which means you took exactly one week to relax after having your son,” he said after a quick calculation.

  She grinned unrepentantly. “About that.”

  Erik caught Dana Sue frowning at him.

  “How much of our conversation did you hear?” she demanded. “Not that I think you’d ever repeat a word of it, but I need to know.”

  “Sugar, I have more important things to do than eavesdrop on you.”

  “That’s never stopped you before,” she retorted. “How much?”

  “Okay, all of it. Why? If you know I’m trustworthy, why do you care?”

  “Then you heard us talking about Helen. What do you know about what she’s up to these days? Has she been confiding in you?”

  “Hardly,” he responded, keeping his gaze averted. “Why on earth would she confide in me?”

  “Because every instinct in me tells me you know something you’re not saying. Otherwise you’d have been back in here ten minutes ago. It doesn’t take that long to get a few things from storage.”

  “It does if someone I know goes in there and rearranges everything,” he countered, seizing on the chance to change the subject and fix a nagging problem at the same time. “Why do you do that, by the way? I have a system.”

  “So do I,” she replied. “Mine is the one that counts.”

  “Not when it comes to baking,” he replied.

  “Okay, that’s it. I’m out of here,” Maddie said. “Once you two start debating control issues, innocent bystanders are in the way.” She hugged Dana Sue. “Let me know if you catch up with Helen.”

  “You do the same,” Dana Sue said.

  Maddie gave Erik a peck on the cheek and whispered, “Stick to your guns. The desserts are the best thing on the menu.”

  “I heard that,” Dana Sue said.

  Maddie grinned. “Then keep it in mind when you’re discussing the arrangement of the stockroom. Erik might actually have some valid points.”

  “He might,” Dana Sue conceded grudgingly.

  When Maddie was gone, she eyed him intently. “You want to fight about the pantry or tell me what you know about Helen?”

  “Let’s fight about the pantry,” he said.

  “Then you do know something about Helen,” she concluded.

  “I did not say that,” he insisted.

  “You didn’t have to,” she said smugly. “It was written all over your face. That’s okay. I’ll let it pass this time. I’ll get the information out of you when your guard’s not up.”

  “My guard is always up around you,” he assured her.

  But just in case he was wrong about that, he’d be extra vigilant. Or maybe he’d just dump the problem in Helen’s lap and let her deal with her friends. She was just as eager to keep the two of them out of their love life as he was.

  Karen had been doing really well for several weeks now. Maybe it was because the kids had been on their best behavior, almost as if they understood that they might be separated again if things didn’t go smoothly. Or maybe it was because all her sessions with Dr. McDaniels were paying off. She hoped that was it, because sooner or later the kids were bound to do something that would test her limits.

  They’d also taken to Elliott from the very first time he’d come by. He was endlessly patient with Daisy’s long descriptions of her days at school. In fact, he seemed genuinely interested in the details of kindergarten, the art projects she brought home and the boy on whom she’d developed a crush. As for Mack, Elliott had miraculously managed, over three visits, to get him weaned from sucking his thumb, a goal that Karen had despaired of accomplishing.

  Frances had given Elliott a thumbs-up, too. “He’s a very thoughtful young man,” she’d told Karen. “Hot, too,” she’d added with a wink.

  Despite all the votes of approval, Karen was still keeping Elliott at arm’s length. She had a feeling that sometime soon he was going to call her on it, perhaps even tonight when they were going to dinner alone, while Frances kept Daisy and Mack.

  A tap on the door announced Frances’s arrival. She took one look at Karen, still wearing her ratty old chenille robe, and shook her head. “Why aren’t you ready? Elliott will be here any minute, won’t he?”

  “I can’t decide what to wear,” Karen said.

  Frances gave her a knowing look. “I think you’re scared.”

  “Scared of what?” she asked, a defensive note in her voice.

  “The fact that this man finds you attractive and wants to spend time with you. You’ve done everything in your power to make him turn tail and run, but nothing’s worked, has it?”

  Karen frowned. “I haven’t tried to run him off,” she protested.

  “Really? Well, you assigned him to break Mack of sucking his thumb as if the child’s life depended on it,” Frances said. “I’m sure that was designed to make him think twice about what he was getting into with a mother of two young children. What’s next? Do you plan to leave him in charge of Daisy’s birthday party next week? I hate to tell you, sweetie, but Elliott strikes me as a man who can handle a dozen six-year-olds with one hand tied behind his back.”

  Karen sighed. “You’re probably right. I thought he was joking about all those nieces and nephews teaching him a lot about kids, but it seems to be true.”

  “Then why are you trying to run him off?”

  Karen sank onto the edge of the so
fa. “Do you really think that’s what I’ve been trying to do?”

  “I think every date you’ve had with him has been some sort of test. What are you going to do when he’s passed them all, instead of disappearing?”

  “I wish I knew,” Karen said with a sigh. She glanced at Frances. “He really is a good guy, isn’t he?”

  “Seems to be,” Frances said. “Besides scared, how do you feel about him?”

  “I like him,” Karen admitted. “I really like him.”

  “Then give him a real chance. You two need more nights like tonight, just the two of you, so you can really get to know each other.” She smiled at Karen. “And don’t worry about what time you get home. I can fall asleep right here on your sofa.”

  She blushed at the implication. “Frances! I am not going to stay out all night.”

  Frances’s smile spread. “That’s up to you, of course, but I wanted you to know it wouldn’t be a problem if you did.”

  “Would you have told your daughter that?” Karen inquired curiously.

  “Heavens, no!” Frances said with a laugh. “But she was twenty the last time she lived under my roof, and when it came to dating, she did what she pleased without me giving her any extra encouragement.”

  “Did you approve of her staying out all night?”

  “Not really, but she was old enough to make her own decisions, same as you. I was wise enough to keep my opinions to myself.”

  “I don’t ever want you to think less of me,” Karen said. “You’re like a mother to me.”

  “I’m proud you feel that way and I’m more than happy to offer advice whenever you ask for it, but I won’t judge you, honey. Not ever. Now go and get ready before that man finds you in that robe. It really might scare him off. If he gets here before you’re ready, it’ll just give me a few minutes to see what his intentions are.”

  Karen laughed. “I’ll hurry.”

  “No, please. Take your time. I don’t get many chances to spend time with a man that gorgeous.”