Way to Her Heart

When the song ended she felt slightly disoriented for a moment. She didn’t want to let go of the feeling of being surrounded by Lucas, but once the music stopped she had no choice in the matter. Back at their table she sipped her ginger ale and looked at Lucas, really looked at him, examining every bit of his face. He gave her a slow smile and leaned over so that she could hear him over the music and loud talking. With his lips touching her earlobe, he said, “You’re looking at me awfully hard. Do I scare you or something?”

A sensation she hadn’t felt since the night Sydney was conceived washed over her like the spray of a warm, gentle shower. She held perfectly still so he wouldn’t see her trembling. “That would be ‘or something,’” she murmured. This time her lips brushed against his ear because it was the only way he’d be able to hear her soft voice.

An odd expression raced across his face, replaced almost immediately by a big grin. “Let’s get out of here so we can talk about it. Is that okay with you?”

She nodded and he rose to hold her chair. As they left Night Flight, her hand slid into his like they’d been holding hands for years. They drove to her condo in relative silence, although the idea was that they were supposed to be talking. In a short time they arrived in her gated complex, and he once again opened her door for her and took her hand as they walked to the house. If he’d been expecting her to give him a demure and chaste thank-you and good-night in the doorway, Lucas was mistaken. Sherri calmly opened the door and invited him in, saying she’d make iced coffee. And just like that, the two of them were alone in the house, together.

Chapter 4

Lucas couldn’t believe his good fortune. This was what he’d wanted ever since he’d first seen Sherri back in February at his brother’s wedding. He was alone with Sherri and could start the enjoyable process of getting to know her. It had taken weeks of anticipation, repeated invitations and a study guide provided by her brilliant daughter. Sydney was the one who’d told him that her mother loved barbecue, live music and green plants. He smiled at his reflection in the mirror as he washed his hands in the half bath off the living room.

“She gets sad when flowers die, Uncle Lucas. She likes big green plants. We have a lot of them in our condo, so if you want to bring her something, make it a plant. Like a ficus tree—she really likes those.”

He owed Sydney big-time for the heads-up, he reflected. Sherri seemed to have enjoyed their evening, both the restaurant and the club, although Lucas was particularly happy with the latter. Holding her close to his body while they danced had been arousing in the extreme and he couldn’t wait to do it again. The fact that she’d invited him to come in instead of bolting from him at the door was also a good sign. He dried his hands on the guest towel and went to join Sherri in the kitchen. The sound of the late Percy Mayfield’s voice floated from her stereo speakers and created the perfect ambience for the night.

Once again he noted that she was a beautiful woman, totally striking even though she was just making tall glasses of iced coffee in her bare feet. Lucas loved a woman who could be herself in front of him; something as simple as taking off her fancy sandals to reveal her long sexy feet was a turn-on for him.

“Are you sure I can’t help you with anything?” he asked as he seated himself at the long counter to watch her in action.

“I’m positive. The coffee is already in the refrigerator,” she confessed. “I’m rather addicted to it and after I drink my morning cup I refrigerate it so I can have iced coffee in the evening. All I have to do is put a little cream and sugar and some coffee ice cubes and voilà, it’s all done. You don’t mind sugar in your coffee, do you?”

“It’s fine,” he assured her. “I like my coffee sweet. The ice cubes are a clever idea.”

She didn’t answer for a moment while she mixed cream and sugar, which she had put into a shaker jar, into the coffee. As she shook it up she told him it wasn’t her own idea. “I saw them do it on the Food Network or I got it out of a magazine or something. But I love using them. They keep your drink cold without making it watery.” She filled two tall glasses with the ice and poured the drinks. Placing them on a tray with a plate of mocha brownies, she turned to him and suggested they go to the living room.

Lucas got up to carry the tray and soon they were seated on her comfortable taupe sofa with the refreshments within easy reach on the coffee table. He took a sip of his drink and smiled his approval. “What else did you put in here? It’s delicious.”

“Some of your sister-in-law’s homemade vanilla bean liqueur. Alexis is really clever about that kind of thing.”

“Alexis is a gem,” Lucas agreed. “But I don’t want to talk about her.”

“Okay. So what do you want to talk about?”

Lucas put his glass on the tray and held out his hand to Sherri. “I want to talk about you,” he said. “The more I’m around you, the less I seem to know about you. I want to know you better. A lot better.”

Sherri’s eyes widened as she took in what he’d just said. “We do know each other, Lucas. I know that you have two brothers, Jared and your twin, Damon. I know that you have two sisters, Tamara and Camilla. Tamara is a doctor and Camilla is a commercial interior designer who specializes in restaurants. I know your parents and your grandmother. You’re not exactly a mystery to me, Lucas.”

As she was talking, she put her glass down next to his and placed her hand in the one he was holding out to her. He raised his eyebrows and said, “Yeah, you have a lot of information about me. I can only assume that you’ve been talking to my grandmother, because nothing is a secret with her.”

Sherri laughed and admitted that most of her intel actually came from Alexis. “She’s very chatty and she’s told me quite a bit about the VanBuren family. But Ms. Delilah is no slouch either. When she found out that I don’t have a man in my life she asked me if I preferred women,” she said with a wicked grin.

“That’s her to a tee.” Lucas laughed. “What comes up comes out with her—she doesn’t hold anything back. So, you know a lot about me, but I don’t know nearly as much about you. I know you’re a pediatrician, that you and Emily and Alexis are lifelong friends and that you have an amazing, engaging little girl. But aside from that I know nothing. Alexis might talk about my family in general, but she doesn’t talk about you.”

“God bless her,” Sherri said wryly. “If she ever decided to run her mouth she could bury me because she knows everything there is to know about me.” Her fingers were tracing patterns on Lucas’s palm, very lightly, but with just enough pressure to start his temperature soaring. It felt good to have her touching him.

“I don’t want to find out things secondhand. I want to know you better, but I want it on your terms. I don’t want to pick up random bits of hearsay here and there. I want you to be able to tell me anything that’s on your mind.”

Sherri didn’t answer him immediately. She continued her gentle exploration of his hand, inching up his forearm. “What is it that you want to know, Lucas?”

“Everything. Some of it’s just mundane stuff, like what you like to eat, what you do for fun, what’s your biggest vice. Some of it’s really personal, like why you wanted to be a doctor, what your hopes are for the future and why Sydney’s father seems to be missing in action.”

To his surprise and utter gratification, Sherri moved a little closer to him. It wasn’t a bold move—she didn’t try to straddle him or anything. She just leaned in his direction in a graceful and subtle manner. He could feel her warmth and smell her delicate fragrance more strongly. Without making a big deal of it, he slid closer to her. She gave him a long, calculating look before she answered him.

“I’m not that interesting, really. I’m a total omnivore, for one thing. I will eat any and everything as long as it’s prepared well. What I do for fun is pretty much what I do anyway. I take care of my baby and I try to always set a good example for her. I like to grow things, as you can see by all the plants around here. I also have a flower garden on the patio and we have a plot in the community garden where we grow vegetables,” she told him. “As you can see, I’m pretty boring. I like music and plays and art and I love being a mommy. Now as far as my vices go, well, they’re kind of embarrassing,” she admitted.

Lucas was already intrigued and encouraged her to talk. “This is just between you and me, sweetheart. You can tell me anything.”

“Okay, my vices are chocolate and potato chips. I’ve never met a potato chip I didn’t love. Plain, salt and vinegar, lime-flavored, kettle chips, any kind you name, I love. I never bring them home because I don’t want to hook my child on greasy junk food. But I’m an absolute sucker for potato chips. I also love chocolate, especially dark chocolate. In fact, if you’ve never had a wavy potato chip coated in chocolate you haven’t lived,” she said fervently.

Lucas burst out laughing. “I thought it was going to be something scandalous going by the look on your face. Potato chips? If you really like them, wait until you taste mine. I make the best chips in the world and I’ll be happy to keep you supplied. And you’re not the only one with weird food addictions. I’m a fiend for ice cream and I love pickles of any kind. In fact, I’m known for making pickles out of strange things like nectarines, radishes, plums, anything that looks good. So far you haven’t revealed anything too strange,” he said.

Sherri gave him an enigmatic smile and suddenly she was even closer to him. Now she was using both of her hands in a constant massage that was sending electric shocks all over his body.

“I’ve always wanted to be a doctor,” she offered. “When I was a little girl I hated to see anybody in pain or sick, and the doctors I saw when I was growing up always seemed to be grumpy and mean, so I decided that I’d be a doctor—a better doctor, one who could take care of people and make them feel better without making them cry. So that’s my career story.

“I want Sydney to be independent, self-reliant, compassionate and successful, so my future plans revolve around being the best mother and role model I can be. Is that it for your inquiry?” She smiled when she said it, so he didn’t think she had taken his interest in the wrong way.

“You’re very open tonight and I really appreciate that,” Lucas told her. “But I still don’t know where Sydney’s father fits into the picture.”

Sherri’s expression changed and her soothing fingers stopped moving. “That’s because he’s not in the picture. The last time I saw him was the day I told him that I was pregnant,” she said in a cool voice. Pulling away from him, she sat back on the sofa and crossed her arms and her legs. “He dropped me like a hot rock and took off for parts unknown. I think he moved to California, but I wouldn’t know because I never tried to find him.”

“So he’s never paid child support or done anything that would make it possible to see his child?”

“Not a thing in this world. I was scared when I found out I was going to have a baby. Terrified, really, because I’d worked so hard to finish medical school and it took up all my time and attention. I was doing well to have a boyfriend while I was trying to get through that first year as an intern and I didn’t see how it was possible to have a baby and keep up with all the work. But from the moment I knew for sure I was carrying my baby, I knew I was going to have her.

“So I told my man that he was going to be a father and he went straight to Nutsville. He went on and on about how a man in his position couldn’t afford the stigma of having an out-of-wedlock child and how his family would disown him and how he might get fired from the law firm where he had just started working. It wasn’t a very productive conversation, as you can imagine.”

Lucas gently uncrossed her arms and put his arm around her shoulders. “So what happened after that?”

“Absolutely nothing. I didn’t hear from him for the next couple of days. I swallowed my pride and went to his apartment only to find that he’d moved out. The job he was so anxious to protect? He quit the job, left the apartment, left the city and the state. It was like he’d fallen off the earth.”

“He is a fool,” Lucas said with a savage edge to his voice. “You were without a doubt the best thing that ever happened to him and he just walked away from you and his child. Sydney is a very special kid. He has no idea what he’s missing.”

She made a ladylike snort of derision. “He’s not the only one. My parents flipped out when they heard my news. Once they realized that I intended to keep my baby regardless of my lack of a husband, they pretty much turned their backs on me. They tolerate Sydney from time to time, but I haven’t really let her spend much time with them ever since the day she came home and asked me what a little bastard was.”

A dark red color surged up Lucas’s neck and made his face blotchy. His anger was plain to see, and he couldn’t keep his temper from coming out in his words. “Are you kidding me? They actually said that in front of her? What kind of people are they?”

Sherri’s body relaxed and her head slid down to his shoulder. “My parents aren’t bad people at all—they’re just stuck-up and mired in their own importance. They’re very upper-middle class and they strive to keep up appearances at all costs. They own a few funeral parlors and were concerned about the family image, especially when Daddy decided to run for city council. They really wanted me to marry Trevor. They thought that Trevor Barnes would be the perfect son-in-law, but then I ruined everything by acting like a little hood rat and getting pregnant.”

She sighed deeply and rubbed against his broad shoulder before adding, “I still don’t get the idea that I ‘got’ pregnant. I only brought the eggs. He brought the sperm and the cheap condoms so why doesn’t he get half the blame? I didn’t conceive my baby all on my own, and I was a medical student, for God’s sake. It wasn’t like I intended to get pregnant. I was on the Pill and I made him use a condom every single time so how she came to be, I have no clue. But,” she said firmly, “I’ve never been happier about anything in my life. Sydney is truly my joy.”

Lucas leaned over and kissed her. He’d been wanting to for months and he couldn’t think of anything profound to add to what she’d said so he followed his instincts. His head bent to hers and he took his time, savoring the first touch of her soft, juicy mouth. That first soft pressure was followed by his tongue gently outlining the curve of her lips, teasing them open to receive him. She did so, parting her lips gently, opening wide enough to take his tongue against her own, allowing him to give her the pleasure she’d denied herself for so long. Their mouths mated like lovers who’d been away from each other for too long.

His hands cupped her face while hers stroked his shoulders, sliding up to his neck. Holding him gently but firmly, she allowed the kiss to deepen while their tongues did a long, sensual dance, stroking and tasting until it seemed as though they had done this many, many times. It could have gone on for minutes or hours—Lucas didn’t know and he didn’t care. All he knew at that moment was that he didn’t want this kiss to end.

It had been months since they met, months in which she’d occupied his thoughts and desires, and now she was in his arms. He was getting hot to the point where he thought for a moment they might burst into flames right there on her sofa. He began to slow his movements, gradually leading up to the moment that they would pull apart, but Sherri wasn’t taking his cues. Incredibly, she seemed to be getting into it more and more, moving against him until her mounting desire was unmistakable.

He finally pulled away from her with great reluctance. The desire on her face was reflected in his own, and he could see her nipples pushing at the thin fabric of her dress. He wanted nothing more than to peel the dress and everything else off her body and make love to her all night long. But it was too soon. She deserved more than hasty, unplanned sex on their first date.

She turned so that she was kneeling next to him on the cushions of the sofa, and she put her arms around his neck. This time she initiated the kiss, using her sweet lips to coax him into submission. He let her have her way, sucking his lower lip gently before exploring his tongue with hers. In the parlance of the kitchen, she was sending him from a slow simmer to a rolling boil and before things got totally out of hand, he took control of the situation. He put his hands around her slender waist and stood up before carefully placing her on the floor.

“I know it’s been a while for me, but you can’t tell me that wasn’t a good kiss,” she said frankly.

With equal candor he replied, “It was one of the best, if not the single best I’ve ever had. I stopped because I don’t think you’re ready for what comes next.”

“I’m a doctor—nothing scares me.”

Lucas laughed and flexed his fingers over her waist. They hadn’t quite managed to let go of each other yet and he was running out of reasons to do so. This was a surprising turn in the evening’s events. When he’d asked her out he hadn’t had a minute-by-minute playbook in his head for how the evening should go, but he hadn’t planned on her wickedly sensual response to him. There were many more pieces to the Sherri puzzle than he’d anticipated, but he was looking forward to finding them all.

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