She shook her arm free. “Erik LaCrosse, I have a life outside this house, you know. If you intend to spend the day with some woman and your daughter, you could have at least told me in advance so I could make my own plans.”
“So you’re jealous.”
“No.”
“Then why the tears?”
She swiped at them with the back of her hand. “It’s the onions.”
A rich chortling sound escaped Erik’s throat and his body shook with laughter.
His humor just seemed to incense her more, and she sent him a contemptuous glare before turning and charging up the stairs. He caught her again, around the waist this time. She tried to twist free. He lost his balance and slumped against the wall. She landed on top of him, their bodies meshing in perfect alignment.
Bold grey eyes met compelling black ones as heat ignited within and around them. Erik’s arms slowly inched their way around Michelle’s lithe body, drawing her closer to him. One hand clasped the back of her neck holding her still. He lowered his head, aiming for her inviting lips, but at the last moment, he groaned and buried his mouth into the scented hollow of her neck. He bit into her flesh until she moaned.
“Michelle... Michelle...” God, she smelled so good, felt so perfect in his arms.
Michelle remained quite still, her arms locked around his neck. The warmth of his arms was so male, so bracing, it made her heart beat erratically and noisily in her ears. Or was it his heart? Her body quivered where their sexes were pressed together. She had no desire to back away. She wished he would hold her like this, forever.
Erik reluctantly untangled their limbs. Still weak from the fiery contact, he sat on the steps and pulled her down next to him. He searched her face and looked deep into her questioning eyes. There was so much passion there and he longed to liberate those desires, just so he could fill his soul with them.
The time wasn’t right. He had no intentions of becoming involved with any woman until Cassie’s killer was found and brought to justice. He was working overtime to bring that to fruition. Several nights, he’d walked the streets of Manchester with the private investigator he’d hired, asking questions to which no one knew the answers. But he’d missed being home with Michelle and Precious, and had finally left the case in the hands of the P.I. and the police. His decision had brought him home last night to find Michelle and Precious watching a movie. It had felt like old times when he’d joined them in the family room.#p#分页标题#e#
“Michelle, there’s no need to be jealous of any other woman,” Erik said. “I’m taking you and Precious away for the weekend.”
“You could have told me. Asking would have been nicer. I could have had other plans, you know.” She stuck her chin out at him.
“Yes, I know. I meant to mention it last night, but I got sidetracked. I’m telling you… I mean, asking now. Do you have other plans for the weekend?” Impatience edged his voice. He would like nothing more than to take her upstairs and spread her out on his big, lonely bed. Clear up all her doubts about his feelings for her once and for all.
“No,” she answered grudgingly. “Where are we going?”
Erik rubbed his palms together then wiped them along his thighs. “To Granite Falls. My mother is ill.”
“Your mother? Felicia?” She looked utterly dismayed.
“No, my other mother, Danielle. My father’s wife.”
She looked understandably confused since she knew nothing about his atypical family. Now was a good time to clue her in, he supposed. “My biological parents were never married, Michelle—not to each other, that is. Danielle and Felicia were best friends since childhood. They both, unfortunately, fell in love with the same man, my father. He apparently was in love with both of them, but he chose and married Danielle over my mother.”
“But your mother was already pregnant with you?” Michelle asked.
“Nope. Danielle could not have children. So my mother volunteered to be a surrogate for them.”
“You mean your mother maintained her friendship with them after your father left her?”
“Yep. She and Danielle had some kind of special bond, and they refused to let a man come between them.”
“Wow, that’s amazing. I don’t think I could do that after a man jilted me.”
“That’s my mother. She conceived me through artificial insemination. Well, that’s what they’ve told everyone.”
“You don’t believe it?”
He chuckled. “I don’t know what to believe. Come on, they were in love. And I know my mother still loves my father. It’s just twisted.” He shook his head in frustration. “Anyway, the deal was that Felicia would let them adopt me, but she’d maintain a strong presence in my life. By the way,” he added, after a short pause. “She told me you two have met.”