Way to Her Heart (5 page)

“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.

“Sherri, sweetheart, I think I should go. I don’t want to push you into something that you’re not ready for and if I stay, I don’t think we’ll keep talking. I think we’ll do everything but talk, as a matter of fact.”

One silky brow went up in a quirky way as she considered his statement. “What makes you think I’m not ready? I admit it’s been a while since I was sexually active, but the procedure is pretty standard, isn’t it? I think we can handle it,” she said in her damnably seductive voice as she moved closer to him, close enough that he knew she could feel the hard-as-steel erection with which he was now burdened.

“Listen, I freely admit that I’d like to make love to you more than I’d like to take my next breath, but it’s not going to happen tonight. It’s too soon, for one thing. This isn’t something I want to rush into. I want to take my time and do it right. I wanted to kiss you. I’ve waited months for that kiss. But I can wait on everything else,” he said softly, his deep voice rough with desire.

But Sherri wasn’t through with him yet. “Suppose I don’t want to wait?”

Lucas moved his hands to her shoulders and took a step back. Because his legs were long, it provided him with a lot of space between their bodies. “I don’t have any condoms with me. If I can’t protect you, I’m not going to bed with you. No buts,” he added sternly as she opened her mouth to protest.

She gave him a mock pout as he all but dragged her to the door. “I hope you’re not going to get all weird the next time I see you,” she said.

“Definitely not,” he assured her. “I hope you don’t think about this after I leave and decide to never see me again.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow if you’re working. I promised to take Sydney to Seven-Seventeen for dinner. Tomorrow morning is her swim class and then she endures getting her hair done so we go out to eat afterward. And I promise you, I won’t be acting strange, not in the least.”

The logical thing would have been to reach for the doorknob, but good healthy lust won out and Lucas pulled her into his arms for one last kiss. Their mouths fit together. He could feel his passion about to blaze like a flambé pan splashed with cognac. It was hard, fast and full of longing but extremely satisfying.

“I’m getting out of here while I still can. Good night, Sherri.”

“Good night,” she whispered.

Chapter 5

After locking the door behind Lucas, Sherri tidied up the living room. It should have taken just a few minutes, but she had too much on her mind. She had to draw on all of the analytical abilities she’d developed in years of college and med school for her to sort through what had just happened. As she took the tray into the kitchen, she tried to make sense of everything. She poured out the iced coffees and washed the glasses, then put the uneaten brownies into a ziplock bag. She opened the refrigerator to put them away after she removed one and took a big bite. Chocolate always helped her think more clearly.

On the one hand, it was no big deal, right? All she’d done was act like a normal, fully functioning woman for a change. She’d gone out with a handsome, very sexy guy and had a good time. He’d brought her home and they’d kissed a few times. No big whoop; this was just what her friends had been telling her to do for years and she’d finally done it. So what? She wiped off the counters in the kitchen, put away the wooden tray and glanced around to make sure that nothing was out of place. Taking a deep breath, she turned the lights off and went into the living room.

Everything was tidy, as usual, but that didn’t stop her from fluffing every pillow on the sofa and two chairs, straightening every magazine and picking off every dead leaf on the many plants that adorned the room. She’d always been an organized person and now, with her active little girl and her busy career, it was paramount that she stayed on top of the mundane chores that kept the condo neat and homey. She paused by the ficus tree with its glossy leaves and smiled. It was such a nice addition to the greenery she and Sydney adored and it would always remind her of Lucas. And that was the other hand, the thing that made her current situation rather uncomfortable.