Eric grinned at his sibling's show of support and returned his hopeful gaze to Jill. "Well?"
"Yes," she said in a whisper, then louder, "Yes."
He slipped the beautiful ring onto her finger, making the engagement official. Clapping and cheers ensued, and Paul and Angela made their way up to the stage to congratulate their son and soon-to-be daughter-in-law.
Steve whistled, loud and shrill, adding to the merriment. "Way to go, baby brother!"
Angela hugged both Eric and Jill enthusiastically, obviously thrilled with the unexpected turn of events. Then she leaned close to the microphone, her blue eyes twinkling with delight. "One down, two to go!"
Steve groaned, and Adrian vehemently denied the possibility of such a fate, while everyone around them laughed at Angela Wilde's optimism.
The next few hours passed quickly, and the warm afternoon turned into a cool evening. Still the party continued, now with two reasons to celebrate and party, and the Wilde family did both quite well.
Liz was chatting with Jill and Mia and sharing in Jill's excitement while the men mingled elsewhere, when she realized it was nearly eight P.M. She excused herself and went to find Steve, who was talking to his cousins, Mia's brothers, Alex, Joel, and Scott, whom she'd met earlier. Three more gorgeous, single bad bays to round out the Wilde clan.
She touched Steve's arm to get his attention, and he glanced at her with one of those disarming smiles of his. "As much as I hate to leave, I have to go home and get ready for work tonight. There's no reason why you should have to leave, too, so I'll just call a cab."
"Absolutely not," he replied adamantly. "I'll take you home, then come back for a few hours. It's not a big deal."
She appreciated his offer and didn't argue. She said her good-byes, thanked Angela and Paul for their hospitality, and walked with Steve out to his SUV. Once they were both seated in the vehicle, Steve threaded his fingers through her hair, cupped the back of her head, and pulled her forward so that she was meeting him halfway across the cab. Without preamble, he melded her mouth to his, and her lips parted of their own accord, inviting a deeper, intimate possession. His tongue swept inside, bold and ravenous, and she shivered at the heat and desire his kiss evoked.
He pulled back, much too soon for her liking, and rested his forehead against hers. The interior of the vehicle was dark, but the air around them fairly crackled with awareness and sexual tension.
"God, I needed that." His lips skimmed along her jaw, up to her ear. "I missed you today."
She tipped her head to the side, and he laved the sensitive spot right beneath her lobe. Her nipples pulled tight, aching for the caress of his hands, the tug of his mouth, the wet rasp of his tongue. "Correct me if I'm mistaken, but I believe I was by your side for most of the day."
"Umm, but it would have been tacky to make out with you in front of everyone like I wanted to do," he said huskily. "To touch you intimately and give you my undivided attention."
"Ahhh." Now she understood, and smiled. "In that case, I missed you, too."
His mouth took hers again in a lazy, mindless, tongue-tangling kiss that seemed to go on for long, slow minutes. By the time he let her up for air again, her skin felt flushed, and she was breathing much too fast.
Somehow, she managed to hold on to rational thought. "We really need to go so I'm not late for work."
His thumb dragged sensuously across her damp lower lip. "You can always tell them that you were with a client."
"Ha-ha." She wriggled her nose at him. "We still have to put on a convincing act on the phone first."
"That hasn't been a problem for us yet." He let her go, his reluctance to do so tangible. He started up the truck, and a minute later they were out on the main road, heading back to her apartment.
She rested her head against the back of the seat, wishing she didn't have to go to work tonight. The last thing she wanted to do was field a bunch of sexual calls when she'd rather spend the rest of the evening alone with Steve. But she had a job to do, responsibilities to live up to, and a cousin to track down.
"Did you have a good time today?" Steve asked, gently rerouting her thoughts back to him.
"I had a wonderful time." With the lights from the dash illuminating his face, she took in his strong profile: the slope of his nose, his full lips, his strong jaw. "I like your family." And she envied him the closeness he and his siblings and cousins all shared, since that had always elluded her with Valerie.
Reaching across the console, he found the hand resting on her thigh and entwined their fingers together. "They like you, too."
Was he saying that just to be nice, to make her feel good? "And how do you know that?" she asked casually.
He came to a stop at a red light and glanced her way, the tenderness and caring in his gaze just as genuine as the tone of his voice. "Because they all told me so."
Little did he know, he'd just given her a perfect ending to an equally perfect day.
Chapter 11
Steve disconnected his evening call with Liz, ending another night of phone sex along with a second attempt to express his interest in meeting Liz in person.
Tonight, she'd delighted and aroused him with a personal fantasy of her own that had stirred his libido into a raging inferno of need. Even now, as he lay on his bed, his cock was granite-hard, full to bursting beneath his boxer shorts, and lust clawed at him as he replayed Liz's provocative fantasy in his mind while he waited another ten minutes for her to sign out and get to her car.
She wanted to be chased, captured, and forced to submit to a virile, lusty pirate, a man she secretly desired but would never admit to being attracted to, because it was so forbidden. In explicit, vivid detail, she'd pulled him into her enthralling tale, explaining the various methods by which the bold, dominant pirate would stake his claim on her, and how he'd possess her in wild, wicked, thrilling ways. But she wouldn't be his prisoner against her will, because despite all rules of propriety, she wanted the dark and dangerous pirate. And in the end, she'd surrender to him with abandon.
It was an erotic, exciting fantasy Steve wouldn't mind enacting for her. In fact, he was already considering the different ways to bring her private adventure to life.
For another few minutes he let his mind create various tantalizing scenarios; then he picked up the portable phone again and punched in her cell phone number. The line connected on the second ring.
"Hi there," she said, her voice soft with fatigue and not nearly so perky as she'd been with him just fifteen minutes ago. Her exhaustion wasn't surprising, considering the long day she'd had, and it was after midnight.
"Nice fantasy tonight," he complimented.
"You liked that, did you?" she murmured huskily, sounding pleased at her ability to seduce him.
"Oh, yeah, I liked. Very much." The hard-on that was still raging at full mast was testimony to her extraordinary talents to weave such sexy, tempting tales. "Would you like me to buy an eye patch?"
Her gentle laughter tickled his ear. "You look enough like a pirate without one."
He shifted on his bed, trying to find a cool spot on his sheets for his overheated body. "You sound tired."
"I am." She sighed, the slow exhale backing up her claim. "I think this week of working double shifts is finally catching up to me."
"You're probably right." He heard her stifle a yawn and smiled. "And today was busy, too."
"But well worth it." Honest appreciation laced her voice, making him glad he'd extended the invitation to his father's party, and that she'd accepted.
He'd only meant to share the day and his family with her, to distract her from everything else going on in her life. But she'd fit in so well, and having her meet his brothers, parents, and other relatives had evolved into something more significant for him. The emotions filling his chest definitely conflicted with the years he'd spent avoiding any kind of serious relationship with a woman, yet Liz wasn't like any other woman he'd dated since his divorce.