Chapter 7
SEVEN
Sam and Nicole’s place was as warm and welcoming as ever. It was Mike’s favorite place in the world, closely followed by Harry and Ellen’s apartment. And it held his two favorite people in the world—Merry and Gracie.
Gracie was in Chloe’s arms, as if she’d been born to be there. Mike would never forget how dazzled Chloe had looked when Ellen placed Gracie in her arms. She didn’t even notice Harry and Ellen’s reactions when Gracie immediately stilled then became content and drowsy.
Harry told him that Gracie had been crying for days, barely letting them sleep. One second with Chloe and she was content.
Man, did Mike ever sympathize. Chloe had this…this magic aura of warmth and gentleness and calm. He’d be feeling calm, too, if he wasn’t so goddamned aroused.
He’d been on a hair trigger kissing her. Only an absolute lifetime of serious and copious fucking had given him the self-control he needed not to come in his pants, something that would have been seriously uncool, something he hadn’t done since high school.
But man, it had been close. He’d felt Chloe’s orgasm in her mouth, against her belly, throughout her entire body. And when she told him it was her first—whoa. Mind blowing.
Sam and Nicole walked into the living room to greet them, Sam carrying Merry. She squealed when she saw him, turned to her father and ordered imperiously, “Down, Daddy.”
Sam was hard-wired to obey Merry, something Nicole worked on constantly. She said she was having another child simply so Sam could spread his spoiling between two children instead of one.
Sam placed Merry gently on the ground and Merry ran toward Mike like a homing missile, because she knew Mike was even more weak-kneed when it came to her and Gracie.
“Unca Mike!” she squealed and launched herself from two feet away, an old game. Mike caught her and whirled with her while she laughed. “Unca Mike, look!”
She caught his face between her two small hands to turn his head to her, just in case she didn’t have his full attention. Merry had the Princess gene in full.
“Yeah, pumpkin?” he asked.
She pointed at her feet. “Look, Unca Mike. New shoes!” She shot a small foot out so he could admire them. “They’re red,” she said in a hushed, worshipful tone, face solemn. “And shiny.”
Nicole rolled her eyes. “She’s been pestering me for those shoes since she saw them a couple of weeks ago.” She shot an ironic glance at her husband. “I don’t know who campaigned harder for those shoes—Merry or Sam.”
Sam looked abashed for a moment. Everyone knew he was genetically programmed to give Merry everything she asked for. He’d try to get her the moon if she wanted it.
“They’re beautiful shoes, Merry,” Mike said solemnly, biting his lips. Bright shiny new shoes—red shoes—were indeed something to be taken seriously. No smiling.
She nodded her agreement, black ponytail bobbing.
“I want to introduce you to someone, Merry. You have a new aunt.”
Merry’s eyes widened, mostly because, for her, aunt meant presents and dancing when her Aunt Ellen sang. ‘Aunt’ was a pretty neat concept in Merry’s world. One more aunt meant more loot and fun.
Mike turned to Chloe, Merry resting on one arm, Chloe holding Gracie in her arms. The moment, the picture, the idea—it was all so perfect, him introducing Merry to her new aunt.
“Merry, honey, this is your new Aunt Chloe. Say how do you do.”
“Down Unca Mike,” she ordered. She walked over to Chloe, held out a small hand and said, “How do?”
Merry was nothing if not well-behaved, which was all Nicole’s doing. If it were for Sam’s paternal discipline, Merry would behave as if raised by wolves. As it was, she was a perfect little lady.
Chloe reached down a hand, smiling. “How do you do, Merry? It’s very nice to meet you.”
Merry studied Chloe’s face, then did something unusual. She leaned up against Chloe’s leg and held on to her, looking up. “Aunt Chloe,” she said.
It was quite a picture, so beautiful Mike took a snapshot in his head, knowing he’d be taking it out often. A beautiful young woman, with a beautiful blonde baby in her arms and a beautiful dark-haired child holding on to her.
Everyone felt it, felt the power of it. Certainly Mike did, like a blow to the heart. Harry and Ellen and Gracie, Sam and Nicole and Merry—they now had, forever more, someone else in their circle to love.
Merry had been studying Chloe’s face, a small frown scrunching her face. She looked at him then back at Chloe. “Aunt Chloe, are you Unca Mike’s wife?”
I wish. The words nearly came out of his mouth, he felt it so powerfully. Like a sharp blow to the chest. Because for an instant he could see it, he could feel it.
Chloe, his wife. Surrounded by their children.
She bent down to Merry. “No, darling, I’m Uncle Harry’s sister.” She smoothed her hand over Merry’s ponytail. “And now your aunt.”
“Well,” Nicole said shakily. Her eyes glistened. “I think it’s time to eat. Chloe—do you need help?” Considering she was holding one child and another child was holding her.
“No.” Chloe smiled. “I’m good.”
Mike walked into the big dining room with her, Merry still clinging to her. He understood Merry completely, he wished he could lean up against Chloe, absorb some of that serenity.
“Oh!” Chloe stopped at the threshold to the dining room. Manuela had done them proud. Sam and Nicole’s dining table was enormous, a shiny mahogany polished so brightly the lit candles were perfectly reflected upside down. “How beautiful.”
It was. There were candles in tall silver holders and small vases of cut flowers among about a thousand serving trays of food, steaming hot and smelling delicious.
Nicole clapped her hands. “Okay, Chloe you sit here, Ellen here…”
“Mommy!” Merry’s voice rang out. “Me next to Aunt Chloe!”
Nicole blinked because Merry always wanted to sit next to daddy, who never corrected her table manners.
“Me, too,” Mike said quickly, before the seats next to Chloe ran out. No way was he sitting across the table from her. “I want to sit next to her, too.”
“Here.” Ellen bent over Chloe, arms out. “Let me take Gracie. I’m used to eating with her in my arms.”
“Sure.” Chloe turned, holding a blanket-wrapped Gracie out to her mother. Gracie woke up with a little snuffle and after a few false starts, cranked up the engine and started wailing. Ellen rocked her gently, crooning a soft lullaby.
The wails grew louder.
“Honey.” Harry put a hand on his wife’s shoulder. “Let me try.”
“Okay.” Looking worried, Ellen gently handed Gracie over to her husband. The wails grew louder, positively heartbreaking.
Chloe bit her lips, opened her mouth, closed it.
Gracie turned her head away from the pacifier, the wails as loud as a siren.
“Could I—” Chloe looked at Harry and Ellen. “Could I try to calm her down?”
Puzzled, Harry said, “Sure,” and gently transferred the bundle back to Chloe.
Gracie stopped crying as if a switch had been thrown.
“Wow,” Mike said.
“Yeah.” Harry shook his head. “Man, am I glad you’re going to be staying with us. You’re going to stay a long, long time.”
“Until all Gracie’s teeth come in, at least,” Ellen added fervently. “Maybe till college.”
Chloe leaned to one side as Manuela heaped food on her plate. Seconds and thirds included. Manuela belonged to the More is Better school of cooking.
“I only packed for a couple of days,” Chloe said, smiling. “Be hard to stay here until Gracie goes to college.”
“So buy new clothes,” Nicole said, slicing into a sausage and onion omelette. “It’ll be fun. I’ll take you shopping.” She slanted her eyes at Merry, leaning against Chloe, looking up in adoration. “Merry can come. She loves shopping. I think she’s fallen in love with you, too.”
“Shopping,” Merry said with almost religious fervor. “With Aunt Chloe.”
Harry laughed. He was seated across the table from her and leaned forward. “Honey…” He stopped, hesitated. Mike looked at him surprised. Harry wasn’t the kind of man who hesitated. “If you need money, that is absolutely not a problem.”
“Oh, not at all!” Ellen chimed in. “Whatever you want, whatever you need—”
Chloe held up a hand, looking dismayed. “No, no, I don’t need money.
As a matter of fact…” Sitting next to her, Mike could see her hands trembling.
She drew in a deep breath. “As a matter of fact, that was the main reason I tried to track you down, Harry. My parents—my adoptive parents—left me money. A lot of it. And it’s only fair that half of it go to you.
We can make an appointment with a lawyer while I’m here and I can transfer half the estate to you. ”
Silence. All eyes turned to Harry, who was shaking his head.
“Chloe,” he said gently. “I don’t want your money.
Not a penny of it. Our company is doing very well and even if the company went belly-up—” He shot a smile at Ellen.
“If I were to go bankrupt tomorrow, Ellen here earns so much she can keep me in the style to which I’ve become accustomed.
Not to mention the fact that she’s so good with the damned stuff that she doubles the value of our investments every six months.
You went through hell, Chloe. Keep all the money and enjoy it.
Just as long as you enjoy it here in San Diego. With us.”
Tears shimmered in Chloe’s eyes.
Mike leaned in close to her. “Told you,” he murmured. She turned to him with a choked laugh. “So it’s dinner at the Del. Tomorrow night.”
Oh yeah. Tomorrow night, the night after, the night after that. What Mike felt was right there in his face and she blushed when she looked at him.
Oh man. Life was really looking up. Last night he was fucking a whackjob and less than twenty four hours later, here he was with the most delectable woman he’d ever set eyes on, and he wasn’t going to let her go.
“Okay,” she said softly and he did a mental fist pump. Tomorrow night. Dinner in the Crown Room. Soft candlelight that would make her skin glow more than it did already. A great meal, a walk along the beach afterward…
His cellphone rang.