Six Of The Best Of Desire 2016. Maisey Yates

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       Eleven

      Gervais had Erika in his arms and he wanted that to go on for... He couldn’t think of a time he wouldn’t want her. Every cell inside him ached to have her. So much so his senses homed in to her. Almost to the exclusion of all else. Almost to the point where he lost sight of the fact he’d left the door ajar.

      And now someone was knocking lightly on that door.

      With more than a little regret, he set her away from him and struggled to regulate his breathing before turning to the door to find...a security guard?

      Hell. How could he have forgotten for even a second that his family’s wealth and power carried risk? They needed to stay on watch at all times.

      Security guard James Smithson stood on the other side of the half-open door, his chiseled face grave.

      Gervais had always liked James—a young guy, athletic and focused. James had almost made the cut for the team. The poor kid was in an interesting position; he’d declined a college football scholarship when his high school girlfriend became pregnant. James attended an online school while helping raise their son, but he’d shown up at a couple of Hurricanes training camps with impressive drive, even though his stats weren’t quite strong enough.

      So before Dempsey could send him home, Gervais had taken him aside and found out he had skills off the field, too. He’d offered him help forming his own security company, making him a part of the Hurricanes family.

      “Sorry to disturb you, sir, but we have some unexpected company.”

      “I don’t accept unexpected guests. You know that.” Gervais stared at the guard. Who, to be fair, was doing a damn good job at not looking at Erika in her tight-fitting sparkly tank top that revealed her killer curves. Even so, he found himself wanting to wrap her up in a sheet. Just to be safe.

      “I understand that, sir,” James assured him. “But...”

      Erika looked back and forth between the guard and Gervais. “I’ll leave the two of you to talk.” She closed the jewelry box and clutched it to her chest. “If you’ll excuse me.”

      James held up a hand. “Ma’am, I believe you’ll want to stay.”

      Ericka’s face twisted in confusion. “I’m not sure how I can be of help—”

      James scrubbed his jaw awkwardly. “It’s your family. Their limos are just now coming through the front gate.”

      Gervais blinked slowly. “Limos?” Plural?

      “My family?” Erika stammered, color draining from her skin. “All of my family?”

      James gave a swift nod, his gun just visible in a shoulder harness under his sports jacket. “It appears so, ma’am. Both of your parents, four sisters, three of them married and some children, I believe?”

      Gervais scratched the back of his head right about where an ache began. Talk about a baptism of fire meeting all the in-laws at once. So many. “I think we’re going to need to air out the guesthouse.”

      * * *

      The pressure of a headache billowed between Erika’s temples. As she stood in the grand living room, attention drawn outside, past the confines of this room, she felt everything hit her at once. First, her conflicting feelings for Gervais, and now this.

      Her entire family, down to her nieces, was here. Now. Her eyes trailed past the bay windows to where Gervais, her father, Gervais’s brothers and his grandfather stood on the patio. Having drinks as if this was the most casual affair ever. As if this was something they had done together for years. Gervais had a gift with that, taking charge of a situation and putting everyone at ease.

      She’d spent so much time focusing on the reasons to hold back, she forgot to look for the reasons they should. There was a lot to admire about this man. His obvious love of his family. His honorability in his standing up to care for his children. And the way he handled his business affairs with a mix of savvy and compassion. Her heart was softening toward him daily, and her resolve was all but gone.

      And of course there was the passionate, thorough way he made love to her. A delicious memory tingled through her. She tore her eyes from him before she lost the ability to think reasonably at all.

      Her СКАЧАТЬ