like that, the two of them were alone in the house, together.
Chapter 4
Lucas couldn’t believe his good fortune. This was what he’d wanted ever since he’d first seen Sherri back in February at his brother’s wedding. He was alone with Sherri and could start the enjoyable process of getting to know her. It had taken weeks of anticipation, repeated invitations and a study guide provided by her brilliant daughter. Sydney was the one who’d told him that her mother loved barbecue, live music and green plants. He smiled at his reflection in the mirror as he washed his hands in the half bath off the living room.
“She gets sad when flowers die, Uncle Lucas. She likes big green plants. We have a lot of them in our condo, so if you want to bring her something, make it a plant. Like a ficus tree—she really likes those.”
He owed Sydney big-time for the heads-up, he reflected. Sherri seemed to have enjoyed their evening, both the restaurant and the club, although Lucas was particularly happy with the latter. Holding her close to his body while they danced had been arousing in the extreme and he couldn’t wait to do it again. The fact that she’d invited him to come in instead of bolting from him at the door was also a good sign. He dried his hands on the guest towel and went to join Sherri in the kitchen. The sound of the late Percy Mayfield’s voice floated from her stereo speakers and created the perfect ambience for the night.
Once again he noted that she was a beautiful woman, totally striking even though she was just making tall glasses of iced coffee in her bare feet. Lucas loved a woman who could be herself in front of him; something as simple as taking off her fancy sandals to reveal her long sexy feet was a turn-on for him.
“Are you sure I can’t help you with anything?” he asked as he seated himself at the long counter to watch her in action.
“I’m positive. The coffee is already in the refrigerator,” she confessed. “I’m rather addicted to it and after I drink my morning cup I refrigerate it so I can have iced coffee in the evening. All I have to do is put a little cream and sugar and some coffee ice cubes and voilà, it’s all done. You don’t mind sugar in your coffee, do you?”
“It’s fine,” he assured her. “I like my coffee sweet. The ice cubes are a clever idea.”
She didn’t answer for a moment while she mixed cream and sugar, which she had put into a shaker jar, into the coffee. As she shook it up she told him it wasn’t her own idea. “I saw them do it on the Food Network or I got it out of a magazine or something. But I love using them. They keep your drink cold without making it watery.” She filled two tall glasses with the ice and poured the drinks. Placing them on a tray with a plate of mocha brownies, she turned to him and suggested they go to the living room.
Lucas got up to carry the tray and soon they were seated on her comfortable taupe sofa with the refreshments within easy reach on the coffee table. He took a sip of his drink and smiled his approval. “What else did you put in here? It’s delicious.”
“Some of your sister-in-law’s homemade vanilla bean liqueur. Alexis is really clever about that kind of thing.”
“Alexis is a gem,” Lucas agreed. “But I don’t want to talk about her.”
“Okay. So what do you want to talk about?”
Lucas put his glass on the tray and held out his hand to Sherri. “I want to talk about you,” he said. “The more I’m around you, the less I seem to know about you. I want to know you better. A lot better.”
Sherri’s eyes widened as she took in what he’d just said. “We do know each other, Lucas. I know that you have two brothers, Jared and your twin, Damon. I know that you have two sisters, Tamara and Camilla. Tamara is a doctor and Camilla is a commercial interior designer who specializes in restaurants. I know your parents and your grandmother. You’re not exactly a mystery to me, Lucas.”
As she was talking, she put her glass down next to his and placed her hand in the one he was holding out to her. He raised his eyebrows and said, “Yeah, you have