Way to Her Heart - By Melanie Schuster Page 0,17
a loser. She sat up straight and drank deeply from the glass of water before taking one of the cubes out and rubbing it down her throat and between her breasts. Like it or not, Lucas VanBuren’s kiss had awakened something deep inside her psyche, something she hadn’t realized was even there. She put her head back on the pillow, sure that she wasn’t going to sleep that night.
* * *
Luckily she did manage to fall asleep, but her dreams were not only erotic, they were highly specific and centered on Lucas. She didn’t have time to dwell on the X-rated cinema of her mind, though; today was a busy day. Sydney was ready and waiting to be picked up after her sleepover and she was her usual cheery, chatty self. After thanking her friend Lisa’s mom for having her over, saying goodbye to Lisa and kissing her mother hello, Sydney was buckled into her seat in the car.
“Mommy, did you bring my swimsuit and things for swim class?”
“Of course I did, sweetie. Your bag is in the trunk and everything is in it.”
Satisfied with her answer, Sydney plunged ahead to more important matters. “Did you have fun last night?”
Startled, Sherri’s cheeks flamed as she was trying to formulate an answer, but Sydney kept talking.
“I mean did you have fun on your date with Uncle Lucas, Mommy. Where did you go? What did you do?”
“Oh, I wouldn’t call it a date, Sydney. Lucas and I went to Sweet Tea and had barbecue and then we went to a club to listen to music and dance. Then he brought me home.”
“That sounds like a date to me, Mommy. Did he come and pick you up?”
“Yes, he did.”
“Did he bring you a present?”
“Well, he brought me a really pretty plant, but that’s not exactly a gift, I don’t think.”
“He took you out to eat and he took you out to dance and he paid for everything, right?”
Sherri’s eyes were brimming with laughter as she answered. Sydney might make a very good attorney one day if she kept up her interrogation skills. “Yes, he did. But that doesn’t mean it’s a date-date. It just means it was a friend-date.”
“No, Mommy, you’re wrong. That’s a real date, trust me.”
“What do you know about real dates, little one? Where are you getting your information?”
“Everybody knows that stuff, Mommy.”
They had reached the athletic center where Alexis taught weekly swim classes, so further conversation was forestalled as they went in and joined the class. Sydney had so much fun that it wasn’t until later, when she was getting her hair done at Sanctuary Two, that she brought up the subject again. This time she addressed Alexis in an innocent voice.
“Auntie Alexis, what’s a date?” she asked sweetly.
Alexis was separating Sydney’s abundant hair into four equal parts so that she could blow-dry each section. “A date is when two people who like each other spend time together.”
“Did you and Uncle Jared go on dates before you got married?”
“Sure we did, cutie. We went on lots of dates.”
“Did he pick you up and bring you a present and take you somewhere and pay for everything?”
Alexis smiled at her warmly and agreed that, yes, he had. Sydney gave her mother a triumphant grin and said, “See? I told you, Mommy. That was a real date you had with Uncle Lucas. I told you so.”
Sherri was glad that they were in the private area Alexis used for her clients. If they’d been in the main styling area the whole salon would have heard her business being announced.
Alexis could tell by the look on Sherri’s face that there was more to the story. Giving her friend the look that meant that a long session of girl talk was on the agenda for later that day, Alexis grinned and said, “You’re absolutely right, cupcake. It was a real date and I’ll bet they both had a great time. And Mommy’s going to tell me everything as soon as I get done with your hair.”
Sherri suddenly got really interested in her magazine and pretended that she didn’t hear the two of them chattering away. But behind the cover of the latest issue of InStyle, she hid a secret smile.
Chapter 6
A week later, Lucas drove over to Sherri’s condo to pick her up for what would be their second official date. He was in a great mood for several reasons, not the least of which was that he’d gotten his beloved Land Rover Defender back