“Reminds me a lot of you.” Adrian pulled Erin’s hair.

“This is exclusive?” Erin looked to Raven, who sat on the other side of the yard. Raven wasn’t Brody’s girlfriend, hadn’t been for years, but they occasionally slept together, or had in the past, and Erin wondered how strong Brody’s feelings still were for their friend. This brewing thing between him and the lovely lady from across the street had a lot of potential. Erin loved Raven like a sister, but Raven left lovesick men and women in her wake, and Erin didn’t much like it that Brody had been one.

“We’re not dating. Not really. But we agreed to not have sex with anyone else. It’s not too much to ask.” He shrugged.

“I didn’t say it was and I agree. I was just thinking you might want to, you know, keep some space from Raven if Elise is here. Elise may not be familiar with Raven’s type and get the wrong idea.”

“There are kids here, Raven’ll behave.”

Zing. Point went right over Brody’s head like the dumb man he was. Brody having women he slept with was one thing. Raven wouldn’t care about that. But Erin wondered how Raven would react to seeing her brother totally into another woman emotionally.

She looked to Todd, who sent her a shrug of his own. Men.

Rennie bounced ahead of her mother and Elise kept an eye out as she tried not to be nervous. Brody’s backyard was filled with people, and true to Erin’s claim, there were at least five other kids, all around Rennie’s age, running around back there.

“Hi again, come on in,” Brody called from his place up on the deck. Several people looked up to take her in. Erin waved and came over, grinning, holding hands with two kids.

“Hi, Nina!” Rennie began to chatter with the other little girl, and the boy bounced off.

“Rennie is in my class,” Nina looked up to exclaim. “Come on, we’re getting ready to play soccer.”

“Bye, Momma!” Rennie scampered off, and Elise felt a tug in her chest where the other half of her heart lived. As lovely as it was to see her daughter make friends and like her new life, she was growing up at what seemed to Elise to be an alarming rate. “They’re good kids. Brody’s yard is secure. Nina and Mase belong to Arvin, he’s the manager of Brody’s shop. He and his wife live just two blocks over. The others, heck, Rennie probably knows a few more, as many of us live within a mile or so. Wow, you’re a ballerina. That’s awesome.” Erin finally wound down, and Elise couldn’t help but be charmed.

“Not as awesome as being a rock star.”

An extremely handsome man came up to them, handed Erin a bottle of cream soda, kissed her gently and grinned at Elise. “Hi there, I’m Todd, Erin’s husband. Can I get you something to drink?”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Elise. Um, sure. One of those would be good, thanks.” She indicated the cream soda and he moved away to grab her one. “He’s pretty.”

Erin laughed. “He is. I have two of them, so I hope you’re not offended.”

“Two of what?”

“Todd is my husband, but Ben . . .” She paused, looking around until she smiled again and pointed out another man, this one bigger than Todd but just as ridiculously good-looking. “Ben is ours too. Our husband but without the paperwork.”

Was this a test? “Lucky you.” Elise shrugged. “That one is pretty too.”

Erin seemed to relax a bit. “I am lucky. They’re both . . . Well, to find one person to love is special enough, but to find two and to be loved just as much in return, it’s pretty amazing.”

“Hello? Why are you bogarting my guest?” Brody called out, and Elise craned her neck to see him better. He grinned, a very close approximation of the smile his sister had worn just a few minutes before. “What can I get you? A dog? Burger? Salmon?”

Todd returned and handed her a cream soda. She thanked him before heading up the steps to where Brody stood behind a fancyschmancy grill.

“Any recommendations?” She looked over his arm to see the grill. “Swank.”

He laughed. “Try the salmon. It has a miso glaze. Erin makes it.”

“Some people have to hog up being good at stuff.” She took the plate he handed her, a rush of sensation sliding over her when their fingers brushed. A taste of the fish only made it better. “Oh, this is good.” She looked out over the yard to find Rennie running with the pack of kids, kicking a ball around. “I’d see if she was hungry, but I think she’s a bit busy.”

“I should have thought to introduce her to Nina and Mase this summer when you guys first moved in. She looks pretty happy.”

Somehow, the way he looked at her daughter and smiled made her all warm. Good lord, she should not be having these little internal moments.

“Yeah, she does. Thanks for inviting us. Can I help? Get out of your way?”

He stepped very close. “You look so good. If Rennie wasn’t here, I’d clear away that bit of cream soda from the corner of your mouth.”

“You’re not fair. I’m not sure my bra can hide how hard my ni**les are,” she murmured back. The up and down slide of his Adam’s apple, the bead of sweat on his neck, the scent of his soap, all of it tested her control.

“I don’t want to be fair. I want to put my hands on you. I want to put my mouth on your pu**y and lick until you come.”

She looked up at him as her skin tingled with awareness. He flipped her switch on such a primal level it was sort of scary. She thought about f**king him pretty much all the time. He set her on fire, had pushed her system into sexual hyperdrive, and she had to admit, she sort of dug it. She’d never been so hungry to be f**ked in her life. It made her feel so alive! Sexy and desirable as a woman. It was liberating really.