Chapter 5

Chapter Five

C hloe spent most of Saturday shopping for the perfect party outfit and some other items, including a few pairs of much-needed shoes, as best her meager funds would allow. She was sliding some sparkly gloss over her lips when the doorbell rang. She glanced at the clock, 5:55. She liked an early guy. Especially when that guy was Derek Sumner.

Grabbing her coat and then hanging it back up—really, the party was only a handful of footsteps away—she flew through the door and down the stairs. She opened the door and nearly sighed out loud. His black leather jacket was unzipped to reveal a midnight blue button-down shirt. It was a great color on him.

“Hey there, stranger,” she said.

“It has been a long time, hasn’t it?” He held out his arm in a superbly gentlemanly fashion. Her mother would swoon.

Chloe closed the door and locked the deadbolt, then slid the keys into the pocket of her new black skinny pants. They weren’t fancy, but they weren’t from Target either. She’d driven forty-five minutes to an outlet mall with some great stores.

He eyed her new dark red sweater, his gaze heating her in spite of the cold. “You look great,” he said.

“Thanks, so do you.”

“Do you want to walk around to the front, or is it okay if we just sneak in through the mudroom?” he asked, looking down at her. She loved how tall he was.

She contemplated the much longer walk around to the front door. “Is it sneaking in if we’re just trying to avoid freezing?”

He chuckled. “Not at all. Mudroom it is.” He led her—quickly—to the door leading from the porte cochere.

Her first impression of the interior of the Archer home was the same as that of the exterior: that it was homey, despite its size. The mudroom contained hooks and cubbies with everyone’s name on them. Wow, there were a lot of kids, which meant the monstrous house was for more than just show. The floor was a rich brown tile, perfect for coming in out of the rain. Everything was neat and organized, and the pine wreath on the door had warmly invited them inside.

“This way,” Derek said. He took her hand and though his fingers were cold, she still felt a warmth from his touch. No one had held her hand in a very long time. She didn’t remember the last time Ed had done something so simply romantic.

Derek led her down a hallway toward the sounds and smells of a party. Christmas music filled the air along with the telltale scent of pine. As they passed a dining room on their right, she caught sight of a massive Christmas tree, decked out in sparkling elegance in the corner of a two-story living room. She tried not to gape at the sleigh in the center of the oval-shaped hall that served as a central hub; it connected the entry, the great room, and the gallery hallways leading to other wings of the house, one of which they’d just come from.

“What’s that for?” she asked, staring at the nearly life-sized sleigh decorated with garland, lights, and gold accents.

“People bring donations for families in need.”

Chloe inwardly cringed. “You should’ve told me so I could bring something.”

He squeezed her hand. “You just lost everything in a fire. No one expects you to donate anything.”

Of course not, but she would’ve. But she also didn’t want him to feel guilty for not telling her so she smiled up at him. “I’ll bring something tomorrow.”

“Derek, Chloe!” Emily came forward. Dressed in a sparkly gold blouse and sleek black slacks, she was elegance personified. She embraced Derek warmly, then hugged Chloe.

“How’s Ashley?” she asked.

“Seeing better all the time. She’s becoming quite playful.” And cuddly. Last night, she’d curled up beside Chloe’s pillow and purred softly. It had been a wonderfully soothing and heartwarming sound to fall asleep to—precisely what Chloe needed.

“That’s wonderful to hear. And you look so lovely tonight. Come, you must meet everyone.” She looped her arm through Chloe’s and guided her into the great room.

The party was still young. Maybe two dozen people were scattered around the tree, near the fireplace, and in one of the seating areas near the windows. The sound of arrivals came from the entryway behind them, and Chloe suspected the party would be in full swing before long.

Harry Connick Jr.’s voice blasted over the sound system as Emily led her to the seating area in front of the two-story wall of windows facing the backyard, where a group of five were gathered. At least one of them, a petite blonde, was Emily’s offspring judging by her looks, but Chloe wondered if they were all related.

Emily withdrew her arm from Chloe’s. “I’ll have to introduce you to my husband Rob later—he’s working the front door—but for now you can meet the rest of the brood. Most of them anyway. Everyone, this is Chloe English, Derek’s friend. Be nice to her,” she warned and Chloe felt certain they’d all been briefed about her house fire. “I need to see about the food for a few minutes, but I know you’re in good hands with Derek. I promise to find you later so we can talk about him behind his back.” She gave Chloe a mischievous smile that she transferred to Derek before she took herself away.

Chloe looked toward Derek, but he was staring after Emily with an uncomfortable expression wrinkling his brow. Not for the first time, Chloe wondered at the relationship between Derek and her—indeed, with this entire family. She was also very curious about this house of his and why Emily seemed to think he’d offered it to her.

“Hi, Chloe.” A slender young woman with long, straight auburn hair standing in front of the middle window came forward and offered her hand. “I’m Tori. It’s nice to meet you. I don’t remember the last time Derek brought a friend to something.” She shot Derek a questioning glance. Chloe had to surmise he was quite familiar with this family.

A guy wearing a black sweater that accentuated his broad shoulders and set off his light brown hair stood up from a leather sofa and took her hand. “Hi Chloe, I’m Hayden.” He nodded at Derek. “Well done.”

Chloe blushed. “Uh, thanks. Nice to meet you.”

“Ignore him,” said the other young woman, the blonde who was clearly Emily’s daughter. “I’m Sara, or number six, if you prefer. This is Evan.” She gestured to the tallest of all of them—he even had an inch on Derek. With dark brown hair and piercing gray eyes, he looked a little stand-offish compared to the rest of them, perhaps because he was standing the furthest away, but he quirked a small smile and Chloe relaxed. He didn’t say a word, though.

“You’re the sixth child?” Chloe asked Sara, noting that she didn’t look particularly younger than any of the rest. “How many of you are there?” She glanced around the semicircle and counted six, plus Derek. Her inventory also revealed two who appeared to be twins, though she wasn’t sure. One was seated in a large, comfy leather chair with an oxygen tank hooked to his nose. The other stood next to him and was the most expensively dressed, with a crisply-starched espresso-colored shirt and perfectly pressed navy slacks. With his thick, waving brown hair, blue-gray eyes, and deep dimples, she pegged him as a heartbreaker, but then they were all uncommonly attractive. Great genes. She glanced over at Derek. Was he somehow . . . related? She didn’t see any resemblance, but they all seemed so familiar with each other.

The heartbreaker drew her attention with a pointed look of interest. “You don’t know how many of us there are?”

Chloe looked at Derek and wondered what else he was supposed to have told her. “Should I?”

The heartbreaker shook his head with a small smile. “I guess not. That’s . . . refreshing. I’m Liam. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” He shook her hand with genuine warmth.

The twin in the chair smiled at her. “Liam’s beside himself that you haven’t heard of us. The Archer Sextuplets?”

Chloe looked around at all of them, nonplussed. “Um, no? Sorry.” Now she felt embarrassed and shot Derek a slightly disgruntled look.

Derek stepped to her side. “Do you think I name-drop you losers to pick up girls? Get over yourselves.” He directed an irritated stare at Liam, and for a moment things seemed tense.

Then Liam started to laugh and soon they were all cracking up. Chloe stared at them, bemused. What was so funny?

“Oh, you poor thing. You’ve stumbled into an inside joke of sorts,” Hayden said. “Fill her in guys, come on.”

“It’s remarkable you haven’t heard of us, given your age,” Tori said, still smiling. “We were quite popular for a while there in the mid to late nineties.”

Chloe still had no idea what they were talking about.

“We had our own ridiculous television show,” Liam explained. “ Seven Is Enough . The name was a take on that seventies TV show, Eight Is Enough .” The derision in his tone made his opinion on the entire matter quite clear.

“It wasn’t that bad,” said the twin in the chair. “And I’m Alex, by the way. He pointed to each sibling as he said their name, “Liam, my twin, Tori, Evan, Sara. And Hayden, but he’s not one of the six.”

“I’m the seventh ‘oops’ kid,” Hayden said with a grin. “Apparently after you undergo a lot of fertility treatments, you shouldn’t assume you’re still lacking in the fertility department.”

Chloe tried to track all of it. Five of the six were here, which explained why Emily had said “most” of them were present. “So there was a television show about you back in the day?” She tried to recall if she’d ever heard of it, but she just couldn’t remember anything like it.

“Yes, and the fact that you’ve never seen it makes you the best girl Derek could have ever brought here,” Liam said.

“She’s from Pittsburgh, that’s why,” Hayden said. Derek had been talking about her to them. Yes, these were close friends of his. There were so many things she didn’t know about him yet, so many things she couldn’t wait to learn.

“They carried the stupid show in Pittsburgh,” Tori said with the superiority one directs at a younger sibling. As the middle child, Chloe was well-versed in dishing and receiving it. “It was national, if you recall.”

“How could I forget? But it was fifteen years ago. ” Hayden rolled his eyes. “Good thing Kyle’s not here or we’d have another epic debate on our hands.”

Beside her, Derek stiffened. She looked up at him with concern.

“Kyle loved the show. He and Derek used to be best friends,” Hayden said, accurately understanding the unspoken communication between Chloe and Derek. “Before Kyle ran off to Key West to hang with bikini babes.”

“And he didn’t come because his bartending job is sooo demanding,” Sara said, frowning.

Kyle was a bartender? Not so different from Derek. She found herself jumping to his defense. “Maybe it is. Maybe he couldn’t get the time off, especially if he’s coming home for the holidays in a couple of weeks.”

“He’s not.” Sara stared at the Christmas tree, a shadow of disappointment over her features and in her tone.

Wanting to lighten the mood, both because her own sadness hovered just beneath the surface and because she wanted to know more about Derek’s relationship with these people, she turned to Derek. “Were you in the show, or was that before you knew them?”

Derek nodded slowly. “I was in an episode or two. They’d just started filming after I moved here.”

Hayden laughed out loud suddenly. “Oh God, do you remember their tenth birthday episode?”

Derek brushed his hand over his brow and smiled painfully. “I try not to.”

Curious, Chloe looked at the siblings, who were all smiling and nodding in commiseration.

Tori sipped her wine. “We had this huge party to celebrate our first decade. Mom and Dad converted the backyard into a mini-carnival.”

“I don’t think that was Mom and Dad,” Evan said, his deep voice breaking into the light mood. Or maybe it was that he wasn’t smiling like the rest of them. “I’m pretty sure the producers were behind that.”

“Right,” Tori said, nodding. “Anyway, there were pony rides too.”

“Please, don’t,” Derek said, his eyes beseeching.

“What?” Chloe looked at him, but he was staring at the floor with a resigned expression. She transferred her gaze to Tori. “What?”

“Derek was afraid of the ponies,” Liam said, his eyes crinkling with laugh lines.

“Ponies? You were afraid of ponies?” Chloe asked.

Derek widened his eyes in an expression that clearly said “What?” in the most comically defensive way possible. “I lived in the city before I moved here. The only animals I saw that were larger than a dog or cat were in a zoo.”

“We talked him into riding one though,” Hayden said, as laughter erupted from both Tori and Sara. Even Evan had cracked a smile finally.

Liam rested his hip against the back of Alex’s chair. “Kyle promised him a hundred dollars.”

“Though he never planned to pay him,” Alex said. “This was before Kyle and Derek became buddies.”

Sara and Tori couldn’t stop giggling, and now Hayden was laughing.

“Since no one can seem to get the story out,” Derek said, “suffice it to say, my first pony ride ended with a dunk in the pool.”

The laughter grew. Hayden sucked in a breath. “The whole thing was perfectly captured on film. Derek freaking out on the back of the smallest pony in the yard. Then the pony cantering off toward the pool. Everyone laughing—or yelling, in Mom and Dad’s case—and then the pony screeching to a halt beside the pool while Derek lost his seat and fell in.”

Chloe laughed along with them, but then stopped abruptly. “Wait a minute. He could’ve gotten really hurt.”

Liam shrugged. “We were ten. Think that mattered to Kyle?” He eyed Chloe closely. “You must be an only child.”

“I’m not.” And she also understood why ten-year-olds didn’t think about what could happen if they put a frightened kid on an animal, let alone next to a pool. She looked at Derek. “At least tell me you knew how to swim.”

“Sure.”

“But he faked like he didn’t,” Tori said, her blue-green eyes gleaming. “He screamed and thrashed, freaked everyone out, even the cameraman. At least twenty different people jumped into the pool to save him. Kyle got in so much trouble.”

Realization dawned on Chloe. She grinned at Derek. “You knew perfectly well what you were doing.”

He crossed his arms over his chest, his smile radiating a sexy slice of pride. “Of course.”

Chloe laughed. “What happened to Kyle?”

“He had to give him the hundred dollars out of his pay from that episode,” Sara said, having recovered herself.

“Which my mother made me and Kyle donate to the local animal shelter,” Derek said with mock annoyance.

“And after that, they became friends.” Sara smiled at Derek in a wholly sisterly fashion. “Best friends.”

Chloe moved closer to Derek, feeling a surge of pride for the boy who’d held his own amongst this formidable group.

“I think that’s just about enough of memory lane,” Derek said, uncrossing his arms and touching Chloe’s shoulder. “Do you want something to drink?”

“Sure, a glass of red wine would be great.”

He dropped a brief kiss on her forehead and left.

“And there goes the Golden Boy,” Evan said. “It’s no wonder Kyle left.” As if realizing he’d said something he shouldn’t have, Evan glanced down before muttering, “Excuse me,” and then disappeared in the same direction as his mother.

“Evan’s a bit shy,” Tori said. “He’ll come back out later.”

Shy and perhaps in possession of a faulty filter. She wouldn’t hold it against him; she knew plenty of people, her mother for one, who simply couldn’t keep their opinions to themselves. Chloe found herself very curious about the friendship between Derek and Kyle and how things had turned sour. She turned to Hayden because he seemed the friendliest so far. “Why did Evan call him the Golden Boy?”

“Because Derek’s the best of the Archer children,” Liam said. “Well, along with Hayden, the jerk.” He lifted his drink in salute to his younger brother.

“But Derek’s not an Archer, is he?” Chloe suddenly wondered if he was some long-lost bastard child or something. Maybe that was why he hadn’t told her much about the Archers. But that was silly. He hadn’t told her much because they’d only met a few days ago.

Liam sipped his drink. “No, he’s not, but he might as well be. Of all of us, he has the most drive, the most ambition. Makes Dad so proud. And more than a little perturbed with us.”

Hayden shook his head. “Right, because you’re all a bunch of wannabes. Tori with her globe-trotting job, Evan with his degrees, Sara with her successful event-planning business, and you on your way to owning half of Denver. Whatever.”

All of that faded into the background as Chloe focused on what Liam had said. “Derek’s ambitious?” To do what, be fire chief?

Liam lifted one shoulder. “Sure. How else do you become CFO at twenty-seven?”

Derek was a CFO?

“Nepotism?” Tori offered as she brought her glass of wine to her lips.

Several of them chuckled.

“Smart-ass,” Hayden said with a touch of heat. His eyes had darkened and she sensed his defenses had kicked up. “Derek and I work our butts off. We’ve earned our positions.”

“Isn’t Derek a firefighter?” Chloe asked, feeling rather stupid and hating it.

“Volunteer,” Sara clarified. “Most of them are because we’re so rural out here. Did you think that was his job?”

That, and part-time serving at the pub, which he apparently only did because he was CFfreakingO and the pub had been shorthanded. Driven? Check. Ambitious? Sounded like it. Married to multiple jobs, including volunteer gigs? Hell yes. Exactly like Ed. Exactly the type of guy she’d bailed on marrying. Why hadn’t Derek told her about his real job? Add that to the fact that he was apparently supposed to have offered her a permanent place to live and she had to wonder what sort of game he was playing. The warmth that had nestled into her chest since she’d entered the Archers’ home dissipated and was replaced with a cold disappointment.

“Will you excuse me?” She leaned toward Sara and Tori, who were standing beside each other. “Where can I freshen up?”

“There’s a powder room down the north gallery,” Tori said, pointing to the left.

“Or, you could go downstairs,” Sara suggested, her blue eyes crinkling as she offered a small smile. “There are bathrooms at either end of the hallway down there.”

“Thanks.” Chloe flashed a smile she didn’t feel. “Nice to meet all of you. I’m sure I’ll see you later.”

“What about Derek?” Hayden asked as she turned.

She looked back over her shoulder. “Tell him I’ll find him in a bit.”

She just needed a few minutes to collect her thoughts. And decide if she really wanted to take a chance on another career- minded alpha dog instead of a family-oriented hot firefighter/pub server. Oh, how she wished that’s who he was.

Derek walked down the stairs juggling his and Chloe’s wineglasses. When he’d returned from the bar, Hayden had informed him that Chloe had left after learning that he was CFO at Archer. She’d seemed weirded out, but Hayden couldn’t fathom why. And neither could Derek. After determining she wasn’t in the upstairs powder room, he’d come downstairs to find her.

Later, the party would overflow down here to the bar and pool table or to play poker in the gaming alcove. But for now, it was empty. There were two bathrooms she could use, and he didn’t really want to stalk her, so he went to the curved bar and dropped off the wineglasses.

After waiting a few minutes, he heard a noise behind him. Turning, he went into the sole bedroom on this floor—his.

Chloe stood inside, her eyes wide as she surveyed his trophies, posters of the Lord of the Rings movies, and the bulletin board stuck with various photographs from his younger years, most of which featured the Archers.

“This is your room,” she said, not taking her eyes from the bulletin board.

“Yes. I came to live with the Archers when I was seventeen, after my mom died.”

She turned to look at him. Her hazel eyes were dark, her features tense. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize you lost your mother when you were so young. But then, I guess there’s a lot I don’t know about you, Mr. CFO.”

“Is that a big deal?” he asked, moving farther into the room.

“I thought you were a firefighter. And that you worked in a pub.”

He couldn’t keep the small smile from his mouth. “And that’s better?”

She shrugged. “Maybe. You’re just not quite who I thought you were. You’re a super successful guy from a huge, apparently very wealthy family.” She looked back at the posters. “Are those really signed by Peter Jackson?”

Derek glanced down, feeling more than a bit self-conscious. He was hyperaware that he was one lucky son of a bitch to have landed in a family like the Archers. “Yeah. He likes Rob’s beer.”

She shook her head. “That’s . . . crazy. You’re definitely not what I thought.”

Derek moved toward her until he could reach out and touch her if he wanted. But he wasn’t sure she was ready for that. There was something between them now. Something he didn’t understand. “What did you think I was?”

She looked up at him, their eyes connecting. “A firefighter. A server. A simple guy. I . . . I liked that.”

“I’m a volunteer firefighter and an occasional server and bartender. And I’m a CFO. I’m still a pretty simple guy.”

“Are you? They said you were driven, that you work really hard.”

Derek’s hackles started to rise. “And that’s a bad thing?”

She shook her head swiftly. “Not at all. It’s just . . .” She looked away again. “I’m sorry, this is me, not you.”

“The old ‘it’s not you, it’s me’ speech? Sorry, I’m not buying it. There’s too much of a connection here for us to ignore it.” He moved a bit closer and tentatively touched her jaw with the tips of his fingers. “Or am I wrong?”

“You’re not,” she said, their gazes locking once more. “It is me. Six months ago I broke up with a guy just like you. Very successful, ambitious.”

He tamped down a blast of jealousy by reminding himself that she’d dumped the jerk. But the emotion was replaced by a wave of insecurity. “‘Just’ like me? How do you know?”

“I guess I don’t, not for sure. But I’m not interested in a relationship with someone who’s driven by their career, who works ridiculously long hours. Status means nothing to me.”

He withdrew his hand from her face. “Whoa, status? Just because I lived here,” he spread his arms out at the oversized bedroom, just one of many in this house, “doesn’t mean I give a shit about that either. I work hard because that’s the way I was raised. I love my job, but it doesn’t define me.”

Chloe blinked at him. She seemed a little speechless.

He dropped his arms and exhaled. “Sorry, but you can’t make those kinds of assumptions. Yes, I’m successful, and yes, I’m ambitious. But I’m also lucky enough to be able to pursue those things where I want to be and with people I respect and admire.”

Her gaze softened. “You are lucky. And I love that you know that.”

“So what does that mean?”

“It means I’m kind of dumb.” She blushed. “And judgy. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have lumped you in with Ed.”

“Ed?”

“My ex. He’s mostly interested in being successful so that he can buy the Mercedes he really wants or so he can buy a house in Mount Lebanon.”

“Mount Lebanon?”

She made a face. “ The place to live in Pittsburgh, according to Ed.”

“Pardon me, but he sounds like kind of a douche.”

She laughed. “You see why I called off the wedding.”

“You were engaged ?” He realized there were a ton of things he didn’t know about her either and relaxed about her reaction to his job. Maybe they’d felt such a strong connection that they’d both thought they knew each other better than they did. Which was silly. They needed to take this a bit slower.

“Let’s back up,” he said. He took a step back and held out his hand. “Hi, I’m Derek Sumner. I’m the CFO for Archer Enterprises. I started working for them after I graduated from Williver College. My mom died when I was in high school and I came to live here with the Archers, and I consider them my family.”

Chloe shook his hand. “I’m Chloe English. My parents are rather, uh, concerned with their place in Pittsburgh society, which I find exceedingly dull. I graduated from Carnegie Mellon with a degree in design. I’m the middle kid—older brother, younger sister—and I’ve never quite felt like I fit in. So, I moved out here to find my own place, but, well, you know the rest.” The light in her eyes dimmed and she looked away.

He moved closer, running his fingertips down her bicep. “Hey, don’t think about the fire. Not tonight.”

“It’s not that.” She looked up at him and blinked. “Okay, it is that, but not for the reasons you think. Do you have a vacant house?”

Shit. The house. He should’ve broached the subject immediately. “Yes,” he said slowly. “I was going to offer it to you tonight.”

Her eyes were guarded. “You’re not just saying that because I brought it up?”

“No.” He wrapped his hands around her shoulders. “Listen, Chloe, I really like you. My house is . . . it’s complicated. I’m thinking of selling it, but for now it’s a good place for you to land.”

She was quiet a moment, but didn’t shrink from his touch. “What’s the rent? I’m on a tight budget.”

“I know. Pay whatever you were paying over on McMurtry.”

Her eyes widened briefly and she shook her head once. “I don’t want your pity.”

Frustration over how the evening was going boiled over. “You think that’s what I’m feeling toward you?”

Her gaze locked with his. “I don’t know.”

“Let me show you then.” He drew her against his chest and lowered his lips to hers in a searing kiss, suddenly overwhelmed with the need to touch and taste her and prove she wasn’t some charity case. Not to him.

He wrapped his arms around her back and held her close, but judging by the grip of her hands around his neck, she wasn’t going anywhere. She met his kiss with the same urgency he was feeling. She felt so good against him, her body pressed into his, her mouth opening beneath his lips and her tongue inviting his into her heat.

The kiss continued for several minutes until Derek realized he had to get a handle on himself before he tumbled her back onto his bed. He broke the kiss and leaned his forehead against hers. “We’re standing in the middle of my bedroom, you know.”

“Right,” she said, sounding breathless. “But it’s not like you lured me here to see your fish tank. I’m here of my own accord, and I’m not going anywhere.” Her gaze darted to the side. “You don’t even have a fish tank. How’d you get girls to come way down here?”

“Wine cellar’s next door.” He pressed his lips to hers for a heated kiss, then pulled at her lower lip with his teeth before saying, “Do you want to see the wine cellar? It’s very well stocked.”

“I’m more interested in how well you’re stocked,” she said, pressing her body tight to his. “Show me the wine cellar later.”

“You got it.” He resumed the kiss, and she met him with her lush tongue, coaxing him to slide into her mouth. God, she tasted great, like mint and lemon. Fresh and seductive. It’d been a long time since he’d made out with someone, but he wasn’t sure he’d ever done it like this.

The feel of her breasts against his chest and her thighs tight against his sent him into a state of full arousal. He held her head and kissed her deeply. He wanted more of her. As much as he could get.

Her hands twined into the base of his hair and clasped the back of his neck, holding him tight. Maybe it was this connection between them, but every touch felt like magic.

He glided his palms down her back and savored the heat coming through the thin layer of her sweater. She looked and smelled so good tonight. Her perfume was some sort of vanilla and something herb-like, or maybe it was pine. He inhaled, getting that the pine was coming from her hair. When his hands settled at her waist, she pushed into him, her hips angling against his and stoking his desire to an even hotter level.

He moved his mouth from hers, trailing kisses along her jawline. She arched her neck to give him better access.

“I suppose we should go back upstairs,” she said, her voice hoarse.

“We probably should.” He brought his mouth back up and their lips came together.

Her hands moved down his back and then they were under the hem of his shirt, resting at his waistline. Her fingertips grazed his skin and he nearly groaned.

Taking her lead, he slid his hand up her side and lightly cupped the underside of her breast. He ached to wrap his hand around it and tweak her nipple, but he didn’t want to go too fast. Not unless . . . she dug her fingers into his flesh and it was all the urging he needed. He found the hem of her sweater and pushed his hand up inside. She was so hot, her skin soft.

Then they were falling onto his bed. How’d they even get next to it? The last several minutes were a haze. A wonderful, delicious haze. She shifted so that she was underneath him, their legs tangled. She scooted up and he followed, settling his right leg between hers. Her fingers skimmed just beneath the waist of his jeans. He twitched at the contact, his hips driving against hers.

He pushed up the hem of her sweater and bared her stomach. He dragged his thumb across the silky expanse and splayed his hand over her ribcage. Again, he left her mouth in search of new real estate, and this time her neck received his attention as he licked and nibbled at her flesh. She moaned softly and widened her legs.

The Christmas music coming over the sound system in the party area outside his room faded into the background as approaching voices invaded the melody.

Recalling that the door was wide open, Derek froze. The people weren’t close yet, but the downstairs bar was only ten or so feet away from his door. He lifted his head from Chloe’s delectable neck and saw that she had also heard the voices. Her eyes were wide, her skin not as flushed as it had been a few moments before.

With an internal groan, he rolled away from her and jumped up from the bed. He held out his hand.

She took his hand and got to her feet. “Thank you.” She moved to the mirror hanging next to the closet and smoothed her hair.

He went to stand behind her, his gaze finding hers in the mirror. “My pleasure.” He grinned absurdly. “Really, my pleasure. That was . . . awesome.”

“No regrets?” she asked tentatively.

“Only that we were interrupted,” he said devilishly.

She turned, blushing. “Me too. Guess we should head back out there.”

“Probably. I set our wine on the bar, so we should defend it at least.”

She stood on her toes and pressed a quick kiss to his mouth. “Then you can show me the wine cellar.” Her gaze turned seductive and he was pretty sure he could count on at least a mini-makeout session among Rob’s collection.

He grabbed her hand. “Absolutely.”

So much for taking things slow.