Love in Bloom (De La Fuente Family 3)

His hands carefully caressed up the calves of her sexy legs and hesitated at the hem of her dress. “All day I’m going to be thinking about having these wrapped around my waist.” He inched past the hem and groaned as more of her creamy thighs came into view.

“If you keep doing that, Diego will get an eye full of my,” she whispered, “naked pussy.”

“Fuck.” His hands tightened before he forced himself to let her go and stepped back.

“I can see this is going to be a long day for you,” Diego commented, mischief in his eyes.

He turned and greeted Diego, who smacked him on the shoulder. His brother grinned and stared at Erin, who smiled back with a lovely blush on her cheeks.

His youngest brother could be an ass when he wanted to be and he loved nothing more than to flirt with a beautiful woman. At least Mateo knew that Erin was his. He’d staked his claim, not that she ever had eyes for anyone else.

“Erin,” Diego took her hand into his, “you’re beautiful.” He dipped his head and kissed her knuckles. “But I always knew that.”

At her giggle, Mateo yanked her hand free of his brother. “Don’t you have someone else to annoy?” he grouched.

Diego laughed, his eyes full of teasing amusement. “I think you should come with me Erin and let Kasey get a look of you.”

“Kasey and the others, will see us soon.” Mateo slipped his arm around her shoulders and stared at his brother.

“You’re so easy to tease, bro.” Diego shook his head, his usual grin in place. “Mom sent me to hurry you along. The wedding’s about to start and she wants you to keep an eye on Aiden.”

He frowned as they started to make their way toward the outdoor seating area. “Why? What’s he done?”

“He hasn’t done anything…yet.”

“You’re still not making any sense,” he commented but Diego shrugged and walked off as they neared Kasey.

Ignoring Mateo’s scowl, Kasey whistled and looked Erin over before he smirked at his brother. Mateo didn’t give his brother chance to comment though, and asked, “What is going on with Aiden and why does he need watching?”

“Ask Mom.” Kasey turned to go, but Mateo caught his arm.

“I’m asking you.”

“Aiden was fine until…Sarah arrived, and she wasn’t alone.”

Well, that would do it.

“Sarah looks uncomfortable and Aiden can’t stop staring at her. Before too long, her husband is going to notice.”

“Fuck!” As he cursed, he pulled Erin into his arms while he spotted Aiden talking to Dante in the distance. “I’ll keep an eye out.”

“We all will.” Kasey moved over to where Diego was.

“What’s going on with Aiden and Sarah?” Erin asked, and he could do nothing but be honest with her.

“Aiden has a thing for Sarah, except I think it’s a lot more than a mere thing. She’s attracted to him, which doesn’t help matters…Sarah’s married, Erin. There have been rumors around town about her husband not being able to keep it in his pants. I know my brother and he’ll step in if there’s ever a need.”

Erin met his gaze. “I’m sorry for him, and her. It can’t be a nice situation for them both, but right now I can see your mom waving us over.”

She smiled and slipped her hand into his. With a slight tug he followed her to the seating. There was family milling around and on the opposite side, he spotted Lucien McKenzie with his wife, Sabrina. He hadn’t been sure if any of the McKenzies would make it, but apparently they all had a soft spot for Sylvia as well with her being the personal assistant to Michael and Sebastian McKenzie.

He just wished that there hadn’t been secrets when he was a child so that he could have grown up surrounded by his cousins. He knew that his father had made contact with Elias McKenzie so, hopefully soon, the past really would be behind everyone.

But as he introduced Erin to Lucien and his wife, he saw the confusion on Lucien’s face. Of course, everyone, other than his immediate family, knew that he was engaged to Caprice. He should have thought ahead, especially when he noticed the forced smile on Erin’s face.

“It’s a long story,” he admitted to Lucien. “I’ll tell you about it someday.” Mateo wrapped his arm around Erin’s shoulder, kissing her on the top of her head. “But I will admit to having gotten it right this time.”

Erin wrapped her arms around him, squeezed before she let him go and stepped slightly away. Nothing forced about her smile this time.