Claiming Colleen (Home to Harbor Town 3)

“He’s insufferable,” she said.

Mari laughed and picked up the ladle. “You’re the only person on the planet who thinks so. Most women adore him. He’s smart, he’s handsome, he’s charming, he’s great with kids. If I recall correctly,” Mari said, giving Colleen a sly glance, “you were right there like the rest of us when we were teenagers, waiting for Eric to take off his shirt while he worked for that landscaping company. You did your fair share of drooling whenever he did, too.”

Colleen snorted with laughter. Their mirth was interrupted by the sound of the music getting louder and the squeak of the swinging door. Both women glanced around, but Mari recovered at the sight of Eric faster than Colleen.

“Hey.” Mari greeted him with a grin. “We were just talking about you. You and Colleen should be proud. The party is a huge success.”

Colleen’s wide grin faded as her gaze ran down Eric’s body. He looked beyond good, wearing a dark blue suit that set off the width of his shoulders and trim hips. His dress shirt seemed appealingly white next to his bronzed skin. His hair looked almost black against the contrast of his collar.

When he’d come over earlier to help prepare for the party, her heart had seemed to jerk in her chest. Had he always been so handsome? She’d known he was good-looking, of course. Most women in Harbor Town knew that. But the intensity of his attractiveness, his sheer sexual potency, seemed to have escaped her until now.

Or it had until that kiss last summer.

“Liam and Natalie were having a terrific time,” Eric said.

Colleen set down the dish towel and smoothed her dress over her hips, trying to ignore the fact that Eric’s gaze flickered downward, following the path of her hands. “What do you mean?” she asked, concerned.

“It’s Tony Tejada and Janice,” he told her. For the first time, she realized his jaw looked tense. “Tony didn’t take to me dancing with Janice very well.”

“Eric, you didn’t—” Colleen began in a rush, suspicious that he’d “tweaked” events a little too stringently in order to make his precious point about the foolishness of impulsive romance and marriage.

“Oh, no—” Mari muttered at the same time Colleen spoke, but both of them were cut off as Tony stormed into the kitchen. He was about a head and a half shorter than Eric, but he had the muscular build of a one-time athlete. Eric met his angry gaze levelly.

“I would prefer it if you kept your hands off my wife,” Tony said aggressively.

“Your ex-wife is my friend and coworker. And we were just dancing. If you don’t want to see Janice in someone else’s arms, I suggest you ask her to dance yourself.” Given Tony’s agitation, Colleen couldn’t help but respect Eric’s cool, even response. Eric turned his dark-eyed gaze to her.

“Actually, I came looking for you,” he told Colleen before Tony could utter another word.

“Uh…you did?” Colleen noticed Tony’s neck had turned brick-red above his collar as he glared at Eric.

“Yes.” He held out a hand toward her. “Come and dance with me.”

Colleen wavered, confused by the turn of events. Tony looked furiously flummoxed, Mari appeared amused and Eric just stood there, his face completely impassive, his arm stretched toward her in a beckoning gesture.

“Er…okay,” she muttered gracelessly. Dancing with Eric would separate him and Tony, which Colleen thought was a pretty darn good idea at the moment. When she placed her hand in his, he immediately swept her into his arms. He moved her gracefully out of the kitchen and beyond the patio and the pavilion until they were beneath the star-spangled, ebony dome of the night sky. The brisk autumn air felt nice against her heated skin.

Natalie and Liam and several other couples were also swaying to the jazz music, but they remained beneath the silk pavilion, closer to the patio doors. Colleen fleetingly noticed Natalie’s pinched expression of concern as she glanced at her brother. Had Natalie noticed Tony Tejada’s anger?

“Is it your mission in life to make trouble wherever you go?” Colleen hissed. Eric hadn’t touched her since that kiss in his office nine days ago. He’d been nothing but polite and businesslike as they planned the engagement party together. She’d convinced herself she was glad he hadn’t tried to touch her again…or kiss her…

She’d hadn’t entirely convinced herself, apparently. The heat and pressure of his hand resting on her hip was making her breathless.

He leaned back slightly and looked into her face. “A dance is trouble?”

“Not this dance,” Colleen grated out, trying to ignore the sensation of his flat belly, pelvis and thighs brushing against her own. “I’m talking about the fact that you were flirting with Janice while you danced. You knew Tony was watching. You were putting your little plan into place…plotting. I thought you said you weren’t going to do anything malicious to make your point,” she said accusingly and with the deepest of sarcasm.

His dark brows rose. “I wasn’t plotting. That happened all of its own accord. And I wasn’t flirting.”

Colleen made a disgusted noise. “I was watching. You were so flirting.”

“You were??

?? Eric asked, his question confusing her. He moved the hand on her hip to the middle of her back and pushed her slightly toward him. The contact between their bodies increased. Her breasts brushed against the lapel of his suit jacket, making her breath catch in her throat.

Colleen glanced up instinctively into his face. In her heels, her eye level was just above his mouth.

“I…I was…what?”