But instead of picking up where he’d left off, which had been torturing her by not touching her, he shifted his hand to her breasts.

He caressed her curves, moving closer to her ni**les without actually touching them. He circled and circled until she thought she might go mad with wanting. Finally he touched the tight tip and she felt ribbons of fire race through her.

“Good?” he asked as he kissed his way down her neck.

“Excellent.”

“I aim to please.”

He shifted so he could take one nipple in his mouth. She gave herself over to the gentle sucking, the flick of his tongue. Heat poured through her. She felt herself melting. Between her legs, her blood pulsed in time with her heartbeat.

He moved closer, touching, kissing, licking until she could barely catch her breath. Need built inside of her—a restless energy that begged to be released.

He slipped his hand between her legs and this time he slid his fingers through her damp curls and rubbed her hungry flesh. She arched against him and cried out as he found that single point of pleasure.

As he rubbed her, touching her, circling, then brushing right against that spot, she felt him press his hardness into her thigh. His need increased her own. She needed more.

“Faster,” she whispered. “Harder.”

He obliged with a readiness that earned her gratitude. His fingers moved over her slick, swollen center in a rhythm designed to send her over the edge.

She drew up her knees and parted her legs. Her heels dug into the bed, while her whole body arched in anticipation of her cl**ax. Suddenly her mind filled with the image of her on top of him, feeling him inside of her while she came. Once planted, the idea wouldn’t be ignored. She put her hand on his wrist.

“I want to be on top.”

His mouth curved into a slow smile of masculine anticipation. “Be my guest. Take me any way you want.”

He rolled onto his back, then helped her as she straddled him. She reached between them to guide him inside as she lowered herself onto his arousal.

He filled all of her. She felt her body clench around him as he flexed within her.

“You set the pace,” he said with a groan. “I don’t need much to make me happy.”

She shifted to find the most erotically comfortable position. Her body clenched again.

“This is good,” she whispered and closed her eyes.

Slowly, she began to move. The up-and-down rhythm felt awkward at first, but she quickly found a pace that made her nerve endings quiver. She moved a little faster, then faster still.

She opened her eyes and saw him watching her.

“Come for me,” he whispered as he slipped his hand between them and rubbed her swollen center.

Every muscle in her body tensed as need built up. He rubbed a little harder, making the circling motion tighter. It was all that she needed to lose herself. Spasms of pure release claimed her as her orgasm swept through her. She continued to move, riding him, calling out her pleasure.

Up and down, up and down, claiming him, her body contracting again and again.

He grabbed her h*ps and began to control the rhythm. She stretched out her arms and fell forward so she could keep moving and still support herself.

This angle was even better, she thought in amazement as her release went on. He continued to hold on to her h*ps until he suddenly squeezed as he held her still. Only he moved. Once, twice and then he groaned.

She opened her eyes and watched as his features tightened. Pleasure pulled his mouth straight. His breath caught. He groaned again and opened his eyes. They both smiled.

“Not bad,” she said. “The whole on-top thing was very nice.”

“Yes, I liked it, too.” His smile widened into a grin, then he laughed. “We should do this again some time.”

“I think I’d like that.”

He wrapped his arms around her and gently rolled her on to her side. They moved arms and legs so they were facing each other. Cal pulled the covers over them, then touched her face.

“You okay?”

“I feel as if every cell in my body just went to a really great party.”

“Good.”

“And you?” she asked.

“The same. I was kind of sweating it there at the end. I didn’t know how long I could hold out.”

“You did great.”

“Another two seconds and I would have lost it.”

She took his hand in hers and pulled it to her chest. “That would have been okay.”

“Not if I’d come first. That would have left you hanging.”

“I trust that you would have taken care of things in another way,” she told him. “Besides, there’s something exciting about a man being so aroused, he loses control. It’s very sexy.”

“You’re very sexy.”

She stared into his dark eyes and knew that she hadn’t been wrong before. She did love him. Maybe working together had given birth to new feelings, or maybe it had simply stirred up something that had always been there.

Whichever it was, it had taken seeing his emotional sacrifice with Lindsey for her to realize how she really felt.

Now what?

The phone rang. Cal rolled over and grabbed it.

“Hello?”

He listened for a second. “Okay. I’ll tell her. Yeah. Not long. Okay. Bye.”

He hung up and looked at her. “Talk about timing. Your family just arrived at your house. Dani is there, playing hostess.”

“What? But they’re early by a day! They weren’t coming until tomorrow.” She sat up and fought panic. “I’m not ready to see my parents. I was going to use tonight and tomorrow morning to brace myself.”

“I don’t know what to tell you. They’re here now.” He leaned over and kissed her bare shoulder. “At least they didn’t get here fifteen minutes earlier. That would have been a real drag.”

PENNY ARRIVED HOME to complete chaos.

“Penny!” her mother cried as she walked into the house. “I know, I know. We’re early. But we were sitting at breakfast this morning thinking there was nothing we would rather do today than drive over to Seattle. The hotel had rooms and your sisters were eager to make the drive, so here we are.”

Before Penny could respond, her mother, a petite woman with curly dark red hair and blue eyes, covered her mouth with her hands. “Oh, look at you. You’re showing! My baby’s having a baby.”

Penny stepped into her mother’s embrace. “Hi, Mom.”

“Joe! Joe, get out here. Penny’s home.”

Her father walked toward them and swept them up in his arms. “Hey, kid. How’s it going?”

“Good, Dad.”

Emily and Julie, Penny’s sisters, hurried out of the kitchen, their children running after them.

“Penny!”

Dani came out last, holding a bottle of water in one hand and a bowl of pretzels in the other. “I managed to get them fed and watered,” she said. “I’ll head out now. I have an appointment downtown.”

“Don’t go,” Fay, Penny’s mother, said. “We’ve put you out enough. We really have to get settled in our hotel.” She cupped Penny’s face. “It’s so good to see you. You’re happy. It’s right there in your eyes.”

Penny held in a wince. Hopefully her mother wouldn’t figure out any glow came from her very recent close encounter with Cal.

“I have an idea,” Joe said. He wrapped an arm around Penny. “Let’s go to the restaurant. We can have a look at that fancy place of hers, then go to the hotel.”

“Great idea,” Fay said. “We won’t keep you too long. We know it’s one of your busiest nights.”

“Don’t be silly.” Penny did a quick head count. “Sure. We can go to the restaurant now and look around, then you can come back for dinner at, say, seven.” She looked at her sisters. “Is that too late for the kids?”

Emily, her oldest sister, grinned. “No. It’s perfect. Sean’s mom lives in the area and she’s taking all the kids tonight and tomorrow for the day. Isn’t that the best? Julie and I will each have a room completely to ourselves. I know that doesn’t seem like a big deal to you—you get to be alone whenever you want. But for us, it’s heaven.”

“Unheard-of heaven,” Julie added. “I plan to close the bathroom door and not worry about anyone trying to call me or get in or need something. I may even take a bath.”

Penny grinned. “Okay, I’ll make sure to cook fast so you can have a maximum of bathroom time.”

“You don’t have to do that,” her mom said as she slipped her arm through Penny’s and hugged her close. “Your sisters are exaggerating about wanting to be alone.”

From behind Fay’s back both Julie and Emily mouthed, “No, we’re not!”

BY SEVEN THAT NIGHT, the kitchen was in its usual Saturday night pandemonium.

“Shallots,” one of the cooks yelled. “Who the f**k took my shallots?”

Penny grimaced. Stealing setup supplies was a clear invitation to be stabbed in the back. Literally.

Edouard clucked and hurried to the walk-in. He came back with shallots and made sure everyone was supplied before returning to his demiglaze.

“Thanks,” Penny told him.

“You are lucky I am in a good mood,” he said.

“Things happy at home?”

“Bliss,” he told her with a satisfied smile. “George wants to move in. We are talking about getting a cat together.”

“You can’t have Al. We need him here.”

“You’ll have to send him somewhere when the health department comes calling,” Edouard said.

“I know, but he’s worth it.” She grabbed a plate of salmon as it came past and slid on a small corn cake topped with crab.

“Order up,” she yelled.

Naomi appeared at her side. “Your parents are here. And your sisters. No kids or husbands. Should I be worried?”

“Husbands are at home, kids are with Grandma.”

“That’s the way to do it.” She picked up a second plate. “Should I offer to take them bar hopping?”

Penny didn’t want to think about her very married sisters hanging out in Naomi’s wild world.

“They’re kind of focused on having rooms to themselves and taking baths.”

“Well, I wouldn’t want to get in the way of that,” Naomi said as she hurried out of the kitchen.

Penny glanced around to make sure that everything seemed in order, then she left Edouard in charge as she made her way into the dining room. She smiled at Cal, who stood by the hostess station, then crossed to the table by the water where her family sat.

“Hi,” she said as she pulled up an empty chair. “Have you ordered?”

“Not yet,” her father said. “We were waiting to get a recommendation from the chef.”

Emily leaned close. “This place is terrific. Fabulous view. Did we know you were working with your ex-husband?”

“Oh, you saw Cal?” she asked, hoping to sound friendly and calm, not at all as if she’d spent a fair amount of the afternoon na**d and begging for more.

“She told us,” her mother said. “I’m sure I mentioned it.” Fay glanced at him and waved. “I always thought it was a shame the two of you couldn’t work things out. Any sparks?”

“Not really,” Penny said, and hoped her mother had lost the ability to tell when she was lying.

Julie shook her head. “Let it go, Mom. Penny’s moved on, obviously. She’s having a baby on her own. She’s the perfect modern woman.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that,” Penny said, although she appreciated the vote of confidence.

“Speaking of the baby,” her mother said. “Are you sure you’d still like me to come out for a couple of weeks when it’s born? I don’t want to intrude or get in the way or—”

“Yes,” Penny said, cutting her off in midsentence. “I would love the help. I’m terrified of being on my own with the baby.”

Her mother beamed at her. “You’ll be fine, but I’m happy to help. We’ll work out the details later. Now let’s order some food.”

Penny made several suggestions, then excused herself to go back to the kitchen. Her mother rose and walked with her.

“You’ve done a wonderful job here, darling,” Fay said. “We’re all so proud and happy for you.”

“Thanks. It’s nice to hear. Especially after all the years I spent screwing up.”

Fay frowned. “Don’t say that. We never thought of it that way. You were trying to find what was right for you, that’s all.”

“But I flunked out of college. Twice. And let me tell you, it’s hard to flunk out of community college.”

“You refused to settle. Your father and I always admired that about you.”

“Really?”

“Of course. All I’ve ever wanted was for my girls to be happy. You’ve made that happen. Oh, Emily and Julie did, too, but in a more traditional way. They knew what to expect from their lives. You never did. You forged your own path. That takes courage.”

Until that moment, Penny had always assumed her parents saw her as a failure. That they’d been disappointed in her stops and starts along the road of figuring out what she wanted to do with her life.

“Thanks, Mom,” she said and kissed the other woman on the cheek. “You’re the best.”

Her mother laughed. “All I ask is a chance to taste your cooking.”