“That’s scary. What happened?”
“She threw him clear off, but he landed awkwardly and broke his leg. We both almost got trampled while Henri and Jean-Pierre ran to get help.”
“You did not mean to break his leg.” Ah, sibling cruelty was something that existed in all countries.
“Things were difficult between us for a long while, even once we all made up. I don’t want my children to live in a fractured family. Not if I can help it. I want them to have a firm sense of belonging, a sense of being a Reynaud.”
“And a Mitras,” she reminded him.
“Yes. Both.” He reached out to take her hands in his and squeezed. “I want your strength in our children. They will need it.”
His words warmed her even more than his touch, and that was saying a lot when a thrill danced over her skin.
Too breathless to answer, she bit her lip, unwilling to allow a dreamy sigh to escape.
“Erika, please stay here with me for a while. We need more time to get to know each other.” He drew her to her feet, his eyes pleading with hers at a time when her resolve was at an all-time low.
Her heart beat wildly, her lips parted. Anticipating the press of his mouth to hers.
He rubbed her arms, sliding them up until his hands tangled in her hair. They kissed deeply, with open mouths and passion. Tendrils of desire pulsed through her as he explored her mouth with his tongue, tasting her as she tasted him right back. She had not been passive in their lovemaking before, and she could already feel the urge to seize control driving her to the brink now.
It could have gone on like that for hours, for days even, if not for the sound of the door opening. She pushed back. Looked down. Away. At anything else but him.
While Gervais spoke in a low voice to his secretary, Erika used the time to collect herself. Straighten her dress. Find her purse. She had to figure this out soon. It was apparent there was chemistry simmering hot just beneath the surface. But now there was also a tenderness of feeling. An emotional connection. How would she ever forget that look in Gervais’s eyes when he told her about the guilt of seeing Dempsey hurt? Of course she understood why he wanted to keep his own family intact. His children connected.
That was admirable, and a deeper draw for her than the sensual spell he cast around her without even trying. It had been difficult enough resisting just one.
How would she ever keep her wits about her with both those persuasive tools at his disposal?
* * *
On the private plane to St. Louis later that week, Erika replayed the kiss in Gervais’s office over and over again. Of course, she had already relived that moment in her mind more than once, awake and asleep. Every look between them was filled with so much steam she could barely think, much less trust herself to make logical decisions around him.
At least they were on different planes today, so she could avoid temptation for a few hours. All the wives and girlfriends traveled first-class, while the team went on a chartered craft. Gervais had a meeting in Chicago first, something to do with corporate sponsorship for the Hurricanes. But he would arrive in St. Louis at the same time she did.
With any luck, she could use this flight to get her bearings straight.
But even as she tried to focus on being objective, her mind wandered back to the kiss in the office. A kiss that hadn’t been repeated despite the fact that they’d spent time together over the past few days. It felt as though he was always on the clock, managing something for the team or overseeing business for one of the other Reynaud family concerns. So he was a bit of a workaholic; not a flaw in her opinion. In fact, she respected how seriously he took his work. He expected nothing to be handed to him in life.
And when they were together, he was fully present. Attentive. Thoughtful. He’d even helped deflect an awkward run-in with his father and his father’s girlfriend because she hadn’t felt ready to face Theo after what she’d learned about him. And knowing how little his own son trusted him.
Erika’s instincts had seldom failed her. In London, there had been something between them. Something she hadn’t imagined. And the more she thought about the past few days, the more excited she was to be with him again. To have another kiss. To throw away caution as quickly as clothes peeled away in the heat of passion.
To make love again and discover if the fire burned as hot between them as she remembered.
Erika clutched a long silver necklace in her hand, running the charm back and forth. Just as she did as a child.
Fiona, Henri’s wife, gently touched her arm. “You know, we have a book club to help pass the time when we’re on the road with the guys.”
“A book club?” She glanced at the row across from her, to where Gervais’s father’s girlfriend stared intently at a fashion magazine.
Fiona scrunched her nose. “I should have asked. Do you like to read?”
“Which language?”
Fiona laughed lightly. “No need to get all princess-sy on me.”
“I apologize. That was meant to be a joke. Sometimes nuances, even though I speak all those languages, get lost. Tell me more about the book club.”
“We choose books to read during all those flights and then we have one helluva party while we discuss them.”
“Party?”
Fiona nodded. “Spa or five-star restaurant or even the best room service we can buy.”
“Did Gervais ask you to sit here and use the time to convince me it is fun to be on the road?” Try as she might, Erika couldn’t keep the dry sarcasm out of her voice.
“I am simply helping you make an informed decision. It’s not just about partying. We have homeschooling groups for families with children, as well.” Shadows passed briefly through her eyes before Fiona cleared her throat. “It’s amazing what you can teach a child when your field trips involve traveling around the country. Even overseas sometimes for the preseason. Our kids have bonds, too. There are ways to make this kind of family work. Family is important.”
Damn. That struck a chord with her. Maybe Fiona had a point. She had just dismissed the women of the group without bothering to really get to know them. And that certainly was not fair.
Maybe she could strengthen her ties to Gervais’s world this way. She already knew she wanted to explore their relationship more thoroughly—to take that first step of trust with him and see where indulging their sensual chemistry would lead. But in the meantime, why not work on forging bonds within his world? If things between them didn’t work and they ended up co-parenting on opposite sides of the world, she would need allies in the Reynaud clan and in the Hurricanes organization. Growing closer to Fiona would be a good thing for her children.
All perfectly logical.
Except that a growing part of Erika acknowledged she wasn’t just thinking about a rational plan B anymore. With each day that passed, with every moment that she craved Gervais, Erika wanted plan A to work. And that meant this trip was going to bring her much closer to the powerful father of her children.
* * *
There was nothing Gervais hated more than a loss. It rubbed him the wrong way, sending him into a dark place, even though he knew that a preseason loss didn’t matter. The preseason was about training. Testing formations. Trying out new personnel. The final tally on the score sheet didn’t count toward anything meaningful.
Opening the door to his suite, he was taken aback by what he saw on the bed. Erika in a Hurricanes jersey. On her, it doubled as a dress, hitting her midthigh. Exposing her toned legs.
His mind eased off the loss, focused on what was in front of him. “I wanted to catch you before you went to bed.”
She closed the book she’d been reading and uncurled her legs, stretching them out on the bed. “I am sorry about the game.”
“I won’t lie. I’m disappointed we lost this one. But I’m realistic enough to know we can’t win every time, especially in the preseason when we don’t play all of our starters or utilize our best offensive strategies. The whole point of the preseason is like a testing ground. We can create realistic scenarios and see what happens when we experiment.” He told himself as much, but it didn’t soothe him when he saw a rookie make poor decisions on the field or watched a risky play go up in flames.
“You have a cool head. That is admirable.”
Her head tilted sympathetically.
Gervais was floored. Unsure of what to make about Erika’s behavior. For the first time since her arrival in the United States, it felt as if she was opening up to him. But could that be?
She’d been so adamant on keeping distance between them, urging logic over passion. She was probably just being polite to him. After all, they would have to be civil to each other for the sake of the children. She had said as much more than once.
Still, damn it, he knew what he saw in her eyes, and she wanted him every bit as much as he wanted her. Back in his arms.
In his bed.
“Thank you. I’m sorry I’ve been so busy the past few days.” He had taken a red-eye to Chicago to be there this morning for a meeting to secure a new corporate sponsor for the team. He was exhausted, but the extra hours had paid off, and he was one step closer to making the Hurricanes the wealthiest team in the league.