He caught that small whisper with his brushing lips, treasuring it. He went very still when she began to move her hands, touching his upper arms lightly at first, then squeezing his biceps in her palms.
He lowered his head, the need to plunge back into the warm, wet cavern of her mouth too overwhelming at that moment to restrain himself. She jumped when something thumped against the passenger door.
Hard.
Liam reacted instinctively when he saw a hulking shadow outside the window. He unlocked his car door—leaving Natalie’s locked—and got out of the car rapidly. If whoever was standing outside the passenger door was a threat, he’d be a sitting duck trapped in the car, unable to do anything to protect Natalie. He cursed himself for not carrying his weapon, but it was Harbor Town, for Christ’s sake, and he wasn’t even technically the chief of police yet.
“Get away from that door,” he barked at the man who stood on the other side of the car. The figure was as tall as Liam, which was alarming. He experienced a mixed feeling of annoyance and relief when the man’s features were revealed by moonlight.
“You get away from my sister and get the hell out of here, and I’ll think about it, Kavanaugh,” was Eric Reyes’ harsh reply.
“Great,” Liam muttered under his breath when he heard Natalie unlock her door. Liam and Eric had never gotten along. The last time he’d seen the great doctor was at the opening ceremony for the Family Center over a year ago, where they’d kept a wary distance from each other out of respect for the occasion and Mari Kavanaugh.
The last time he’d seen Reyes before that, the two of them had almost had a fistfight in the parking lot of Jake’s Place.
“Eric! What are you doing here?” Natalie said when she opened the car door.
Eric unglued his glare on Liam and transferred his gaze to his sister. “I came to see you. Maybe you haven’t noticed, but I do tend to do that, now and then. What are you doing?”
A tense silence ensued. Eric’s voice had been thick with sarcasm and fury. Liam didn’t have to see Natalie’s face to sense how uncomfortable she must be feeling at that moment. Surely Eric had seen enough through the steamy windows to know precisely what they’d been doing.
“Don’t use that sanctimonious tone of voice with her,” Liam growled. “She wasn’t doing anything wrong. You’re the one who sneaked up on us and scared her half to death.”
“Be quiet, Kavanaugh,” Eric commanded, pointing across the hood of the car. “This is none of your damn business.”
“Wrong,” Liam said quietly through a clenched jaw. “This is none of your damn business.
“Stop it. Both of you.”
Liam paused and looked at Natalie as she rose from the car. Her face looked pale and tense in the moonlight.
“I’ll talk to you tomorrow, Liam.” He could tell by her pointed expression that she was warning him to drop it.
“What? Why are you going to be talking to him?” Eric demanded, glancing from her to Liam with a look of confusion and alarm on his face.
“Liam and I are working on something together,” Natalie said.
“Yeah. I could see that,” Eric replied sarcastically.
“Liam,” Natalie said sharply when Liam started around the car. He came to a halt, scattering gravel beneath his feet, glaring at Eric all the while.
“It’ll be okay. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” The small tremor in her voice quieted Liam’s fury more than anything.
Liam nodded. He remained standing by the car as he watched Natalie and her brother walk toward her town house.
Eric slammed the door behind him.
“Jesus, Nat.”
Natalie shut her eyes when she heard the three, pointed syllables. She didn’t bother to turn around but merely walked into her living room and tossed her purse on the couch.
“Do you want me to make some coffee?” she asked calmly.
“No, I don’t want any coffee,” Eric stormed. She finally turned to look at him. Her brother was a very handsome man—tall, dark and intense. Three quarters of the female staff at Harbor Town Memorial, where he practiced as an orthopedic surgeon, would have sacrificed a great deal to have Eric drop in on them unexpectedly on a balmy Harbor Town summer night.
Natalie wished fervently he’d go grace one of their door-steps and leave his little sister alone…the same little sister he’d just caught making out with a Kavanaugh.
Her cheeks burned at the memory and she started toward the kitchen determinedly. “I’m going to make myself some coffee, then.”