Family in Progress

Steven instinctively reached for her arm. “Are you all right?”

She exhaled slowly, nodded. “Junior just caught me off guard with that one.”

Before he could drop his hand, she took it and laid it on the side of her tummy. He glanced around, inwardly questioning the propriety of having his hand on his brother’s wife’s body. Then the baby kicked again and he forgot everything else.

“That’s your nephew,” Jenny said. “Who seems increasingly unhappy with the limited size of his living space these days.”

Steven looked pointedly at her round belly. “Doesn’t look so small to me.”

She swatted him playfully. “Thanks for that ego boost.”

He grinned. “Isn’t that what brothers are for?”

“Brothers are also for helping their sisters—and their sister’s friends.”

“Haven’t I already done that?” he asked.

“Yes, and I wanted to thank you for giving Samara a chance to work at the magazine.”

“She was the best candidate for the job.”

“As I knew she would be.” Jenny’s smile was just a little smug. “But I need to ask another favor.”

“Anything,” he said automatically.

“I don’t see Samara anywhere,” she said. “Would you mind taking a look around for her and make sure she’s having a good time?”

Steven didn’t need to look far. He’d been conscious of Samara’s presence all night, somehow aware of every step she took, every man she talked to.

Every one except him—or so it seemed. Not that he could blame her after the stilted conversation they’d shared in the car. He felt so unaccustomedly awkward and tongue-tied around her, unable to think about anything but how beautiful she was, and how much he wanted to take her in his arms.

And while his sister-in-law had just given him the perfect excuse to go after Samara, he wasn’t sure he wanted one. He wasn’t sure he was ready to acknowledge the feelings she stirred inside him, never mind to act upon them.

“I don’t know your friend very well,” he said, “but I get the impression she can take care of herself.”

“Of course she can,” Jenny agreed. “But I’d feel better if I knew she wasn’t alone.”

And Steven would feel better if he wasn’t alone with her, but he nodded to his sister-in-law and went after Samara anyway.

Samara had been talking to Jenny’s husband when Richard excused himself to take a phone call. She took advantage of the opportunity to slip into the hall and out the back door. She just wanted ten minutes of quiet and solitude before she put the smile back on her face and returned to the party.

Muted light spilled out of the windows to illuminate the patio, so she moved farther away from the house to one of the lounge chairs deeper in the shadows.

She appreciated Jenny’s efforts to introduce her to new people, but she was feeling a little overwhelmed trying to remember all of the names and faces. And though she was sure it hadn’t been intentional, every one of the twenty-four people seated around the table were part of a couple. Every one except Samara and Steven.

She wondered if he’d noticed that, too, and if he felt as awkward about it as she did. She certainly wouldn’t guess that he did. Of course, she wouldn’t try to guess anything about what Steven Warren was thinking or feeling. In the nearly two weeks that had passed since their first meeting, she really didn’t know any more about him than she’d known when she’d walked into his office for that initial interview. Their paths rarely crossed at work, and when they did, it was only long enough to exchange a brief greeting.

“Did you really want to be alone or did you just need a break from the crowd?” Steven asked, stepping out of the shadows.

“I wanted some fresh air,” she said, ashamed to have been caught hiding out.

Steven handed her a glass of red wine. “I noticed this was what you were drinking at dinner, and since I know you’re not driving home, I thought I’d bring you another. A peace offering.”

She accepted the glass. “Thank you.”

He lowered himself into the chair beside hers. “I didn’t just come out here to deliver the wine.”

“You wanted a break from the crowd, too,” she guessed.

“I’m a little out of my element in these kinds of social settings. For the past couple of years, a night out for me has meant a G-rated movie and a tub of popcorn with my kids.”

She smiled, pleased with both the image and his admission. “There’s nothing wrong with that.”

“No, I guess not,” he agreed.

“I like to think I’m sociable,” she said. “But I felt like a third wheel in there.”

“Fifth wheel,” he told her.

She frowned. “Jenny and Richard and me—that would make three.”

“The expression is fifth wheel,” he explained. “Generally a vehicle has four wheels, making the fifth the unnecessary one.”

“Oh.” She stared at the wine in her glass. “Is that something I would know if I had a driver’s license?”

“Undoubtedly,” he said, but softened the response with a smile that told her he was only teasing.

She leaned back in her chair, noting that he was even more attractive when he smiled. Much more attractive. She tore her gaze away, reminding herself that he wasn’t just her boss, he was her best friend’s brother-in-law and the widowed father of two children. Which meant that he was someone she had absolutely no business thinking about in the way she’d suddenly started thinking about him—as someone she wouldn’t mind getting naked with.

Steven’s thoughts were on a similar path as he reached for his glass and tried not to let his eyes linger on Samara’s legs. They seemed to stretch all the way to her neck—long, slender, shapely—an impression that was emphasized by the short skirt and high heels she wore.

He took a long swallow of his drink and reminded himself that they were coworkers with a family connection, which should have automatically precluded consideration of any other kind of relationship between them. But couldn’t stop his imagination.

“There was a question I forgot to ask during your interview,” he said.

“Too late,” she told him. “You already hired me.”

“And I wouldn’t unhire you now,” he assured her. “I was just curious about something.”

“What?”

“Why you chose to settle in Chicago.”

“Because twenty-two months of living out of a suitcase was long enough.”

“Why did you leave Tokyo?”

She dropped her gaze. “There were a lot of reasons.”