“Gravy,” she whispered, but he could hear the smile in her voice. She looked up and her eyes seized his. She brought her hands to his face. “Where’d you come from, Erik Lindstrom?”
She leaned forward and pressed her lips to his. Her tongue darted past his lips into his mouth right away, jolting him like a shock, and he met her search passionately, claiming her, playing, teasing.
She ran her hands from his face to his neck, slowly down his chest to rest her palms on top of his thighs, the tips of her fingers catching in the crease of his jeans. Feeling her fingers in his lap made him wild, and he growl-groaned into her mouth. He knew they had to stop and get out of the car before he wasn’t able to calm back down and their waiting families got a good look at the effect Katrin had on him. He broke off the kiss, turning his face away from her, pulling her hands up and kissing each of her knuckles before pushing them away.
“Kat…” He stared at her, out of breath, shaking his head. “Maybe I should stay with my brothers. More kissing like that and I can’t make any promises…”
She looked surprised at first then grinned, a pretty blush flushing her cheeks. “Let’s just play it by ear, huh?”
***
As Katrin had predicted, their families were grouped comfortably around a campfire on the back lawn of the lodge in Adirondack chairs and benches and on blankets, catching up with one another. Erik braced himself for the reactions to their hand-in-hand arrival.
“Katrin!” Lisabet Svenson jumped up right away, hurrying over to the couple, and threw her arms around Katrin, who still held Erik’s hand. She leaned back and looked at her daughter’s fading rash. “You look okay, love. How are you feeling?”
Jenny also stood from her cozy spot on Sam’s lap and ran to her brother, looking pointedly at his hand attached to Katrin before opening her arms for a hug. He dropped Katrin’s hand then and gave Jenny a big bear hug. When he stepped back, he flicked his glance down to her oversized Norwegian sweater, which was a touch too warm for a June evening. She gave him a look that pointedly demanded that he keep quiet about the bump underneath then smiled broadly. “You look good, Minste.”
His father and brothers followed Jenny’s lead and he was soon surrounded by his family. His father nodded slowly, looking Erik up and down with pride. “My son, the policeman. How goes it up there in Kalispell?”
“Good enough, Pappa.” He shook his father’s hand, then Nils and Lars too, who glanced back and forth between him and Katrin. His Pappa headed back to his seat by the fire, and Jenny slid over to say hello to Katrin, leaving her brothers to catch up.
Lars raised his eyebrows at Erik, pulled him closer and whispered, “Lucky you saw her first.”
Erik gave his older brother a warning look. “Don’t try it, Lars. She’s not a ‘park girl’.”
Lars, a notorious tease, winked at Erik. “Someone’s got himself a girlfriend.”
Erik ignored Lars, turning to Nils. “No Maggie?”
“Shut up, Erik.” Nils frowned. Erik tried not to smile. Maggie was a good friend of Jenny’s, and Nils’s longtime love interest about whom Nils had done exactly nothing in the four years he’d been pining over her.
“Still haven’t made your move, eh?”
“What’re you going to do about it, lillebror? School me on making a move? You the big expert now?” His glance flicked to Katrin.
“Nah. Nothing I could teach you, brother. Either you gotta have her, or you don’t. Somehow it just got to that point.”
Nils nodded, looking down. “You staying with us tonight or with, uh—”
“Katrin,” Erik supplied. “None of your business.”
Nils’s ice blue eyes sparkled. “Ohhhh, it’s like that, is it? Payback’s fair, Erik. You been on my case about Maggie for years.”
“This girl’s different.” Erik gave him a warning look. “She’s special. You two better not do anything to try to wreck this…”
“We have to keep you on your toes, lillebror!”
“Don’t be an asshole, Lars.”
“Going to take a swing at me, Minste?”
Suddenly Kristian appeared beside Erik, his face cool and unreadable, voice low and firm. “If anyone’s taking a swing at Erik, it’ll be me first.”
Erik turned to face Kristian. He tilted his head to Katrin, who was surrounded by her mother, Lisabet, her aunt Margaret, Jenny, and Ingrid, who was holding Anna. “You want to talk?”
“I want to punch your face in. We trusted you.” Kristian leaned toward Erik with narrow eyes. “She’s been through enough, Erik. You made her cry.”
“I did.” Erik held Kristian’s eyes. “But it’s all been worked out.”
Lars and Nils subtly changed their positions during this exchange to flank Erik, keeping their shoulders close.
Nils spoke first. “She’s not crying anymore.”
Lars now. “Looks real happy if you ask me.”
“This is between me and Kristian,” Erik said, stepping forward.
Lars adjusted his position, his shoulder grazing Erik’s, massive hands on his hips. “You’re wrong there, lillebror.”
“You got a problem with Erik, you got a problem with us. Take it…or leave it,” said Nils, stepping forward toward Kristian, flanking Erik.
Sam had been watching this exchange from his chair by the fire, but now took a stand beside his cousin. “This doesn’t look friendly. What’s going on here?”
“Sorry, Sam. We like you and all, and you’re sort-of family,
