He’d dragged himself out of bed, taking his feverish little girl with him. Better to hold her while she slept than to risk being unmanned by a sharp elbow or foot. And Maddie had suggested getting the kids a dog for Christmas. As if! That would be just what he needed—two kids and a dog in his bed.

Thomas had woken up feeling worse and had clung to Maddie, while Hailey was all about Daddy. Usually, that was more than fine with Mac, but after a restless night, he was tired and expecting more of the same tonight.

“I guess we should call Jenny and tell her we’re out for tonight,” Maddie said late in the afternoon.

Thomas was asleep in her arms, and Mac worried about her catching whatever the kids had. She was still in her first trimester of pregnancy, and he didn’t want anything going wrong this time. They’d bounced back from losing their last pregnancy, but thinking of the baby they’d lost could still bring tears to his eyes—and hers.

“I suppose so.” Though he was disappointed about missing the night out with friends, their children came first. “You want me to put him to bed?”

“You can try.”

“Let me put her down first. I’ll come back for him.” Mac went upstairs and got Hailey settled in her crib, watching as she popped her thumb into her mouth. Her cheeks were red from the fever, but it was lower now than it had been earlier. He went down to collect Thomas and got him tucked into bed, too, returning to Maddie, who was stretched out on the sofa. “You feel okay, hon?”

“Yeah, just tired. Been a long day.” Only yesterday, she’d confessed to feeling unattractive to him as her pregnancy had progressed. He’d shown her just how attractive she would always be to him, but he’d looked forward to showing her again last night.

It worried him that she could think he would ever fall out of love—or lust—with her. That would never happen, and he wanted to be sure she knew how much she meant to him. She held out a hand to invite him to lie with her on the sofa.

He gladly accepted the invite, snuggling up to her. “Whatever shall we do with this night we now get to spend at home?”

“We could sleep like sane people would after the day we’ve had.”

“We could, but what fun would that be?” He ran a hand down her back to cup her ass, tugging her in tight against him.

“Is there ever a time you’re not interested in sex, Mac?”

He pretended to think about that for a second. “When you’re in the room? No, not really.”

“You should’ve come with a warning label,” she said, a teasing smile making her eyes sparkle with amusement.