Oh God, Erin thought, I’m going to cry. She blinked furiously to keep the tears contained.

Jenny hugged her. “It’s so frightening to risk more than we can afford to lose. I get that. I get it better than anyone else ever could. But Toby would want us to be happy, Er. I have to believe that, or I wouldn’t be able to get through the day.”

Clinging to Jenny and her wisdom, Erin nodded.

“If I can do it, so can you.”

Erin laughed and drew back from the woman who’d become her touchstone after they lost Toby. “I never would’ve survived without you.”

“Ditto. But we can do better than survive. We can thrive. And someday, after we’re done here, we’ll see him again. I want him to be proud of me when that day comes.”

“So do I.” Erin took a deep breath, trying to pull herself together. “I admire you more than anyone. I hope you know that.”

“The feeling is definitely mutual. And… I think your guy is here.”

Erin was on the verge of reminding Jenny that he wasn’t her guy when Slim came into the kitchen and made a liar out of her. Her heart nearly leapt from her chest at the sight of his handsome, smiling face as well as the windblown hair and the rugged leather jacket he wore. He was like a fantasy come to life, and his dark eyes drank her in.

“Is that Alex calling me?” Jenny asked, scooting from the kitchen to give them a moment alone.

“She’s nothing if not subtle,” he said.

“Always has been her strong suit.”

He came over to her, making her entire body go haywire in reaction to his nearness. What. The. Hell.

Unsure of what he expected, she looked up at him, trying to anticipate his next move. But when he merely hugged her, she sagged against him, breathing in the bewitching scent of man and leather and soap.

“Missed you,” he whispered, close enough to her ear to set off another series of unprecedented responses that converged in an insistent throb of desire between her legs.

Dear God. What was it about this man? How did he reduce her to a quivering pile of want simply by walking into a room and hugging her?

When she came up for air, she realized her arms were inside his coat and wrapped around his waist. If this was how she reacted when he was gone for a few hours, how would she feel when he left again to resume his winter life in Florida? She didn’t want to think about that, especially not while he was standing right in front of her, sizing her up with those sexy dark eyes that saw her a little too well for her liking.

“Did you miss me?”

“Did you go somewhere?”