This whole situation was unprecedented for him. He didn’t go out of his way for women, and he certainly didn’t stay with them. One of his cardinal rules of dating had always been never to spend the night, and here he was planning to spend twelve nights with Erin—and more if she agreed to come home with him.

Rather than feeling constrained by the idea of a real relationship, he couldn’t wait to see what would happen next. And he couldn’t wait to kiss her and hold her and…

Stop. Don’t get ahead of yourself. One step at a time.

He took a deep breath and left the bathroom. Since he hadn’t planned to stay with her, he hadn’t brought anything to sleep in, which presented another unique dilemma.

Erin was in bed, head propped on her upturned hand, watching him as he made a snap decision to leave his jeans on—for now—and stretched out next to her, turning on his side. He traced a fingertip along the V of her T-shirt, which ended just above the deep valley between her breasts. “How can you say you don’t have anything sexy?”

“This is just a T-shirt. I used to have some slinky stuff, but it didn’t make the cut when I downsized to the lighthouse.”

“You like the slinky stuff?”

“I used to love it, but I haven’t had much use for it lately.”

“Now I know what to get you for Christmas.”

“Oh. Are we doing that?”

“What fun is Christmas if you don’t have a present under the tree to open?”

“Don’t go crazy, you hear me?”

Keeping up the subtle movement of his fingertip, he shifted closer to nuzzle her neck. “You make me all kinds of crazy. So crazy I have to remind myself that I shouldn’t tell you all my dirty thoughts about you.”

“Why not?” she asked, sounding as breathless as he felt.

“Because you’d stop thinking I’m a charming gentleman.”

“When did I think you’re a charming gentleman?”

“Ha-ha.”

“I won’t stop thinking that.”

“Yes, you will. You’ll think I don’t respect you when that couldn’t be further from the truth.”

“Tell me one thing.” Her eyes glittered with excitement and desire that made him hard as a rock.

“Mmm, how to choose just one when there’re so many to choose from?”

“Try.”

“Your lips.”

“What about them?”

“When we would FaceTime, I became obsessed with your lips.” He rubbed his finger over her lips. “I would think about your mouth and how badly I wanted to kiss you and how much I wanted…” No. Too far. Too much.

“What did you want? Say it.”