How did he go from outrageous humor to heartfelt sincerity without missing a beat? If she didn’t know him so well, she’d wonder if he was for real. But after months of long conversations, she knew he was exactly what he appeared to be. “Thank you.”

“I mean it.”

“I know.” She dragged a fingertip over his chest. “Did you really tell your mom about me?”

“She wanted to know what I was doing for the holidays.”

“You don’t go home for Christmas?”

“Home is Florida in the winter and here in the summer.”

“You don’t talk about your family. Ever.” She looked up at him. “That’s why I’m sort of surprised you told your mom about me.”

“I talk about them.”

“Not to me.”

“Never?”

“Nope.”

“Hmmm, well, what do you want to know?”

“Do you have siblings?”

“I have a brother, Jack, who’s two years younger than me. He’s married with a couple of kids and lives in Orange County, California.”

“Are you close?”

“We don’t see each other very often, but we text a lot and catch up whenever we can on the phone. I also FaceTime with his kids, who are the cutest kids ever.”

“Were you close growing up?”

“Yeah, we were. Our folks split up when I was six and he was four. They fought over us for years, which was as fun as you might imagine. By the time they finally settled on joint custody after years of battling, we were all set with both of them.”

Erin’s heart broke at the thought of two little boys stuck between battling parents. “At least they both wanted you. That’s something, isn’t it?”

“They wanted us until they remarried and started new families. Then we were just a couple of teenagers in the way at both houses.”

“So you have half siblings, too?”

“Yep. Two half sisters, two half brothers and three stepbrothers. I’m not really close to them, though. Jack and I were so much older that we didn’t spend much time with them growing up. He was driving by the time the last one was born. They’re all good kids, don’t get me wrong, but they don’t feel like siblings to us.”

“What do you normally do for Christmas?”

“Hang with my friends in Florida, go to the beach, fly people to their families. Nothing special. Christmas stopped being a big deal to me years ago.” He slid his hand from her shoulder down her arm to take hold of her hand. “Until this year. This year it feels pretty damned special.”

“I’m glad you’re here.”

“Me too, sweetheart.”

Chapter 10