“I haven’t decided yet. All depends on how things go in the next few minutes.”

Smiling, she drew him into the heat of her mouth and nearly finished him off with the perfect combination of tongue and suction.

“Getting closer to forgiveness,” he said through gritted teeth. His hips surged off the mattress, and she took him deeper, until he nudged against the back of her throat and still she didn’t back off. “Maddie… Fuck… Baby.” God, he was going to come in her mouth if she didn’t stop right now.

A sharp cry from the next room made them freeze.

“Mama.” Thomas. And he was crying. No. Just no.

Maddie’s lips slid over his shaft as she withdrew, leaving him with a look of sincere regret. The sight of her silk-covered ass as she left the room did nothing to ease the ache.

“Fuck,” he muttered to an empty room.

This had been, Erin decided, the nicest Christmas she’d had in years. Other than the emotional blip at Jenny’s house, she’d gotten through a day that had been difficult for her in other years. Much of the day’s success was due to the man who was now driving her home.

He’d been quiet since they left the McCarthys’, and Erin wanted to know what he was thinking. But she didn’t ask. She wanted to thank him again for being such a rock for her when she was spinning earlier. She wanted to tell him how, in the past, an episode like that could’ve ruined her for days, but because of him, that wouldn’t happen this time.

There were so many things she’d like to tell him, but she wasn’t sure he was ready to hear them. They were in the odd position of having been close friends for months but romantic partners for only a few days. It would be easy—too easy—to press the accelerator on the new romantic portion of their relationship in light of the many hours they’d already spent together, talking, laughing, flirting, sharing confidences.

When the silence became weighty, she decided to ask what he was thinking about.

“Naked boy-naked girl,” he said with a sly grin.

“How funny was that?”

“Funniest thing I’ve ever seen, but I wasn’t thinking about the kids. I was thinking about you. And me.”

Was it warm in here, or was it her? “How many McCarthy men do you suppose are using that line on their women tonight?”

“I suspect all of them. It’s an instant classic. Have I mentioned how incredibly hot you look in that skirt?”

“Um, no, I don’t think you have.” It was definitely getting warmer in the small cab of his truck.

“Major oversight on my part. All day today, I’ve been wondering what you’ve got on under there.”

“Will you be disappointed to find plain old white cotton?”