“Yeah, like that,” he whispered gruffly in her ear, and it hit her like a freight train, making her cry out again, hearing him do the same as he pumped into her one last time. It was earth-shattering, and her mouth, disconnected from her brain, let three little words slip right out of her as if it was the most natural thing in the world. “I love you.”

Above her, Pace went utterly still, and oh God, she did, too.

Then he lifted his head, slipped his hands into her hair, and tilted her head to his. “What did you say?”

“Nothing.” She shook her head, still gasping for air. “I said your name. And then . . . and then I just stopped talking.”

Eyes locked on hers, he slowly shook his head. “No, you didn’t.”

She squeezed her eyes shut. “Okay, then pretend I said nothing, the way we used to pretend that this was just an odd, inexplicable chemistry.”

He stayed still, holding her against him as he supported the both of them, his arms still quaking faintly, his torso damp, his eyes opaque. “Holly—”

“Please,” she whispered. “Please, Pace.”

Looking staggered, he leaned in and kissed her softly, whispered her name, and then nuzzled her throat.

And very slowly, she relaxed. He was going to let it go, and in relief she curled into him.

“Okay, first,” he murmured, “I hope you got the license plate of whatever that was that just hit us.”

Yeah. That’s exactly how it felt. A damn big truck. See? It wasn’t her fault. The next time they were together, she’d simply tape her mouth shut first, that’s all. Or maybe she’d do it starting right now—

“And second—” he said, much more seriously, meeting her gaze.

Oh God. Oh shit. Shit, shit, shit—

“Holly, I—”

The knock at the door startled the both of them. As did Chipper’s voice coming through it.

“Pace?”

Suitably distracted from wondering what he’d been about to say, Holly looked at Pace in horror because she was naked. Naked, with a twelve-year-old boy knocking on the door. “We lost track of the time!”

“Yeah.” He helped her off the table. “The minute you took off your top, I lost all control of my thought processes.”

No time for her bra, she grabbed her tank top as Chipper banged on the door. “Pace? You there?”

“Hold onto your shorts, buddy,” Pace called back, tossing Holly hers.

“I am not going without panties again!” she hissed, but then slid on her shorts sans panties for speed. Dammit.

“I’m sorry,” Pace whispered softly, giving her one last hard kiss as Chipper kept knocking. “So sorry.”