“Mom! What’s for dinner?” Simone came bounding into the room, stopping short at the sight of Grayson sitting close to her mom on the sofa.

“Come here, hon.” Emma held out a hand to Simone and encouraged her to sit between them. When she was settled, Emma said, “I wanted to ask if you mind if Grayson is my boyfriend.”

He grimaced playfully at the word boyfriend.

“You might see us holding hands and maybe kissing each other,” Emma continued, her face heating with embarrassment. “Would that be okay with you?”

“Kissing is kind of gross.”

“Well, no, not really,” Emma said, noticing his attempt to withhold laughter. “It’s actually very nice when you like the person you’re kissing.”

“What about germs?” Simone asked. “You’re always telling me not to share drinks with my friends, but when you kiss someone, you get their germs.”

Grayson shook with silent laughter.

He and Simone watched Emma expectantly as she tried to formulate a response.

“I, um, if you and the person you’re kissing are both healthy, you don’t need to worry about germs. Now go take a shower and make sure you actually wash your hair.”

“Because I don’t want to have germs.”

“Exactly. Do you need help with your arm?”

“No, I can do it.” She took off toward the bathroom, and Emma collapsed into the couch.

“That… was awesome,” Grayson said, laughing out loud now.

Emma sighed dramatically. “She kills me.”

“I love her. She’s the best.”

Glancing at him, she said, “I guess we’re official now.”

“I guess so.” He gathered her into his embrace. “How about you share some of your germs with me?”

“I’d love to share my germs with you.”

“If we’re going to get all germy, we may as well really go for it,” he said, running his tongue over her bottom lip.

“I couldn’t agree more. Infect me.”

He laughed as he kissed her with all the desire they’d been forced to contain during the long day of travel. Laughter turned to moans as they feasted on each other with the kind of ravenous hunger Emma had come to expect when they were together this way.

“God, you make me crazy,” he whispered gruffly.

“Same.” She ran her fingers through his hair and gazed up at him, drinking in every detail of his handsome face. She’d never get tired of looking at him, especially when he stared at her with such dazzled affection.

“How many hours until Simone’s bedtime?” he asked.

“Three.”

“I don’t know if I’ll make it.”

“Me either.”

He drew in a deep breath and appeared to be summoning patience as well as control.

“So dinner. Takeout is okay?”

“Whatever you want is fine with me.”

“This has been the best day ever. Thank you for coming home with us.”

“Thank you for having me.”