“We did.” Avoiding his uncle’s obvious curiosity, Grayson stirred cream into his coffee. “Our evening was cut short by the snow, but we had fun. We saw Hannah, Nolan, Will and Cameron at Kingdom Pizza.” Ten minutes later, he heard footsteps on the stairs, and his heart raced, knowing it would be Emma coming down to join them.

“Morning,” she said, hair damp from the shower and lips swollen from kissing him.

The sight of her made him hard as a rock. His reaction to her was unprecedented. He’d wanted other women, but not the way he wanted her, and he’d known her only a few days. It didn’t make sense to him. How could they have gone from perfect strangers to this level of desperate need in the scope of a couple of evenings? Albeit amazing, monumental evenings.

“Morning, honey,” Molly said. “Did you sleep well?”

Grayson noticed that Emma went out of her way not to look at him. “Like a rock.”

He found her choice of words comical in light of his condition.

“Morning,” she said to him as she slid into the chair next to his, bringing a cup of coffee and a cloud of fragrance with her.

He wanted to lean in closer to fully experience her scent as much as her soft skin and swollen lips. “Morning.”

“How much snow did we get?” Emma asked.

“Only about fourteen inches,” Linc said.

Emma’s eyes went wide. “Seriously?”

“Welcome to Vermont, sweetheart,” Grayson said, amused by her reaction.

She glanced at him, and he took note of the flush in her cheeks. “That would shut down New York City for two days.”

“Just a dusting to us,” Linc said.

“How many such dustings do you get in an average winter?” Emma asked.

“We lose count,” Molly said.

“Wow.” Emma glanced out the big sliding glass door that led to the deck and yard. “It sure is pretty.”

“Yes, it is,” Grayson said, looking at her, not the snow.

When she realized his meaning, she smiled and brought her coffee to her lips. Even the way she drank her coffee was sexy to him.

The house phone rang, and Molly took the call. “Emma? It’s for you. A little girl calling from the mountain.”

Emma jumped up and went to take the call from her daughter. “Hey, how’s it going?”

Grayson once again noticed the way her face lit up when she spoke to her child, and her joy touched him profoundly. He caught his uncle watching him. “What?”

“I could ask you the same thing.”

“I… um…”

Linc snorted. “It’s like that, is it?”

“Might be.”

“Proceed with caution, my boy,” Linc said in a low tone intended for Grayson’s ears only. “She’s not a woman you trifle with.”

“I know that,” Grayson said, mildly insulted that his uncle thought he needed to be told.

“No offense intended.”