They began the next day the same way they finished the one before.

As her body hummed with rippling aftershocks, she pressed her lips to his shoulder. “This is getting out of hand.”

“We’ve got six years of lost time to make up for.”

His lips moving against her neck made her tremble. “I need to go soon,” she said. “I have to shower and change and get to the airport.”

“I’m taking the staff to Richmond today to see John,” he said with a deep sigh. “I’d rather be going with you.”

“I wish you could.” She reached up to caress his face and found the stubble on his jaw to be crazy sexy. Replacing her hand with her lips, she said, “I forgot to tell you my news.”

“What news?”

“I made lieutenant.”

His face lit up with pleasure. “That’s awesome, Sam! Congratulations.”

“It won’t be official for a week or so.” For a moment, she thought about telling him how it happened but decided against it. “And my dad is marrying one of his nurses.”

“Wow. Do you like her?”

“Yeah. A lot.”

“Where’s your mother?”

“She lives in Florida with some guy she hooked up with when I was in high school. They ran off together the day after I graduated. Nearly killed my dad. He had no idea.”

“Ouch. That sucks. I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, I guess I should be grateful that she stuck around long enough to get me through school, but it wasn’t like she was there for me or anything.”

“I saw my mother three times when I was in high school.”

Sam cursed herself for being insensitive. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to complain.”

He shrugged. “It was what it was.”

“At least you had your grandmother.”

“And she was a real treat,” he said with a bitter chuckle.

Intrigued, she shifted so she could see him. “She wasn’t good to you?”

“She did what she could, but she always made it clear that I was a burden to her, that I was keeping her from traveling and enjoying her retirement.” He paused, focused on her fingers. “When I was about ten, I heard her talking to my dad—her son. She said she’d done enough, and it was time for him to step up and take over, that he was an adult now and there was no reason he couldn’t take care of his own child. He said he would, and I got all excited, thinking I was going to get to go with him.”

Her stomach twisted with anxiety for the ten-year-old boy. “What happened?”

“I didn’t see him again for a year.”

“Nick…I’m sorry.”

“He sent money—enough for me to play hockey, which I loved. I poured all my energy into that and school. Ended up with an academic scholarship to Harvard and played hockey there, too. That was my escape.”