Still, Gavin was right—it sucked to lose. As she sat back in the car and looked over at her husband, she was consumed with the thought of having a baby. His baby. A child who looked like him, with his dark hair and his drive and sense of honor. And maybe a child who had a touch of her ambition. She was going to make it happen, one way or the other.

If she was one thing, it was tenacious. She might not be a Riley by blood, but she was still part of the family, and she understood grit and determination. And, like every member of the Riley family, she didn’t give up.

Chapter Four

Christmas decorations were up, which always put Liz in the holiday spirit. She wasn’t sure Gavin had been all that happy about having to drag a six-and-a-half-foot live tree into the house, especially since she’d insisted they go to one of those places where they could cut their own tree.

He’d told her they had plenty of trees on the property and she could wander around, pick one out, and he’d chop it down. Then they wouldn’t have to drive the truck an hour outside the city to get one.

Clearly, the man had no Christmas spirit. Besides, she loved all the trees on the property and wasn’t about to cut one of those down when there were places specifically set up for that very function. And those places would replant trees.

Since they’d be celebrating Christmas at their house this year, everything had to be perfect. She’d spent the past two weeks running nonstop. Between the holiday and Jenna and Ty’s wedding, there was something to do every week. In between those two functions, she also had work to do with her clients.

Frankly, she was exhausted. But as Gavin climbed up on the ladder to put the star on the top of the Christmas tree, she was satisfied that at least the decorating part was finished.

“Does it look okay?” he asked.

She found herself staring at his butt, which looked mighty fine in his jeans. Then she realized she had to add more sex to her list of things to do. How else was she going to get pregnant if she didn’t jump her husband—repeatedly.

“Perfect. Just . . . perfect.”

He turned around. “You’re staring at my ass, Liz.”

“Oh . . . was I?” She leveled a smirk at him.

“We had sex this morning.”

“And your point?”

He climbed down the ladder and folded it up. “No point at all.” He brushed her lips as he walked by. “Except we’re going to my parents for dinner tonight, remember?”

“Oh, yeah.”

“So your nefarious plans to take advantage of my body are going to have to wait.”

“We’ll see about that.”

He paused, ladder in hand. “Planning to seduce me in my old childhood bedroom?”

She waggled her brows. “That’s a distinct possibility.”

“I’d like to see you try, considering the entire family will be there. Minus Mick, who’s not in town.”