“Nothing to worry about, my love. I’d never break you. Where would I be without you?”

“Mac,” she said on a whisper when he was fully embedded in her.

“What, honey?”

Her fingers combed through his hair as her hips lifted to meet his every stroke. “I love you too much to ever leave you. Don’t worry about that, okay?”

“Okay. Don’t you either.”

“I won’t. I never have. Not for one second.”

With her assurances soothing him, he gave himself to her completely, thankful for the life they had together and that he’d had the good sense to marry her before someone else beat him to it.

Chapter 20

Chapter 20

“Are you sure it’s not too soon?” Seamus asked Carolina, long before the alarm they’d set was due to go off.

“It’s what they want, Seamus. Their teachers know what happened, and they’ll call us if it’s not working.”

“It feels too soon.”

“To them it feels like normalcy.”

“How long was Joe out of school when his father died?”

“That was a slightly different situation because we moved here about a month later, so that year was a bit of a mess for him at school. Thank God for Mac McCarthy. The two of them bonded almost immediately and were inseparable all the way through school. Sometimes I think Mac is the one who saved Joe. Mac and his incredible family that took us both in and made us feel loved in our new home. My parents were instrumental, too. ”

“I’m sure you had a lot to do with saving Joe.”

“I did what I could, but I was a wreck for a long time after Pete died. I tried to hide that from Joe, but he knew. He was always a smart, insightful kid, as are Jackson and Kyle. We have to follow their lead and do this their way, not our way.”

“As always, you’re right, love.”

“I’m glad you’ve figured that out so early in our marriage,” she said with the dry humor he loved so much.

He turned on his side to face her. “You’ll keep me from making a mess of this, won’t you?”

“Of course I will. I’m much older and wiser, so just do everything I tell you to do, and we’ll be fine.”

He snorted with laughter. “That’ll be the day.”

She flashed the sly, sexy smile that had been the first thing he loved about her. “It was worth a shot.”

Seamus put his arm around her and dragged her across the bed to him.

“Such a caveman.”

“You love that about me.”

“I love everything about you, but you know what I love best?”

“What’s that?” he asked, slayed by her sweet words and the power of her love.

“I love how badly you want to do right by those boys.”