“You can throw anything you want at me.”

They were halfway up the stairs when Jenny turned to him, meeting him at eye level from the stair above his. “Thanks for making me talk about it.”

“I always want to know what you’re thinking. If you’re unhappy, so am I.”

She put her arms on his shoulders, encircling his neck. “I’m not unhappy. I’m happier than I’ve been in a very long time, all because of you.”

Reaching around her, he cupped her bottom and lifted her off her feet as he continued up the stairs, carrying her into the master bedroom where he’d surprised her with an air mattress a couple of weeks ago to hold them over until their new furniture arrived.

“We can’t be doing this in the middle of a workday. It sets a terrible example for the employees.”

“I love when you’re stern with me. It’s so hot.”

Jenny rolled her eyes the way she always did when he said something outrageous, which he did frequently because he loved pushing her buttons. “Everything makes you hot.”

“You make me hot,” he said, molding his lips to hers as he lowered them to the mattress without missing a beat in the kiss. “Tomatoes make me hot.”

Jenny started laughing and couldn’t seem to stop. “Am I ever going to hear the end of the tomatoes?”

“Never.” Hearing her laugh hard made him realize how long it had been since she’d done that. Her belly laugh was another thing that made him hot. He helped her out of her clothes and then pulled off his own, ignoring the fact that he probably needed a shower after the morning spent working. But that would take time he didn’t want to waste with her naked and eager beneath him.

He kissed her all over, starting at her neck and working his way down to her breasts, her belly and between her legs. She came twice, one right after the other, and was still in the throes of the second one when he drove into her, triggering another wave. There was nothing in this entire world that felt better than being with her this way, and he couldn’t wait to be married to her.

And as he made love to her, he promised himself to spend as much time with her as he possibly could over the next few weeks, to reassure her that nothing was going to go wrong this time.

The house was full of people who’d come to pay their respects to Lisa, to deliver food, to check on the boys, to offer to help in any way they could. Seamus appreciated the outpouring. Hell, he’d expected it of the Gansett Island community. But his entire focus was on the two little boys who were now his responsibility. His and Caro’s.