Abby took a deep breath and closed her eyes again. God, she felt so wanton, so shameless. And tired. She wondered how many hours of sleep they’d gotten. Not enough, obviously as she felt herself drifting off. She didn’t fight it. She felt Nic’s arm snake across her stomach and she pulled it tighter around her.

When she woke again, sunlight was streaming in through the blinds, and she blinked against it. She was alone in bed, and she listened, but all was quiet. She tossed the covers off, aware of her nakedness. She hurried into the bathroom, turning on the small heater there to warm it. She looked at herself in the mirror, seeing her disheveled hair. Her lips felt puffy from kissing, and her breasts felt swollen. God, Nic’s hands and mouth had been everywhere on her body, and she positively loved it. Who knew she could be so unrestrained in bed with someone who was practically a stranger? But no, Nic didn’t seem like a stranger at all anymore, did she? No. She met her eyes in the mirror and smiled. They would have eight more nights together. She wasn’t certain she could keep the pace, but she would certainly give it a good try.

“You’re so bad,” she murmured as she stepped into the shower. And to think she had been dreading this. It was kinda fun being a little naughty. She nearly rolled her eyes at herself. What she considered naughty most people would probably consider perfectly normal.

After her shower, she made the bed and straightened up the room before going downstairs. She found Nic in the sunporch with her mother, chatting away as if they were old friends. Nic met her gaze and gave her a lazy smile. Abby felt her stomach turn over at the look in her eyes.

“Good morning.”

Abby suddenly felt a little shy. “Morning.” She glanced at her mother. “I guess I wasn’t recovered from the drive up here. I slept like a log.”

“Uh huh.”

She hoped she was successful warding off the blush that threatened. She sat down beside Nic on the wicker loveseat. It was toasty warm in the room, and she took a sip of her hot coffee.

“Where is everyone?”

“Oh, Aaron and Holly went skiing,” her mother explained. “They’ll stay and have lunch in town again, then come home.”

“And Dad?” She eyed her mother as a very lovely blush lit up her face.

“He had a client to meet this morning.”

She smiled. “A client? I guess he told you then.”

“Oh, Abigail, can you believe he’s back in real estate? I was just telling Nicole about it all. And I thought he was having an affair!”

“Well, I’m glad he told you.”

“Thank you for speaking to him, even though I asked you not to.”

“Were you mad at him?”