Page 41 of Her Holiday Heartthrobs

Another deep, exhausting breath. “Yeah. He’s okay. Had a fever over 102 last night when I got home. I kind of freaked out.”

“Sounds like you had a long night.”

A laugh huffs out of her, guilt warring across her features. “You could say that.”

“Let me cook you dinner.” The offer is out before I can think better of it. I don’t often cook for women.

“No. I can’t?—”

“You can. And you need the rest. Go sit with him, and I’ll make you both something.”

Paige snorts, and it’s the cutest thing I’ve ever heard. “I was just going to make him a sandwich. He won’t be able to eat a lot.”

“Does he like pasta?”

She frowns up at me but says, “Yes.”

“Perfect. Go rest while I whip something up.”

She shakes her head but does as I say. It doesn’t take me long to pull ingredients and throw a pasta dish together. I leave the small bowl for Paxton’s simple, but I add onions and garlic, crushed tomatoes and cream, to our plates.

Once I have everything set, Paige carries Paxton over to the table, and he eats with no trouble.

“See? Easy,” I say, and she gives me the glare I know all too well from my childhood. Still, it cracks a smile across my face.

Throughout dinner, I make faces at Paxton, and his giggle is the best thing I’ve heard in a long while.

It’s strange though. Paxton and I connect easily, even though he’s sick. I like him.

He’s a mess after, so there’s no getting around the bath. Still, I linger on Paige’s couch after I clean up.

I swear she’s more harried after she’s done. “It’s going to be a whole process to put him to bed. You don’t have to stick around?—”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

Fight lingers in her gaze as she examines me.

“Why don’t you let me read him a story or something while you shower. Give you a few minutes to yourself.”

A flash of desperate desire in her eyes sparks a reaction in every part of my body I’ve been shutting down all evening. “Okay. Thank you.”

Reading to Paxton is easy, and he’s snoring before I’m done withIf You Happen to Have a Dinosaur. I tuck him in and retreat to the couch to wait on Paige.

When she comes out, her hair is wrapped in a towel, she’s got a new, oversized shirt on without a bra, and shorts that barely peek out past the hem. My stomach clenches at the sight of all that skin. Her long, supple legs call for my touch, but I refrain as she sits beside me.

She’s so fucking gorgeous.

I breathe in the scent of her shampoo and will my cock not to get hard.

“You should get some sleep while you can.”

“Mmm.” In an instant, she’s on her knees, crawling across my lap, and threading her fingers through my hair. “That’s not what I want right now.”

Fuck me, but I don’t need another hint. I grab her by the waist and pull her closer as she kisses me.

I flash back to our first night together. To last night. But now, there’s so many more layers to Paige. Even as she rolls her hips over mine, I want more than to simply make each other feel good.

How can I explain it to her though? Without seeming too needy, too overbearing, too pushy. Too fast. If you can call four years of waiting before I snapped fast.

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