Page 78 of Take Me Home for Christmas

He was on top of her in an instant. “Is that a fact?” he murmured against her ear.

“Mm. It might have been a record.” She moaned when he fondled her breast. “In fact, I ought to add that to your website.Overachiever in bed.”

She broke out in a fit of giggles. Hayden silenced them with a possessive kiss. When she squirmed again, her thigh brushed against his arousal. He jumped off the bed before he made a fool of himself.

“Here.” He tossed her the T-shirt he’d left on the floor the night before when they’d both been stripping off their clothing in haste. “Put that on so you don’t keep distracting me. Please,” he pleaded.

She made a show of stretching the tee over her torso, causing him more discomfort. When she was finally covered up, she lifted her hair from beneath the collar and swung it behind her. She sat up on her knees like a prim schoolgirl.

“Better?”

It wasn’t. The shirt accentuated her pebbled nipples and the soft slope of one of her shoulders where it slid down her arm. He didn’t think he’d be able to take his eyes off her and leave for the station.

“Yes,” he croaked.

Hayden sucked in a breath to refocus his horny brain cells before mentally going through the checklist of things he needed to do before he reported for duty. It was critical he didn’t miss a step. Possibly the difference between someone’s life and death.

He opened the door to his closet and punched in the combination to his gun safe. His service revolver sat neatly inside, its ammo in a sleeve beside it. He retrieved them both and loaded his weapon. Once he’d ensured the safety was on, he slid the gun into the holster around his waist. He could feel Elle’s eyes on him the entire time.

“I drew Lamar’s name last night,” she said, her voice soft.

“Huh?”

“Our family is so big that we each pull a name out of a hat and buy a Christmas gift for that one person. I got Lamar this year.”

The delight and adoration in her eyes made his chest tight. The sheriff’s assimilation into the McAlister family had been a bumpy one. Mostly because Miles decided he needed to be an overprotective jerk where his mother was concerned.

Elle had been cautious with her acceptance, too. Her late father meant so much to her. It seemed the tide was turning, though. Hayden couldn’t be happier for all of them.

“Maybe you could help me come up with an idea?” she asked. “I want to get him something really special.”

He nodded before leaning down and brushing his lips against hers. “We’ll come up with something great.”

“Hayden, honey, are you home?”

The sound of his mother’s voice had them jumping apart.

“Oh my God,”Elle mouthed. Her wide eyes darted around the room.

“I’ll be right out,” he called as he helped Elle scoop up her clothing from the floor.

His mother’s heels were loud on the hardwood floor as she made her way down the hall.

“What on earth happened to this picture?” Her voice was getting closer.

Elle hurried into the open closet.

“Were you and your friends roughhousing inside the house?” his mom asked.

The woman still thought he was ten years old. Her comment had Elle fighting back another fit of giggles. Hayden put his finger to his lips before closing the closet door.

“Mom, could you wait in the kitchen? I’m getting dressed.”

Too late, she was already charging into the room.

“You look dressed to me.”

“That’s because I just finished. And I’m on my way out the door. My shift starts in a few minutes.”

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