Page 38 of Merry with a Single Dad

When Chris poked his head in the shower twenty minutes later, I automatically sucked in my stomach. I wasn’t anywhere near to showing yet, but I was self-conscious and hyper-self-aware that I could already notice the subtle changes my body was experiencing.

“Hey there,” he said.

What was it about him that I couldn’t get enough of? His silky, sexy voice that made my insides heat? His fantastic body that molded perfectly to mine whenever we made love? His strong arms that made me feel safe? The way he looked at me—like I was his birthday and Christmas present all rolled into one? I craved everything about him. And with the extra hormones coursing through my system, I was hornier than usual.

“What’s so funny?” Chris asked when I giggled unexpectedly.

I shook my head. “Just remembering something Cassie said earlier,” I lied.

“I’m really tempted to join you,” Chris said, his hypnotic eyes pulling me under his spell.

I turned the water off and leaned forward, linking my arms around his neck. “If you’d been a couple of minutes earlier, I’d have been really tempted to let you,” I said. “Where were you guys?”

Chris winked as he slid his hands over my naked torso. “Christmas shopping.”

“Oh?”

“Mm-hm.”

Shivering under his fingertips, I wrapped myself up in a towel before I melted into the floor.

“What’d you get?”

He gasped and said, “I’m not telling you!”

“I wasn’t assuming you bought me something,” I said, laughing as I wrapped my hair into a second towel.

“Oh. Well,”—he cleared his throat—“we got Mom some slippers. We got Dad a puzzle, and for Savannah, we got her a coffee mug. They’re all from Hudson.”

“Very sweet,” I said. “I know they’ll love his gifts.”

“I can’t wait to celebrate Christmas with you,” he said.

“Me too.”

“All right,” he said, smacking my butt playfully, “I better get back out there.”

“Hey,” I called before he got too far.

The smile on Chris’s face stole my breath.

“I love you,” I said.

“I love you too,” he said.

I kept my groan in my throat until he shut the door behind him. Once again, I lost the momentary nerve I thought I found.

Chapter Fifteen

Chris

“The problem is,” my dad started, “is that there is no how-to book on life.”

“Tell me about it,” I said, grabbing another beer. “They have all of these books on parenting and loss, but damn. What are the rules?”

Dad chuckled. “When it comes to love, there aren’t any. What I’ve learned from being married is that there are ups and downs. It’s an ebb-and-flow kind of system. Things get hard—sometimes so hard you might want to give up. But?—”

His words hit me like a massive aftershock. “You wanted to give up with Mom?”

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