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Thoroughly pleased with that statement, she held out her hand. “Give me your phone.”
“Why?”
She waited patiently. Finally, he dug it from his front pocket, keyed in the password, and handed it over. Mae found his calendar app and scheduled the date of her next doctor’s appointment. Then she held up the screen for him to read the entry.
His gaze shifted from the phone to her. “Ultra sound? That’s where we get to see the baby, right?” She nodded and his gaze dropped to her belly. “How’d it go today? Is everything okay?”
“Everything is just as it should be. I even heard the heartbeat this morning.”
He suddenly looked a little like Ian when they didn’t have his favorite ice cream at the park. “I hate that I missed that.”
“Then don’t miss this next one.”
“I won’t.” The two words spoken with quiet resolve were ten times better than if he’d gone on and on, swearing up and down he’d never do it again.
She took the flowers and set them aside on the counter, then stepped forward to take his face in both hands while rising on her tiptoes. It was a stretch in her bare feet, but as she smiled up at him, he gripped her waist and bent to meet her halfway.
His lips were warm on hers, soft, and still apologetic. Mae slid her hands behind his neck and whispered against his mouth, “You’re forgiven.”
He stilled for a moment, then smiled. “Thank you,” he whispered back before angling his head to deepen the kiss.
His arms slid around and banded tight to pull her flush against his body. The sensual stroke of his tongue against hers made her moan with approval while wishing to be closer still, especially when she felt him growing hard against her belly.
She slid her leg against his, the softness of his pants a caress against the bare skin of her inner thigh below her cut-off shorts. She’d gladly trade it for the scrape of his whiskers. Heat engulfed her body—until the loud rasp of the patio screen sliding open registered past the haze of desire.
“Mom! Is the pizza done yet? I’m hungry!”
Mae frantically pushed out of Merit’s arms as Ian banged the screen door closed again before tromping into the house. “Yep, pizza’s done.” She struggled to make her voice sound normal as she dragged oxygen into her lungs. “I was just about to call you in.”
“Awesome.” He rounded the table and grinned when he saw Merit at the end of the counter, forearms braced on the higher part of the island. “Hi, Merit!”
“Hey, man. Put ‘er there.” He reached sideways for a high five, and Ian hopped up to deliver.
Noticing Merit hadn’t turned his body away from the counter, Mae grinned as she bent to pull the pizza from the oven. From what she’d felt moments earlier, poor guy was going to need a minute or two. She was still hot—and that was before the
heat from inside the oven billowed out around her.
“Ian, go wash your hands while I pour your milk.”
“Aw, man. Why not root beer?”
“Because you know the rule.”
“Milk first,” he grumbled. “This was supposed to be our fun day.”
“It’s still going to be our fun day. But milk first and then root beer,” she insisted as she cut the pizza into slices. “Now, don’t forget the soap and make sure you count to sixty before rinsing.”
“Mo-om.”
She’d be lucky if he got to thirty, which is why she told him sixty. And if she told him thirty, she’d get fifteen. “Get a move on. Pizza’s getting cold.”
He huffed out a huge sigh. “Come on, Merit. You can wash your hands with me.”
Merit straightened at the counter with a slight smile. “I’m not staying, Ian. I just needed to talk to your mom for a few minutes.”
“You’re welcome to stay if you want,” Mae said as she turned to put the pizza cutter in the sink while her pulse sped up in anticipation. “Unless you have to get back for work?”
“No…I’m good,” he responded. “But…”
