even Greg, and I miss out on spending time with just you.” Her dog treat business wasn’t as stressful as his job, but she worked hard to keep it in the black. Plus, she dealt with the kids and her brother, who would always require a lot of attention. “We haven’t had a lot of time just for us. Greg has always been around and always will be. Though, I knew that going into this.” He knew with Amanda came Greg and he’d never had a problem with that. He’d known Greg much longer than he knew Amanda.
“I know and I love you for that. I don’t know what I would’ve done without you, honestly.” Her excitement quickly disappeared.
He brushed a lock of her auburn hair away from her face. “You were doing fine,” he lied.
“Oh, bullshit. You called me irresponsible plenty of times. In fact, you yelled at me for it, too.”
“You found your way.” Which was not a lie. It took her a bit but she went from a spoiled brat to being solidly grounded. Even though she resisted for way too long, she finally discovered the appeal of a small town.
“Your family helped,” she whispered, her fingers walking down his naked chest and beginning to wake up his cock again.
“My family loves you.” And that also was very true.
“And I love them.”
“Actually, it’s not my family, it’s ours. You are just as much a part of them as if you were born into the family.”
Amanda snorted softly. “Luckily I wasn’t because as our well-spoken, expressive daughter would say, ‘Eww!’”
Max chuckled and then mimicked Hannah, “Yeah, eww. Gross!”
She planted her hand on his lower belly. “You know how much I love you?”
He played along. “No, how much?”
She shifted until she was settled between his legs, a naughty smile directed at him. “Do you want me to tell you? Or show you?”
“Both?”
His wife was so fucking beautiful. Those boudoir pictures were special and he’d cherish them, but he preferred her in person. No makeup, no fancy hair style, no sexy lingerie needed. He only needed her.
Forever.
Part Three
Christmas Day
Chapter Nine
Max & Amanda
Max held the door open for Amanda and, as she and Chaos squeezed past him, he grabbed her ass.
“Oh, look at you, old man, last night wasn’t enough to wear you out? You better save up some of that energy for Fiji.” She had a hard time not running around the house squealing with excitement like one of the kids.
In fact, the kids didn’t know yet that they were staying with their grandparents for the next two weeks. If he had told them, her present would never have been kept a surprise from her.
Her kids were horrible at keeping secrets. That was a fact. Amanda learned the hard way when she’d say, “Don’t tell your father!” and then they’d go blab to him as soon as he got home.
Tattletales.
Plus, they probably would’ve moped around the house about not being able to go with them.
Amanda’s smile grew to epic proportions.
“You might want to turn down that blinding smile so it doesn’t tip off our children.”
“I can’t,” she whispered.
Her husband helped her remove her coat and put it into the closet along with his. All the presents they had bought, for their own kids and everyone else, should already be stacked under the tree the kids decorated yesterday.
Except for Greg’s. The rescue puppy was in a crate in the Boneyard Bakery, since that outbuilding was heated. They had picked her up a little while ago from her foster home and Amanda couldn’t wait to see Greg’s face when they brought her into the house.
As she went to follow a slower moving Chaos, Max snagged her wrist and pulled her to a halt.
She glanced at him over her shoulder, her brows pinned together. “What?”
“Remember that first Christmas when you were a big pain in my ass?”
“I remember that first Christmas when you were a big pain in my ass. Always in my business and trying to take control of my life.”
“I don’t remember it that way.”
“Of course you don’t. You even told me what to wear Christmas day. So, what about it?”
His eyes rolled upward.
So did Amanda’s. “Oh.”
He jerked on her wrist, pulling her into him. “We had our first kiss under the mistletoe in this very house.”
Was it their first? She couldn’t remember. Back then she’d had all kinds of sexy dreams about the frustrating man. They most likely kissed in one of those first. “The beginning of the end,” she