Heat of the Moment (8 page)

“Good.” She squirmed in his arms, making it difficult to think of anything other than the way she fit against him. How soft and small she was, how she looked when he made love to her—not unlike the way she looked right now, all flushed and trembling and royally pissed.

“I'm glad you never considered me for the position. I'd never make the cut. Neither would Mary Fuckin' Poppins.”

He did his best not to laugh or give her the room to knee him. She looked like she was good and rightly pissed, and he knew what happened when you pushed an Irish woman past a certain point. He wanted to retain his ability to father children—her children. “You're right. None of those women would ever think of rearranging my closet, my medicine cabinet, and even my underwear drawer.”

“It was an improvement.”

“They wouldn't leave knitting needles and yarn in every seat in the house. I've learned to check for sharp objects every time I sit down. They wouldn't have the audacity to take over not only my desk, but my office too. And it would never occur to them to change the kitchen to make it theirs. With them, I'd never have to spend fifteen minutes looking for a beer mug.”

“They're in the freezer where they belong.”

“I know that now.”

“And do you have a problem with ice-cold beer?”

“Erin, the difference is, those people we interviewed would see boundaries, but not you. You walked into my house and in less than a week you took over, rearranged everything, and rocked Janie's and my entire world. If there was a boundary, you knocked it down and smashed the pieces.”

“But—”

“No, Erin.” He squeezed her harder, afraid if he slackened his grip, she'd run. “You would make a terrible nanny.”

“I thought—” God, her eyes filled with unshed tears that, from the look of it, would be dripping sooner rather than later. Shit. He didn't mean to make her cry. This wasn't anything like he had planned.

“Erin.” He slid a hand behind her neck and tipped her chin up so she had to look him in the eye. “You couldn't help it. You see nothing but love and life and color and possibilities. You gave all that to Janie and me. But nannies understand boundaries—they're not supposed to make their charges and employers love them.”

Damn, the floodgates were breached.

“Kids are supposed to like the nanny, sure, respect her, of course, but not love her. Not the way Janie loves you.”

“I didn't mean—” She sniffled and it just about killed him.

“I know.” He wiped away her tears with his thumbs and pressed his forehead to hers. “Erin, I don't want you to stay on as a nanny or a nurse. I want you to stay because I love you.” He kissed her then; he couldn't stop himself. It was just a soft touch of his lips on hers and she melted against him.

“Love?” She slid her hands to his shoulders. “Am I hearing things?”

“No, your hearing is fine. Erin, I want you to stay because you love Janie and me. I want you to stay because you want to marry us, build a life with us, and be a family.”

She pushed against him, but he wasn't letting her go. Not ever again. “Marriage? But we've only known each other three weeks.”

“I know. Is there a minimum wait time before two people are allowed to marry?”

“I don't know.”

“Erin, I wanted to do this the right way. I was going to hire a nanny, and just as soon as you weren't on the payroll, I was going to ask you out—beg if I had to. I was going to take you out on dates, buy you flowers, romance you—check all the dating boxes. But after interviewing those nannies, I knew hiring anyone would be a mistake. They're not you. Erin, you've gone and spoiled everything. You made our house a home. You made us a family. I don't want to lose that, not even temporarily. I don't think Janie and I could let you go.”

“But—”

“If you want, we can have a long engagement. That's fine, but I hope to God you don't mind living in sin, because I haven't gotten a decent night's sleep since you kicked me out of your bed.”

Her eyes widened and she sucked in a breath. Like the thought of him wanting her came as a shock. He'd finally spilled his guts and said everything he'd been holding back. He went through the list in his head and he didn't think he'd left anything out. He hoped he hadn't. He waited, and God help him, he felt sick. The clock on the desk ticked, the furnace clicked on, and his stomach rumbled with nervousness. “Erin? Aren't you going to say anything?”

“Now you've decided to let me speak?”

His face flamed, and if he didn't know better, he'd swear his eyebrows were toast. “The first time I saw you, I knew you were trouble.”

“Then why did you hire me?”

“I guess I hired you because I like playing with fire. I couldn't resist you.”

“I'm not very good at resisting you either. And you're right, I'd make a terrible nanny.”

“But you'd make a great wife and mom.”

“Cam, I do love you and Janie.”

Relief swept through him—she loved him. She loved Janie. He'd known it, but without confirmation, the question mark in his mind kept blinking. “So, is that a yes? Will you marry us?”

“Yes.” She rose onto her tiptoes, wrapping her arms around his neck to bring them nose to nose as a ghost of a smile slid over her face, and then she kissed him as if she'd never initiated a kiss before. Her lips hovered over his, hesitant, whisper soft, and barely touching. It was a tease of a kiss and it took all his strength not to take control. She nibbled on his lower lip and her tongue peeked out and traced the seam before she pressed harder, begging entrance to explore his mouth. Her fingers dug into his shoulders, her bare thigh slid along the outside of his jean-clad leg, and he grasped her waist and lifted her slightly, her dress riding up until he felt the warmth of her against his fly. She groaned and broke the kiss. “Yes, yes, yes, I'll marry you.”

His heart pounded in time with hers, his hand slipping beneath her skirt, cupping her bottom and finding it bare. She'd been prancing in front of him, teasing him in that sexy dress all day without underwear? God, that was hot. “Where are your panties?”

“In my drawer. I forgot to pack my thong. And after the last round of interviews, I didn't want to look unprofessional and I didn't want panty lines.” She ended the sentence with a
hmph
, when her back hit the wall.

His hands continued their exploration and it took him a moment to realize what his fingers traced. A picture materialized and his breath caught, his heart rate kicked up, and his poor dick was about to blow through his fly. He swallowed hard. “You remembered to pack a garter and stockings but not a thong?”

She let out a throaty laugh that made his dick jump against the metal teeth of his fly like a dog against a fence with a juicy steak on the other side. “Are you complaining? After all, you're the one who rushed my packing.”

“No, as far as I'm concerned, you can spend the rest of our lives without underwear. I don't know how I'll ever get any work done, but I'm more than willing to take the hit.” He'd slid her farther up and tugged the V-neck over to expose a full, beautiful breast encased in a seriously sexy lace bra; he sucked in the turgid nipple, lace and all.

“Cam?”

He didn't bother answering. He was busy.

“Cam, the curtains are open and some guy just got an eyeful.”

He released her breast, tightened his grip, hiked her a little higher around his waist, and cursed before he blew them through the office door and took the steps two at a time.

***

Erin had learned a few very important things over the last five hours: Cameron O'Leary loved her and wanted to marry her; making love with him really was as incredible as she'd remembered, apparently giving her multiple orgasms was part of his repertoire; and fixing dinner with her newly unrestrained fiancé in the kitchen was nearly impossible. “Cam, would you cut it out? I can't cook with your arms around me.”

“Get used to it. I can't seem to keep my hands off you.”

“Well damn, Cam,” a voice called out from the mud room.

Erin felt Cam freeze mid neck nibble, and she wanted to dissolve into the floor.

“You said you weren't going to date her.”

Cam straightened and turned around, glaring at his brother's intrusion. “I'm not dating Erin, I'm marrying her.” His voice caused the temperature in the room to drop by thirty degrees.

Erin froze, her heart sped up, and long fingers of embarrassment crawled up her spine.

“And if you ever make another pass at my fiancée, Butch, I'll break both your legs.”

She turned and looked up into the shocked and quickly paling face of Cam's youngest brother.

Butch's hands flew up in surrender and he took a big step back, a slightly crooked grin cracking the tension. “Okay, okay, bro, chill.”

She grabbed the towel and dried her hands, then swatted Cam with it. “Knock it off.”

Butch tugged off his jacket, crossed his arms, and stared.

Cam kept his arm around her. She wasn't sure if he was going all he-man or if he was afraid she'd snap the towel at him again. “We were planning to tell everyone tonight at dinner.”

“We were?” That was news to her. They'd never discussed it; they'd been too busy celebrating to plan the announcement.

Janie ran in from the mud room, followed by Adam and Cam's dad, and slid to a stop. She looked from Cam to Butch and then her gaze finally landed on Erin. “What's going on?”

Erin tossed the towel on the counter and extracted herself from Cam's grip. “Janie, you're home! Did you have fun today?”

Butch lowered his hands. “Not as much fun as you've had, evidently.”

Janie didn't catch the remark, but Butch had Ryan and Adam's full attention, judging from their raised eyebrows.

Janie snagged a carrot off the cutting board and took a bite. “We went to Miss Lolly's to have lunch, and guess what?”

“What?” Erin bent down, unzipped Janie's coat, and slid it off her small shoulders.

“Miss Lolly's cat, Sugar, had her babies last week and I got to hold them and play with them and everything.”

Erin handed Cam Janie's coat and gave him a push. “That does sound like fun.”

“Miss Lolly said I can have one of the kittens when they get old enough to leave their mama, that is if it's okay with you and Daddy. Can I, Erin? Please? I'll take care of it all by myself. You and Daddy won't have to do anything. I swear.”

Erin looked for backup but only got blank stares in return. Fabulous. “Wow, a kitten. That's a big decision and a lot of responsibility. You should probably talk to your dad about it later. Right now, everyone needs to go wash up for dinner. It's almost ready.”

Erin turned—the table was set, the chicken was finishing up in the oven, and the vegetables were already on the table. She threw a napkin into the bottom of a basket and tossed in the sliced baguettes.

Ryan, Adam, Butch, and Janie filed out, and when Cam moved to walk past, she snagged his elbow. “Not you.”

A slow, slightly cocky smile spread over his face and he slipped his arm around her. “Can't wait to get me alone, can you?”

“Be serious.”

“I am. I can't wait to get you alone either.” He pushed the hair off her shoulder and kissed her neck, nibbling his way to her earlobe. “How long before we can kick them all out of the house and get Janie to bed?”

“Cam, stop it. I can't think when you do that.”

“Thinking is overrated.”

“Well, well, well.” A snarky female voice drifted in from the mud room.

Erin jerked her head around and blinked to make sure she wasn't seeing things. “Kendall? Mom?” What the hell was this place—Grand Central Station?

Kendall sashayed in wearing a full-on gloat. “Stacy, it looks like we're just in time.”

“In time for what?” Erin smoothed her hand over her hair.

“Dinner, dear.” Her mother smiled. A little amused, a little surprised.

Kendall nudged Stacy with her elbow. “If you ask me, they look like they're ready for dessert.”

“No one asked you. Now stop teasing, Kendall, and tell Cam the good news.”

Cam straightened and pulled Erin closer, deflecting her elbow with deft efficiency. “What good news?”

“I've found the perfect nanny for Janie.”

Erin didn't bother hiding her confusion. “Who?”

“Lawrence Patterson.”

“Larry?” Erin almost choked.

“He's perfect. He's working on his master's in child psychology, he loves children, and he has three younger sisters that he practically raised—”

“He's gay.”

“He's perfect.” Cam jumped in.

“You know him?”

“He brings his service dog into the hospital every week to play with the kids. I've known Larry for the last few years. Janie loves him.”

Erin swiveled her head from Cam to Kendall to her mother. Something wasn't adding up. She narrowed her gaze and honed in on Kendall. “What are you two doing here?”

Kendall grinned. “Cam invited us to dinner.”

“He did?”

Cam gave her a shrug, and if she wasn't crazy, he looked more than a little nervous. “I knew you'd want your mom and Kendall here, so I called them.”

Erin shook her head. The man was exasperating. But damn, he'd hit the mark on this one and she melted. “Thank you.”

Cam pulled her into his arms with a sigh of relief just as everyone reentered the kitchen. It was a tight fit. A perfect fit. Everyone she and Cam loved.

He whispered into her ear. “Shall we tell them?”

She nodded. “Together.”

She and Cam turned to their family. “We're getting married.”

“I knew it! I knew it! I knew it!” Janie bounced with each exclamation, causing her sneakers to flash like red strobe lights. She pointed to her grandfather and uncles. “You each owe me ten bucks!” she said, before hurling herself into Erin and Cam. “We're getting married and having a baby!”