That night, after Brynn had gone to bed, David suggested to Hadley they take their own walk, this time down the long, winding lane to the road. Brynn had taken the news about Hadley being her birth mother better than he’d hoped, but the stress of the day had left them both restless.

Hadley glanced at the hall leading to Brynn’s bedroom. “Is it okay to leave her alone in the house?”

David pulled out his phone. “There’s a monitor in her room. I have an app that will let us know if she calls out.”

“In that case”—Hadley pushed to her feet—“I’d like to walk.”

A full moon made what would otherwise be a treacherous walk in the dark pleasurable. An owl hooted in the distance, and far off, a coyote howled. The air retained the warmth of the day, and the light breeze chased any bugs away.

“I guess it went well. I thought it did, anyway.” David cursed himself for sounding like an unsure schoolboy, though that was exactly how he felt.

When Brynn had asked about her other “daddy,” his heart had sunk. David shoved his hands into his pockets. “You did a good job answering her questions.”

“Thanks to Dr. Gallagher.” Hadley’s face looked pale in the moonlight, but there was a peaceful set to her features that hadn’t been there hours earlier. “If he hadn’t walked through some of the questions she might ask and helped us with answers that were truthful, I’d have been floundering.”

David reached over and took her hand. He intended to give it a brief squeeze, but when her fingers linked with his, he didn’t let go.

He’d never realized how much comfort could be gained from a simple touch. Without taking time to think, he stopped and pulled her into his arms.

Hadley wrapped her arms around his shoulders and rested her head against his chest. She sighed heavily, and David was seized with a rush of emotion.

Comfort given, he thought, comfort received.

Wasn’t that how it was supposed to be in a relationship? Were they in a relationship? At the moment, it sure felt that way. “It was reassuring to have the doctor agree with us that it’s best to keep Brynn away from Justin and his family.”

“It was nice having a professional opinion.” Hadley sighed as he stroked her hair. Her head fit perfectly just under his chin.

“You’re part of her life—and mine—now.” David kept his voice light. “No getting away from us.”

He felt her smile against his shirtfront.

“I don’t want to get away.” Her voice took on a tremulous quality. “I’ve never been happier than I am right now.”

“Because of Brynn.”

“And because of you.”

His heart became a heavy mass in his chest. “I never thought I’d trust a woman again.”

When Hadley stiffened in his arms, David wanted to curse. Why was it so hard for her to accept a compliment? To realize that, in coming to him and telling him about Brynn’s father, she’d shown him, better than any words she could have said, her true character.

“Where do we go from here?”

Had she really voiced the question that was in his heart? The last thing David wanted was to move too fast, to push her for a commitment she wasn’t ready to make.

He’d tried to deny his growing feelings, but tonight, when they’d formed a united front and answered Brynn’s questions, he’d known there was no going back.

He wasn’t falling in love with Hadley.

He was in love with her.

Everything in David’s head screamed it was too soon to talk about forever.

One step at a time, he told himself.

Did proper etiquette demand you answer someone’s question before kissing them?

Screw etiquette.

Without warning, he lowered his head and closed his mouth over hers. Hadley’s lips were soft and welcoming. Her arms rose to encircle his neck.

They kissed and kissed some more. He longed to show her how much she meant to him. Show her in a way that words could never properly convey.

He continued pressing his lips lightly to hers, teasingly, his mouth never pulling away. David forced himself to take it slow. Going slow wasn’t easy when she tasted like the most delicious, decadent candy he’d ever eaten. When he wanted nothing more than to gorge himself on the sweet taste of her.

A hot riff of sensation rocketed up his spine. He spread his hands over her buttocks and pressed her against his erection.

When Hadley moaned, he deepened the kiss. Need all but erupted in him. He skimmed his hands up her sides to rest just below her breasts. When he spoke, his voice was shaking and raspy with need. “Let’s go back to the house.”

“I know what you want, Mr. Chapin.” Her voice might be teasing, but he saw desire in the eyes gazing back at him. She leaned close and whispered in his ear, her breast pressing against his arm. “I want it, too.”

“You’re a beautiful woman.” David’s fingers lifted Hadley’s chin, and he studied her for a long moment. “Inside and out.”

Under his intense gaze, Hadley’s lips began to tingle. When she moistened them with the tip of her tongue, his eyes went dark and the air between them pulsed with energy.

He kissed her fingers, featherlight.

Her heart began to skip. How could such a simple touch be so arousing?

His gaze met hers. “I’m still figuring all this out.”

“I’m not asking for promises.”

He brushed a strand of hair back from her face. “You should demand nothing less.”

Hadley just smiled and kissed him lightly on the mouth.

A look she couldn’t decipher skittered across David’s face. “I haven’t been with a woman since Whitney.”

Her heart gave a solid thud.

“It’s…” She swallowed against the emotion rising to clog her throat. “It’s been a while for me, too.”

Unexpectedly, he muttered a curse.

“I don’t have protection.” His laugh held no humor. “Like I said, it’s been so long…”

Her mind raced.

“I don’t have condoms, either.” Hadley kept her voice matter-of-fact, although the slight tremor might have told him she wasn’t as calm as she appeared. “But I am on the pill, so birth control is covered. And I’m clean.”

“I got checked, too. Shortly after Whitney and I split.”

It took a second for what he said to register. He’d gotten checked for STDs after his wife had left. Which could only mean he thought Whitney had been…

“What I’m trying to say is I’m clean, too,” he added.

“Looks like we’ve both been cleared for active duty.” Hadley offered him an impish smile. “If you’re okay with not holstering your gun, we’re good to go.”

He laughed. “You say the darnedest things.”

Heat rolled up Hadley’s neck in a rush. She attempted to pull her hand from his, but he held on and brought it to his lips.

“I find it an endearing quality.” David pressed a kiss in the center of her palm, and when his eyes met hers, they seemed to glitter in the moonlight. She saw her own desire reflected in the smoky gray depths, and a question.

Hadley responded by inclining her head ever-so-slightly and was rewarded with a slow, slightly wicked smile.

Without uttering another word, his mouth closed over hers. There, under the branches of a large oak, the moon casting a golden glow, she kissed him with all the love in her heart.

Her fingers toyed with the buttons on his shirt. His chest was broad beneath her palm, his body as firm and hard as an athlete’s. The citrus scent Hadley had come to associate with him teased her nostrils.

Leaning close, Hadley nuzzled his ear, then planted a kiss at the base of his neck, his skin salty beneath her lips. But when she reached for his belt buckle, David’s fingers closed over hers.

“Inside.”

“It might be fun out here.”

“Tempting, but someone driving down the road might decide to turn in.”

Laughing, they sprinted down the drive, hand in hand. Hadley had to stifle her laughter as she reached the house, not wanting to wake Brynn. “Which room?”

“Yours. It’s the farthest from Brynn’s bedroom.” Still, when he took her hand, they tiptoed down the hall as if Brynn slept mere feet away.

Ruckus followed behind them, slipping into the room before David closed the door to her suite behind him.

David pointed to the dog, then to the red plaid dog bed. “You. Over there.”

Hadley trailed a finger up his arm. “What about me? Where do you want me?”

“You’re right where I want you.” He pulled her to him. His warm, husky voice reached inside her to a raw, tender place. “Now, we take this slow and enjoy.”

Before Hadley could draw a breath, his lips were back on hers, exquisitely gentle and achingly tender.

She wound her arms around his neck and lifted her face, sighing with pleasure as his mouth caressed her lips.

His hair was a jumble of waves, one lock falling rakishly across his forehead. That was her last coherent thought as they tumbled down on the sofa cushions.

David pressed his lips lightly to hers, teasingly, his mouth never pulling away. Hadley kissed him back, forgetting everything in the pleasure of the contact. A smoldering heat flared, a sensation she didn’t bother to fight.

“I want you naked.” Desperation made her voice husky. Hadley pressed her body against him, moving seductively against his erection.

“What happened to slow?” His voice was a throaty rasp.

“Next time.” With fingers that trembled with urgency, she started on buttons. Their shirts hit the floor at the same time. One flick of the closure and her bra joined the shirt at her feet.

She started to unzip her skirt, but then his broad hands closed over her breasts. She squeezed her eyes shut when he cupped them high in his hands, circling the peaks with his fingers. Thumbs teased the tips for several excruciating seconds before his mouth replaced his hands.

She curved her fingers against the back of his head, not wanting the exquisite sensations coursing through her to stop.

Hadley prided herself on her calmness under pressure, but she couldn’t wait to run her hands over his body, to feel the coiled strength of skin and muscle sliding under her fingers.

She couldn’t wait for him to touch her in the same way, longed to feel the weight of his body on hers. Wanted to feel him inside her.

Hadley pulled his face to hers and gave him a ferocious kiss. The type of kiss that said, I want you now.

In seconds, David’s pants joined her skirt on the floor.

Trying to calm her unsteady breath, Hadley took a moment to study him in his black boxers. She tapped a finger against her lips. “It’s a good look. But I think I’d like you better naked.”

“Ditto.”

Emboldened by his quick response, Hadley hooked a finger in her lace panties, watched his eyes drop from her breasts to the tiny triangle.

She took a step closer. “You show me what you have, and I’ll reciprocate.”

His gaze never left hers as he stepped out of his boxers and his erection sprang free.

“You’re beautiful,” she murmured.

He pointed to her panties. “You’re still dressed.”

“This”—she eased the tiny triangle of silk down an inch—“hardly counts.”

His eyes glittered. “We had a deal.”

She gave a little laugh and closed her hand around the length of him.

“Keep doing that,” he growled when she began to stroke him, “and this will be over before it begins. I’m ready to self-combust.”

Pulling her hand away, he pushed her up against the wall and kissed her with an intensity that had her squirming with pleasure.

“Touch me,” she whispered, “like I touched you.”

With eyes still on her face, David reached down and gave a swift jerk on the silky fabric. In tatters, her panties fell to the floor.

He looked up. “Sorry.”

“No, you’re not. Neither am I.” Her lips curved. “They were in the way.”

“I could have worked around them, but having them gone makes this much easier.” David cupped her, and one long finger slid inside.

Hadley’s body clenched around his finger, her breaths now coming in pants. She surged against the pleasure swelling inside her like the tide. Just when she thought she would implode, he pulled back.

Easing her down to the rug, he continued to kiss her while those magical fingers, now on her breasts, sent shock waves of feeling through her body.

His mouth lingered there—licking, sucking, tasting—before beginning a downward journey. She squirmed when his tongue circled her navel, those magic fingers still on her breasts.

Consumed by the pleasure, she let her head fall back. When he asked her to open for him, she didn’t hesitate. She wanted him inside her.

Then his mouth dipped lower.

Her heart began to pound. As his tongue circled, her breathing grew shallow. Hadley moved her hips, but not to push him away. No, she didn’t want to push him away.

She simply couldn’t remain still, not when he was making her feel…

The orgasm slammed into her, and she cried out.

David continued to stoke the fire until the heat dropped to a simmer.

“Ohmigod.” She expelled a ragged breath, her skin still tingling. “I never—”

David planted a kiss on her belly. “I’m glad it was good for you.”

She propped herself up on her elbows. “You sound as if we’re done.”

“Aren’t we?”

Hadley gazed pointedly at his erection.

Suddenly, his arms were around her again, and the intense pleasure was back, rolling like large waves propelling her to great heights.

She wanted him inside her, needed him inside her. Just when she thought she couldn’t go one second longer, David sank his hard length into her.

Hadley’s legs swept around his hips, holding him to her. She met him thrust for thrust. Trust—and love—made the joining even sweeter.

It was as if she and David had been transported to a world made up of just the two of them, one filled with warmth and caring and incredible need. Hadley had never experienced anything like the emotions and feelings David stirred in her.

Her pleasure began to build. Hadley told herself to hold on, to make the feelings last, but her passion was so strong she couldn’t stop it. She clung to him, riding the waves until she shuddered.

As her body released and muscles contracted, she tightened her hold on him. She never wanted to let him go.

David continued to stroke, to caress, until he’d wrung every last drop of pleasure from her before he took his own release, plunging deep once more and crying out her name.

She was still breathing hard when he rolled off of her. But instead of getting up, he pulled her to him, kissing her neck, her face her lips.

Content and sated, Hadley laid her head on his chest and snuggled against him. Her eyes drifted shut, then popped open when Ruckus growled.

She might have scrambled up if David hadn’t placed a restraining hand on her arm.

“It’s only the wind.” David shot Ruckus a reproving look.

The dog plopped back down on the rug and began to gnaw on his foot.

“Why did he growl?” Hadley linked her fingers with his.

“Apparently, he doesn’t like seeing two people having fun.”

Hadley laughed and planted a kiss at the base of David’s throat. She couldn’t recall the last time she’d been this happy.

“This has been the best day.” Her arms remained wrapped around his warm flesh, reveling in the feel and scent of him.

“An amazing evening.” David’s voice rasped, deep and unsteady.

After several minutes of cuddling, Hadley sat up and stretched. “I should clean up.”

David pushed to his elbows and admired the long, lean body with curves in all the right places.

With blond hair tousled and lips swollen from his kisses, she couldn’t have looked any lovelier.

“Please don’t tell me you’re getting dressed.”

She answered by scooping up her clothes from the floor and flashing him a cheeky smile.

David expelled an audible sigh. What he’d always suspected was true.

All good things did come to an end. At least for this evening.