“I’M PRETTY SURE I owe you an apology for dragging you along with me tonight,” Vaughn said as he unlocked the door to his apartment and held it open for me. As I headed inside from the cold, I shrugged out of my coat and shook my head to get the snowflakes free.

“It wasn’t that bad.”

“Um, yes, it was. I was surprised you didn’t fall asleep halfway through it. Work functions are the worst. Especially for the person who doesn’t work there.”

As I walked down the hallway that was now as familiar to me as my own, I headed straight into the living room as Vaughn followed and continued talking.

“You don’t know the people they’re all talking about—”

“Or any of the medical jargon,” I pointed out as I went over and flipped the switch that turned on his fireplace.

“See? Ugh,” Vaughn said as he threw his coat across the arm of the couch. “I knew you were bored. Hell, I was bored.”

With the fire now crackling and a soft glow lighting the room, I turned around to see a frown on Vaughn’s brow.

“It wasn’t that bad,” I told him as I stood in front of him. “And even if it was, I’d do it anyway. I love you.”

As the words left my mouth, they lingered in the air between us, and I desperately wanted to reach out and snatch them back.

Shit. Shit. Shit. What the hell was the matter with me, saying that? Yes, we’d been together now for a little over three months. And I knew without a doubt that I loved him. But I wasn’t sure I wanted that out there yet—and quite honestly, I wasn’t sure that I wanted to hear Vaughn’s response.

I worried my lip, horrified by my inability to filter my thoughts before they just flew out of my mouth, and when I knew I either had to say something and add to the mess I’d just made, or merely pretend it didn’t happen, Vaughn held his index finger up between us.

What did that mean? Be quiet? I don’t want to hear anymore? You’ve said too much?

I was about to ask, not able to stand not knowing, when Vaughn gently touched his finger to my lips.

My breathing was coming hard now, my chest rising and falling as the blood rushing around my ears made them ring. I stood in a cocoon of silence with him, the only other sound in the room the snap and crackle of the fire.

Ever so slowly, he ran the pad of his finger over my lower lip, making my lips part on a sigh, and then he took my chin between his thumb and forefinger and raised my face so I was staring up at him.

I didn’t dare speak for fear that I would break whatever spell he was weaving as he lowered his head and brushed his mouth over the top of mine. I breathed him in, and a shiver skated up my spine as we stood toe to toe in a moment I knew I would never forget—right before he crushed his mouth against mine and deepened the connection.

It felt as though the flickering flames from the fire were racing through my veins as I wrapped my arms around his neck and his encircled around my waist, then he pulled me to him and I angled my head, sinking my tongue inside his mouth and groaning.

It was sweet and delicious, and everything I could’ve hoped for as Vaughn moved to kneel—and I went with him. He grabbed a pillow from the couch and tossed it down on the rug in front of the fire, and then faced me.

“Raise your hands,” he said, and his voice was so husky, so sensual, that my heart pounded almost as hard as my cock.

I lifted my hands above my head, and his lips curved at my acquiescence.

God he was sexy. It wasn’t as if this was our first time, but with the way he was looking at me right then, it sure as hell felt like it.

Vaughn reached for my black shirt and tugged it free of my fitted pants, and I took in a ragged breath as he slowly pushed it up my body. He then leaned down and placed kisses along my ribs and up the center of my chest as he inched the material higher, and then he whipped it off and tossed it aside. When he came back to me, he cupped either side of my face and kissed me hard and fast, even as my hands were now moving to unbutton his shirt.

Once I had it free, I carefully pushed it from his broad shoulders and down his arms, and as it fell to the floor, I trailed my fingertips over his chest and then followed the light dusting of his treasure trail down to his belt.

As I fingered the buckle, I looked him in the eye and leaned in to nip at his lip. “You have a beautiful body.”

“So do you,” he said, and then caught my wayward hand and drew me down on top of him as he lounged back on the rug.

As I nestled between his thighs, Vaughn took my lips in a fierce kiss that had me grinding my hips over the top of his, and when I felt his hands on my ass urging me to do it harder, I was right there giving him what he wanted.

His groan of pleasure made my pulse race as one of his hands trailed up my spine to the back of my neck, and when he rolled us over so I was on my back and he was hovering over the top of me, I sighed and wound my legs around his.

With one forearm resting by my head, Vaughn swept my hair from my forehead and then leaned down to kiss my lips ever so softly, and this time when he raised his head, he said, “Say it again.”

I tightened my hold around him, arching my body up against his, wanting him to start moving again.

“Carter,” he said, and shook his head. “Say it again.”

His eyes twinkled, and when I took my arms from around his neck and reached down for his belt again, he grabbed for them.

“Stop it,” he said with a smirk. “You’re not getting in my pants tonight until you say it again.”

I eyed him, knowing if I really made a determined effort, he would give me what I wanted. But tonight…tonight, I wanted to give him what he wanted instead, so I relented.

I brought my arms back up around his neck and thought, It’s now or never. It’s time to put this out there, fully give this man my heart, and hope he never gives it back.

“I love you,” I said again, this time much louder and without any doubt. “I think I have loved you from the second you hijacked my movie date with Daniel Day-Lewis.”

As Vaughn stared down at me, I thought my heart might stop if he didn’t do, or say, something, and then he smoothed his hands over my hair and began to slowly rock his hips over the top of mine.

“Good,” he said, and my stomach fluttered at the spark of mischief in his eyes. “I’m better for you than he is, anyway.”

“Is that right?” I asked, and, unable to stay still any longer, trailed my hands down his back and around to his belt buckle. As I undid it, I popped the button of his pants and then unzipped them.

“Mhmm.”

“And why’s that?” I said, and nipped at his jaw as I slipped a thumb into the waist of his pants and began to push them free of his hips.

Vaughn bent his head and placed his mouth by my ear and said, “Because I love you right back.”

After that, no more talk was needed. Vaughn showed me over and over again just how many ways he loved me…

With my ear against Vaughn’s chest, I could hear the steady thump thump thump of his heart, and marveled that it was mine. This amazing man loved me. He’d picked me. And on this cold February night he’d given me a memory I’d never forget.

The music was still playing in the living room as the lights twinkled, and the house smelled like comfort food and pine leaves as I pushed up on his chest and smiled down at him, and when he returned it, I said, “Thank you for making this the best Christmas in February ever.”

“Ever, huh?”

I nodded. “Yep, ever. I don’t think you could top it, even in December. So that’s on you, babe.”

He chuckled and then sat up, kissing my lips quickly before getting to his feet. As I looked up at him, I frowned, and then he held his hand out to me.

“Well, good thing it’s not quite over yet, huh?”

“What? Vaughn…there can’t be—”

“Uh-uh,” he said, wagging his finger at me. “Come with me. You have one more surprise.” I slipped my hand in his and got to my feet, and he then led me over to the coat rack and said, “But for this one, you’ll need your jacket.”