“I will if you will.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means I want you to make sure you fully comprehend what you’re asking of me and yourself. And I want you to have a pretty clear picture of just what ‘more’ means to you.”

“Fine.” He gave her a pointed look. “I will if you will.”

The corners of her mouth quirked up in a smile. “It’s a deal.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

The sound of a car in the driveway caused Beau to hop off the couch and start barking madly at the window. “What is it boy?” Emma asked, abandoning her book. Beau whined and raced to the front door. Rising from the couch, Emma started over to the window. Surely Aidan’s niece, Megan, hadn’t changed her mind about Emma baby-sitting and come back for her four month old son, Mason. She had struck up an almost instant friendship when Emma met her at Sunday lunch at Patrick’s. Even with Aidan out town, Patrick had insisted she and his future grandson come join them. It had been a little overwhelming being with all of Aidan’s sisters and their families, but overall, she had a wonderful time being part of his family.

Since Megan had been thrilled by the prospect of Emma baby-sitting, she couldn’t imagine that she would have changed her mind. When Emma peeked through the blinds, her heart leapt into her throat.

It was Aidan.

What was he doing here? When she had talked to him the night before, he had told her it would be another week before he came home. Glancing down at her faded Scooby Doo pajama bottoms and ratty tank top, she shook her head. There was no time to try and make herself more presentable. Of course, explaining Mason’s presence was going to be a little more difficult.

She threw open the front door. Beau scurried out into the night, yapping and wagging his tail. He mowed into Aidan and almost knocked him down as Emma hurried out onto the porch. “Hey! What are you doing here?”

Aidan scratched a wiggling Beau. “My last few meetings got rescheduled for next week. I hopped the first plane home, so I could surprise you.”

Swaying on her feet, Emma fought to catch her breath. He had actually done something spontaneously romantic? “Aw, that’s sweet. It’s a very nice surprise.”

Abandoning Beau, he closed the gap between them. “I also wanted to come straight over here to see if you had given anymore thought to us having more.”

“I have.”

Aidan’s brows furrowed. “And?”

“The answer is yes,” she replied with a smile.

Aidan’s expression turned over like a switch from apprehension to happiness. “I’m so glad to hear that. I’ve been thinking about it the whole time I was gone.”

“So have I.”

“Most of all, I wanted things resolved before I have to go back to DC.”

“When do you leave again?”

“Tuesday.” Emma’s chest tightened at the prospect.

Aidan’s hungry eyes roamed over her, and he grinned. “Barefoot and pregnant, huh? Now all I need is you to go in the kitchen and fix me some dinner.”

She rolled her eyes. “I would have cooked you something if I knew you were coming. The best I’ve got is the left-over pizza I ordered in tonight.”

He pulled her to him, crisscrossing his arms around her waist. “I’ll forget all about dinner if you’ll come inside and give me a real homecoming,” he teased, licking a moist trail up her neck.

She shivered with her building need, but then shook her head. “Um, I don’t think that’s going to be possible.”

“Why not?”

“I have company.”

Aidan’s arms tensed around her. He jerked his head back to stare at her with a puzzled expression. “You have a guy with you?”

She nodded. “A very handsome one, too.”

His jaw tensed. “But you just said…you just agreed to having more with me.”

She bit her lip to keep from grinning at his outrage. “I know. But he was here before I knew how you felt. And I have to admit, there’s just something about this guy I can’t resist.”

Without another word, he slung out of her embrace and barreled in the doorway. “Wait, Aidan, I’m—”

He ignored her and busted through the foyer. Hot on his heels, she tried to catch him before he started yelling and screaming for the imaginary guy to get the hell out of there, least of all before he woke up Mason. She watched as he skidded to a stop and froze in front of the Pack N Play where Mason slept.

He whirled around. “Mason. You mean I just got all worked up over a baby?”

She giggled. “Yes.”

Aidan exhaled in a wheeze, and he bent over to rest his elbows on his knees. “I can’t believe you just did that to me! I was expecting to have to throw some dude out of here.”

“Oh, just what every girl wants—a possessive, raging Knight in Shining Armor.”

He scowled at her and swept one of his hands to his chest. “No, shit, I think I’m having a heart attack or something.”

Emma walked over to him and pressed her hand over his heart. “Aw, poor baby, want me to kiss it and make it better?”

He poked out his bottom lip and gave her a puppy-dog face until she leaned in and kissed his heart over his shirt. “Thank you.” He cast a glance over his shoulder at Mason. “So what exactly is he doing here?”

She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed against him. “What can I say? I have a thing for the men of the Fitzgerald family.”

The corners of Aidan’s lips turned up in a slight smirk at her statement. “Is that right?”

“That and Megan’s overwhelmed with exams right now, so I offered to keep him to let her get some uninterrupted work done. Plus it’s good practice for me.”

“Wait, so he’s spending the night?”

“Yep.” She leaned up to teasingly nip his lips with her tongue. “But he’s sleeping in the Pack N Play, and you get to be in the bed. With me.”

“Hmm, I like that scenario.” He kissed her hungrily while guiding her back towards the couch.

“Whoa, wait a minute. I didn’t mean for us to get started now,” she murmured against his lips.

“When is there a better time?”

Emma let him push her down onto the cushions. “We really should wait until Mason goes down for the night. He’s going to need a bottle and a bath.”

“He’s fine.” He eased himself on top of her, still careful not to bear too much weight on her. While one hand delved under her tank top, the other went for the waistband of her pajama bottoms and then stopped. “Damn, are these Scooby Doo?”