Her Naughty Holiday (Men at Work 2)

With a sigh of contentment, Clover rolled off Erick and lay on the bed with her eyes closed and a smile on her face.

“Okay,” she said. “I am now officially the happiest woman on earth.”

“That’s a relief,” he said, then licked her nipple for no other reason than it was there, it was beautiful and he could. “I can call my weird kid again. She might ask for it in writing.”

“I’ll write it down. I’ll write it down in triplicate and get it notarized. And you can go carve it in cedar—Here Lies Clover Greene, Happiest Woman on Earth.”

“Carved in cedar? That’s permanent, Clover.”

“My happiness is permanent. Nothing can bend it, break it or ruin it.”

“I can ruin it.”

“No, you can’t,” she said, looking at him through narrowed, suspicious eyes.

“I can ruin it in one sentence.”

“Try it. I dare you.”

“Okay, here goes.” Erick hated to see her happiness dissipate but he had to do it. “Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and we have to go—”

“No, don’t say it.”

“I have to say it. We have to do it.”

Clover groaned and this time it wasn’t the happy sexy kind of groan. It was a groan of misery, pure misery.

“Say it,” she said. “Wait.” She grabbed a pillow and pulled it onto her face. “Now say it,” she said from underneath the shield of her pillow.

“Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and...we have to...”

Clover groaned again.

“Go...”

The groan got louder.

“Grocery shopping.”

Clover slapped both her hands onto the top of her pillow and pressed it down onto her face as if to smother herself. Erick easily lifted the pillow off her face.

“It’s not that bad,” he said. “It’s early. We’ll get dressed right now and go immediately. We can get in and out before the crowds show up. How’s that?”

“But I don’t want to get out of bed. Can’t we stay here until, I don’t know, Sunday?”

“No, we can’t. We have to at least pretend to be grown-ups. I’m a parent. I’ve gotten very good at pretending to be a grown-up. You said your parents were leaving today. They could already be on the road to Oregon. They’re going to expect turkey, yams, cranberry sauce and you and me putting on a damn good show of being happy to see them. Right?”

“You’re right. You’re definitely right,” she said as she slowly dragged herself out of bed, the sheet wrapped around her like a bath towel again. “We might as well get this over with.”

“That’s the spirit.”

“But you better have sex with me after grocery shopping,” she said as she shuffled off to the bathroom, the sheet trailing behind her like a wedding dress train.

Erick reached down and grabbed the end of the sheet, pulling it off her with her next step.

Naked, she spun around and glared at him.

“That was rude.”