Bound to be Dirty by Savanna Fox

the door. Inside, he knew there’d be a beautiful tree in the sitting room, decorated by Aldonza.
    He got out and unfurled the umbrella for Lily, then retrieved the tote bag. She tucked her hand through the crook of his elbow as they walked to the door. She knocked twice then opened it.
    Aldonza, in a plain gray dress and a white apron, came bustling to greet them.
    â€œMerry Christmas, Aldonza,” he said, kissing her cheek as she took their coats and umbrella. He liked the housekeeper; she was by far the nicest person who lived in this house.
    Lily echoed the greeting, giving the other woman a hug. She took the bottle bag from the tote and handed it over, then bent to remove her boots and put her pumps on.
    â€œThank you so much. And Merry Christmas to you, too, Miss Lily and Mr. Dax.” She gestured down the hall. “Everyone is in the sitting room.” She hurried away with their coats and Lily’s boots.
    Aldonza always prepared the mid-day Christmas dinner for the Nyland family, then dealt with the dishes before getting together with friends for her own Christmas meal. Her cooking was the only good part of these painful get-togethers. “Let the fun begin,” he muttered, reaching for Lily’s hand.

Seven
    A n hour later, Lily cut a slice of Aldonza’s perfectly cooked turkey and listened as Anthony talked about a rare form of brain cancer he’d been treating in a nine-year-old. How tragic, but how lucky the boy and his family were to have Anthony as their doctor. He might be an annoyingly perfect younger brother, but he was an excellent doctor.
    Anthony, in a charcoal suit and gray-and-white striped tie, his hair the same wheat blond as Lily’s, sat across from her. His wife, Regina, an intellectual property lawyer, was beside him, her strawberry blond hair lying in sleek waves against the shoulders of a lovely green dress. Dax sat beside Lily. Her silver-haired father, in his suit and tie, was at one end of the table. Her mother presided at the other end, wearing a tailored taupe dress and jacket, her neatly styled blond hair’s color attributable to dye these days. Aldonza was in the kitchen and so was baby Sophia, in her bassinet.
    So far, most of the conversation had consisted of her parents and brother discussing challenging cases. Lily listened, interested, but didn’t mention her own patients. As a family practice doctor, she ordered tests and diagnosed, then referred the most complicated cases to specialists.
    Beside her, Dax ate in silence.
    Her attention drifted from the medical conversation to the talk—the almost fight—they’d had in the car. He hadn’t cheated on her. That was the good news, and it was huge. But also huge was the lack of trust between them. Could they rebuild it? And what about love? Had they lost that too? She was too confused to know her own heart. And then there was last night’s wild sex. Just thinking of it heated her body. She squirmed against the sudden throb of arousal between her legs.
    Dax leaned toward her and murmured, “Eat, or your mother will ask if you’re sick.”
    The brush of his shoulder against hers felt good, and so did the fact that he was looking out for her.
    She smiled her thanks and picked up her fork again. Whether or not she loved Dax the way she used to, he still turned her on, and she still cared for him. He cared too; she was sure of it. But was that enough to build a future—and a family—on? Later this afternoon, they’d talk. Anxiety sent a shiver across her shoulders and stilled the pulse between her legs. She took a sip of French chardonnay.
    Her parents, who tended to grill their children rather than converse, were now asking Anthony about the clinical trial he was leading, testing the effect of a new treatment for prostate cancer. Lily had referred a Well Family Clinic patient to the trial, so was particularly interested in how it was going.
    Aldonza entered