“Am not. It’s only noon.”
Kane and Jack exchanged amused gazes over her head. “Bet you she’s down in thirty minutes flat,” Kane said.
“Guys…” Dara folded her arms. “I am not sleepy. I’m going to stay awake the whole trip this time.”
“Okay, if you say so.” Jack twisted his torso and snuggled her against him and a shot of jealousy streaked through Kane. “Why don’t you stretch out? Kane doesn’t mind.”
No, Kane didn’t mind, not one bit. Not even when those crimson covered legs pressed against his groin and he had to bite back a groan.
“So the box is full of food?” Anything to keep his mind off lowering a hand to fondle her thighs.
“Breakfast cereal, bagels, treats. We’ll have to pick up fresh fruit and the ice cream, but with what we save on eating at the hill cafeteria, we can splurge a little. And, the pièce de résistance?” Jack dug into his pocket and held out chocolate bars.
Dana squealed with delight. “You remembered!”
“Have I ever forgotten?”
Kane waited as Dara unwrapped a 3 Musketeers chocolate bar and handed it to him. The tradition had begun before their first hiking trip years ago.
Kane lifted the candy in front of him, and the others met him, three hands resting together as if they were lofting swords.
“All for one…” he quipped.
“…and one for all.” Dara bit into her chocolate bar, closed her eyes and moaned with pleasure. Kane jerked the wheel to the side to put them back in the middle of the lane. Shit, he was going to get them all killed if he didn’t keep his mind on the road.
They settled into a comfortable silence, music filling the cab as they relaxed from their daily grind. He could do this. He could keep his mind off her legs resting innocently in his lap. He refused to think about sliding down the stockings and licking her skin from her ankles up to the warm honey between her thighs.
He had to resist. But once this weekend was over, all bets were off. It didn’t make any sense for Jack and him to sit back and watch her go out with other men when one of them could be the right one for her. Until now his footloose and fancy-free lifestyle had suited him fine, but he’d always known a time would come when he’d want something more permanent.
No use in ignoring the draw between them anymore. He and Dara had tons in common, and from what he’d seen of the best long-term relationships, that was the most important factor. If they could spend the next fifty years hiking and canoeing and fooling around, he’d be happy as a clam.
At least he knew they were compatible in the first areas, and somehow he thought they’d be just fine in the sack as well. Dara wore her sensuality like everything else she did. Honest, pure. She wasn’t an innocent, but pure as in what you see is what you get.
Even now she settled closer against Jack, the asshole’s ever-present grin stretching wider when she twisted to lean on him, her head resting on his chest. He cradled her close and she let out a long, slow sigh of contentment.
She wiggled her hips lower as she settled, and her skirt rode higher. Kane gritted his teeth together. He could see the junction of her thighs now, her legs slightly separated as she curled up drowsily.
Kane shot Jack a dirty look. Jack raised his brows and deliberately draped his arm around Dara a little more intimately. She was already slipping off into dreamland—woman never could keep her eyes open when they drove anywhere. Within minutes she was purring, her breath escaping in a low rumble of sleep that twisted something inside his gut. Okay, he wanted her body, but there was definitely something more to their relationship. Once it became a relationship.
“You okay driving?” Jack stroked back a strand of Dara’s hair from where it had escaped her elastics.
Kane glared at him. “What kind of dumbass question is that?”
Jack snickered evilly. “Just thinking if you had half the boner I’ve got right now, I’d hate to have to shift.”
“You know, talking about it isn’t going to make it go away. I’ll live.”
They sat in silence for miles. The skiing was going to be fantastic, the weather forecast fabulous. But the thoughts running through his brain on an endless loop included a king-sized bed and a hot tub on the deck.
So much for a relaxing après-ski time. He was in for a fight to keep his hands off her.
“Wake up, sweetie, we’re almost there.”
Dara stretched and yawned, her mind slow to come out of the fog. “Shit—don’t tell me I fell asleep again.”
She squirmed to sit up and found herself pinned by two sets of strong hands.
“Slow down, or you’re going to hit something important.” Kane lifted her feet from his lap and she flushed.
“Sorry.”
He waved a hand in her direction. “I was okay until you started practicing your drop kick.”
Under her, Jack’s firm chest shifted. “And your right hand is fine, but watch how much pressure you put on the left. I’ll have trouble keeping up with you two as it is without a handicap.”
Dara paused in confusion until she realized she wasn’t leaning on his thigh like she’d imagined. She pulled away quickly, curled into a ball and spun on the seat as she looked for somewhere safe to place her limbs.
She glanced at Jack. He stared back wordlessly. There was a little extra twist to his smile and she licked her lips involuntarily. Ever since Jack had announced the change in rooming for their trip, she’d been nervous. It had taken a dozen phone calls and wad of money to arrange for the “complimentary upgrade” to their rooming situation. When she’d finally thought it through, she’d realized there was no way she could seduce them if they had kept their original booking. She could afford the private cabin, just, and it would be money well spent if in the long run it helped her make a decision.
Everything was perfectly in place for her to work on them both. She’d planned on using the road travel time to her advantage—start flirting a little.
She slammed her feet into her boots and followed Jack out the door, tugging her coat back on. She was worse than a child. Couldn’t even stay awake for a couple of crucial hours. Fine. As soon as they hit the room, she was turning up the oomph and making her move.
Yet by the time they signed in, grabbed the key and drove over to their accommodations, her already unsteady nerves failed her. She wandered into the cabin, dumped her armload of gear on the couch and slipped onto the balcony. The rest of the cabins and townhouse units spread out along the base of the hill sparkled with Christmas lights, the section of the slope wired for night skiing a brilliant streak of white against the darkness of the hillside. Music floated to her ears from either the bar or the restaurant at the lodge. She grabbed the railing and took a deep breath. Somehow she had to find the strength she needed to make this holiday more than just a nice getaway with her buddies.
She was tired of nice. It was time for fabulous and sexy and smoking hot. It was time to figure out the future.
The glass door swooshed open behind her. Kane came and stood by her side. He leaned his elbows on the railing and peered out at the vista. “Damn good view. Much nicer than from any of the hotel rooms.”
Dara bit her lip. Kane would be the perfect one to approach first.
“Did you see that?” She reached past him to point out the main swimming pool just visible to the left. The move made her lean against him, brushing her breasts casually against his arm. He didn’t react beyond a slight tightening in his body, but he didn’t pull away, and she took that as a good sign.
He cleared his throat.
“Did you see what’s on this balcony?” Kane placed his hands on her shoulders and twisted her on the spot to face the four-man hot tub gracing the enormous deck. “I don’t see any reason why we need to go to the pool when we’ve got a private one right here. That thing is going to feel awesome when we finish making tracks for the day.”