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Kane embraced her carefully as he rolled them to the side. His bright blue eyes examined her face, the corner of his mouth cricking up into a smile. “Yes, thank you. For sharing yourself with us. For being an awesome friend.”
She kissed his nose before collapsing back, one arm sprawled over each of their torsos. “What? No thank you ‘for kicking our butts on the ski hill, oh most wonderful goddess on skis’?”
They all laughed. Kane left her in Jack’s arms to hit the bathroom. Jack slid her closer, grabbing the top sheet from the floor and draping it over their naked bodies. “You can kick my butt on the ski slope any day.”
Dara scrambled for words. She wanted to say something. Wanted to tell Jack what was bubbling inside her heart. “Jack…”
He tucked her head under his chin and cradled against his long lean body. “Yeah, sweetheart?”
She slid her fingers over his back, along the muscles that shifted as he protected her and held her close. What could she say? She still had no idea which of the guys was the one for her. Misery tried to intrude, but she fought the emotions down. She wouldn’t let any regrets mar tonight. She was glad, oh so glad, of the opportunity.
“Dara? What’s up?”
She snuggled in tighter. “Umm, can we have burgers for dinner?”
He slipped his hand intimately over her belly and spooned her tight against his body. “For you, anything.”
She closed her eyes and prayed he really meant it.
9
Alpine Responsibility Code
Rule #9—Venture “Out of Bounds” at your own risk…
Kane drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. He adjusted the volume on the speakers. Glanced out the window at the rapidly fading daylight and flicked the truck wipers off and on.
“Enough already. Your fidgeting is driving me crazy.” Jack adjusted Dara as she snoozed in his arms. They’d skied their hearts out until the final chair stopped running, piled into the truck, and she’d been asleep almost before they left the parking lot.
“I can’t help it. I’m trying to figure out what we’re going to do.”
Jack stared out the front window. Kane gave him time, trying to shove his own chaotic thoughts into order. Was he even sure what he wanted? At the start of the weekend he’d had all these grandiose plans. Dara would fall in love with him, Jack would be fine with it, and they’d kind of carry on like the three friends they’d always been. Stupid really, now that he’d had more time to think about it. And after seeing the way Dara responded to Jack—he wasn’t sure he could deny her being with his friend. There were certainly things Jack could provide for Dara that he just wasn’t into. For a weekend, it had been fine, but if he never saw a set of restraints again, he’d be happy.
Dara wiggled, settling tighter against Jack’s chest. She slipped her legs out and Kane guided her into the most comfortable position. He smoothed her sweat pants over her thighs. She reached out and caught hold of him and damn if his throat didn’t tighten.
He didn’t want to give her up.
“Jack, man, talk to me.”
“You going all girly on me? Want to talk about emotions and shit?”
Kane gave him the finger and Jack laughed softly. Kane tried again. “Jack, I don’t want to lose you as a friend.”
“You’re not going to. Holy crap, what are you thinking about over there? It’s not going to be simple, but for now, don’t make it more complicated than it needs to be. We’re going home after a kick-ass ski trip. We’ve got the pictures and bruises to prove it.”
“And the fact we fucked our best friend silly for three nights doesn’t even come into it?”
Jack grunted at him in disgust. “You eat with that mouth? We didn’t just fuck her.”
Silence fell again. A light sprinkle of snow had begun to fall and the headlamps shone into a hazy distance. It was kinda surreal, holding this conversation in muted tones so they wouldn’t disturb Dara as she slept.
Kane couldn’t let it rest. “That’s what I’m saying. It was more than a sex-fest. She’s not just our fuck-buddy, she’s our friend. All for one and all that.”
“Exactly. So we go home. We give ourselves a bit of time to get settled into a normal routine. Then we worry about the next step. That’s the logical thing to do. Simple.”
Right. Simple. And impossible. How was he supposed to go home and just let Dara go back to hanging out with them casually when he wanted to have her around 24/7? In his bed, and out of it.
“I don’t think that’s a great idea.”
