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A wistful sigh comes out of her. “I don’t want to hurt him, and I don’t want to do anything to mess up your relationship with him either.”

“I know you never would.” This is also why I know this girl will never jeopardize their closeness or friendship, no matter how good it might feel to temporarily indulge in whatever this is together. “It made me sleep better at night knowing he had you as a friend, Skylar.”

“You’re a good dad, you know. The best.”

I groan. “Can you maybe not remind me about that while I’ve got you naked?” Right now, I definitely don’t feel particularly responsible in the father-figure department.

Her silent laughter rolls through her body, making her shake a little against my chest.

“Okay, funny girl, laugh all you like. I told you when I first noticed you.” Dropping my head down, I brush my lips up the side of her neck. “Now you have to confess … When did you first notice me?”

She makes a sinful little noise as my lips explore the side of her throat, and even though Skylar arches her neck to give me more access, her hands fly up to cover her face.

“Ohhhh … it’s like that, is it?” I tease.

Skylar continues to squirm.

I’m enjoying this much more than I should. My dick is, too.

“You can’t torture me on Christmas. That’s not fair,” she whines.

“I think I can. Maybe denying you any more orgasms might work?” My fingers play over her inner thighs, taunting as I dip close to her pussy without making any contact.

Skylar’s hips try to chase my touch, and I have to stifle a groan. All I want to do is lift her up and settle her back down over my cock, but we both need to actually leave this bathroom and eat something, considering we’ve done nothing but fuck since last night.

“I can’t remember a time when I didn’t have hearts in my eyes whenever I saw you.” She twists so that she can meet my gaze, tilting her chin to look up at me. “How you didn’t see that, I’ll never know.”

“You must have been pretty good at hiding these baby blues,” I murmur. Wondering how, in all those years, I never noticed her looking at me like that.

“I would have been nothing more than a silly little girl to your eyes.”

Bringing one hand up out of the water, I tuck her hair behind her ear and brush wet fingers along the softness of her cheek. Once again, I take my time to study her, to look my fill and really, truly savor looking. To commit to memory the swirling, endless orbs filled with azure blue and tiny flecks of silver.

“Sweetheart, even if I had noticed back then, it wasn’t my place to look at you …” I brush my thumb along her bottom lip. “But now? I’m selfish and greedy, and I’m gonna want you naked until that snow clears so I can look at you all I like. How does that sound?”

Her teeth catch her bottom lip, and she looks like a goddamn dream.

“As long as I get to do the same with you, cowboy.”

Is there anything better than spending Christmas without wearing a single item of clothing, at the request of the hottest cowboy to ever stroll into my life?

After the unfathomable turn of events my life has taken in the past twenty-four hours, I can’t quite believe that this time yesterday, I was busy secretly planning to spend today of all days with the asshole who is firmly now in the trash. My ex.

Even worse, if I had stayed at home, like originally had been my plan all along, I would have never discovered the truth about what his cheating ass was up to.

All things considered, the fantasies I might have had—revolving around Lucas Rhodes and possibilities of getting snowed in with my best friend’s dad—could never quite have lived up to the reality of how things have transpired since last night.

One thing’s for certain: I’ll never look at a bottle of whiskey the same, ever again.

My grin is a permanent landmark on my face as I snuggle further below the blanket I’ve got wrapped around my blissfully naked, and ever so slightly sore, body. While I might have my Kindle in hand, my mind is mighty distracted by a replay of a thousand tiny moments of all things Luke.

His hands and mouth on my body. His gruff words in my ear. God, I don’t know how I’m supposed to function, let alone concentrate on anything, when I now intimately know how it feels for him to slip into me from behind. When I’ve been treated to what it’s like to hear Lucas Rhodes whisper filthy things while his hips thrust lazily against my ass.

Holy shit, my body must be on high alert to every single thought of him, because all it takes is my mind wandering back to the early hours of this morning for my nipples to become hardened, sensitive points rubbing against my blanket.

Maybe it was a good thing that he had to go back out for the afternoon to take care of the horses.

At the rate I’m going, I’d be mauling the poor man if he were here.