Best of all, she’d included a down parka that fell almost to my knees. It was much better for the weather than the coat I already owned.
I’d have to remember to send her a thank you text and find out how much I owed her for the new clothes.
Once I was ready, I wandered out to the living room and spotted the guys standing on the deck. I opened the glass door and stepped out, my eyes widening in surprise. Not because of the view—which was spectacular—but because of the hot tub overlooking said view.
The deck was positioned so there was complete privacy from the neighbors. It seemed more likely that we’d be spotted by a bear than another human…which made my mind go a little wild once again. Hot tub. Privacy. Three boyfriends.
Yeah. This was going to be the best vacation ever.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Thea
I woke to the smell of bacon, which was never a bad thing. The place next to me, where Leo had slept, was empty, the sheets cold to the touch. He’d obviously been gone a while. Finding my phone to check the time, I understood why. It was almost ten o’clock. I rarely slept this late.
After using the bathroom and brushing my teeth, I made my way into the kitchen to find Hayle standing at the stove, shirtless, his back to me. I admired the lines of his lean but strong upper body. He’d recently admitted to me that he used the rowing machine in the gym at the mansion almost daily, and I could tell. If I’d bothered using the gym myself, I probably would have known that already.
“Morning.”
He turned around and gave me a wide smile. “Morning, beautiful. I hope you’re hungry.”
I walked to his side and saw that he was making scrambled eggs and pancakes, as well as bacon. “Looks delicious, and yes, I’m starving.” Glancing around the otherwise empty kitchen and living room, I asked, “Did Leo and Tristin go skiing?”
“Yes. I volunteered to stay with you today, so they could take full advantage of the slopes.”
“I’m sorry. You could have gone with them. I would have been fine on my own.” As I’d discovered when we’d gone out last night, our rental house was actually located part way up the gondola route, which meant it was only about a three-minute walk to catch it to travel either farther up the mountain for skiing or down into town. Getting around was not a problem.
Hayle deposited the pancakes onto two plates before tugging me into his arms. “No way. When I said volunteered, what I really meant was that I begged them to get to stay with you.”
I pressed my cheek into his warm, hard chest. “Okay. I guess I’m not sorry, then.”
He kissed my forehead. “You better not be.”
We both worked to get breakfast on the table, and once I was positioned at the table so I could peer out the large window in the living room, I sighed happily. “I can’t believe we’re here. It’s so beautiful.”
“Yeah, Tristin chose well.”
“He found the cabin, you mean?
“No, he planned this whole trip. The three of us talked about coming to Colorado, but he was the one who researched where we should stay. There are smaller, more exclusive resorts that Leo or I would have chosen, but Tristin pointed out that we should go somewhere that had plenty of other things to do, since you can’t ski.”
I finished chewing a piece of maple-flavored bacon. “He’s a thoughtful guy.”
Hayle practically choked on his orange juice. “I guess he is. He always was, but sometimes it’s difficult to remember what he was like before…”
Violet’s accident, I thought, mentally finishing his sentence. And I could see his point. I’d only had to live with moody, withdrawn Tristin for a few months. Hayle had been dealing with him like that for years.
“Anyway, it’s nice to have him back.” He gave me a knowing look. “Thanks to you.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Yeah, I do.” He picked at his eggs. “I said something to you shortly after you moved back in. Do you remember?”
I stared at him blankly. “You’re going to have to give me more than that.”
“I suggested that Leo, Tristin, and I were such a mess because we were a household full of guys. You told me we didn’t need a woman to fix us.”
Finally seeing where he was going with this, I said, “And you replied that maybe you didn’t need just any woman. You needed me.”