He pulled the covers up over both of us and ran light fingers along my side. Instinctively, I flinched away and began laughing. “That’s ticklish.”
“Oh yeah?” I heard the smile in his voice. “How about this?” he asked as he slid his hand down over my ass and to the back of my upper thigh.
I squirmed and bucked, trying to get away from him. “God, yes.” My laughter took over every part of me, until I was choking on it. No one had ever touched me there, and I felt like I might die if he didn’t quit.
Batting his hand away, I begged for him to stop. After a few more torturous seconds, he finally flipped my body over to beam down at me. “You’re so beautiful. You can’t even imagine.”
Taking in his sparkling eyes and grin so wide his cheeks puffed out, I had a feeling I could imagine. “You ruined my post-orgasmic bliss, you brute.”
He chuckled. “Brute, huh? No one has ever called me that before.”
“Yeah, well, you deserve it.”
Lowering his head, he brushed his mouth over mine. “What if I promise to make up for it later? Will you consider forgiving me?”
I bit down on my lip, as though I needed to think about it. “Make up for it how?”
He nuzzled his nose against mine. “Whatever you want, sweetheart. Whatever, whenever. All you have to do is ask.”
Emotion suddenly clogging my throat, I wrapped my arms around him and buried my face in his warm chest. He tugged me closer, and we stayed like that, my mind wandering.
My thoughts pausing on our earlier conversation, I said, “You never told me what your biggest regret is.”
“That’s easy.”
“Really?” I lifted my head from his chest to look at his face. “What is it?”
His answering smile was sad but assured. “Ever letting you go.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Thea
“You’re acting strange.”
I looked across the back seat of our rental SUV to Tristin, who was watching me with narrowed eyes. “What do you mean by strange?” I asked.
“Your leg is bouncing, and you haven’t commented once on those two bickering.” He flicked his gaze to his brothers in the front seat.
I immediately stilled my leg, knowing he had a point. Usually, I was the first to distract Hayle and Leo when they began squabbling. But I hadn’t even noticed.
The truth was, I had a serious case of nerves. After convincing the guys to all go skiing yesterday morning, I’d spent the time alone planning a special dinner for our last night in Breckenridge. It had seemed like a good idea at the time—a way to thank them for treating me to this incredible vacation.
But now that it was upon us, I was re-thinking my decision. I was basically forcing them to go on a romantic date for four. We’d spent plenty of time together over the last few days. We’d done a walking history tour, gone snowmobiling, and taken the gondola up to one of the summit restaurants. And, today, the guys had forgone skiing so we could travel to a neighboring town to go tubing.
All of those activities had felt natural. It had been the four of us, hanging out and having a good time. There had been no pressure.
Tonight would be different. I was thrusting romance upon them, and I had no idea how they would react.
Leo glanced at me in the rearview mirror, having clearly overheard Tristin accusing me of acting strange. “Is something wrong?”
I could still cancel. I would lose my deposit, but that wouldn’t be the end of the world.
“Thea?” he prodded.
Ugh. Why was I being such a wimp about this? Leo, Hayle, and Tristin were my boyfriends. If we couldn’t go on a date together, this wasn’t going to work, anyway.
“Nothing is wrong.” At least, nothing that couldn’t be fixed by me womaning up. “I made dinner plans for us.”
Hayle twisted in his seat to look at me, a grin tugging at his mouth. “Oh? Do these plans include you wearing a slinky dress?”
“Not unless you want me to end up with frostbite.”
He appeared to consider that outcome. “Guess we can’t have that.”
The guys spent the rest of our short drive peppering me with questions about my plans, but if they could keep an entire vacation a secret from me, I was keeping this one thing to myself. All I told them was to dress warmly and when to be ready.
Although I couldn’t wear the kind of dress Hayle had alluded to, I