Page 38 of His Mansion

She growled as she stomped across the room, wiping tears from her eyes. She turned to face him, her hands planted on her hips. “Jack’s such an arrogant bastard at times. ‘Only adult in the room.’ More like the only child. He’s not even going to take the toy out of the box to play with it because he might break it.”

Kane whistled softly. Man, was she calling it right. “He has a couple of collector’s items like that at his folk’s place.”

Dara’s jaw hung open. “You’re shitting me.”

He shook his head. “You know what? I think you hit the nail on the head. He’s afraid. He doesn’t want to lose either of us.”

“And he won’t.”

Kane held out a hand to her and she joined him, crawling into his lap. He combed his fingers through her hair. “There’re no guarantees here, babe, but you’re right. If we don’t try, it won’t happen.”

She stared at him, the remaining tears glistening in the corners of her eyes, and he reached up to wipe them away.

“Are you really good with this?”

He shrugged. “I’ve got a few concerns. I’d be an idiot if I didn’t. But Dara…”

There was a crease forming between her eyes, and he smoothed his thumb over it. He’d spent four years coming to this place, and if he didn’t say it now, he’d explode. “I’m in love with you.”

Dara stared at him. “What?”

He paused. “You want to interpret that for me? Did you mean ‘what’ as in ‘I didn’t hear you’? Or ‘what’ as in ‘I can’t believe you said that and I’m going to freak out’?”

She grabbed his face in both hands and kissed him madly before pulling off. “What, as in I reallyreallyneed to hear you say it again. Oh God, Kane, I love you too. At least I think I do. Only…”

He pressed her head to his shoulder. “You love Jack as well, right?”

She nodded.

“Well then. All we need to do is get Mr. Proper to admit what he feels—because I can tell you he’s fucking gone for you as well.”

She cuddled in closer and his tensions eased. He leaned back and settled her more comfortably, rocking her gently in his arms. They sat together, breathing each other’s air, fingers linked together. Kane kissed her forehead, holding her tight to his body and letting her pulse synchronize with his own. Yeah, the sex had been dynamite, but the skiing each day had been just as spectacular. Spending time with her and Jack outside the bedroom—the memories made him smile. Dara racing fearlessly ahead, teasing Jack about his old-fashioned skis. Smiling and joking and telling stories.

They already had an awesome relationship as a trio. The only thing that had changed this weekend was adding a physical relationship. Hopefully they could beat that fact into Jack’s head sooner than later.

Dara twisted to straddle him, bringing her lips against his throat. She opened his collar and touched him with her tongue as she tugged on his shirt. His body was interested, very much so in fact, but he held her wrists and stopped her.

“I think I should go see Jack. Make sure he’s okay.”

Dara unbuttoned his shirt. “He’s being a grump. How will it help to go see him? Maybe we should give him more space to cool off.”

Kane was tempted, really tempted, but giving Jack enough time to rationalize this even more would make their task that much harder. “He doesn’t need to calm down, we need to get him really riled up. Make him mad enough to fight for what he really wants because, Dara, he wants you. I know it.”

She tilted her head and her expression changed to The Look. The one that made him shake in his boots. The one Jack called her Devil Face.

“You want to make him mad? You up for a little acting? Because I think I know one way to get him to react.”

“Oh good Lord, Dara, what are you dreaming up now?”

“It’s kind of poetic justice, really. They got us into this trouble and maybe they can get us out.”

They? Who the hell is she talking about?

She scrambled off his lap and dug through her backpack. She twirled with a cry of satisfaction, holding up a pair of?—

“Walkie-talkies?”

Dara’s smirk grew wider. “To the rescue. Let’s see what a little eavesdropping does to Jack.”

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