While he decides if he’s going to answer me, I take the long way around the bar to see if I can catch a glimpse of his computer screen, but the fucker closes it as I approach.
“That’s sketchy, Li. I thought we were done with the secrets?”Except the one I plan to tell him today, of course.
Liam grins and kisses my cheek. “We’re done with thebadsecrets, but surprises are okay. And I promise I’m going to tell you everything tomorrow night at dinner.”
I’d forgotten he’d told me we had plans tomorrow.
“Do I get any clues?” I probe.
“None.”
Fine. Two can play this game. “Well, that works perfectly then, because I have asurpriseof my own, and I’ll plan to tell you tomorrow night, too.”
Liam narrows his eyes at me, clearly not anticipating that turn of events.
“I think I’ve suffered enough of yoursurprisesfor one trip,” he muses with an arched brow.
“Oh, you’ve beensufferingthe last couple of days, huh?” I ask, playfully dancing around him like I’m going to strike him as if I were a boxer. “I can show you suffering.” If Liam and I were to spar for real, I stand a pretty good chance of taking him down, even considering our size difference, thanks to my black belt in jiu-jitsu. But silly me, I forgot Liam doesn’t fight fairly.
“Suffering, you say?” he asks before springing from his chair and wrapping his arms all the way around my torso, pinning my arms to my sides while his fingers poke between my ribs.
“You bastard!” I yell, trying to knock him off balance with a kick to his ankle. I will do anything to make this stop.
“I think this dick is making you stupid, D,” he taunts playfully, still wreaking havoc on me. “Did you forget my wingspan is almost six inches longer than yours? Or that I outweigh you by fifty pounds?Orthat now, when you thrash in my arms and try to buck me off, it just makes me hard? I like hearing you pant,” he says in my ear while I go limp, hoping he’ll just let me sink to the floor. “And I like it when you fight me.”
I never knew it was possible to struggle to take a breath and get hard at the same time.
“Li…Liam! P-please stop! C-can’t br-breathe!” I manage to sputter as his fingertips continue their onslaught.
“Who owns you?” he asks in a serious tone, easing up on the poking so I can answer.
“You do,” I say without hesitation. Not only is it true, but I will sayanythingto get him to stop tickling me.
Before he can ask me another question—although I’m kind of starting to enjoy this game—his phone rings.
Turning it over,Dadflashes on the screen. Liam releases me, sends the call to voicemail, and turns back to me like his dad calling is no big deal.
“Don’t you, uh, need to answer that?”
Liam grins at me, and I’m beginning to think he’s lost his mind.
“I’ll talk to him soon enough.” He winks and slaps me on the ass. “Will you make me some scrambled eggs while you call and make those reservations? No one makes scrambled eggs as good as you do, and Ireallyneed to finish this.”
What fuckin’ universe did I fall into?
Liam doesn’t mentionanything else about what he was working on, and I may die of curiosity. We have a very short time left on this mountain, where we’ve removed so many of the barriers standing in the way of our being together. This resort will forever hold a special place in our hearts, and I can’t bear to think how this amazing trip is going to end.
What comes next?
I try like hell to stay in the moment when we hit the slopes once Liam finishes everything he was working on, but it’s a challenge.
At least until we’re headed down a slope when Liam jumps, turning one hundred and eighty degrees, skiing backwards. We’re over the steepest pitch of the slope, so he’s safe, but it still sets me on edge.
He blows me a kiss as he slows his turns to take his time. Catching up quickly, I try to veer right to avoid him, but he senses which direction I’m going, and he cuts me off, widening his stance so my left ski slides between his, and my right ski is on the outside of his left one, reminding me of our stance when we were dancing.
Suddenly, I have on too many layers, and I’m burning up.
He catches me by the waist so I don’t crash into him.
