Page 40 of Daddies' Holiday Toy

Of course not because that’s not at all who Liam is.

Like Reece, he likes to beat a dead horse until it’s unrecognizable, even after I lay down the law and tell him to knock it the fuck off.

“We need to figure out what the hell we’re doing if she’s stuck here all weekend.”

“There’s nothing to figure out,” I say flatly.

“Okay, well there is if we don’t want things to get weird.”

A humorless laugh escapes me.

“Things aren’t going to get weird if you don’tmakethem weird, Liam.”

“You’re telling me,” he drawls, kicking a patch of snow covered moss buried. “That you don’t feel like any of this is weird? Come on, man. This was supposed to be a blow-off-steam trip. Beers, cards, maybe hit the bar in town before crawling back to work Monday. Now we’ve got a damn, uh—girl,snowed-in with us who also happens to be our best friend’s kid.”

I know what he means, but it still grates on my nerves.

To him, the problem is that she’s ruined our plans for the weekend of letting loose and having a wild time our hangovers would most likely make us regret come Monday morning.

For me, the problem though, that problem is far from that. It’s that…

I can’t trust myself.

She’s right there.

Sweet, beautiful, and absolutely off-limits.

Forbidden for every reason in the book and in every way possible.

I have rules.Hardrules.

Ones I don’t cross no matter the circumstances and especially not when it involves one of my best friends.

That’s a line that never needs to be crossed. It’s been drawn in the sand long before and will stay there, out of reach.

It’s a ten-foot high, poured in concrete, topped with barbed wire, kind of boundary that should be respected no matter how annoyed my libido is at me for doing so.

But the curve of her smile still has me feeling like a man standing on the wrong side of things, wondering what the hell would happen if I leaned forward and figured out how soft they really were.

Reece returns just in time, zipping his coat back into place. “We pushing on or what?”

“No,” I say.

They both turn to stare at me.

“Seriously? We’ve only been out an hour.” Reece’s brow raises high, practically disappearing into his hairline.

I shrug, already turning back down the trail.

“Got a bad feeling about leaving her alone too long. Come on, let’s go make sure she didn’t do something stupid like try and dig herself out.”

It’s not entirely a lie.

I reallydon’tlike the idea of her stuck in the cabin with nothing to do but twiddle her thumbs, but mostly I just need to move again, change direction, and let that burn off this restless, gnawing energy.

Liam mutters something I don’t quite catch, but they both fall into line behind me anyway.

By the time the cabin comes into view, the light above is already shifting.