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“It is,” Zann agreed just as quietly.

Lydia smiled as Zann brushed a kiss over her temple. “That’s pretty nice, too.”

“It really is,” Zann whispered. A branch snapping behind them reminded them that they weren’t alone, and she exhaled a rough sound of regret as she pulled away. “Sorry.”

Me too, Lydia thought as Zann let their hands fall from her waist to swing between them as they walked. She glanced over her shoulder at Eve and Aspen, who were walking in a similar fashion a handful of yards behind them. “You guys okay back there?”

“Almost as good as you are up there,” Aspen teased. She cackled when Zann flipped her off over her shoulder. “What?”

“We could ditch your asses, you know,” Zann pointed out, her playful threat belied by the way she squeezed Lydia’s hand and slowed their pace.

“But would you make it back in time if you did?” Aspen wondered as she and Eve caught up to them.

Lydia huffed a laugh. “I’d set a timer. We’d be fine.”

“She always has a plan,” Eve giggled.

Lydia threw her a wink. “You know it.”

“Oh?” Zann asked, amused. “And did you plan for me?”

Lydia chuckled. Though she’d long since mastered the art of preparing for any eventuality, life still occasionally caught her by surprise, and while she’d usually find such a lapse irritating, in this case, she was grateful that the Fates had outsmarted her. She caressed the side of Zann’s hand with her thumb and pulled it back behind her back. She didn’t care that they had an audience—she wanted to be held.

And, besides, lord knows she’d accidentally walked in on Aspen and Eve in situations far more scandalous than a simple arm around a waist.

“No,” she said, having never meant anything more. She leaned her head on Zann’s shoulder so she could look up at her as she confessed, “In a million different lifetimes or dreams, I would have never even dared to envision that a woman as incredible as you could possibly exist.”

Zann’s lips parted with a surprised little gasp, and Lydia’s heart squeezed at the hint of a blush that spread across her cheeks.

It was patently unfair that a woman as sexy as Zann could also be so goddamn adorable, but Lydia just smiled as she asked, “Too much?” Her smile widened at the way Zann’s eyelashes fluttered prettily as she shook her head. “You sure?” When Zann nodded, she twisted in her hold enough to be able to kiss the underside of her jaw. “Good,” she whispered, having never meant anything more.

Zann whistled under her breath as she watched Michael, Jack, and Steven flawlessly execute the choreography to Grace Easton’s latest hit, Eyes That Know Me, whose video had been trending for the last two months without any hint of losing traction. More impressive than their mastery of the choreography, however, was the way the guys threw in an incredibly raunchy and very un-Easton-like three-way bump and grind without missing a beat.

“We’re going to have to give Joaquin such a huge tip after this,” she said as she watched Michael and Jack spin off from Steven to do an impromptu pole dance routine on the party bus’ safety rails directly behind the driver’s seat.

“I don’t know.” Lydia was jabbing at her phone as she texted her brother to try to diffuse some issue back in New York. She gestured toward the rearview mirror where Joaquin was very obviously splitting his attention between the winding road and the men dancing behind him. “I think he’s kind of liking it.”

Zann chuckled at the way the driver’s dark eyebrows lifted over the frame of his sunglasses when Steven smacked Jack and Michael’s asses before sashaying like a queen down the aisle. “I didn’t know Stevie had that in him, to be honest.”

Stella, who was sitting across from them, rolled her eyes at her brother. “Thankfully for his drunk, bi-ass, his wife isn’t threatened by his chardon-gay antics.”

“Chardon-gay,” Kit sniggered. “I’m going to remember that.”

“Kit!” Steven yelled jubilantly as he fully launched himself onto her lap.

Kit barked out a laugh as she just barely managed to catch him. “I’m glad you guys were able to come with us today,” she said, patting his leg. “It’s been forever since we all hung out.”

“Ages,” Steven agreed with a dopey grin. He patted her hair. “You’re very handsome.”

Zann’s laughter caught in her throat when Shannon, who was sitting next to Kit, agreed, “She really is.”

Lydia snorted, and Zann shivered as Lydia’s breath cascaded lightly across her ear as she asked, “So do you think they’re fucking yet?”

Zann licked her lips and turned so she could murmur in Lydia’s ear, “If they’re not, they will be soon.” She smiled at the way Lydia’s eyes fluttered as she lingered there, nuzzling her ear and enjoying the way Lydia’s lightly floral perfume mixed enticingly with her high-end hair products, and hummed as she nipped at her earlobe. “You like this?”

Her stomach swooped when Lydia’s hand slid higher up her thigh as she confessed, “I really do.”

“Eve, get your ass up here!” Michael yelled.