“That’ll teach you to listen to gossip,” he said, then twitched when she dug her fingers into his ribs. “Hey, quit it.”

“I’m allowed to retaliate when you tease me,” she pouted, and did it again, then had to grab onto his shoulders when he twitched so hard she nearly fell off his lap.

She stared up at him, delight blooming. “You’re ticklish.”

“Don’t even start,” he warned, then twitched again when she dug her fingers into his side. “Dammit.”

“You’re really ticklish,” she said gleefully, and began dancing her fingertips up and down his ribs. He cursed under his breath in Portuguese, then it was her turn to squeak when he grabbed her hands and yanked them behind her back. “Hey!”

He laughed, holding her wrists against her spine so her elbows stuck out like bony wings. “You mess with the bull, you get the horns.”

“You’re a bull?” she managed, and rotated her wrists, trying to break his hold. He merely tightened his grip, holding her easily in place, and the lust that had been simmering in her blood all morning hit boiling point.

The urge to laugh faded, taking a back seat to the heat roaring through her. She tried to jerk her hands free again, testing him, and in response he pulled her wrists away from her body and down, straightening her elbows and forcing her to lean back. She fought to keep her head up, neck straining with the effort. She was off balance and completely at his mercy, his grip the only thing keeping her from ending up in a heap on the floor, and holy shit.

Sensation flooded her body. Her breasts felt heavy against the bodice of the sundress, her nipples suddenly so sensitive that the soft fabric felt like burlap. A familiar, heavy heat seeped into her pelvis, her core tightening and her panties growing damp.

She was more turned on after fifteen seconds of wrestling and restraint with Cade than she had been in any scene with Kyle in the last six months, and every nerve in her body was screaming for more.

He was looking down at her with that familiar smile, the playful triumph in his gaze joined by something else, something dark and dangerous that made her pulse pound under his restraining fingers.

“Um. Cade?”

He leaned down, putting his face so close to hers their noses brushed. “Yes, fofa?”

His face filled her vision, his light peppermint scent teasing her nose. She could kiss him, she realized. If she just angled her head slightly and strained forward a fraction of an inch, her lips would touch his.