Bran rolled to the side and pulled Ireland on top of him, dragging one of the blankets to cover her perfect, round ass. He wanted to love and care for that ass, and then love it some more.

Maybe he had been a monk these past few years, because nothing compared to what he just shared with Ireland. He snuggled her closer, her soft breaths tickling the light hair on his chest. He wanted a repeat. As soon as his cock rose from its stupor.

Which didn’t seem to take long.

She lifted her head and looked down at him with a crooked smile. “Is someone waking up again?”

“How many of those condoms did you say you brought?”

She laughed. “Just the one.”

“We’ll have to do something about that.”

She crossed her arms over his chest and rested her chin on top. She also slowly rubbed her hips against his growing erection—just to drive him mad, he decided. “I thought you said you didn’t have any.”

“I don’t have any here. But remember, I own the house on this property.”

Her pretty eyes narrowed. “Did you say you didn’t have any as a way of getting out of…”

He lifted her under her arms and pulled her higher, stealing a kiss, which had the added benefit of dragging her beautiful breasts against his body. “I didn’t want you to feel pressured, so I didn’t bring one on the date. However, if you’d insisted, I was going to hightail it back to my place. Instead, we made use of the one that was closest. Which was a good thing. It would have taken an entire seven to eight minutes to run back and forth from the house.”

She laughed. “And that would have been too long?”

He pressed her closer, his cock hard and ready. “What do you think?”

Her brow furrowed. “Your brothers don’t know you very well, do they? You’re not at all celibate.”

“Been trying to tell you that. Though, to be fair, hooking up was never a sport to me like it was for some of my brothers.”

“They don’t seem like they were players. Except Hunt.”

“Don’t let their current relationship status fool you. They were bad before they met their girlfriends and wives.”

He leaned up and kissed her soft lips, teasing him from above.

“Were you ever like your brothers?” she asked.

Bran’s body tensed, and he could tell the moment she sensed it, because she frowned.

“When I was young, yeah,” he said.

He gently eased her to the side and sat up. They’d been careful tonight, and God knew Bran wanted Ireland more than his next breath. But his past still haunted him. “I was careless when I was a kid.”

She covered her chest with the blanket and sat next to him. “Careless how?”

He turned and looked her in the eye. “When I was in high school, I slept with a lot of girls. If they were willing, I was down. It was stupid; I was lucky I didn’t catch something. But what resulted wasn’t any better.”

Ireland scooted closer until her side pressed against his. She watched him, seemingly waiting for him to continue.

The only brother who knew about his high school fuck-up was Wes, and not until recently. But Bran wanted Ireland to know. Wanted her to understand him better.

“I got a girl pregnant,” he said.

Her eyes widened. “You…you have a child?”

“No.”

“I don’t understa—”

“The girl I got pregnant had an abortion. It was my fault.”

Ireland didn’t know what to make of Bran’s confession. She’d been older when she lost her virginity, and even then she’d been careful. She couldn’t picture Bran—the definition of a man in control—not taking precautions. Even so… “How could it have been your fault?”

He gazed off. “She told me she was pregnant, and I said nothing. Dumb shit that I was, I hadn’t considered anything like that could happen to me.”

“You didn’t think you could get a girl pregnant?”

His smile was hard. “Sure. When I was ready.” He rubbed his thigh. “Stupid, I know, but I was seventeen and she was sixteen. I didn’t know shit.”

She let out a long sigh. “I’m sorry, Bran. What did your family say?”

“They never knew.”

She blinked several times, making sure she’d heard him right. “Never?”

“My home life consisted of my brothers and a housekeeper. My father wasn’t around. He lived at Club Tahoe, hence the resentment my brothers and I have toward the place.”

“But you…you run it now.”

He sent her a sidelong look. “Irony is a bitch. My father dies and leaves us in charge, and none of us can walk away from the place. We spent our lives avoiding it. Avoiding our father as punishment for putting Club Tahoe first, and now we’re devoting all our time to it. Life is complicated.”

“Family can be complicated. I have three brothers, and they drive me crazy.”

His gaze swung to her. “Three brothers? They’re not big guys, are they?”

Her brow furrowed.

“First Jaeg comes at me like a father for taking you out,” Bran said, “and now I learn you have brothers? You’re not going to tell me your father is an ex-boxer, are you?”

She smiled and shook her head. “He’s a civil engineer.”

“Thank God.”

“But he’s tall.” She waved her hand down her body covered by the blanket. “Tall genes run in the family.”

He nodded. “That seems about right. I would go for the statuesque redhead with three brothers. We’d be doomed if we had kids, destined to have all boys, considering the number of sons in our families.”

Ireland’s chest tightened. No man had talked about kids with her, even in jest. “Do you want to have kids? After what happened?”

He looked down at his large hands. Hands capable of giving so much pleasure and comfort. “Not sure I deserve kids.”

She rested her head on his broad shoulder. “You’re too hard on yourself. You’d make a great father.”

“Fathers need to be responsible. They need to be there for their kids.” He looked up at the stars. “Money, friends, even grades—it all came easily. I took everything for granted. Do you know what I did after the girl told me I’d gotten her pregnant?”

Suddenly, Ireland was afraid to find out. Afraid his actions had turned Bran Cade into the hard-assed man he was today. Only tonight he hadn’t been closed off. He’d been open, sexy, and…loving.

“I called up my friends and got drunk. I was so drunk, in fact, I slept through two days of school. When I finally got around to telling her I’d support her and do the right thing, the deed was done.”

“What deed?”

“Her parents had convinced her to have an abortion. They told her she’d be raising the child alone and that I wouldn’t be there for her.”

Ireland looked out at the trees. “They didn’t know you. You’re responsible. Look at how well you run the restaurants.”

He laughed, but it was bitter. “The restaurants are barely surviving after the decisions I’ve made. Not sure starting a relationship right now is responsible either.”

Ireland’s shoulders stiffened, and she scooted to the side. “Y-you regret tonight?”

“No,” he said. “Never.”

“Because it was magical, so don’t make me regret what we shared.”

He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her to him. “I want everything we share to be right for you. I just worry about the timing, but I’m not going to let it stop me. I want this. As long as you’re happy, I’m happy. And happy to do what we just did again.” He winked and kissed her softly on the lips. “Right now, if you want.”

She studied his face. “I don’t want to hear any more about regrets.”

“No regrets. Not with you.”

She thought she could trust Bran, but he’d not always been consistent. “Why the change from cold to hot?”

“Hot?” he said.

“Steamy, sizzling, set-my-panties-on-fire hot.”

“Hmmm.” He nuzzled her neck. “Good thing you’re not wearing panties now. Easy access and less risk of a forest fire.”

She smiled. “Answer the question. Why the cold treatment when we first met?”

“I have rules.”

“That sounds ominous. You know, given those rules turned you into a giant ass.”

He laughed. “I deserve that.”

“What are these rules?”

He ticked off his fingers. “No overly attractive women, drink in moderation, always be in control. Oh, and protection—always use protection.”

“Why no beautiful women?”

He pulled her close and kissed her lips. A peck. If pecks were heated by a furnace. “Too tempting. They made me think with another brain instead of the smart one.”

“So, I’m not attractive. Or seductive. And that’s why we’re on this date?” The last sentence ended on a slightly higher pitch.

“The opposite. You’re too much of both. You’re beautiful, and sexy, and now I’ve discovered how smart and nerdy you are. It’s a deadly combination. Why do you think I’ve kept you at arm’s length?”

“You broke your own rules?”

He shrugged. “I didn’t want the rules if it meant I couldn’t be with you.”