Total pages in book: 32
Estimated words: 30329 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 152(@200wpm)___ 121(@250wpm)___ 101(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 30329 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 152(@200wpm)___ 121(@250wpm)___ 101(@300wpm)
“Goddamn.” The cop mops the sweat off his brow. “I’ll tell you something. I don’t blame you one bit, son.”
A moment later, the police cruiser is gone, and Ruby turns sideway into my chest with bright red cheeks. “That did not just happen.”
I grimace over the wet mess in my pants. “Oh, I promise you, it did.”
She laughs hysterically at my irritable expression, and by some miracle, I find myself joining her, weight dropping from my shoulders like sandbags. Weight I didn’t even know I was carrying. This is how Ruby always made me feel. Alive. Carefree. Young.
She leans up to kiss my cheek, and I feel like the ruler of the universe. “All part of the adventure,” she whispers. And as I drive Ruby back to the rental house, her eyes sparkling at me from the passenger seat, I admit to myself that I want a lot more than one adventure with her. What I’ve got is three days, though. Three days only. And one big problem named Cameron in the way of having Ruby all to myself.
Chapter Five
Ruby
We return to the beach house a lot later than expected.
The stars are out. Waves crash beneath the purple sky down at the shore.
Dean is not ready to relinquish me yet and makes it known by kissing me up against the door of the house, his hips agitated between my thighs.
“Forget him,” Dean says, sucking on a patch beneath my ear. “Come to bed with me. I’ll make your first time so fucking good.”
“I can’t,” I gasp, the flat of his tongue licking the pulse at the base of my neck, his teeth razing me there immediately afterward. “I was brought here for a purpose, Dean. Fulfilling you in a way I wasn’t allowed to do before. But also, making sure you and Cameron leave as friends.”
“It’s never going to happen.”
“But it’s his turn, Dean,” I protest, even though…oh yes, I really, really just want Dean to bring me to his bedroom and undress me. I want to see him naked. Above me. I want to be his possession for the night. His reward for being such a steadfast husband and father. I want his larger body to take charge of mine while I call him Daddy.
I want. I want. I want.
More than I knew I was capable of wanting.
But I must remember why I was hired in the first place.
My bookstore is counting on me to remember the overall mission.
“Dean.” I twist between him and the door until he steps back with a curse, adjusting the bulk behind his fly. “Fine. I’m going to be watching from the living room, though. I don’t trust him with you, Ruby.”
I’m so confused by his distrust of Cameron, and I want to question him more about it, but the front door of the house opens behind me. I turn to find Cameron in black, low-hanging swim trunks, loosely laced beneath his happy trail. His stomach is tighter than a drum, his abs more natural than those achieved at the gym, as are his pecs. Biceps. His right arm boasts a tattoo sleeve he’d only begun to ink in college. Spiderwebs tangle with words and rough sketches depicting form, the art of the human body.
My broody sculptor, staring at me with his heavy-lidded green eyes.
So different from the corporate god at my back.
“Hi, Cameron,” I say, turning without hesitation and stepping into his heat, sighing when his thick arms close around me, dragging me up against his hard chest.
“Sorry for keeping her out so late. We got a little…carried away,” Dean says, petting my backside with familiarity. Patting it. “You understand.”
“I understand you’re as entitled as you always were.”
“Guys,” I murmur, kissing the dip between Cameron’s pecs, my palms smoothing the tension from his chest. “You know, if you could just be friends, the three of us might be able to spend time together. Like it was in the beginning. Remember those early tutoring sessions?”
“You mean, when Dean would play dumb so you’d have to lean over and explain the same concept ten times?” Cameron scoffs. “Yeah, I remember that.”
“What can I say?” Dean runs his fingers through my hair, a rusted sound turning in his throat. “It’s hard to concentrate when she’s around.”
“Good thing you don’t have to worry about that for the next couple of hours,” Cameron growls, picking me up and carrying me out of Dean’s reach. Distracted by the taste of ocean salt on Cameron’s skin, I hook my legs around his waist and suck the flavor off his shoulder, letting him carry me to my bedroom. “I assume you brought a bathing suit.”
“Well, sort of.” Eyeing my suitcase across the room, I chew my lip. “Molly and Polly picked it out. I haven’t taken it out of the bag yet.”