Page 23 of The Gift that Keeps On Giving

“Seemed pretty content to watch from the corner last night.”

To my surprise, color deepens along his cheekbones. “Well, I’m not going to be content with that today. You’re not going to have her all to yourself.”

“Watch me.”

“Your gatekeeping Ruby wasn’t the plan.”

“The plan?” I scoff, pacing away and rounding on him again. “The planitselfis fucking crazy. Three days with the girl who we never got out from under our skin? Did they really think this was going to be a good idea? Like I’m just going to go home and be able to stop thinking about her?”

Cameron is massaging the middle of his forehead. “I know what you mean. I can’t see how this isn’t going to make life…impossible. It’ll be like getting kicked out of heaven.”

“She’s fun, non-judgmental, smart. Exciting. Beautiful beyond description. And you haven’t even had her yet, pal. She’s…” I grind a fist against my mouth until I taste blood, an imagine of her glistening pink slit emblazoned on my brain. How she saidI want to be the one who shares this bed with youwhile she rode her slickness up and down my pole. God, I’m never going to get over last night. “A man commits murder for pussy like that.”

“I’m going to judge that for myself.”

We face off for a long moment, before Cameron launches out of the bed, following me into the kitchen. Ruby isn’t there, though. No, she’s outside.

We walk side by side to the sliding glass door, staring down at the beach transfixed.

Ruby is down on the sand in a sunny yellow thong bikini, flying a kite. Running up and down the sand with a radiant smile on her face…and attracting quite an audience as she frolics in the surf, seemingly without a care in the world. Every balcony of every house, as far as I can see, holds at least one man watchingthe show behind a pair of shades, probably getting ready to go jerk off.

“Let’s get her inside,” Cameron says.

“My thoughts exactly.”

Because Ruby might not belong to Cameron, but she sure as shit doesn’t belong to anyone else, either. We storm the beach, approaching her from opposite sides. Cameron takes the kite out of her hands, I put her in her usual place, draped face down over my shoulder. “Guys! I was enjoying that!”

“Enjoy it with some fucking pants on, baby,” I gripe. “Unless one of us is with you.”

“I don’t need permission to fly a kite!”

I’m going to love informing her of the opposite. And I do. As soon as we’re inside the living room, I draw her down off my shoulder, pleased when she hooks her thighs around my hips, as though it’s a natural reflex. She’s pouting, but the irritation flees her features when I press her up against the glass. “What was that about not needing permission, little girl? There’s an army of men out there ogling an ass that belongs to us.”

Cameron steps insidejustas the slip happens, dammit.

I meant to say belongs to me, but…I’m not sure what happened.

Now, the three of pause, exchanging glances.

“I think we should talk,” Ruby whispers, kissing my chin while I struggle to come to terms with the shit that just came out of my mouth. Then reaching out, she brings in Cameron, kissing his cheek lingeringly, too. “Put me down and let’s talk.”

I stifle the urge to rip off her thong bikini bottoms and give it to her from behind while Cameron watches, just to regain some sense of equilibrium, control, but she’s asking me so sweetly and I’m caught up in her blue eyes. The way she wiggles down until her feet are on the floor, taking both of our hands and guiding us into the kitchen.

Cameron and I lean against the counter, arms crossed, looking down at Ruby.

It’s hard to concentrate with her all sandy and sun-kissed, not to mention those bare ass cheeks, but I take a deep breath and attempt to listen.

“We’ve discovered a lot about each other and ourselves since yesterday, wouldn’t you say?” Cameron shifts uncomfortably, but nods. I grumble a non-committal answer. Her voice falls to a near whisper. And when I hear what she has to say, I’m glad she’s quiet about it, because these are subjects for the middle of the night, not a sunlit kitchen, right? “Dean likes to be my Daddy when we’re intimate. And I like that, too. A lot.”

“Are you trying to make me hard, Ruby?” I bluster.

She gives me a cheeky smile. “Cameron, you’re a little more complicated. You like watching me and Dean…play those roles.” She reaches out and traces a circle around his navel, causing his breath to quicken. “Even hearing me talk about my private time with Dean gets you…aroused.”

His throat works with a swallow. “Yeah.”

Ruby tilts her head, her astute gaze running a lap around my face. “Why?”

“I’d love to know the same thing,” I snap, feeling my hackles rise. “Just like I’d love to know why I found you taking advantage of her six years ago, when she’d clearly been drinking. With yourfather.”

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