Triple Dare (Sterling Shore 7)

When my hand slides south, she catches it, waggling her eyebrows at me while giggling. Ruby does not giggle when she’s sober.

I fucking love it.

“I need coffee first. And a toothbrush. And something to eat. I’m starving.”

Sighing, I lean up, and I kiss her forehead as she slides off me and pulls on one of my T-shirts. Damn, that’s sexy as fuck. The tattoos on her thighs are begging me to touch them, and all I want to do is spend the day exploring every bit of ink on her body. As well as every piercing.

Especially two piercings… Her tongue and her—

“You going to help me make breakfast? I’m so not the serve-you-breakfast-in-bed type. I expect help in the kitchen.”

An easiness settles on my chest with how effortless this morning is going. I was prepared for a fight. Not for giggles and smiles.

This is way better.

“You look so relieved,” she points out, smirking at me as though she’s reading my mind.

Walking over to her, I pull her to me, smiling down at her before my lips brush hers.

“Do you have work?” I ask, glancing over at the clock again.

“Not for a few hours. We have time for a lot of things,” she says suggestively, and I try to remain standing. There are a lot of things I want to do.

“Tonight, we’ll just stay in. The two of us. Is it a date?”

She slides her hands around my neck, pulling me down until her lips lightly kiss mine. “It’s a date.”

I’m almost terrified something shitty is going to happen, because this all just feels too good.

“Do I have to keep going to social functions?” she muses, and I snicker as I pull on my boxers.

“Yeah. Especially now. If I can’t have you there as my girlfriend, I can at least have you there as my hostage.”

She laughs, and it’s a free laugh. Not one where she sounds weighted.

She walks in front of me, swishing that fucking perfect ass, and I get a peek of skin underneath, reminding me she has no panties on.

“Fuck breakfast,” I murmur before picking her up and spinning her to face me.

She giggles again until my lips find hers, and her humor dies as she hungrily kisses me back. I push her against the wall, ready to take her without anything between us, when someone starts banging on my door.

Ruby yelps, and something thuds to the floor. It takes me a second to realize I just dropped her.

“You dick!” she hisses, and I choke back a laugh as I bend to help her back up to her feet. She rubs her ass, eyeing me like she’s plotting some form of painful revenge.

“Sorry,” I whisper, still struggling not to laugh. “I promise I’ll make it feel better.”

That has her angry face leaving as she draws that bottom lip into her mouth, making everything on me suddenly very aware of how sexy she looks in the mornings.

The loud banging persists, and Ruby smirks at me.

“Get rid of them,” she says with a wink, then runs back to my bedroom. A pair of jeans come flying out, and I laugh as she shuts the door.

Someone will die if this isn’t an emergency.

Adjusting myself in my boxers, “Hold the fuck on!” I yell at the nuisance on the other side of the door.

Quickly, I pull on my jeans, not even bothering to button or zip them, and jerk open the door to a smirking Maverick. Yeah. Time to dig that grave.

“I take it you forgot about us running this morning?” he asks, pushing through the door. “You don’t usually run in jeans.”

Damn Ruby and her secret relationship bullshit. I could just tell Maverick she was here and waiting for me if she would let me.

“I changed my mind,” I mumble, not even the least bit concerned. “I’ll call you later.

I start trying to push him out, but he just shrugs me off.

“Coincidences of all coincidences happened last night. You’ll never believe who called me looking for a quick hookup.”

Groaning, I cross my arms over my chest. “Who?” I ask, even though I don’t give a damn.

The sooner he gets to say what he wants, the sooner he will—

“Chloe Macintosh,” he says with a taunting grin, but the blood drains from my face. “I thought it was wild, considering I haven’t heard from her in over a year, and after you told me about you and her—”

Before I know what I’m doing, I shove him against the wall with one arm against his throat and one hand clamped over his mouth.

His expressions hit a range of things in a blink—surprise, anger, confusion…

“Ruby,” I hiss, motioning toward my room with my head.

His eyes widen, and I nod slowly, letting him do the math. Technically I’m not outing us. Maverick is smart enough to take in the situation.