Shattered (Steel Brothers Saga 7)

“Neither have I. Except for last night when I visited the nude pool before dinner.”

“That must be where you met Blondie.”

“Juliet. Yes.” He laughed. “Although Blondie suits her better.”

“I don’t mean to be rude or anything. I don’t have anything against blondes.”

For the third time, he laughed. “Ruby. It’s okay. You’re funny. I like your sense of humor. I don’t think you have anything against anyone. Except criminals, of course. I mean, you’re a cop.”

“Doesn’t everyone have something against criminals?”

“I do. My brothers do, obviously. Probably not everyone.” He smiled. “Not the criminals themselves.”

That got a smile out of me.

“How’d you decide to become a cop?”

That was a long story that I didn’t want to get into right now. “Are you trying to distract me so I don’t feel weird around all these naked people?”

“Guilty. But you know how you could feel a little less conspicuous?”

“How?”

He grinned. A real shit-eating grin. “Get undressed.”

Yeah. When hell froze over. “You’re kidding, right?”

“Hell, no. This is a nude beach. Look around you. There are all shapes and sizes of bodies here. No one will think anything of yours. If that overweight couple”—he glanced at a man and woman sitting nearby—“isn’t embarrassed, why should you be? You have a great body.”

It was too early in the trip to be sunburned, but my body felt like an inferno. God only knew what my face was doing. I didn’t want to know. “I…can’t.”

“You can.”

I looked around. He was right. No one was ogling anyone. People were talking, sunning themselves, swimming. Some were at the bar. Why not?

Wait. Was I truly considering this?

Yes, I was. And for only one reason. If I took off my clothes, Ryan would have to take his off too. And oh my God, I wanted to see him naked.

Not that I’d do anything with him naked. But to see him… To see, just once, what a perfect man looked like in all his glory. Something I never thought I’d see. Something I was curious about and wanted to see, but I had kept those feelings at bay.

I looked around again. No one on this beach could hold a candle to Ryan Steel. A few men looked good. A few women too. Most were average. Normal people who liked to get naked at the beach, I guessed.

I laughed. “Why not?” I gathered all my courage and lifted my sports tank, which doubled as a bra, over my head. My full breasts fell gently against my chest.

And Ryan Steel stared.

Shit. This had been a mistake.

Sure, no one else on the beach was ogling anyone. But I hadn’t thought about what Ryan would do to me.

My nipples hardened instantly under his gaze.

I crossed my arms over my chest.

“That kind of defeats the purpose,” Ryan said.

“You were staring.”