Chapter 17
Ruby
I WOKE UP WAY TOO EARLY to warmth pressed against my back, an arm snug around my waist, and fingers splayed across my ribs and stomach like they’d always belonged there. Like we hadn’t woken up yesterday morning in separate cabins.
I didn’t move. Just sank back against him, to the rhythm of his breathing, and soaked it in.
After a while, I rolled over to face him and kissed his lips.
Sebastian stirred. “Morning,” he murmured, voice rough with sleep.
I smiled when his eyes fluttered open. Misty golden-brown.
“So you’re a cuddler now?” he rasped.
“Once in a blue moon. You complaining?” I grinned.
“You know that blue moons occur more often than it’s commonly—”
I kissed him again, mid-sentence, and this time he kissed me back. Lazy and unhurried.
I wanted him again. Morning breath and all. Not just because his morning erection tempted me. I craved that closeness from last night. The one I’d given up when I left his cabin and went back to my cottage the night before.
I wanted that quiet ache he eased without even trying. So I kissed him deeper, more urgent, pulled him closer, and didn’t stop until we were tangled in each other all over again.
Later, I didn’t even flinch when he grabbed a clean shirt from his section of my closet.
Okay, maybe I flinched a little.
But then I caught myself watching him in the mirror, and—God help me—I was smiling contentedly.
“Careful,” I said, voice light as he passed by me with his toothbrush. “I might start charging you rent.”
He just smiled. Unbothered.
I was reminding myself of this, more than him.
And somehow, I enjoyed our breakfast, which we prepared together without burning anything down. We even walked up to the main building side by side, like we were used to doing that sort of thing.
Except I didn’t do that sort of thing.
Except—I kind of was.
Good thing I had crisis after crisis to deal with.
We had new check-ins into the cabins, and despite my advance notice and compensation, the couple in cabin two complained about the breakfast room and restaurant being closed.
The three friends in cabin six wanted a different spa than the one in Coral Bay that I’d booked for them because it didn’t have a chakra-balancing sound bath, which, I learned, was mandatory.
The linen vendor delivered everything and tried to dump it in the lobby, even though I’d asked him just the day before to delay the delivery. And I had to rearrange shifts to accommodate two of my staff who were temporarily taking on full-time hours elsewhere.
At some point, I heard Sebastian’s voice and stepped out of my office to find him outside, helping the crew guide beams through the upstairs window while Dave stabilized it from the scaffolding. Later, I saw him carrying plywood sheets up the stairs to the damaged wing.
In both cases, I had to remind myself that ogling your friends-with-benefits while they’re lifting heavy things wasn’t a good idea.
My first instinct was to open the Beach, Please group chat and text my friends.
I needed to share, vent, distract myself.
I didn’t, though. It was too dangerous now that they all suspected I’d crossed over—gone from feelings infidel to whatever the hell came after exclusive sleepovers and sharing morning coffee like it wasn’t a big deal.
But not ten minutes later, while I was watching the large dumpster brimming with construction debris, a dust cloud hovering above it, the chat came to life. A message from Evangeline.
“How’s everyone doing?”
Neither Daphne nor Rio replied at first. Daphne, I didn’t expect to—she rarely answered mid-shift. And Rio was probably busy at work, too.
I gave in. “I’m drowning in sawdust and chaos. You?”
“I’m good. Lunch break now, another flop of a date last night. Nothing to tell. How’s Sebastian?” Eve replied, the only one of us still genuinely and actively looking for love.
“He’s around. Helpful. Saved my ass, tbh. Good with beams.”
“Beams, huh?” Rio suddenly appeared. “And sorry, Evangeline. I’m sure Mr. Right will appear soon.”
“Thanks, Rio. I dated all the toads. Hopefully, there’s a prince out there. Ruby, are we talking structural or emotional support here?” Eve wrote.
“I vote for both, plus the extra beam he always has for Ruby. Now probably more than ever,” Rio answered.
“Who do I need to arrest?” Daphne showed up.
“Sebastian. For making Ruby play house.” Rio added a house emoji.
“Yeah, if he’s still there, does that mean you and him are ... a thing now?” Eve asked.
I rolled my eyes at the screen. “Ask stupid questions, get stupid answers.”
“What they’re asking is, are you and monogamy friends now, Ruby?” Daphne added dryly. She rarely dated, thanks to what she called her “dating constipation.”
“You’re the worst.” I included a poop emoji for good measure.
“Noted. But hey, that’s truth o’clock, babe. You gave it to me with Owen, remember?”
“You don’t have to explain. Just don’t forget to hydrate. Emotionally, too,” Eve added.
“Also, you’re all fired,” I texted.
“You wish,” Rio replied with a kissy face emoji, just as Daphne wrote, “I’m union.”
I chuckled alone in my office.
Later, I headed into town again to replace two coffee machines.
Coral Bay’s off-season weekday hum was in full swing.
Afternoon shoppers strolled the main avenue, a few familiar local faces chatted outside the bakery with takeaway cups and the bakery’s logoed paper bags, and the smell of ocean salt hung in the air.
Evangeline’s flower shop sat just a few doors down from the hardware store, its display window brimming with color.
Buckets of fresh-cut blooms flanked the entrance.
She and Marcy were busy serving a cluster of customers, so I just waved through the glass, and Evie gave me an I’m sorry smile and waved back.
Sebastian didn’t answer when I knocked on the door of Sea Glass Cabin later that evening, balancing two bottles of Sierra Nevada and a pizza box I brought from my favorite place in town.
I let myself in.
The sound of running water, soft behind the half-closed bathroom door, welcomed me. I set the food down on the table, slipped off my shoes, peeled off my clothes, and stepped into the bathroom.
He didn’t hear me, giving me a chance to admire the wide back of the well-built body that had been hiding beneath his clothes—the one I’d been ogling earlier.
God, he had a beautiful ass.
“Hi,” I said, grinning.
He turned, surprised, and I caught the flicker in his eyes and felt that electric spark that made us both lose our calm.
I stepped into the tub and pressed my hand to his chest, feeling the beat of his heart under my palm.
“Hey,” he managed to say before I turned the tap off, dropped to my knees, cupped his beautiful, firm ass, and did exactly what I felt like doing all day.
I took my time, savoring how he threaded his fingers into my hair and slightly pulled as I sucked him deep and slow, how he came hard, groaning my name.
THE NEXT MORNING, SUNLIGHT leaked through the curtains, and I found myself tangled in him again—this time in his bed. Bare skin, strong arms, his scent wrapping around me.
I should’ve been second-guessing everything. Should’ve been setting a boundary by slipping out, reminding us both of the rules, joking about rent again.
Instead, I curled into him. Again. My palm rested on his chest like it had every right to be there, and I was memorizing the way his breathing nudged my shoulder, his arm slung heavy around my middle like that was how we always slept.
I was just taking a short vacation from myself.
From Ruby’ing it, as Rio called it. Maybe, kind of like Rio did with Owen—only in reverse.
She’d allowed herself a no-strings fling and ended up in something real.
I’d sworn off permanent, and now I was attaching a few strings that I swore I could snap whenever I wanted with no harm done.