All He Wants For Christmas...: Flirting With Intent / Blame it on the Bikini / Restless. Kelly Hunter
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do. Walk away.
Just him and a hatful of regrets.
‘I’m heading to Australia in three days’ time,’ he said.
‘Enjoy.’ She didn’t know why he was telling her this and it showed. Time to enlighten her.
‘Come with me.’
‘Pardon?’
‘Come with me.’ Nothing but impulsiveness on his part and astonishment on hers. ‘I have a house on the beach and a few weeks free. You could stay there while you figure out what it is you want to do next. We could just … swim.’ Or sink.
Probably the latter.
Ruby eyed him narrowly. ‘You just want to keep an eye on me. Make sure I don’t go spilling your secrets where I shouldn’t. You’re obsessing about me knowing what it is you do.’
‘Only a little.’ Only a lot.
‘Well, stop it or you’ll go blind,’ she told him heatedly. ‘You. Can. Trust. Me. Which is more than I can say for you.’
He took a step towards her and watched her scramble off her barstool fast and put out a hand as if to ward him off. ‘Damon,’ she began warningly. ‘We are so close to finishing this. Don’t mess with the plan.’
‘There’s a plan?’ Damon reached out and touched her hair, wove silken strands of it around his fingertips, and finally, as if she would break beneath his touch, set his lips to the edge of her mouth. ‘Come with me,’ he whispered. ‘Forget the plan.’
‘You scare me, Damon.’ But she kissed him as if she was starving for him and he kissed her and knew he was insatiable for her in return.
‘I’ll try not to.’
‘And you’ll fool me into thinking that you care.’
‘Maybe I do,’ he whispered and slid his hands to her buttocks and picked her up, and she wrapped her legs around him and made him groan. ‘Come with me.’
Fifteen minutes later, as she climaxed round him for the second time, he said, ‘Ruby, please.’
And she said, ‘Yes.’
DAMON tried to slip back into his father’s apartment unnoticed. No chance of that with two older sisters sitting in wait for him as they watched whatever they were watching on the TV. That was the problem with sisters who’d done double duty as substitute mothers over the years—they saw everything. Especially those things he didn’t want them to see.
Poppy spotted him first as Lena was sitting with her back to the door, but Lena turned around and called him over and offered him a glass of wine.
No point trying to avoid them for they’d only follow him, so he anteed up and he sat his butt down.
Lena would take point, she always did, but only a fool would discount the effectiveness of Poppy when it came to stripping him bare.
Lena waited until he had his wineglass in hand and his thoughts in order before starting in on him, which meant she was either very tired or going soft.
‘So,’ she said, and fixed him with the mother stare. ‘You and Ruby Maguire?’
‘So?’ he said in turn. ‘Neither of us are in another relationship. Why shouldn’t we?’
‘You’ve known her for all of two days.’
‘Five.’
‘Does she know what you do?’ asked Lena caustically.
‘Well, she does now,’ he replied in kind. ‘Which part of later did you not understand?’
‘Which part of stop being so bloody secretive do you not understand?’
‘It’s just habit.’
‘No, it’s a convenient way of keeping people at a distance, is what it is. Your whole way of life is designed to keep people away. Even family. Even me. I won’t have it.’
‘I’m getting that.’
And all of a sudden Lena looked close to tears.
‘We failed you, didn’t we?’ she murmured. ‘Jared and Poppy, and me. We let you pull away, and stay away, for far too long and now you can hardly find your way home.’
‘I’m home,’ he said desperately. ‘I’m right here.’
But she shook her head and the smile she sent him was strained. ‘No more lies, Damon. Not when it comes to Jared and whatever you might find out about him. Promise me.’
He did not want to promise that. ‘Lena, I—’
‘Promise.’
‘All right.’ He shook his head. ‘All right, I promise. Satisfied?’
‘Not quite,’ she said as if moving on to the next insurmountable object. ‘What happened with Ruby?’
‘Nothing much.’ Give or take a momentous decision or two.
‘Can you trust her?’
‘Put it this way, if I can’t, I’m f—’
‘Got it,’ said Poppy primly and he and Lena shared a smile of amusement.
‘Good,’ he said blandly and set his wine down on the coffee table. ‘Is that it for the interrogation?’
‘Not quite,’ said Poppy and Damon sighed. Poppy’s turn.
‘How much do you like her, Damon? Maybe this unanticipated openness with Ruby can be a good thing. Room—if you want it—for a relationship to grow.’
‘No,’ he said. ‘What would I do with a relationship? Besides destroy it. Drag Ruby around the world with me? Pull her into the life? No.’ He stared broodingly at his wineglass. ‘Ruby started out as a distraction, nothing more. Now she’s even more of a distraction, but as for anything permanent? No.’
‘That’s three nos in a row,’ murmured Lena. ‘That’s a lot of nos.’
‘She’s coming to the beach house with me,’ he offered reluctantly. No point trying to hide it. They’d find out soon enough.
‘That’s interesting,’ said Lena. ‘Has Damon ever taken a woman to the beach house to your knowledge, Poppy?’
‘No.’
‘No. That’s two more nos, just in case anyone’s counting.’
‘I have to be able to trust her,’ he said grimly.
‘So how does that work?’ asked Lena. ‘You’re just going to keep her there until you do? Could take a lifetime, Damon. Knowing you.’
‘I think it’s a good idea,’ said Poppy. ‘Give them more time to adjust to Ruby knowing that little bit more about Damon than she should. Besides, the trust will come. I’m sure of it.’
Poppy was a sweetheart and an optimist. Damned if Damon knew how she’d come to be part of this family.
‘And maybe we can help. Maybe if we sat down with Ruby over a drink or two and some girl talk we could make it seem more … normal. Nothing to concern her. You never bring your work home. You never let us near it. You’re really very noble and protective where that’s concerned.’
‘I took her hacking with me,’ he said curtly.
‘You what?’ said Poppy incredulously. ‘You idiot,’ said Lena. And the conversation was mostly downhill from there.
A week and a half later Ruby made her way to Sydney and