“Good,” I nodded, setting my coffee down. “That’s what I needed to hear.”
I stepped between them and shrugged out of my robe. Soft blue silk fell to the floor in a puddle, revealing the bright yellow string bikini I’d put on before coming outside.
All eyes shifted to my ass. Or my tits. Or both.
Because really, who was counting.
“Boys, I have a confession to make,” I started off. “I’ve been thinking about last night, all morning,” I admitted. “And I’ve come to a conclusion. Wanna know what it is?”
Setting my hands on my hips, I turned my back to them and looked out over the blue-green ocean. Their attention wasn’t in question. I had them completely hooked.
“Like it or not, this place is home for a while,” I sighed into the wind. “And if we’re going to be stuck here, together, we might as well have fun.”
I whirled on them; fast enough to catch their eyes fixed to the spot where my ass used to be. It made me chuckle.
“Of course, we can act like last night never happened,” I countered, pretending to think about it. “But where’s the fun in that?”
Ripley shook his head. “No fun at all.”
“Exactly,” I pointed a finger. “And since we can’t put the genie back in the bottle…”
I shrugged guiltily, but it was all a show. The not-so-shocking truth was, I didn’t feel the least bit guilty. I’d thought about how this might go from the moment I’d opened my eyes. Either it could be awkward, for everyone involved… or we could embrace it for what it was.
And also, hopefully, for what it could be.
“I’m going to take my coffee on the beach,” I said cheerily. “That way you boys can talk amongst yourselves, maybe figure things out. Let me know what you come up with.”
I sauntered past them, grabbing another slice of mango along the way. A hand stopped me, dropping gently to my bare hip. It was the same hand I’d seen in the shower last night.
“Whatexactlyare you saying?” asked Colson.
I looked him straight in the eye and shrugged. “This.”
I stood on my toes, leaned in, and kissed him full on the mouth. It was a soft, sensual kiss. The kind that kept on going until he was kissing me back.
“Fuck,” Ripley swore under his breath.
I chuckled, then strutted over and kissed him too. His hands went straight to my ass. I couldn’t blame him, but after a moment or two I still had to pry them away.
“Later,” I whispered into his ear.
I pushed back and found Theo still sitting there, his blank expression completely unchanged. I kissed him last, leaning in low so he could get the full effects of my significant bikini cleavage. I made sure the kiss was even longer and better than the others, too.
Then I spun on my bare heel, jumped to the sand, and headed out to greet the goddess of sun and surf.
I was a dozen steps onto the beach when I heard one of them speak.
“Theo…” Ripley grunted.
It took Theo a moment to answer. When he did, his voice sounded very dazed and far away.
“Yeah?”
“You crack that locket in anything shorter than a week,” Ripley warned, “and I’ll beat you to within an inch of your short, miserable life.”
