Page 132 of River & Rue

“Well butter me up and call me a biscuit, we sure didn’t expect to find a fire on the trails today! Ain’t that right, Claudia?”

Rue buries her face in my chest, muffling a screech that’s equal parts frustration and mortification. Sighing, I pull my hands out of her leggings and adjust my hard-on, grateful at least they pulled up behind me.

Claudia trills a laugh. “Now, Kirk. Behave yourself.”

“Sure you want me to, darlin’?”

Rue’s head whips up. Our eyes meet in shocked comprehension.

“Love is love.” Her whisper is strained, her expression a blend of amusement and revulsion.

At an offensively wet sputtering sound, I turn hesitantly and see Kirk motorboating Claudia’s neck. PAC’s billionaire benefactor giggles and flutters her fingers our way.

“Don’t mind us. Just taking Gil for a little joyride.”

I grimace, hoping it looks close enough to a smile. “Okay, well… have fun. Bye.”

Grabbing Rue’s hand, I pull her down a narrow side trail and behind the first tree big enough to hide us.

Claudia’s merry voice follows.

“So glad you took our chat to heart, Rue!”

I slant her a glance. “What chat?”

Rue starts to shake her head, then stops, smiling as she remembers. “It was after the welcome dinner. Remember? Penelope was in her villain era and tried to kick you out, but instead of standing up for yourself, you ran like a chicken.”

I laugh. “Savage. But I didn’t bail until after your little speech about grandiloquence and… what was it? The Fallacy of Verbosity?”

“You heard that? But I looked—” She cuts herself off, chagrin tinting her cheeks.

“You looked for me, Princess? Did you want me to hear you?”

She shrugs sheepishly. “Maybe. It was one of my more eloquent drunk-rants.”

“Drunk or not, as usual, you blew me away.”

Hearing the buzz of the golf cart finally move on, I motion her further down the trail.

“Where are you taking me?”

“You’ll see. So what did you and Claudia talk about?”

“Oh, um… you, mostly. She said it was serendipitous that we were here together, that maybe we needed each other as much as the collective needed us.”

“I had no idea she was so perceptive.”

Rue gives me a questioning look.

“She probably saw me staring at you all night.”

Her eyes twinkle. “Yikes. Obsessed, much?”

“I thought we covered this—I’m completely fucking obsessed with you.”

She ducks her head, a smile curling the corners of her mouth. When she takes my hand for the second time, my body reacts like she asked to have my babies.

“Claudia also said if I don’t speak my truth, I’ll regret it.”