Page 101 of Sugar Baby Mine

“My eyes could not be rolling harder right now.”

He chuckles, leaning in for one more kiss that heats my skin more than the sun has all afternoon. “All right, I’ll stop.”

Leaning away, I rise to my feet and hold my hand out for him.

“Closest rock wins an orgasm,” I offer as he takes my hand and I help him to his feet.

“Oh, so that’s how we’re playing, huh?”

“Yep. And I don’t plan on losing.” Which is a little unfair, even if true. The odds of him finding a rock the color of my eyes out here on the beach is slim. He knows that as well, but I don’t think that’s any hardship for him.

“Well, get looking. Five minutes, tops.”

I turn on my heel, stepping carefully off the blanket and head up to where the sand meets the grass. Scanning the drop-off, I look through the rocks and shells accumulated at the line of where the high tide usually comes in. I turn a shell over with my toe, looking through the grays and beiges for any hint of brown.

There’s exactly one rock, which must have tumbled down from the grass above, that’s darker than all the rest. I bend down, digging it from the sand and rubbing it clean with my thumb. It’s the color of a coffee bean, with a swirl of orangey-red through one half.

It’s perfect.

My body seizes up, and I stand with stiff muscles. But it’s true.

I press the rock into my palm, curling my fingers around it. Part of me wants to throw it back, pick another that doesn’t remind me so much of him. Because it’s so ridiculous for me to get so emotional over a rock.

“Time’s up, did you find one?” Ben calls, his voice carrying in the sway of the wind.

My hair whips around my face in the breeze, and I turn back to the ocean to catch the glittering of the water behind him in the distance. The sand is cold beneath my feet as I walk back to meet him.

“I found one, did you?” I ask, because when he looks at me like I’m the only thing he sees amongst everything beautiful in the world, the hurt is worth it.

Stepping carefully onto the blanket, I rub my feet along the edge to brush the sand off. We both sit and I tuck my knees intohis side, leaning over his thighs and brushing the edge of my pinky along the hem of his shorts. There is entirely too much of his thighs on display, and it’s lowering my inhibitions just like alcohol.

“So I couldn’t find a rock…” He holds up a piece of sea glass, smooth and irregularly shaped. “But this is just about the next best thing.”

I lean in, putting my cheek next to it and blink up at him through my lashes. “A match?”

“Yes, just about—it’s very close.”

“Coffee.” I straighten up, my shoulder dipping as the wide collar of my coverup slips down my bicep.

Ben gives me a quizzical look, tossing the piece of glass to the blanket.

“My rock. Your eyes. Like coffee with just a splash of cream. A swirl of caramel.”

He reaches for my balled up hand, and my fingers uncurl at his touch to reveal my rock.

“I think I win,” I say quietly.

“By default. But it’s also a better match.” My rock lands next to the piece of sea glass on the blanket. He slides his hand over my jaw and cheek, fingers slipping into the strands of my hair. “Now let’s give you that orgasm you deserve, little bird.”

He kisses me, and it’s sunshine and salty air andBen.

I wind my arms around his neck, leaning over his thighs to get closer. Except it’s not enough. And then I’m clinging to his shoulders, legs like a baby gazelle as I climb into his lap to straddle him, nearly falling into his chest.

I’m giggling into his neck where I’ve landed before picking myself up as his hands circle my waist. I shuffle forward until I’m as physically close to him as I can manage without crawling into his skin like it’s my new home.

“These shorts are fucking criminal,” I breathe, nose trailing upover the rough hair at his neck and jaw. My lips find his ear with my nails raking down his sides to grab a hold of his thighs that tense beneath my touch.

“Like yours are any better.”

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