Page 17 of Derick

“Well, that depends. Are w…we talking dinner, dessert, breakfast, snacks or…or l…lunch?”

Her hands came to rest on my chest. I held my breath, not wanting to scare her or move in case she stopped what she wasdoing. “Tell me all,” I said. Her fingers started drawing aimlessly against my sensitive skin. I’d dreamed of this since the moment I’d laid eyes on her.

“Truthfully, a lot of my favorites are n…new as I’d never had them before because they were out of…of m…my price range.”

A dreamy look came over her, and my cock jumped in my pants. Fuck, her lips were curled in a secret grin, her cheeks turned a rosy red, and her eyes flashed like lightning. I’d never seen a sight so hot, so full of passion.

“Breakfast—well, that’s easy,” she said. “Coco Pops. S…sure, I’ve had the no-name stuff, but the real Kellogg’s stuff…” Ruby shook her head. “So good. I’ll never be able to eat the n…no-name brand ever again. Next, snacks. Well, th…that’s easy too, dried mango slices and just mango the fruit. It’s always b…been way out of my price range, so I love finding it here in almost every fruit b…bowl and eating it until my heart’s content. I know Hope loves it too. Lunch is easy too. C…croissant filled with melted cheese and chicken. Dinner—there are so many choices, but I’d n…never tried asparagus, and it was delicious with everything, but I can’t get enough wh…when it’s paired with cr…creamy potatoes, and another item I could never afford to buy before is salmon. Dessert.” Ruby drew the word out and wiped imaginary drool from her lip. “Donuts. Mmmm,” she moaned. “They’ve always been a weakness of m…mine. My brother would get them for me to cheer me up.”

Her hands came up, and she surprised me when she brushed my shaggy, blond hair out of my eyes. I was due for a haircut. This was a big step for her: touching me, straddling my lap.

“What about yours?” she asked.

“Date me. Be mine. Let me take you out?” I meant to tell her what I liked, but what she was doing to me felt like torture, and my brain and mouth didn’t want to cooperate.

“I want you. I want what we’re doing now to be positive. I want to go out with you. I want a relationship, but first I want to talk to Hope before we go on an official date.” She ran her fingers through her hair, showing she needed to re-do the blue in some spots. “Hope’s become so attached to you and your family, and if things didn’t work out between you and I, she would be devastated. If she didn’t get to have you in her life again because of me, I’d never forgive myself. I may want you and feel things I never felt, but Hope is my whole world.”

She hadn’t stuttered once the whole time she spoke just then, and I wanted so bad to taste her. “I’m going to kiss you now. Speak now or forever hold your peace.” She had said she liked that saying, and her giggle gave me my answer. I took her lips to my own, and I knew my world felt like it had been chaotic, but it was slowly falling into place.

Ruby

The last coupleof weeks I didn’t freak out when Hope hadn’t woken me or been in her room. If she wasn’t with Derick, she was with his parents. They all spoiled her. She now had more toys than I could ever remember or had ever seen any child have or need. She had a playroom filled. She could wear a new outfit every day with the amount of clothes she now had. Everything was new and all the popular brands, and they were all the prettiest, cutest clothes. Hope had more shoes than what we had combined a couple of months ago.

Today was my therapist appointment. The Silvermans had hired my favorite therapist, Dr. Heather, as my sole one. She’d been the one at the house that I was most comfortable with. Ihated that there had been three, and it felt like I repeated myself a great deal. I knew I needed help. I had gone through a lot in my short lifetime, and even though I always tried to see the bright side to everything, some things hit me hard and I’d have to fight myself so I didn’t retreat or hide from not just the people around me, but the whole world in general. Since moving into the Silvermans’ house, I had a lot of things to be grateful about and to keep my spirits high, but I still had my low days.

I was taking Hope to the beach today before my afternoon was taken up with Dr. Heather. I wanted to talk about how she felt about everything that had gone on and the Silverman family. She was only two, but I knew after the life we’d endured, that even at her young age, I would never do anything that could potentially hurt her without at least trying to talk and see how she felt.

“Iza ready.” Hope trotted down the stairs in fluro pink gumboots with unicorns on them. A purple tutu, rainbow cardigan, and a huge, colorful ribbon in her hair added to the cuteness overload. I couldn’t help laughing when she stopped halfway down the stairs and gasped, spun, and ran back up the stairs. She was gone for maybe ten minutes, and then she came back down again with her hands clutching a Barbie purse. “Now Iza ready.” I burst into laughter at my little diva.

“Oh, baby girl, I love you so much.” I grabbed her and hugged her tight before she could jump off the last step. “Let’s go discover the beach.”

Her arms tightened around my neck, and at that moment, my life was perfect. If only it could stay this way forever.

Hopeand I walked hand in hand along the almost-private beach. It was hard to conceal our guards. That was new. Not only did I have guards, but my daughter had ones assigned to her too. She already had them wrapped around her little fingers. Everybody who met her fell in love. She was easy to love. She always brought out the best in people.

“Let’s see who can find the biggest seashell?” I thought a game might help before I went with a heavy conversation,

“Mes, Mummy. I wills.” She let go of my hand and started searching.

We spent a good half an hour searching for seashells until she squealed in excitement and ran straight for the water. My heart stopped beating, and my voice disappeared. I gasped for breath and willed my body to move. I needed to get my baby. My body jolted, and I screamed as she neared the water. I chased after her, but her bodyguard Dean caught her before a wave met her. Hope was super-fast when she wanted to be, and I wasn’t used to running in the sand.

When I reached Dean, he was making his way to me and berating Hope. Well, it would be a berate if he wasn’t looking at her like she was the cutest thing in the world and trying to hide his smile. When I reached them, I ran my fingers over her, checking for any damage. Thankfully, I didn’t see any, and I hugged her to me, and Dean let her go.

“You can’t run off like that,” I said. “You scared Mummy so much. You could have been hurt, or the water could have taken you. I love you more than anything, and I don’t want anything bad to happen to you.”

I kissed her all over, and she groaned, “Mummmy.” She pushed against me and wiggled, trying to get down. I didn’t let her down. If I could, I never would. She tapped my cheek, and I stared into eyes just like mine. “Cans Iza do dancing, Mummy? Nanny says I’d besd the best and so pretties.”

She tapped my cheeks again before she kissed them and blinked at me, using her lashes to suck me in, and when her bottom lip wobbled, I moaned and nodded. She had just been told off and I’d had a scare, and she was fine and ready for the next activity, not even bothered. Argh, I was a sucker.

“Okay, I think I can find some money.” I stroked her hair and hugged her tight and reluctantly let her down.

“I’ll stay close, Miss Ruby,” Dean muttered just loud enough for me to hear.

I smiled at him as I guided Hope up the beach, away from the water. Dean had called me my last name the first couple of times, and I’d cringed and asked—no, begged him to call me Ruby. He wouldn’t, so we compromised on Miss Ruby.

This beach trip wasn’t just for a walk with Hope on the beach. It was for some much-needed girls’ time, just me and my daughter. I wanted to talk to her about all the new things that were going on.

We reached a spot between the wet and dry sand, and I sat on the dry sand, and one of the other bodyguards handed Hope a bucket, spade, and sand sifter. She sat on the wet side, and I slid down to play with her. I was going to have a wet patch, but I didn’t care.

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