“Even if Brick was okay with it, who says Xavier would go for it?” Sterling asked.
“You know what they say, keep your friends close and your enemies even closer,” Elias told him.
He glared at Elias, but as he stormed back out of the pool house, those words played over in his mind.
Enemies closer.
Ménage.
Fuck.
Juliet waited nervously by the pool.
Xavier had decided to go for a swim as well. He was borrowing some of Reuben’s swim shorts. Was this a good idea? Maybe she should have let him leave? Would Brick be upset?
The heat beat down on her. She needed to get in the water. The swimsuit she wore was more like a wetsuit and it was way too hot to be wearing it.
Brick had seen her naked when he was bathing her last night. And Xavier had seen her in her Little clothes.
But still, she couldn’t bring herself to put on a swimsuit. To wear anything that might reveal some skin when she wasn’t in the safety of her playroom.
She stepped closer to the side of the pool.
“Hope you weren’t planning to get in without me,” Brick said from behind her.
She turned so fast that the world wobbled around her. Firm hands grabbed her upper arms, steadying her.
“Fuck. Got to stop doing that,” Brick muttered.
Uh. Yeah. Or one day, he was going to sneak up on her while she was on the roof of some high-rise then plop! She was squished on the sidewalk.
Of course, there were no high-rise buildings in Wishingbone, and if there was, she had no reason to be on the roof of one. But who cared about logic?
“Sorry, Duchess. You okay?” He peered down at her in concern.
She straightened her shoulders and nodded. Nothing to see here. Nope. Just another ordinary day.
But oh, there was something to see when she peeked at him. Would she ever grow tired of looking at him? She didn’t think so. He wore a pair of black board shorts and nothing else. His abs were damn near edible, and don’t get her started on his nipples.
Shoot. She needed to cool herself down.
He tilted his head toward the pool. “Want to tell me why you were headed towards the pool when I said you weren’t to go in by yourself.”
He was being ridiculous. With a sigh, she crossed her arms over her chest.
“Oh, like that, is it?”
Yes. Yes, it was like that.
“You think that because we’re not in the playroom that you don’t have to obey me?”
“Yes,” she told him quietly.
“Unfortunately, for you, baby girl, Daddy’s rules have to be obeyed at all times.”
That sucked.
“You’d think with the other half of your spanking coming tonight that you would behave yourself.”