Chapter 13 Ruby #2
“I’ll make sure you forget about it for the rest of the trip.”
I turned around to look at him as we reached the upper floor. The intensity in his eyes took me by complete surprise.
I put my empty glass on the vanity table, and he did the same with the bottle and his glass. I looked out toward the balcony, and a thought hit me. Oh my God. We have to change to get into the Jacuzzi. I swallowed hard as I felt my face get warm, then warmer still.
“Right. So, I’m going to change, and then we can get in,” I said.
“Be my guest. I can go in the bathroom so you can have the bedroom to yourself.”
“That’s a great idea. Thank you.”
He opened his carry-on, taking out what I assumed were swim trunks, and went to the bathroom.
Oh, I was going to see Grant Clifford wearing shorts. I was ecstatic at the thought.
My bikini was white. It looked a lot like simple underwear, but I was never one for colorful bathing suits. I pinned my hair on the top of my head.
What to do, what to do? God, I was a bit of a mess. I glanced at myself in the huge mirror on the dresser opposite the bed. I turned around, looking over my shoulder.
My love for food was definitely on display when I was in a bikini. My ass and thighs were a bit too big for my frame. I did a lot of core exercises, though, so while I didn’t have six-pack abs, I wasn’t fluffy either. I liked my body, but would Grant?
Damn it, Ruby, what kind of question is that? Who cares? No one else determines your value. Don’t give anyone that kind of power over you.
I used to drive myself crazy when I was younger with fad diets and high-intensity workouts. But when I opened the restaurant, I realized that I just didn’t care about all of that. I am who I am, and I accept that I love food.
I was too eager to go outside, so I headed out on the balcony.
The rain had intensified, the sound quite relaxing.
When I removed the cover from the Jacuzzi, it was already filled with water.
There was a small instruction board hanging next to it, informing us that the owners did all the maintenance, and we were not to drain or refill it ourselves.
I stepped in, lowering myself into the water, and sighed. The fresh air filled my nostrils as the warmth enveloped me. This weekend was beyond perfect.
“You’re so fucking beautiful.”
Grant’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts.
I opened my eyes and barely bit down a gasp.
This man wasn’t just hot, he was... I couldn’t even think of the proper words to describe him.
He looked built wearing street clothes, but in just swim trunks, he was even more impressive.
His shoulders packed more muscle than I thought was possible.
His chest and abs were perfectly firm and taut.
Grant’s overall physique was flawless, and it was obvious he worked all of his muscle groups.
“Wow. Will you even fit?”
“I’m sorry?” he asked on a laugh.
In a fraction of a second, I realized what he thought I meant. Oh my goodness. I was on fire.
“I meant, the Jacuzzi isn’t that big.”
“Right. So you were talking about the Jacuzzi?”
“Yes!” I was certain my face was really red.
He laughed even harder. I’ll admit, a small part of me was thinking about his dick. I imagined that he was well proportioned everywhere.
It turned out that my worries were unnecessary, however. The Jacuzzi was more spacious than I thought. He’d brought over the wineglasses and the bottle. I hadn’t even realized there was a tray within reach. It had probably been designed specifically with this in mind .
We relaxed in the water with our backs to the window, looking out over the trees.
“This is perfect,” I murmured.
“I agree.”
I glanced down his chest and blinked a few times. Fine, faded lines went from the right side of his chest down to his sternum.
“Scars,” Grant said.
I looked up at him. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to stare.”
“I got them while my brothers and I were on the run.”
I covered my mouth with my hand. “When you said you were robbed, I assumed they just took your belongings.”
“Those belongings made the difference between surviving another day on the street or not. I fought hard for them. I was lucky that I didn’t get sepsis.
I refused to go to a hospital—it would’ve come out that we didn’t have a permanent residence, and I was worried about keeping my brothers alive at the time.
But a few days later, I got a high fever, and the wounds looked bad.
There was a pop-up mobile medical unit nearby advertising free checkups.
One of the guys there disinfected the wounds and didn’t ask too many questions.
He also gave me stitches, but it was a botched job, obviously. Hence the scars.”
God, Grant truly had a difficult upbringing.
“I’m glad you got it taken care of,” I told him honestly.
“As I said, I didn’t have much of a choice.”
I wanted to touch him and feel those fine scars under my fingers. They looked healed, but deep. I wondered if he had other scars too. Ones you couldn’t see. The mental trauma had to be immense.
He turned around and poured more wine into our glasses, then handed me mine. We clinked them together.
“We forgot to toast downstairs,” I realized.
“You’re right, we didn’t. To a fucking fantastic weekend.”
That made me smile. “My thoughts exactly. This day is just getting better and better.”
He waggled his eyebrows. “It’s far from over. ”
“Thank you, honestly, for all this. For even thinking of it and organizing everything. I feel so spoiled.”
“Good. That’s exactly how I want you to feel.”