Chapter Eighteen
Garett
The woman who’s filled my fantasies since I met her and brought smiles to a difficult time in my life wants me to flirt with her. I’m on that like butter on a crumpet. I don’t care that it’s just to piss off her ex-boyfriend. I’m taking my chance to act out the fantasies I’ve had after every cookery class I’ve left the past month. The clothed ones, at least.
“Ready?” she asks. Her face flushes. I haven’t even got started.
As much as I want to do this for my horny satisfaction, I also don’t want her to have any more voicemails like earlier. How dare that jumped-up twat of an ex-boyfriend make comments about her frigidity and say she wasn’t sexy. I’ve fantasised about her curvy bum for days. If I could grip it for a second, I’d die a happy man. Her hips wiggle when she’s happy, yet make me want to douse myself in cold water. And I’m confident I must implore every artist to paint her, because she has the perfect hourglass figure.
“I was born ready for this,” I say, and she blushes redder. She sucks that lip in again, and I try not to groan. “Flirting is a superpower I haven’t used in a while.”
She shakes out her hands.
Yeah, I sound cocky, but I was good at this once, and she’s about to find out exactly how good.
“Answer before it goes to voicemail,” I growl.
She selects the answer button as she side-eyes me.
“Yes, Neil?” she snaps. I initially stay out of the camera. I want to get a measure of this guy, though my body demands that I get my flirt on.
“I miss you,” he slurs. I’d be embarrassed for him if I hadn’t heard his cruelty earlier. And with that number of calls and messages every week, I’m surprised she isn’t continuously distracted by that harassing dickhead. “You left me.”
“You fucked Viv, my friend and the person I ran a business with.” Damn, I thought Clive was bad. If this co-worker also stole her dog, we’d be competing for the worst business partner and friend. “What do you want?”
He’s holding the phone close to his face, and I do a double-take at the sight of him.
“I need you to say that you still want me and that I’m the best you ever had.” I shudder at the gall of the man.
“You’re the only one I ever had.”
I gasp audibly and then grind my teeth. She looks at me, and I curse myself. It’s not that shocking. I was a tart in my heyday, but not everyone is like me.
“Who are you with? Are you at work? Typical Ruby, always working and never having fun. I should have known.”
That’s my cue. I lick my lips as I stand behind her and grip her waist. Her curves are everything I imagined, and my whole body pulsates. I squeeze briefly, and she freezes. “It’s okay,” I whisper for only her to hear, although I doubt the drunk boy hears anything above his burps. “I’ll be gentle.”
“You don’t have to be.”
Blood rushes straight to my groin.
“Who are you talking to? Your lips are moving.” He manages to get that out without a burp or a hiccup. Go Neil, you massive dickhead.
I’m barely a shadow on the screen because we’re standing close together.
“It’s none of your business,” she replies. I run a finger across the nape of her neck, and she gasps quietly. So fucking sexy. I want to hear that noise again, although I’d prefer to have her do it as I kiss her properly. “So fuck off because I need to get to who—I mean, what—I was doing.”
I hold in a chuckle. She’s good. Why did I think she wouldn’t be? The woman has had the measure of me since day one. As I reach for the elastic holding her bun, she shivers. Fuck, that’s too hot. She’s playing a perfect game.
“Who’s that behind you? Is it a man?” I run my hands through her hair like I’ve wanted for weeks. It’s soft and falls through my fingers like a dream. I find a knot and work it out like I’ve seen her do. She moans in a way that makes me instantly hard. I need to hear that moan again, but as she lies under me with my face between her thighs. Chill, Garett. This is for Neil’s benefit. “He’s playing with your hair.”
“Don’t be so silly, Neil.” Her face is in the corner of her phone. It’s a little image, but she’s trying not to smile. “You need to stop calling me.”
“You used to be sexier. You’ve let yourself go.”
Her shoulders tighten, and the smile drops from her face.
The fucking bastard. She’s a fighter. I’ve loved competing with her. How dare he say that and make her feel less than the incredible woman she is. I was tentative before, but now I’m all in.
I move the collar of her blouse to the side and brush her neck with my lips. She smells of strawberries, and I immerse myself in the scent.
She swallows loudly and bites her lip. I brush her neck again. I barely notice Neil’s red toad face as he glares at us from the screen. I want to rid her of what he said and convince her how sexy she is, and I need to taste her.
Her skin burns beneath my lips as I kiss her neck. She leans her head to the side.
“That’s my girl,” I whisper as she undoes the top button of her blouse to give me more access. The barest hint of her dark green bra sends my pulse soaring.
“Who the fuck is that? Are you seeing someone? We just broke up.”
“As if that matters, you fuckwit,” she replies. But there’s no anger, only acceptance. “Don’t call again. I won’t pick up. I’ll be too busy.” She whispers the last word.
My lips linger on her skin. She leans into me and moans a guttural sound that makes my body quake. She hasn’t ended the call.
Suddenly, she turns.
His voice rattles through the speaker. “I’m not done. No one moves on from Wonder Neil that quickly.”
I side-eye the phone as he hangs up, and it returns to the home screen. I step away, my performance for her ex over, but she shakes her head. “I didn’t say stop,” she says.
Oh shit. It’s happening. She wants me.
She pushes her hands into my hair, and I grab her waist and pull her against me. We lock eyes, and for a moment, we stare at each other. Her eyes sparkle with more colours than in a rainbow birthday cake. She worries her lip. I cock my eyebrow, but her blossoming grin convinces me she wants this as much as I do.
I lick my lips, and she watches my tongue like it’s her holy grail. My hands travel the length of her body until I’m cupping her face. I lean in to kiss her, and then her phone vibrates again.
“Fuck Neil,” I moan against her plump lips.
“I’d rather not,” she replies, and I glance at the phone. “I had someone else in mind.”
My swallow echoes around the kitchen, and she giggles as she reaches for the phone. “I’ll mute it,” she says.
She stills, and her face loses its flush.
Before I can ask what’s going on, she answers the phone. My hand is still on her hip, and I can’t stop smelling those strawberries. Fuck, she’s delicious.
“Amber?” Her voice shakes as she speaks into the phone.
The phone is so close that I can hear everything Amber says. “Before you freak, everything is fine.”
“And yet you’re calling and not texting. You never call without texting first.” The warmth has left her now pallid cheeks, and her body trembles. “What is wrong?”
“You’re freaking,” Amber replies.
“What’s that beeping in the background? There’s a Tannoy, too. Where are you?”
“Chill out. It’s nothing. Like really nothing, Ruby. I wasn’t feeling great, so I made a GP appointment this afternoon—”
Ruby raises her voice. “And you didn’t tell me? I’m supposed to be taking care of you while Kalen is away.”
“Okay, if you’re freaking out at that, then the next bit is really going to piss you off.”
I pull away, but Ruby grabs my hand so tightly that I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to knead bread again.
“Amber, I swear to God, if you don’t tell me what’s going on, I’ll—”
“Rip off all my Barbie’s heads?” Amber sounds pretty relaxed. It’s not helping.
“That was one time, and if you remember, you’d broken my Easy Bake Oven.”
“Accidentally, and you broke my bed by jumping on it.” Ruby must have been a terror when she was younger. I love that.
“Amber,” Ruby replies between gritted teeth. “Tell me right now where you are, or I’m going to lose it.”
I can testify to that. She’s still got that death grip on my hand, and her legs are shaking.
“I’m in the hospital, but I am fine. Absolutely one hundred per cent fine.”
“Then why are you in the hospital?” Ruby screeches.
“Because they insisted on doing checks. Everything is fine. It was wind. Don’t comment.” Ruby opens and closes her mouth. “The nurse told me that there aren’t any issues, but we have to wait for my gynaecologist to sign me off to go home, and she’s trying to get down the country because she’s stuck up north in an accident or something.”
“Can’t another doctor do it?”
“You’d think so, but Kalen, in all his wisdom, had it written into my private healthcare plan that if I come in with any issues, I must be seen by the gynaecologist and midwife. It’s probably a guilt thing because he’s not with me. After all, the insurance premiums to have this healthcare are ridiculous, but I don’t dare argue with him. He cares so damn much.”
“I’m coming over. I won’t believe you’re okay until I’m in front of you.”
But she’s not safe to drive. Amber can’t see how her body shakes with adrenaline, but I can.
“I’ll drive,” I whisper.
She stares at me while Amber makes her swear she won’t tell their parents. “Swear it, Ruby.”
Ruby nods at me and mouths, Thank you .
“Swear you won’t tell them.”
“Fine. I swear it. I haven’t had the guts to tell them I’m home or visit them, so I certainly won’t be starting with this. But if anything happens, then I’m going to rip your head off next.”
“I believe you, you little psycho. See you soon.”
Ruby is avoiding her parents, her boyfriend cheated on her with a friend and business partner, she’s got no business, and her ex is the only guy she’s ever slept with. I’ve too many questions and emotions when it comes to this woman. She’s going to be the life and death of me, and in a sick way, I’m excited about what’s next.