Chapter Thirty-Two
Garett
The rain beating the windows wakes me. Passion fruit kisses filled my dreams and some of my awake hours, too. Multiple times in the night, Ruby gave me glimpses of her technicolour orgasms. I didn’t know they would be the greatest thing I’ve ever witnessed.
I stare at her fluttering eyelashes as she sleeps softly. Her blond hair is more-sexy-night-in-a-hotel than soft, gentle waves. A mixture between a smile and a wince crosses my face. I promised her no-strings sex, and yet my thoughts are anything but. I imagine what she’d wear on a date, the gourmet restaurants I’d take her to when I can afford it, and the kisses I’d steal between spoonfuls of chilli chocolate ganache. This woman reached into years of grumpiness and obliterated it with the sweetness and sass that streams from her. I’ve become someone I only thought I could be when it was just me and Cookie.
The moment I told her about my family, I knew I liked her more than I can admit out loud, but I’ve promised her this moment and no future, and I can’t go back on my word. She still doesn’t know about Clive, and I must protect her. I must hide my feelings so that her family isn’t affected.
Yet my hand cups her face, and she murmurs her happiness even while she sleeps. In our secret hideaway, we can be whoever we want, but after we leave, we must return to acting like two colleagues and nothing more.
As her eyes open, I say something that isn’t a typical conversation between platonic colleagues or the woman you have a one-night stand with, but I can’t stop myself. “Can I make you breakfast?”
“Yes,” she replies with a smile that hits my heart. This reaction is because of the sex. The incredible, mind-bending, life-changing, unforgettable sex. I let go in a way I was too scared to before, and she was with me every step. For now, I’m pretending it’s just the sex making me like this. I will return to being a grumpy arsehole in minutes. “I need whatever you can rustle up, and I want it stat.”
Her cheeky face has the most kissable smile I’ve seen, and I cover her with those kisses. Maybe I’ll be a grumpy arsehole tomorrow instead.
“Kisses don’t mean I’m eating bread. Hurry up, Garett,” she says, but she’s climbing on me and straddling my lap.
“Neither does fisting my dick.” Her cheeks redden as if she didn’t know she was stroking my length. “Out of curiosity, have we got any condoms left?”
She screws her mouth to the side as if she’s pretending to think before she reaches under my pillow. So that’s where she moved them to in the night. “We’ve got one, so you’d better make this moment last.”
“You’re so demanding.” But the cockiness is yanked out of me as she rips the foil and rolls the condom down my length.
“You have no idea.” She lifts her eyebrows twice quickly. I pick her up and roll her beneath me. She squeals but then grins in a way that pulls at my heart and makes me harder than I thought possible all at once. “Shame we only have one, as I wanted to see those forearms as you fucked me.”
I flip her so that she’s bent over in front of me. I plant my arms on either side of her as I enter her quickly. If the middle of the night was gentle, then this is anything but. She nips at my forearms as I fill her quickly. I never want this moment to end.
◆◆◆
“Breakfast is served,” I announce as we meet in the dining area. She’s wearing my shirt over her knickers and… “Oh, fuck. Ruby. You’ve got the hold ups on.”
They grace her upper thighs, and I kneel in front of her. My fingers tease the lace tops until she slaps my hands away. She tucks a finger under my chin, and our eyes meet. “Garett, we’re out of condoms, and we both need to eat.”
My growl makes her laugh long and hard.
“Let me clarify," she replies, wiping away tears of laughter. "We need to eat food, and you’ve prepared this incredible meal for us, so first, we eat.”
“First?” My belly rumbles, but it’s hungry for her.
Her grin as she shakes her head at my lunacy is everything. I want that smile featuring in every one of my memories.
“Breakfast, Garett,” she says, telling me off.
This woman.
I sit on one of the benches, and she slides onto my lap to eat. Her skin is warm against mine, and I hold her against my bare chest as she massacres the eggy bread and pancakes I prepared for her.
“So is this your guilty pleasure food to cook?” she asks as she shoves a piece of pancake in her mouth. There are no delicate- sized pieces. It’s like she’s possessed, and it’s all I can do to eat and not watch her while puffing out my chest with pride.
“Guilty pleasure cooking?”
She moans around a piece of pancake. “Yeah, people have guilty pleasure movies and music. I reckon all incredible chefs have something a bit easy that they like to cook. Maybe something that reminds them of their childhood or a comfort they like to prepare, but it’s something they don’t admit often, and they’d never add it to a menu.”
I chuckle. “The eggy bread is my guilty pleasure, but not because of my childhood. In my early twenties, I’d make this and serve it with fizzy orange pop for Flora when she was bullied at school. It was only eggy bread, but it helped.”
“You really care about her.”
“Yeah. She gave me value. When I had a bad day in the restaurant, fired incompetent staff, or was shouted at by managers or clients, this person would like me for me. I was a dick at times in those restaurants, ruling with an iron thumb, but Flora saw this brilliant big brother type who could cook her favourite comfort foods or make her smile with bad impressions of her actual big brother.”
“Is that how you met Flora, through her brother?”
“Um, yeah.”
Ruby finishes the last bite of her pancake, drops her cutlery like a mic drop, and leans back. Her hold ups brush my skin, but instead of ravaging her, I enjoy the closeness. She puts her hand on mine, the one holding her against me. I brush kisses to her neck, and she tips her head to the side, gifting me more access.
Again, I remind myself this is no-strings sex.
“Was your childhood hideous?” she asks, surprising me.
Even that question is a reprieve from discussing Clive. “Yeah. I counted down the days until I’d leave and then got as far away from my parents as quickly as possible.” Where this topic used to make me grind my teeth, it no longer does.
Weird.
“You suggested last night that they did something fraudulent.” I swallow slowly. I have to tread carefully so I don’t reveal the truth about Clive. I sigh louder than expected, and she stutters, “Sorry, I’m nosey. I like this extra side of you. I like knowing something about my second favourite chef.”
“Second?” I ask, tickling her hips. She squirms and giggles against me as I hold her close. “Did your first make eggy bread for you?”
“No, she hasn’t, but then Mary Berry is a very busy woman. She’s the best baker in the world, after all.”
I continue to tickle her as she cackles. “How can anyone this delicate make such awful noises? My ears, my ears!”
She turns her head and covers me with kisses. “You’re my top chef now, although, with your comments about my laughter, I might have to change that.”
I cup her face. My voice drops. “I guess I’ll have to find a way to stop your cackles.” I kiss her hard, and her laughter turns to moans that vibrate through my body.
“You’re a seductive bastard,” she murmurs against my lips.
“Mary Berry doesn’t compare,” I add with a wink, slide a hand underneath her shirt, and thumb her nipples. She grinds against me and opens her legs as my nails scratch between her thighs, travelling higher with each kiss.
We make out like that until we start shivering. Kissing her is my new passion.
Eventually, she pulls away. I stroke the strands of her hair, unable to let her go completely. She worries her lip and looks down at the floor. “The thing we did last night…”
“And again this morning?”
“Yes,” she replies before hesitating.
My body trembles. I shouldn’t be anything but blasé. It was meant to be no-strings, probably a one-time deal, yet my stomach rolls in anticipation of what she’ll say.
“Use your words, Ruby.” She huffs, and I’m rewarded with that smile again. I want it against my lips.
“We didn’t say how many times we’d do it, and we already did it four times.”
“So we’re not counting when you rode my face before you fell asleep the second time?”
She grins at the memory I’ve purposely made her relive. “That wasn’t sex.”
“I’m pretty sure you came harder than an earthquake, so you’d better count it. Not all sex is penetrative.”
Her brow furrows like I’ve given her a revelation that she needs to process. “Fine. We did it many times, but we never put a limit on our no-strings sex. We didn’t say it would be once or only one night or…”
“Words,” I growl because my body thrums at the prospect of being inside her again. “What are you saying?”
“I frequently have an itch that my bullet vibrator won’t scratch, and I hoped you might scratch it.”
“Still no strings?”
Although impossible, I want her to say we’re adding strings. “Of course.”
I smile, trying to hide the slight deflation. It’s still sex with Ruby, and that is near perfect.
“So, like fuck buddies?” I ask.
She nods.
“Do we need ground rules? Like not seeing other people.” I try and say that last part casually, even though I'm not sure if exclusive fuck buddies is a thing. “And… shit, I don’t know the rules. I’ve never done this.”
“But—”
“I’ve only had one-night stands,” I reveal, though I hate that she knows that about me. I’m not ashamed of my past, but I want her to view me as boyfriend material. “Let’s Google fuck buddy rules.” Anything to end that cocked head, knitted eyebrow look she’s giving me.
She reaches for her phone and then yelps.
“What?”
But a flustered Ruby jumps off my lap, falling and nearly faceplanting until I catch her.
“Amber is on her way,” she screams before running to the window, staring out as if Amber will be glaring at her from the car park like a deranged nineties serial killer. “The snow has gone.” I should have realised the heavy rain would melt it, but I was cocooned in our perfect hideaway. “You need to go.”
“You wouldn’t speak to Mary Berry like that,” I say with a wink.
“Garett,” she warns. With her hands on her hips, she appears livid. To me, she looks cute and fuckable.
“Will she be more angry that we slept together or that we used her secret condom stash?”
“Garett!” She scowls. “Get upstairs.”
We can’t let anyone see, especially Ruby’s family, but she’s captured me with her sensuality and kindness.
I pick her up and throw her over my shoulder. She squeals but doesn’t struggle. “Fine, but you’re coming, too.”
“But—”
“Sweet cheeks,” I say with a quick spank of her arse. My cock judders. I’m going to do that again, especially now that we’re fuck buddies. “I’ll need my shirt, as all I’m wearing are my boxers, so you’re coming with me.”
I catch her reflection in the window. Her body is glorious, and I know exactly which parts of it can elicit noises and which parts make her writhe. I can’t wait to find out how we seal our fuck buddies deal. I’m hoping it involves me inside her or her on my face.
I spank her again.
“Garett,” she shouts as my laughter echoes around the cookery school.