Chapter 14 #2
Eventually she does as I request, sliding onto the booth seat, her knee knocking into mine when she settles in close. I can smell her perfume, the bare skin of her thigh pressing against mine and I remind myself that I can’t touch her.
All I wanna do is touch her. It feels like a switch flipped on inside me and it pounds out her name with an incessant drum.
Ru-by. Ru-by. Ru-by.
Too much beer. That’s my problem. I’ve got it bad. I’ve got it so bad and I’m living for it because now that she’s here, I’ve forgotten all about my earlier anxiety. How twisted up I was over her not showing up.
She’s finally here and all of that disappears.
“I thought you were going to be a no-show,” I tell her, my head bent so I can speak directly into her ear.
“Better late than never?” She gazes up at me, her eyes wide and I dip my head closer, my lips practically brushing her ear.
“Worth the wait,” I whisper, wishing I could bite her lobe. Trace the length of her neck with my fingers.
Ruby leans back a little as if she might prefer the distance, though her expression is amused. “You’re definitely drunk.”
“Not quite. Getting there,” I say agreeably. “It’s your fault.”
“Oh yeah? How?”
“I had nothing else to do but drink while I waited for you.”
“Aw, poor Ace. Waiting for a woman for once? You weren’t flirting with your fan club to distract you?” She’s teasing, her lips curved into this sexy little smile I want to kiss off.
No. What the hell am I thinking? There’s no kissing this girl. That will only lead to trouble. I need to just—fuck her hard once. From behind? Yeah, that sounds perfect. Tugging on her silky hair and making her moan with every thrust…
That should get her out of my system once and for all.
“Haven’t seen the fan club around tonight. Don’t really care either.” I stare at her lips, wondering what she’d do if I just leaned in and kissed her.
Jesus, I need to get it together. Why am I so fixated on her mouth?
“What?” She sounds and appears genuinely shocked. “But you’re all about your fan club.”
“Not lately,” Derek says from somewhere over my shoulder. The asshole has been creeping in on our conversation. “From what I see, they bore him. You might have the power to turn Ace here into a one-woman man, Maguire.”
I close my eyes for the briefest moment, basking in my humility as I hear Derek laugh like he just told the funniest joke ever.
But when I pop my eyes open—and I had them closed for like a second, tops—I find Ruby sitting a little closer, her hand resting on my thigh.
I want to take that hand and settle it right over my junk.
Would she let me? Or slap my face if I tried?
Probably the second scenario.
“Oh, Derek, leave him alone. He’s drunk and a little too in his feelings.” Is she making fun of me?
When our eyes meet though, I see the sympathy there and I realize she’s not making fun. Her tone is soft and her gaze is only for me and her fingers are burning through the fabric of my shorts. Seeping right through until it feels like she’s touching my bare flesh.
Shit.
Derek just laughs some more and turns away from us.
Thank Christ.
“He’s an asshole,” I mutter .
“I know he’s just joking.” She pats my leg like she’s my grandma and when she starts to remove her hand, I drop mine on top of hers, keeping her hand pinned there.
“Maybe he’s not joking.” My tone comes out way more serious than I intended and I swallow hard, hating myself.
No more beer for me.
“Ace.” She tilts her head to the side, her ponytail swinging and I reach out with my other hand, slipping my fingers into the silky strands. “You know you don’t do serious.”
“You’re right.” I nod. “I don’t.”
“Meaning this is nothing.” She waves her hand between us.
“I don’t know about that. I did ask you on a date.”
Ruby blinks at me, her lips parted, though she’s not talking. Like I stunned her silent. “You did not.”
I nod. “Did so.”
Skepticism flares in her gaze. “This isn’t a date. It’s a meeting at a bar.”
“Sounds like a date to me.” I shrug.
“Definitely not.” Ruby shakes her head.
“Tell me what constitutes a date then,” I challenge, sounding like a dickhead.
Because I am a dickhead.
“Well, first, if you were asking me on a date, you’d offer to come pick me up.”
Uh huh.
“And when you’d pick me up, you’d take me to dinner or a movie, or some sort of form of entertainment that’ll keep us occupied for a few hours,” she continues.
Sounds fucking boring as shit. “Keep going.”
“And then you’d take me back home and?—”
“Kiss you at the front door, convince you to go inside and end up in your bedroom and fuck you until you were screaming my name?” I suggest helpfully.
Her cheeks go bright red. “Absolutely not.”
“What? Why not?”
“I don’t fuck on the first date.” She manages to make the sentence sound prim but come on.
Ruby just said the word fuck.
That’s hot.
“How many dates does it take until you’re fucking the poor guy?” I ask, truly curious.
“At least three. Maybe more.” She’s nodding. “Yeah, definitely more. Like five dates. Six?”
I’m starting to sweat. That’s a lot of work for what sounds like little reward. “I’ve never really dated anyone before.”
Her brows shoot up. “Seriously? Not even in high school?”
“I never really had to.” I shrug. “Girls just…wanted to hang out with me, but we never actually dated.”
“No surprise,” she murmurs.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I’m vaguely insulted.
“It means nothing.” She shrugs. “I guess when you’re— you, you don’t have to work hard to find a random girl and hang out with her for the night.”
“That’s not what I’m looking for.” I’m not? “And I don’t give a damn about random girls,” I say vehemently. “They don’t know me.”
Shit, where is this coming from? I blame it on Ruby. She makes me feel…I can’t even explain it. I just know one thing.
I want her. I want to spend more time with her.
I want to kiss her and talk to her and get to know her better.
I want to strip off her clothes and fuck her nice and slow.
Then fuck her hard and fast. Make her come.
Make her shout my name. Stuff her mouth full of my dick.
Go down on her until she’s coming all over my face.
Yeah. That’s what I want. With her.
Ruby.
“I don’t really know you either,” Ruby points out.
“You know me better than any other woman does.” I curl a few strands of her silky blonde hair around my finger and gently tug. “You actually have conversations with me.”
She sucks in a sharp breath but otherwise, there’s no other reaction to me touching her. “Are you just starved for conversation, Ace?”
“I’m starved for a lot of things.” I let go of her hair and give in to a sudden urge, tracing the side of her neck with my fingertips, curling them around the front of her throat so I can lightly hold her there, pressing beneath her chin and tipping her head up so our gazes meet.
Her breath catches, her lips parting and a shuddery exhale leaves her.
“Love the shirt. Trying to send a secret message to anyone?”
Ruby tries to glance down at herself, but she can’t thanks to the way my hand is currently wrapped around her neck. Not in a threatening way. But damn, I like the way my fingers look, curled around her throat. It’s fucking sexy.
She’s sexy.
I have a feeling we’d be so damn good together.
Like we have the potential to burn down the world, if she’d just let me show her.