Chapter 7
CHAPTER SEVEN
RUTH
When Nick opened the door, Ruth wished that he'd walk in first, but Nick was a gentleman and waved her through first.
She took a few steps inside hoping that she wasn't wobbling on her heels.
Her legs from the knees down were aching.
Sitting down at the restaurant she was fine. Especially when they were eating. Focused on the food, she didn't have to move around.
Walking after dinner, especially into the parking lot beside Nick instead of letting him go out and get the car and bring it around.
She liked the offer, but it still felt like she wanted to spend more time with him, not less.
But the parking lot wasn't as nice as the foyer and the front walkway of the restaurant. There were ruts and loose gravel inside of some of the potholes.
Nick had offered her his arm and she'd taken it, keeping as loose a hold on his arm as she could.
If she fell, she didn't want to drag him down.
But she wasn't going to completely ignore the chance to put her hand on his forearm.
The soft scratch of hair on his skin, the tempting landscape of his veins under her fingertips.
It might have hurt her feet, but leaning into his warmth was amazing.
Was.
Now, as she walked across the tiled entryway of the house, she was paying for it.
She was sure she had blistered on her heels where the edge of the shoe had rubbed her skin raw.
"Go ahead and have a seat on the couch. I'll grab us something to drink from the kitchen."
"Oh? That sounds great."
And it did. She really wanted to sit down again so she could spend as much time with Nick as she could before she had to head back home and soak her feet.
"I got a bottle of that Moscato that you like. Is that okay for tonight?"
"That sounds amazing. Thanks!" She stepped down into the living room area and felt the give of the carpet under her shoes. Before she could overthink it, she turned to look back at him. "Do you mind if I take off my shoes?"
His warm chuckle made her smile.
"Go ahead. I should have given you that option as soon as we came in. Sorry."
Sitting down on the sofa, she sighed softly as she slipped her shoes off. Sinking back against the cushions she felt her whole body relax a bit. "No need to apologize to me, Nick. I'm just happy to sit down again. You were probably busy setting the alarms."
"Actually..."
She heard the pop of the cork and her mouth watered for the taste of her favorite wine.
"I was staring at you walking ahead of me."
She turned to look at him and watched him pour two glasses, actual wine glasses. "I hope it was a nice view."
Before she could try and take back the words, he was walking toward her, smiling.
"The best. That dress you're wearing really looks good on you, Ruth."
He'd said nearly the same thing a few times since he'd picked her up at her door, but she wasn't going to draw too much attention to the repetition.
She liked it.
She liked knowing that he liked looking at her.
"I wonder if Katie picked that color of shirt," she ran her gaze across his chest and smiled, "and then helped me pick this dress knowing that we'd match."
Nick handed her a glass before he sat down beside her.
"I'm sure she did. In fact..." He held out his glass, and she tipped her own toward his.
Their two glasses chimed against each other before he continued to speak.
"I bet my daughter has already put together a road map of how our relationship should go. "
Ruth paused with the lip of the glass just a whisper away from her lip. "Has she mentioned anything to you?"
Nick was watching her carefully.
She could feel his gaze on her.
It was both soothing and... stimulating at the same time.
"Not exactly, but she didn't just okay us going out," he explained, "she put together a checklist with twenty-one points where I had to pass muster before she'd let me go and pick you up at your door."
The sip of Moscato tickled her tongue.
She had to concentrate to swallow it down before she spoke. "Twenty-one?" She held the stem of the glass between her fingers as she looked at him. "I'm surprised you were able to escape!"
He nodded. "Me, too. But I appreciate that she wanted to make sure that things went smoothly."
Ruth took another sip of her wine. "I don't want to disappoint her."
"I think when you care about someone the way that she's coming to care about you, she wanted to make you happy as much as I do."
Those words.
The timbre of his voice.
It felt like a physical touch.
"I... I care about you both," she could hear a slight tremor in her voice.
It mimicked the tremulous feeling in her chest, around her heart.
"When you asked me out for a date, I worried that I'd make a colossal mess of the whole thing and we'd go back to being near strangers on each side of the fence. "
She felt something warm on her thigh, shifting the fabric against her skin.
Ruth looked down and saw Nick's hand on her leg.
She watched as his thumb swept back and forth against the soft, silken feel of the fabric.
When she lifted her gaze to find his, he was watching her carefully.
"I don't want us to go back to the way things were."
"Don't worry," she shook her head, "no matter what happens between us, Nick. I won't let Katie suffer. She... she's become a part of my heart."
She winced. "I know that might sound silly, but it's true."
He shook his head. "How is that silly? It took me one second looking at her to fall in love for the rest of her life."
Ruth nodded. "Looking around here, I can see it, too."
She gestured at the room.
"Katie said that the two of you moved here to make new memories," she watched Nick's expression carefully without staring.
"She said she didn't even really look at the furnishings when you two moved in.
" She turned her head to look in one direction and then the other.
"The furnishings here look more like your style. "
He looked back at her with a curious look in his eyes. "I have a style?"
Easing back against the cushions she nodded and took another sip of her wine. "The dark colors of the furniture. The warm wood of the tables and chairs. It reads to me like 'guy stuff.'"
Nick almost choked on his sip of wine. "Guy stuff?"
Ruth nodded. "Yeah. Like I opened a catalog for stuff that hot guys would buy and here it all is.
" She turned on the sofa cushion and picked up a colorful pillow that was shaped like a dragon with glittering eyes.
She turned back toward Nick with a grin.
"Hot guy stuff mixed with adorable daughter stuff. "
He was still staring at her face with a big grin on his. "You think I'm a hot guy?"
She rolled her eyes and took another small sip, emboldened by the sound of his voice and what she thought might be heat in his gaze.
"Well,..." She swallowed and tried to get the courage to answer him honestly, that's what she was afraid to do.
But she also wanted to meet him halfway. "You are hot."
The serious bent of his expression changed on a dime.
He smiled.
First one corner of his mouth and then the other lifted to match.
He took another sip of his drink, and she saw the crinkling of the skin at the outsides of his eyes.
"So..." He shook his head and she tilted her head to the side, trying to understand what he was about to say. "Does that mean I stand a chance at getting a good night kiss?"
Wow.
Nick just put it out there.
"Uh..." She bit into the inside of her cheek wondering what move she wanted to make next. "A good night kiss?"
He nodded slowly.
"That, I can pretty much guarantee."
His brows raised at that, an almost sly smile pulling at his lips.
"But with the way you're looking at me now," she swept her tongue across her lips and felt how dry they'd become in just a few minutes with the rise of her nerves, "I think we might be able to have a few before that."
Oh... Wow.
She hadn't meant to say that.
Any of that.
She wanted to be open.
Daring.
But that was 'daring' for her.
It felt like she hadn't just opened the door.
She'd thrown it open.
And now she was sitting there, wondering how big of a mess she might have just made.
The pressure on her leg deepened and she watched Nick set his wine glass down on the coffee table.
The weight of his hand on her thigh felt... delicious.
When he moved away from the coffee table, he didn't sit back up.
Instead, he leaned into her.
She leaned back a little, not to keep her distance, but there was something about the way he looked and felt leaning into her.
There was a fleeting image in her head, a scene from her dreams.
Nick, leaning in, moving over her... into her, pressing her down into her bed.
That was what she liked about guys that looked like Nick.
That big, teddy bear build.
She wanted to feel the weight of him.
Wanted to wrap her legs-
He brushed his lips across hers and she caught a breath in her throat.
Her gaze lifted to his and she drew in a deep breath through her nose.
Pine. Spice. Like cloves.
That deep woodsy scent that she'd always dreamed she would surround herself with.
Log cabin comfort.
Warm nights by a fire.
"Nick?"
She felt him take the wine glass from her hand and she guessed that he put it down somewhere, but she didn't really know because his lips were on hers.
And he didn't just smell good.
And feel good.
Nick kissed her like she'd never been kissed.
Like she'd only dreamed of being kissed.
His lips were firm.
Warm.
Gentle one moment.
Hungry the next.
He leaned into her, one hand slipping through her hair to curl around the nape of her neck, the other slipping further up her leg and around her hip.
Oh... wow.
Her nipples tightened and her breathing shallowed.
Her hands... well, she had no idea what her hands were doing.
She had them in his arms.
His shoulders.
His chest.
She wanted to soak up his heat through his shirt, but she also wanted to feel his warmth under her hands.
All over.