Page 46 of Playing to Win
“Ah.” She’s smiling. “Okay.”
“Sit down.” I pat the empty spot next to me on the booth seat. “Join us.”
“You sure about that?” Her brows rise.
“Hell yeah,” I tell her, slapping the seat again, my palm cracking against the vinyl. “Come on, Ruby Red. Just sit down and let me stare at you for a minute.”
She pauses, her eyes wide and I realize what I just said. Feels like I gave something away.
Like my feelings.
Fuck.
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?
