by Lila Monroe
The music swells with a pulsing beat and rolling melody that sound vaguely familiar. Then a stream of dancers pours onto the sidewalk from the parking lots and between the stores. Recognition hits me and as I gape.
It’s tango music, like the songs we danced to for the lesson Brooke arranged. And the figures up and down the sidewalk—more and more darting in and taking up their positions—are tangoing away to it, hands clasped and eyes locked. Moving with much more skill and grace than I’d imagine any of us wedding guests managed.
But what’s really remarkable is not their dancing, but the fact that all of them are wearing … Star Trek uniforms. The red, gold, and blue of all the divisions, insignia flashing on their shoulders.
What the hell is going on?
People are stopping to stare. A bunch have already pulled out their phones to record the spectacle. And it is a spectacle. There’s got to be at least a hundred couples dancing now, showing off that spandex to full effect. One of the men whips his partner around in a dizzying spin. A woman arches back so low her hair grazes the pavement.
Someone taps on my shoulder. I turn in a daze—and find myself staring into Will’s handsome face, far more vividly real than the photos I was musing over less than an hour ago. My heart flips.
“May I have this dance?” he says, as smooth as ever, and offers his hand.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
My jaw has gone slack. Will’s gray-green eyes hold mine intently. I snap my mouth shut, and immediately open it again. “I, um, what—?” I seem to have misplaced the vast majority of my vocabulary.
Will nods toward the dancers. “What do you think? They’re pretty good.”
And finally, it clicks. Him being here and the bizarre display playing out in front of us are connected.
“You set this up?” I ask, stunned. “You …” I suppress a giggle. “You got me a flash mob?”
“I figured I had a lot to prove,” he says, with a shy smile. “So I’m hoping this is one of those rare times it’s a good idea. It’s at least a very Ruby flash mob, isn’t it?”
I glance at the tangoing Star Trek officers and back at him. “Yeah, I guess it is.” I gulp, suddenly nervous. This doesn’t feel real, but I desperately want it to be. “Can I ask why?”
Will takes a breath. “A very smart person told me recently that the best way to get past a problem is to top it with something bigger and better. So … let’s just say this is my attempt to write over that last day at the resort.” He pauses. “Is it working?”
For the first time, I catch the slight hesitation in his voice. His gaze searches mine, and my heart skips a beat. “I think it’s a good start.”
He smiles, and all at once, I don’t care how many people are around us. The only person in the world that matters is the one whose fingers are clasped around mine.
“I’m sorry,” Will says. “For shutting you out. I don’t think I realized how much I wanted you to see me as someone you could have a future with. Maybe it brought back too much of that feeling when you ghosted me before, thinking I didn’t matter to you as much as I hoped …”
I feel a lump in my throat. “You’ve always mattered to me, Will,” I tell him urgently. “That’s why it broke my heart so much when I thought you were mocking me back then. A memory like that is hard to let go of, even when you find out it isn’t true. I get it.”
“Yeah. I thought about that, afterward.” He gives me a rueful smile. “Of course you felt even more awful than I did. Of course that made you nervous about opening up again. I just needed time to see the bigger picture.”
I catch my breath. “So what does that picture look like now?”
Will raises his hand to cup my cheek. “I love you, Ruby Walters.” He says firmly. “If there’s such a thing as The One, then you’re it for me. You probably always were, I was just too dense to notice back in college. But I know it now. I want to make this work, crazy schedules and past misunderstandings and all. If you still want that.”
He looks at me, like he’s still not sure what I’ll say. But I am.
“I love you too.” I grasp the collar of his shirt and tug him to close those last few inches between his mouth and mine. I kiss him hard, trying to show him everything I feel.
Everything I’ve always felt for him.
When we come up for air, he’s grinning. “I’ll take that as a yes.”
I laugh, feeling giddy. “You always were a smart one.”
He nods toward the dancers. “There’s one more song. Want to dance?”
“Sounds good to me,” I say, beaming back. “I never did get a chance to put that tango lesson to use.”
“Let’s go, then, Deanna Troi,” he says, and we head into the mass of dancers.
It takes me a moment to settle into the rhythm, and I’m not up for any of the fancy footwork some of the dancers around us are showing off. But with Will’s arm around my back and my hand resting on his shoulder, the basic steps come back to me. Sidestep, cross, pivot. The energy of the crowd flows around us. I laugh, gazing into Will’s eyes.
Maybe I was wrong about these big public spectacles, after all.
Will’s body is pressed against me, and I’m getting hot, just being back in his arms again.
God, I’ve missed him.
The last song fades out. We ease to a stop as the dancers disperse. I don’t want to let go of Will, and he doesn’t appear to have any intention of stepping away from me.
“My place?” I ask.
His grin stretches wider.
We jump in a car, kissing the whole way home, and I’m too caught up in the moment to have second thoughts until I’ve already turned the key in my door. “I, er, wasn’t expecting company,” I say as the door swings open. “The place is a bit of a mess.”
Will tweaks my hair. “I wouldn’t expect anything less. We seem to be pretty good at messy.”
He steps inside and looks around. “It’s not so bad,” he says, taking in the stacks of books, clothes, and yesterday’s takeout containers.
“Liar,” I laugh.
His gaze seems to catch on one of the bookcase shelves. He walks over. “You still have this,” he says, his voice soft. He taps a metal object I’d almost forgotten was lying there. It’s the business seal we had made for Professor Maldew’s project.
“There were good memories from college too,” I say.
“Yes. Yes, there were.” He turns toward me, his grin mischievous now. “Let’s see how many we can create in one evening.”
Despite the playfulness of his approach, his kiss is tender. I kiss him back, loving the warmth of his body. There’s no rush today, no time limit or uncertainties hanging over us. This isn’t about scratching an itch. I have no desire to get this man out of my system. I want to revel in his touch for as long as humanly possible.
But it’s not enough just to kiss. Not when I already know what it’s like to have so much more of him. I press my lips to Will’s more insistently, teasing my tongue against his. Then I steer us into the bedroom with his arms still around me. We yank clothing off as we go, until he tips me back against the bed, poised over me but hardly touching. My skin shivers in anticipation.
“I missed you,” I whisper, feeling a surge of emotion. “Not just the past weeks, but … always.”
Will’s eyes flash dark. “You won’t ever have to miss me again,” he vows.
“It’s a plan,” I agree, so happy I could burst.
“Hmmm.” Will kisses my neck slowly. “When Ruby Walters starts making plans, the world had better watch out.”
“Especially when Will Cassidy is around to make sure she hasn’t neglected any of the details.”
He hums his approval and kisses lower. My breath stutters as he nips my shoulder. He slips one strap of my bra down and then the other, kissing a slow, torturous line across the top of my breasts. His hands follow. They dip under the cups, and he captures my lips with his. I whimper into his mouth as he works over my nipples, my hand
s roaming over every inch of his muscled chest and downward to their favorite destination. I trace my fingers over the crotch of his boxers. His cock is so hard beneath the fabric that my panties dampen at the feel of it. He groans and reaches to undo his belt.
“What do you want to see today?” he murmurs as he kicks off his slacks. “More stars, or does my adventuress have something else in mind?”
“Mmmm.” I sigh against him. “Why don’t you take me to a whole other galaxy?”
“Mission accepted.”
He eases his hand under me to undo my bra. Then his tongue and teeth are setting every nerve in my body on fire as his hardness rubs against me with a friction that makes me moan. He rocks against me at an electrifying rhythm. My head is already whirling. My fingers clutch at his back. Who needs the tango when you could be doing this with your partner instead?
“Good?” he whispers by my ear.
“Wonderful,” I mutter. “Now get your cock inside me.”
He laughs, but he’s breathless too. Somehow with a fumbling of hands and twisting bodies, we manage to shed the rest of our clothes. I grab a condom out of my bedside table, and Will impatiently rolls it on, lifting my hips and parting my thighs. Then he drives into me, deep and hard.
Yes.
Before I can move to meet him, he withdraws and plunges in again, and again, in steady, powerful strokes that leave me shaking. I moan, clinging to his sweat-slick skin, arching higher to take him even deeper inside.
God, he feels so good.
“Ruby,” Will groans, and damn, I love the way he says my name. “You feel so good,” he gasps, and I answer with a sharp thrust of my hips.
He rolls us suddenly, positioning me on top. I sink down, taking him deep inside me, fuck, so deep, I can’t even take it. The friction is building, a deep heat rising through my whole body.
“Look at me,” Will demands, gripping my hips. “Look at me while you ride my cock.”
Dammit, the dirty talk drives me wild. I lock onto his eyes, losing myself in his gaze, seeing the lust there, and how much he wants me.
How much he loves me.
I slow the pace, rising up and sinking down on his cock. Will lets out another groan. “God, Ruby …”
I clench around him, feeling every inch. This is what I’ve wanted for so long. Not just the sex, but all of it. The man who understands me, who knows me. The real me.
No games. No pretending.
Just us.
I rock against him, feeling his cock drive deep. “Will,” I whimper, feeling the heat rise. “Fuck, I’m close.”
“I’ve got you.” Will leans up, scooping me in his arms. He thrusts up inside me, God, hitting my sweet spot and making me cry out in pleasure. “I’ve got you, baby.”
He rolls us again, and then I’m on my back, and he’s slamming deep inside me. Oh fuck, I can’t hold back anymore, I feel my orgasm start, unfurling deep inside. But Will doesn’t stop, he drives into me again, so deep I see stars. “Come for me,” he orders, his voice ragged. He’s panting now, so close to the edge with me. “Do it, Ruby. Come.”
He thrusts, angling just right, and the sweet friction and thick slide is too much, too good, that I can’t stop. My body shatters apart in a tide of pleasure, and Will comes with a groan, shuddering in my arms.
I lie there, boneless and sated, as he sprawls beside me. He wraps his arm around my waist and snuggles closer. I smile, tucking my head against his. I wouldn’t have taken Will for a cuddler, but I like it.
“Want to spend the night?” I ask without letting myself second-guess the question. If this is going to work, I can’t be biting back what I really want anymore. “Hell, want to spend the weekend? I don’t want to get out of bed for at least forty-eight hours.”
Will grins against the back of my neck before granting it a kiss. “There’s nowhere I’d rather be.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
“Is it all the way in?”
“I don’t think it’s going any farther.”
“We’ve got to do this right. Shove it as hard as you can.”
Will gives the eyebolt one last whack into the tree trunk and then tests it in his grip. “I think we’re good. That hammock won’t be coming down anytime soon.”
I thread the rope through, and we haul on it until the hammock looks to be the right distance off the ground. Will ties it off, and I swing back on the canvas surface. My feet lift off the ground. I wipe my brow, looking up through the foliage. The sky is starting to deepen to indigo with the coming evening.
“I think we’ve earned our keep today.”
“And as a bonus, we get to break it in.” Will leaps on beside me and pulls me over so we’re cradled in the swaying fabric. Even as I let out a squeak of surprise, my body shifts automatically to mold to his. He braces his arm around my head and kisses me.
I’m not sure this is the exact purpose Brooke and Trevor had in mind when they asked if we could hang the hammock at their lake house, but right now it seems like an excellent one. I wriggle even closer, and Will makes an approving sound. He eases back and brushes my hair back from my face. I gaze up at him, smiling so wide my cheeks hurt.
It’s been three months with Will, but I’m still hit by these pangs of wonder when I look at him. How the hell did I manage to find my way into the arms of a guy who makes me so fucking happy? Which isn’t even getting into how happy the fucking is.
Will’s eyebrows arch. “What are you thinking, Ruby Walters? No fretting at being apart from your phone for the day?”
“No way. Darlene can handle anything my clients throw at her for at least twenty-four hours.” Hiring an assistant: the best decision of my career so far. “Are you still coping?”
“If anyone asks, I’ll just reassure them that I’m far better at my job for every day I spend with you.” He teases his fingers up my side. “So what are you thinking, then?”
“Oh, just that I’m absolutely the luckiest person in the entire world.”
“That’s not possible. I know for a fact that it’s me.”
I snort and give him a little shove. “Oh my God. We’re getting as bad as Trevor and Brooke. If we don’t watch out, people are going to start gagging when we walk by.”
“Let them gag, then,” Will says with a wink. “They don’t know what they’re missing.”
He tugs me onto him and into another kiss—a little too vigorously. The hammock swings and tips us out onto the grass. We land in a heap, limbs tangled and foreheads knocking.
“What trouble are you two getting into now?” Maggie’s voice carries from the path. She strolls over, shaking her head. “Trevor wants to know where you put the firecrackers.”
“They’re still in the trunk.” Will gives me a peck on the lips and strides up the path. I fall in beside Maggie, following more slowly.
“So far so good?” she asks.
“Yeah. Lots and lots of good.” I can’t help it. I’m smiling like an idiot again. “Will just started developing a property a smidge south of Tijuana, so he can hop between there and LA really quick. He’s been crashing at my place whenever he’s in the city overnight.”
Maggie lets out a low whistle. “That sounds pretty serious.”
“I guess it is.” I think of his bathrobe hanging next to mine on my bedroom door, the bag of his coffee beans on my kitchen counter. A pleased little shiver tickles through me. I’ve lived on my own for a long time, but having those little pieces of him scattered in my space just makes me giddy. We’re heading into territory unfamiliar to me as far as relationships go, but I’ve managed to ignore the occasional bouts of nerves. Winging it is where I’m at my best, after all.
“How’s everything with you?” I ask. This Fourth of July get-together is the first time I’ve seen Maggie since the wedding. “How is the bakery working out?”
She pauses. “It’s … off to a bumpy start.” Maggie exhales a weary sigh. “I mean, I knew it would be tough getting things off the ground, but the wee
k after we opened, they started work on a building down the block. Three thousand feet of gorgeous, sparkling space for the Meredith Miles bakery,” she says, naming a famous TV chef.
I wince. “Oh babe, I’m so sorry.”
“Yeah. Once she opens, I don’t even want to know what my sales will look like.” She stops herself. “What am I saying? This weekend is about having fun, not me complaining about work!”
“Aww, you can complain to me anytime,” I reassure her. “And if you need some PR, let me know. I can maybe come up with some ideas to drum up business.”
“I’ll take you up on that.”
We find everyone else on the deck that overlooks the lake: the wedding party reunited. Brooke and Trevor are crouched shoulder-to-shoulder setting up the first of the firecrackers—an eco-friendly variety, of course. Lulu and Colin have resumed their flirtation wherever they left off. She giggles, perched on his lap on the hanging swing. I walk up to the railing to breathe in the cool lake breeze, and Will comes up behind me. He wraps his arms around my waist.
“Man,” Brad says, looking around at all of us. “It’s Couple Central with you guys these days. I really need to track down that Deanna chick from college.”
Will smothers a chuckle. He leans to murmur by my ear. “Do you think we should clear that up for him?”
“Nah,” I say. “Why ruin the memory?”
There’s a sizzling hiss, and Trevor backs away. “Here we go!”
With a popping sound, the firecracker shoots up into the air. It bursts against the darkening sky with a crackle of sparks and streaking light. Brad whoops, and Lulu applauds. Trevor hustles to set up the next.
Will hugs me a little closer and presses a kiss to the back of my head. I lean into him as the next firecracker shrieks upward. Maybe the future is as unknowable as the vast stretch of the universe over our heads, but that doesn’t feel like a drawback now. There’s not one interplanetary voyage I’d swap for the adventure we’re on together.