by KB Winters
Maybe inviting him out for a drink was a mistake. How was I supposed to handle myself with those dark brown eyes staring back into mine? In the last two hours we’d been together, he’d been friendly and warm, and had even told me I was beautiful, but other than that, he was the perfect gentleman and hadn’t even tried to brush against me while we’d worked to unload his truck. Was he just being friendly for old time’s sake? Or was there something more?
I shoved the anxieties to the side and flashed an easy smile as he sauntered back to our table and lowered into the seat opposite mine. He was so comfortable. Secure. He moved like a man who didn’t have a care in their world. Had that cool confidence come from his time in the navy? Granted, I knew virtually nothing about what he did there. The only reason I’d even known he was in the military was because he was overseas when Rick and Vanessa got married. Rick had to have his work friend, Hans, stand in as his best man because Steven couldn’t be there.
I smiled to myself, vaguely wondering what would have happened if he had been there. Damn, I bet he could wear the fuck out of a tailored suit.
I probably wouldn’t have been able to keep myself off of him. By the end of the night, I would have been dragging him off to the coat check, begging him to tear off my awful bridesmaid dress with his teeth.
“You good now?” Steven asked, watching my absent smile.
I snapped out of my wedding reception fantasy and my cheeks warmed. “Sorry? What?”
Steven chuckled softly, a glint in his eyes. “Are you all right, Rubes?”
The bartender swooped in, saving me from answering, as she dropped the two margaritas down on the table—making sure that Steven got an eye full of her boobs as she did.
What the hell? Am I invisible?
Sure, I knew Steven and I were only friends. If we could even claim that title after a decade of not seeing one another. But the bartender didn’t know that. What made her think he was interested in her? Or even single?
The thought struck me. What made me think he was single?
He wasn’t wearing a ring, but that didn’t mean anything. Maybe the comment about me being beautiful had just been a friendly thing to say. He probably had some drop-dead, model-pretty fiancée squirreled away somewhere.
The waitress wandered off, shaking her ass for Steven, though as my eyes wandered back to his, I realized he wasn’t looking. Yeah, he’s definitely taken.
How tragic.
“You want to play darts?” he asked, still smiling at me.
I shook my head. “No. I suck.”
He laughed. “All right. Pool?”
“Not great at that either.”
Steven leaned in, his arms folded and resting along the edge of the small table. “Come on, Rubes? Tell me what’s going on. Are you in some kind of trouble?”
I wanted to roll my eyes. Great, now he was going to slip into some kind of “big brother” role and try to help me. Ugh. As if the clusterfuck of my life was something he could even attempt to solve. Not unless he secretly ran some finance firm and had an open position and would give me a jump on my salary so I could find a new place to live. And furniture. Gotta have furniture.
“No, silly. Of course not. I was just, um—” I stopped, stalling for time as I dragged my tiny black straw through the foamy blended drink. “I was just having some things put into storage. That’s all.”
He didn’t believe me. Not by a long shot.
He smirked and took a drink of his own blended margarita, bypassing the straw and wrapping his lips over the edge of the glass. Damn, I envied the margarita glass.
I sighed. “All right, fine. You wanna know the truth?”
“I usually find it preferable.” He laughed. “Seriously, though? Only tell me what you want.”
I took a big gulp. The tequila was top shelf, smooth and with just the right amount of heat as it hit my belly. “Two weeks ago, I got laid off. Two nights after that, I got mugged. Some asshole stole my purse. So, I decided to let my super sublet my apartment—furnished—so I didn’t come home from my Christmas vacation to an eviction notice on my front door. I’m too chicken shit to tell my parents that I’m homeless, unemployed and broke. I was planning to tell them before my stuff from New York arrived. But, thanks to some cruel twist of fate, my stuff got bumped onto an earlier truck and showed up today.” I stopped and chugged back half of my margarita. “So, that’s pretty much that. The whole pitiful story.”
“Damn, Rubes. I’m sorry.” Steven stirred his drink thoughtfully. “Did you get a look at the guy who stole your purse? Press charges?”
I shook my head. “No. But he didn’t get away with much. I didn’t have any cash on me. And as soon as I got home, I canceled my cards. I had to get a new license. It was more of an inconvenience than anything else.”
“And scary as shit, I’d say.”
I shrugged, not wanting to cop to how terrified I still was over the whole thing. I’d had nightmares about it every night since it happened.
Steven gave me a sad smile. “You know you can trust me, right?”
I cocked my head. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I just mean that you don’t have to pretend with me. You don’t have to be so tough. What happened to you—I mean, damn—that had to scare the shit outta ya. You don’t have to act like it’s no big deal.”
I scoffed, staring down into my drink. “I don’t feel so tough right now.”
“Why not?”
I glanced up and found his steady, warm stare watching me. I straightened in my seat and gave a slight shrug of my shoulders. “I couldn’t hack it.”
He arched a thick brow. “Come on, Rubes. We might not have seen each other for ten years, but I still know you.”
A shiver swirled up my back.
Steven reached for my hand and squeezed it slightly. “You’ll land on your feet.”
I smiled at his confidence, wishing I could borrow a handful of it for myself. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew he was right. I’d find another job, another city, another apartment. I had all the things that really mattered. Didn’t I?
For some reason, I wasn’t sure anymore.
Lonnie was my only friend that I spoke to on a weekly basis and unless I moved back to New York, I’d never see her again. We’d stay friends on social media, liking each other’s pages and status updates, but eventually even that would fade. Just like it had with my college friends. I’d managed to lose track of most of them over the two years I spent getting my masters and running down the Wall Street job.
All for nothing. What a joke.
I sighed. “Sometimes, I think I should have just stayed here in California, gone to community college, or a UC, gotten married, and had a kid or two by now.”
Steven laughed. “Or two? Fuck, Rubes, you’re not that old.”
I smiled, but couldn’t quite get out a laugh. “Hey, more than a few of the girls from my class have two kids. Houses, dogs, two car garages.”
Steven hopped up and reached for my hand. “Come on.”
“Where are we going?”
Steven shrugged. “Anywhere but here. You’re turning into one of those sad girls that drink and get all introspective and sad. You’re too good for that, Rubes. Let’s go get some fresh air.”
My heart fell into the pit that had taken up residence in my stomach the day I was laid off from my job. Even Steven thought I was pathetic and lost. Ugh. This is why it never worked out with me and men. They always wanted the fun, bubbly, cheerleader type and I could never quite measure up.
Steven dropped a handful of bills onto the table and we abandoned the half-empty drinks. He led the way as though he was a regular at the little cantina. At the side door, he paused and held it open for me. I thanked him and breezed past him, wishing I could press into him and breathe in the scent of his cologne and the warmth from his solid body.
Outside, a small set of steps led down to the sand. The beach spanned out below and looked to be mo
stly abandoned. The sun was dipping low and the sky was already getting dark as the hot pink and orange light of the sunset faded to black.
Steven took my elbow as we made our way down the stairs. “Come on, let’s take a little walk. I’ve missed this ocean.”
“Ten years is a long time to be away from home. Where do you normally live?” I asked him once we got to the sand. To my chagrin, he released his hold on my upper arm once we started walking. I paused and stepped out of the pair of flip flops I’d hurried into before flying out of the house. I carried them by the straps as we wandered toward the tide’s edge.
“The SEAL base isn’t too far from here, in San Diego.”
My mouth dropped open. “You’re a Navy SEAL?”
Steven gave a firm nod. Not elaborating.
I was impressed. I had no idea he was special ops. It was humbling to think that someone I used to know so well had such an important job in the armed forces. “That must be…well…I don’t really know. What is it like?”
Steven chuckled and threw a glance my way. “Really? It’s a helluva lot of paperwork.”
I laughed and pushed at his arm, finding his biceps to be just as hard as I’d imagined. It took all my strength to release him again. I wondered what they looked like when he wasn’t wearing a shirt… I shook my head, clearing the vision. I grinned up at him. “Come on, be serious. What’s a day in the life?”
He scratched at his jaw. “It’s exciting and tedious all at once, I guess. For every exciting, dangerous mission there is ten times the amount of prep work. Briefings, strategy meetings, practice drills. And, yes, paperwork. We all have to watch our asses not only physically but from a political standpoint as well. Especially after everything in the past couple of years. More eyeballs on us, I guess.”
I nodded slowly. “Do you love it though? I mean, it’s worth it?”
He paused for a beat and then smiled at me. “Yeah. It’s hard to imagine doing anything else.”
Well, thank you.”
“For what?”
“Being a SEAL, protecting us while we sleep.”
“You’re welcome.” He chuckled that deep laugh and my heart jumped. Just to be here with him made me feel things I hadn’t felt in a long time.
“So, where do you live? If not here?”
He slipped his hands into his pockets. “I have a little crash pad in San Diego, for whenever I’m stateside, but I’m hardly ever there. I rent it out as a vacation rental when I’m not home. Usually, I’m overseas, staying at different outposts and stations.”
I hesitated for a moment, wringing my fingers together. “Doesn’t sound like there’s a lot of room for much of a personal life in all that.”
Steven dropped his head back and laughed. “Yeah, not so much!”
I smiled along with him, but couldn’t ignore the way my stomach knotted up. I knew it shouldn’t matter to me. The idea of Steven and me together was nothing more than a lust-fueled fantasy. The desperation of my situation causing me to look for an escape route. But still…
“I’ll confess, this is my first date in quite some time, Rubes.”
I nearly tripped over a patch of sand. “Date?”
He chuckled again and unpocketed his hands, letting them swing freely for a moment. “Well, drinks, walk on the beach under the stars. Kinda seems like a date.” He gave me a lingering side glance and our pace slowed.
“I tried to pay for the drinks…” I protested, trying to keep my voice steady.
He smiled and came to a stop in the sand. “Well, if I’d let you do that, then we couldn’t call it a date, and then…” he paused to smooth a strand of my hair away from my face. “Then, I couldn’t do this.”
His lips moved to mine and I instantly melted into his soft kiss. Steven’s hands went to my waist, his thumbs pushing past the edge of my shirt and finding my bare shin all too easily. My thoughts swam and then vanished as the kiss deepened. I could feel Steven’s immediate excitement pressing against me and moaned just as Steven’s tongue prodded past my lips and tangled with my own.
Heat blossomed in my stomach and quickly traveled south, settling between my legs. Steven pressed in closer and I ached at the way my breasts felt against his solid chest. It would be even better if there weren’t a barrier between us. A problem that Steven appeared to be remedying as his fingers slipped up under my shirt and traveled over my stomach in a soft caress.
A car horn honked in the distance. Three, clipped beeps.
“This is a family beach! Get a freakin’ room!”
Steven groaned as he pulled away from me. A man in a red lifeguard Jeep rolled by. He honked three more times and then drove off laughing.
Steven glared after the departing Jeep but then his lips turned up into a playful smile. “Family beach, huh? Yeah right, like he’s not jerking off in his lifeguard shack watching all the bikini babes all day.”
I snorted into my hands. “How embarrassing!”
Steven laughed and rubbed his hand at the base of his neck. “Guess we got a little carried away.”
I nodded down at my bare feet. With a smooth motion, I reached over and pulled my sandals from their place on the beach and pointed back up the beach toward the little bar we’d stopped at. “Rick’s probably already home. We should probably get back and say hello.”
“Yeah, your right.” Steven agreed, though I caught a glimmer of disappointment in his eyes. “Come on, let’s get you back home.”
Chapter Six
Steven
Damn it. I hadn’t meant to kiss her. Well, okay, I’d meant to. But it was wrong. A mistake.
But one I wanted to make again. Desperately.
Hell, if not for that damn lifeguard, we’d probably be rolling around in the sand, half-naked.
Which would have been hot as hell, but completely the wrong thing to do. We’d gone too far as it was. I had no right kissing Ruby, let alone dreaming about what she’d look like naked, lying in my bed.
She appeared to be just as shocked by our sudden kiss, because as I drove us back toward her parents’ house, she stared out the passenger side window and didn’t say a word. My own thoughts were so jumbled and confused I didn’t even bother trying to make them coherent enough to start a conversation.
As soon as I pulled into the driveway, I wanted to turn around and speed back to my own parents’ house, just a few streets away, and spend the rest of the evening trying to forget about the way Ruby tasted or about her silky smooth skin against my fingertips. Most of all, I needed to find some kind of mental delete button to rid my ears of the echo of that hot little moan she’d done as my tongue slipped past her lips. Fuck, that’d been too much.
Great, Maxwell, another fuckin’ boner.
That’s just what I need, seeing Rick for the first time in over four years, and meeting his new wife and baby for the first time. Not to mention Watson and Leah, Rick and Ruby’s parents. “Hey, Mr. and Mrs. Westin, don’t mind my stiffy, just been thinking too much about getting a taste of your daughter’s sweet little—”
I suddenly wondered if Mr. Westin was a gun man…
“Looks like they’re here,” Ruby said, although she didn’t make a move for her door handle as I brought the truck to a stop.
I followed her gaze and saw that there were four adults on the other side of the thin curtains that covered most of the front room window. “Looks like it. You mind if I come in?”
She whipped around to stare at me. “Mind? Why would I mind?”
I licked my lips. “I didn’t know if it would be awkward.”
She arched a brow, apparently still not following me.
I sighed and rubbed a hand over the two days of stubble on my jaw. “Listen, Rubes, about what happened on the beach—”
“Oh, Steven, good grief. I know it was nothing.” She looked away, back at her family gathered inside. “Besides, Rick’ll kill me if he knows you were here and didn’t come in and see him.”
She started to push o
pen her door but I reached out and grasped her upper arm, stilling her before she could hop out. She turned to look at me again, her expression a strange mix of confusion and sadness. “What’s wrong now?”
“Ruby, it wasn’t nothing.” I paused, watching her eyes dart back and forth between mine. She was spooked. I traced a finger down the side of her cheek, following the soft curve. “I want to see you again.”
Her pillow soft lips parted and I damn near got hard again. “You do?”
I nodded. “Fuck yeah, I do. How long are you in town?”
“Till New Year’s. I booked my plane tickets before—” she stopped herself and sucked in a deep breath. “Well…before everything went to shit. I was originally supposed to be back to work on the second. But now…I guess I’m winging it.”
I smiled. “Good. I’m here for the next three and a half weeks.”
A flicker of a smile crossed her lips and I leaned across the center console, unable to stop myself, before kissing her softly.
When we parted, Ruby gave a soft sigh. I smiled and traced a finger down the side of her face as her lashed fluttered open again. “Come on, let’s go see the fam.”
Ruby led the way this time and let us both into the house. “Look who I found out on the porch!” she announced as she rounded the corner into the large, open living room. I followed her a few steps behind and the room smiled at the sight of me.
“Steven? Oh my goodness, Richard, it’s Steven!” Leah raced forward to embrace me. She’d always treated me like a son. Watson extended a hand. Rick came next and we embraced like brothers. Tears gathered in the corners of my eyes as we parted and I blinked quickly to clear them away before Rick introduced me to Vanessa, his exotic-looking wife, and their small daughter who looked like a baby model with long dark lashes, caramel colored skin, and her mother’s almond-shaped eyes.
The tears returned as I glanced down into the small face. “She’s beautiful, man. Absolutely perfect. Congrats.” I clapped Rick on the back.
“What about you, Steven? Any young ladies on the horizon?” Leah asked, offering me a serving tray loaded down with crackers, gourmet cheeses, and assorted olives.