by Liz Ireland
Her words startled him. Shocked him, even. His mind whirled in confusion as he remembered their first night in Playa Del Sol. Was he wrong? Had he misread the signals?
There wasn’t much in, “Cody, make love to me,” to misinterpret!
“You don’t?” he asked.
She shook her head violently, then clutched it as if attempting to ward off a fatal blow. When she looked at him again, she had tears in her eyes. “This is terrible!”
Whatever she was going through, it certainly looked terrible. More uncomfortable, even, than having Cupid’s arrow stuck in the old pump, if that was possible.
Concerned, he reached out and grabbed her hand. She was trembling. “Ruby, what’s wrong?”
“Everything!” She looked into his eyes, obviously desperate to make him understand. “Cody, I’m in love with you!”
He held his breath, stunned by her words. Hope spiked in him for the first time since their slapdash wedding. Maybe all the cockeyed dreams he’d been having about happily-ever-after weren’t so far-fetched after all….
Or maybe they were. Ruby wasn’t exactly jumping for joy.
In any case, he would finally be able to get the confession he’d been keeping under wraps off his chest. He squeezed Ruby’s hand. “I love you, too. I’ve been in love with you for weeks now, but of course I couldn’t tell you. I didn’t want to spoil our marriage, since it was supposed to be a sham. And it is a sham, as far as I’m concerned. I wouldn’t have agreed to a phony marriage if I’d known we both felt this way. I love you, Ruby.”
It was the speech he’d dreamed of making to her for so many days. In his mind’s eye, Ruby had always listened to him much as she did now, with eyes so bright they could have stardust in them. And then she’d thrown her arms around him and showered his neck with kisses and told him how supremely happy she was.
Her eyes did have stardust—for a split second.
Then her brows knit and her shoulders sagged. She shook her head mournfully. “This is awful, just awful.”
He nodded. “You still think I’m a Boy Scout from Heartbreak Ridge.”
“Oh, no, it’s not that. It’s just…well, heck, I still might as well be living in the nineteenth century!” Her dark eyes registered her confusion. “All these years, I’ve dreamed of busting loose, getting out of Heartbreak Ridge, finding freedom! I was going to lead a wild, unpredictable life. Instead, I finally managed to get away from my brothers, and I’m married.”
Of course he could see her point. That was the trouble. Ruby always made sense in her own peculiar way—that’s what had gotten him into this marriage to begin with. She was one of those people who looked at life from a completely different viewpoint, a kaleidoscope lens of humor and melodrama and farfetched dreams. She was unique and imaginative, and that’s why he loved her. But if there was one thing he knew down to the marrow of his bones, it was that if you loved a person, you couldn’t hold her to you like a pet rabbit.
Yet her words still managed to sting. Even though he understood perfectly where she was coming from, Cody couldn’t help bristling. “What about me? The first time I fall in love, it’s with someone who imagines her life as a Susan Lucci made-for-TV movie!”
Unspeakable anguish darkened her already dark eyes. “I’m sorry, Cody.”
He relented. “Don’t be. It’s nobody’s fault.”
“How could we have gone and done something so dumb?”
“So reckless,” he added.
“We’re doomed.”
Doomed as only two people in love from the town of Heartbreak Ridge could know they were doomed. How had they let it happen? They’d grown up surrounded by adults who had histories of heartache as long and detailed as John Gotti’s rap sheet. In their hometown, Valentine’s Day was practically an official day of mourning. Hadn’t Cody spent years in the Feed Bag diner listening to the horror stories? Hadn’t he watched his very own brother become a recluse because of heartache?
They sat hunched on the edge of the bed, lost in thought about the unhappy fate that awaited them. Cody knew Ruby’s last words were true. Knew it deep in his bones. They were completely inappropriate for each other. They were doomed.
“It’s the curse of Heartbreak Ridge,” he said.
She nodded. “We should have known better. All those weeks when we were blithely running around together, then fooling the town into thinking that we were really getting married…”
“We were really just fooling ourselves.”
“Like people in a sci-fi movie worrying about their petty personal problems, not realizing that a giant meteor is coming straight at them.”
And now the love meteor had struck, wiping out all their plans for the future, and pretty soon all that would be left would be a big crater of heartache.
Ruby suddenly straightened, as if she had an idea for tricking their unhappy fate. “Cody, we don’t have to let this lick us.”
“What do you suggest?”
“Well, we could try, couldn’t we? I mean…” She blushed. “Maybe it wouldn’t be a disaster.”
His pulse raced, and for a moment he let himself dream. Ruby—his forever…
“How does forever in Heartbreak Ridge sound to you?”
Her smile faded. “Well, not exactly like an adventure.”
“You’ve dreamed all your life of getting off the ranch.”
“It’s not the ranch I mind. Heck, I love animals, and the work.” Her shoulders sagged another inch. “But if we—”
He shot her a level stare. “Moved somewhere else?” He finished her sentence for her. “I love that town, Ruby. Oh, maybe it’s not the most exciting place in the world, but I’ve got roots there. My uncle and my brother—I wouldn’t want to leave them. Heck, I wouldn’t even want to leave Merlie. She’s like a second mother to me. I love the isolation and the way people still think cakewalks are better than roller coasters. And even though I’m sick to death of eating there sometimes, and I wish just for once Jim Loftus would let me eat a burger in peace, I’d even miss the Feed Bag.”
“I know.”
Sometimes you had to know when you were licked. “Maybe the best thing to do now would simply be to go home and file for divorce before we get ourselves in any deeper.”
She nodded. “I suppose you’re right.”
They said little as they packed. Outside in the plaza a mariachi band was starting to play. The music sounded plaintive and sad, appropriate for the dissolution of their marriage, Cody thought. He looked around the little hotel room he and Ruby had shared with a certain nostalgia.
Heck, now that it was all over, he might even miss sleeping on the floor.
“HOW ARE WE going to explain to everyone why we decided to get a divorce on the third day of our honeymoon?”
They were sitting in the little Mexican airport waiting for the last flight out to San Antonio. Ruby could barely see Cody for all the luggage that was piled around him. His head was partially obscured by a frog piñata.
“We were going to have to explain that we were getting a divorce anyway. What does it matter if we cut our honeymoon short a few days?”
“I guess I hadn’t really thought of how strange it would look.” Or how depressing it would feel. How could she not have known? “Did you see the way the hotel clerk stared at us when we told him we were cutting our honeymoon short?”
Cody nodded. “He did seem to think it was pretty peculiar.”
“Peculiar? The poor man’s face was a study in misery. He looked more disappointed than us!” If that were possible.
She pushed the frog aside so she could look into those blue eyes of his. She’d never felt more torn in her life. Discovering she loved Cody was one of the most wonderful things that had ever happened to her. She’d never been in love with anyone before.
But that was part of the problem, she supposed. She’d never done much of anything before except yawn through twenty-one years in Heartbreak Ridge. Now she was on the brink of escaping….
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But to what?
All she could think about was Cody. He looked so indescribably sad—so like the way she felt—she wanted to put her arms around him and kiss him and…
She wanted to make love to him. This celibate honeymoon had been sheer torture. Wanting Cody was driving her out of her mind.
And now they were leaving. Once their plane landed in Texas Cody would slip out of her life. Suddenly, she realized she couldn’t allow that to happen.
“Cody, I just had an idea.”
“Uh-oh.”
She shook her head. “Hear me out. I’m a virgin, right?”
He groaned. “This I know.”
“Well, what do I know? What I think is love could really be just a serious case of lust, couldn’t it?” Even to her own ears, her voice was laced with desperation. “I mean, we could be going home early for no reason, couldn’t we?”
He frowned. “Whether it’s lust or love, we would still have to go home and tell everyone we were getting a divorce. That’s the plan.”
Plan C—she wished she’d never thought of it! Of course, she could never have imagined it backfiring so miserably. She’d been so bent on escaping Heartbreak Ridge and her brothers, she’d never considered that she might fall in love with her husband. That same husband was sending her home in a ball of sexual frustration. She might just go crazy and never make it out of Heartbreak Ridge again. She might never make it out of a padded cell again.
She might never be in Cody’s arms again. That was the most shockingly disappointing prospect of all.
He was so damn honorable! “Cody, I just had a terrible thought.”
He sighed impatiently. “What?”
“What if what we’re doing is dangerous?”
A dark blond brow arched inquisitively. “Dangerous how?”
“Well…” She rubbed her hands together worriedly. This was probably her last chance. In another half hour they would be on the plane. Once they were in Heartbreak Ridge it would be all over. The divorce would get underway, and everyone in town would tell Cody that he was well rid of her. Leila Birch would drop Lucian and start taking Cody casseroles!
“Think of it this way,” she pleaded with him. “I’m inexperienced. I’m in love and also serious lust for you. If I do make my escape from Heartbreak Ridge now, I’ll be lighting out into the world like a powder keg of sexual frustration.”
He laughed.
“What’s so funny?”
He shook his head. “Do you think you’re the only one?”
She practically sagged with relief, yet at the same time every corpuscle in her body stood at attention. He wanted her! He was admitting it! She was beginning to wonder if he was superhuman or made of stone.
But from their few kisses, from the unforgettable moments when she had felt his body pressed against hers, she knew that he was all man. Knowing that he was all man who also desired her made her feel as if she finally had the upper hand.
But wouldn’t you know it, when she finally knew she could get to him, she was stuck in an airport!
She stared into his liquid blue eyes, wishing there was some way she could have just one more night alone with him. Then she would be able to ascertain whether she was in love or lust. Or whether her love was strong enough to survive a lifetime in Heartbreak Ridge. Even if it wasn’t, she was certain that a night with Cody was something not to be missed. Having a honeymoon with him and not sleeping with him suddenly seemed a terrible mistake—like going to Paris and not seeing the Eiffel Tower.
But what could she do?
An airport clerk bustled up to them. “Señor!” he yelled at Cody, followed by a stream of Spanish so fast Ruby could only snatch at words as they flashed by. One word, however, did stop her cold: cancelado.
Cody turned to her, his back ramrod straight on the uncomfortable wooden seat. “The clerk said the plane has a mechanical difficulty. The flight’s canceled till tomorrow morning.”
Her heart did a balletic leap worthy of Baryshnikov. “Canceled!” It was like an answer to her prayer. “What are we going to do?”
Blue eyes stared into brown. Ruby shivered at the wave of longing that coursed through her, especially when she saw desire mirrored in Cody’s face.
“I suppose there’s nothing to do but go back to the hotel,” he said, swallowing. “At least we’re pretty sure they have a room there.”
A room, he’d said.
She nodded, trying to hide her eagerness. But who was she kidding?
They jumped off the hard bench, gathered piles of luggage and hailed a cab in nothing flat. In the small back seat of the taxi, where they were surrounded by her desperately acquired accumulation of stuff, they sat rigid, tense, propping piñatas on their knees, arms looped over baskets and boxes of pottery.
Finally, she gathered enough courage to turn to him. “It’s fate, isn’t it?”
The tension in his face melted. “I suppose so.”
“There’s nothing to do but to give in, is there?”
He shook his head as his lips pulled into a sexy grin. “You were right. We’re doomed.”
Her heart swelled, and in an instant, she was kissing him. She wasn’t quite sure how they accomplished it. Piñatas fell. Baskets were pushed aside. Boxes and little nylon carry-ons were knocked over or used as cushions for their bodies, which were completely entwined. Cody’s mouth on hers was warm and exciting and intense. But it wasn’t enough. Not nearly enough.
She tilted her head to get better access to his mouth and felt his tongue part her lips, sending delicious warmth shimmering through her. His hands were firm around her, protecting her from the jostling as the taxi bounced over the familiar cobblestone streets. But it didn’t matter if he held her or not. She was positively glued to him.
In fact, she didn’t want to let go even for a second, but when the cab finally stopped, she did bow to the necessity of getting themselves and their luggage out of the car and checking into the hotel.
The hotel clerk was surprised to see the unsuccessful honeymooners back, looking considerably more lovey-dovey than they had when they left!
“El cuarto mismo, por favor,” Cody said.
The same room.
He bent to Ruby and whispered, “I’ve been dreaming about you in that bed now for three whole days.”
Her knees nearly buckled under her. She wasn’t certain what magic carried them up the stairs, or how on earth all their stuff made it, too. Everything was a blur until she found herself standing next to that bed, next to Cody, and he tugged her toward him. Not that seducing her was a difficult task. She glided so easily into his arms she might have been on roller skates.
“I’ve been dreaming about this, too, Cody. Not just for three days, either.”
His lips hovered over hers until she was ready to melt for wanting his kiss. “Let’s hope reality doesn’t disappoint us.”
His mouth covered hers, and she closed her eyes at the sharp wave of sensation that flooded her. Her hands held his shoulders for dear life, because there was no way her legs could support her. She pressed herself against him, her hips moving instinctively, rhythmically, longing to feel his desire for her. Her heart raced out of control.
Cody pulled back slightly, holding her at bay for a moment. When he spoke, his voice was unbearably husky, sexy. “I want you to enjoy your first time, Ruby.”
Enjoy it? She was practically frantic!
He kissed her again. “Let’s take it real slow.”
The word slow barely registered over the pulse pounding in her ears. She couldn’t imagine that he was serious. How could she go slow when her hot blood was galloping through her like a two-year-old at Churchill Downs?
But he was serious. With a measured, leisurely pace that looked as if it were testing him almost as much as her, he unzipped the back of her dress, then caressed each vertebrae in a tantalizing massage before slipping the garment off her shoulders. It puddled softly around her ankles, and she shivered, not just against
the cold air hitting her skin, but because she felt so wonderfully exposed against his fully clothed body. She’d done jokey stripteases in front of a crowd of men, but nothing had ever seemed so sensual as standing before Cody in nothing but lingerie.
Maybe it was because she’d never seen such raw animal appreciation on a man’s face. With a movement that seemed suspiciously easy for him, he reached around and unhooked her bra, which soon joined her dress on the floor. Easing himself down to sit on the bed, he anchored her body between his legs so that her breasts were at his eye level and lathed her nipples with his tongue until each was a tight, aching bud.
“Cody!” She’d never felt so boneless and limp, yet so flooded with heat.
Still suckling her breast, he reached down, teasing his fingers around the waistband of her panties. The core of her femininity turned hot and liquid. Just having his fingers skimming her belly made her tremble. When he moved the panties down her hips, she feared she might expire. How much of this could she take?
He pushed the panties down her legs, then reached to the most intimate part of her and began to massage. Ruby gasped at the agonizingly gentle pressure on this most sensitive spot and leaned against his shoulders to keep her whole frame from collapsing. Her eyes closed as the furnace inside her built, its flames licking higher and higher until she feared she might combust. She’d never imagined so much heat, such pressure, such intense elation. Cody kissed and stroked her until her body trembled, then quaked uncontrollably. It felt as if skyrockets were bursting inside her; she let out a primal cry.
When the quaking ended, she wasn’t standing anymore, but draped across his lap, her head resting on his shoulder as her chest heaved in deep, ragged gulps of air. She felt jubilant and spent, utterly satisfied and yet still craving more. Her hair was twisted around her face. Her whole body had a sheen of sweat. She looked at Cody, who was barely rumpled. Only by the dark gleam in his eye and the swell of his manhood pressing against her thigh could she tell that he had not been unmoved by the experience.
“That was incredible,” she said. “I never knew…. I thought that you had to…you know…”
His gaze darkened, and he smiled at her. “It works that way pretty well, too.”