‘I think you can’t forget what happened between us last week any more than I can.’ A flush rose up along her cheekbones and he wanted to reach out and tug her onto his lap. ‘I think you’re not sleeping properly because you can’t forget how it felt to have my hands on you.’ His voice dropped to a rumbling purr. ‘My mouth.’
Her eyelids fluttered shut for a brief second.
‘Tell me when you knew it was me,’ he pressed softly, not realising how important her answer was until he’d voiced the question.
She frowned across at him, not following where his mind had gone before a cynical smile twisted her lips. ‘I don’t see what that has to do with anything.’
‘Humour me.’
‘Why?’ she parried. ‘If anyone should be asking that question it’s me.’ She looked down her nose at him. ‘After all, you were the one who claimed that a man with any integrity should know if he’s ever kissed a woman before.’
It took Sam a moment to place that comment and when he did he laughed. ‘You knew it was me that early on, huh? Well, that does stroke my enormous ego. So why the anonymity?’
She shifted restlessly in her seat. ‘Maybe I didn’t feel like making small talk.’
‘And maybe there’s more to it than that,’ he said, knowing he was right when she narrowed her eyes.
‘As I said, I should be the one asking you that question.’ She gave him a cool look. ‘When did you figure out it was me?’
He leaned back against the soft leather upholstery and tried to remember the last time he’d enjoyed talking to a woman as much as he did Ruby. ‘I knew the exact moment you turned those frosty green eyes on me,’ he said quietly.
She glanced back at him, her eyes suddenly wary. ‘If that’s true then why didn’t you say anything at the time?’
‘I did. I offered to carry your drinks.’
She bit into her bottom lip, her brows drawn together. ‘I thought you were trying to pick me up.’
A grin spread slowly across his face. ‘I was.’
‘Oh—’
Before she could blast him with yet another fiery put-down a car horn honked and almost immediately their driver swerved, muttering curses as he slammed on the brakes. The car lurched to a sudden halt and Ruby slid from her seat straight into Sam’s arms.
Startled, she braced her hands against his shoulders, her breath caught somewhere between her lungs and her throat. He knew because his hands were on either side of her ribcage, right beneath the swell of her soft breasts.
The car started forward, the driver muttering an apology over his shoulder as he manoeuvred around a stalled taxi in the centre lane.
‘What happened?’ Ruby asked breathlessly.
‘Fate,’ he answered roughly, one hand lifting to slide beneath the thick fall of her hair as he brought her mouth to his.
As soon as his lips covered hers she opened for him, her eager tongue tangling with his with a hungry abandon that matched his own.
She moaned softly as he deepened the kiss, her fingernails digging into his shoulders.
‘Sam.’ His name was a sensual plea on her lips as she met him kiss for kiss, her hands forking into his hair to drag him closer. The pleasure of having her body plastered up against his was exquisite, the taste of her explosive. He wanted to put his mouth all over her, sucking and licking her, particularly between her soft, golden thighs. He told her as much and the sexy little noise she made nearly undid him.
‘Yes, angel, kiss me like that.’ Ravenous for more, Sam urged her legs to part, pulling her astride his lap, his hands moving lower to slide along her outer thighs, pushing her dress up over the curve of her bottom. A low groan was ripped from his throat as she moved against him in wanton abandon.
‘Christ, Ruby.’ His lips attacked her neck, his hands fisted in her hair to lock her in place, his blood pumping thickly through his veins. This was exactly how it had been last Friday night. Wild. Uninhibited. Insatiable.
‘A man could get addicted to this mouth,’ he said, taking her bottom lip between his teeth and urging her closer.
She moaned, her lips tracking over his jaw and his chin, her little teeth nipping at his skin.
It felt as if they were both cocooned in a warm, dark room. Just the two of them. Man and woman at their most elemental. No past or future to come between them. No masks and no running.
Just total surrender and a sexual chemistry that blew his mind. His fingers stroked along the edge of her lace panties, his sex-induced brain trying to warn him that he was going too far again. That he needed to stop this madness because—
‘Mr Ventura, sir, we have arrived at our destination.’
Because they were in the back of a limousine.
Sam knew Ruby hadn’t heard the driver because her fingers were still fumbling with the buttons on his shirt. For a second he nearly closed the partition between them and the driver and let her continue. Then sanity asserted itself. ‘Ruby, sweetheart.’ He took her hands in his. ‘We have to stop.’
‘Stop?’
She blinked up at him, her slumberous gaze turning from glazed to glaring in a heartbeat.
‘Oh, God.’ She pushed off his lap and fell awkwardly onto the opposite seat, smoothing her skirt down her legs, regret written all over her beautiful face. ‘Of course we have to stop.’
‘Like we should have stopped last Friday night?’
‘Absolutely.’
‘And I suppose you want to forget about this incident just like you’ve forgotten the last one.’
‘Absolutely.’
For some reason her ready agreement only fuelled his irritation. So did that regal, untouchable air she cloaked herself in. Something that might have been a little more effective if her lips weren’t still swollen and moist from his kisses. ‘Only you haven’t forgotten last Friday night any more than I have. Isn’t that the truth, Ruby?’
‘The truth is we work together, and Chester is probably spreading salacious stories about us right now.’
‘In this case he’d be right.’
He knew it wasn’t fair to goad her like that but, dammit, she was making him feel as if he was fully responsible for that kiss and she’d been as into it as he had been.
‘He would not be right,’ she snapped, scowling at him.
‘He would. But it’s late. If you want to argue some more about it you’ll have to invite me up for coffee.’
Clearly embarrassed to find that they were parked outside her apartment building, Ruby threw open the car door, nearly catching their circumspect chauffeur in the chest. ‘That,’ she said loftily, ‘will never happen again. I learn from my mistakes. I don’t repeat them.’
‘Pity.’ Sam’s eyes narrowed, his fingers manacling her wrist before she could toss her hair over her shoulder and exit the car. ‘Because this time I would have said yes. But fair warning, sweetheart—the next time my mouth is on yours we’ll be horizontal and I’ll be taking my time. That is,’ he paused, his thumb stroking lightly over the pulse pounding in her wrist ‘after you’ve asked me nicely.’
Ruby pulled her wrist out from under his hold and shot him a fulminating glare. ‘You cannot possibly imagine how much I dislike you right now.’
Sam couldn’t help himself: he laughed. ‘Oh, I think I can.’
He watched the long, lean lines of her body as she stalked straight-backed away from the car. When she was safely inside her glass security door he leaned his head back against the seat, gave the driver his address and asked himself what it was about this woman that drove every civilised thought from his head. Even now, when he told himself to go and find a nice, even-tempered woman who knew how to appreciate him, he wanted this one with a fierceness that defied logic.
Ruby Clarkson, it turned out, was more than a simple conundrum; she was a colossal pain in his rear end.
CHA
PTER SIX
RUBY WOKE THE following morning with a start, sitting bolt upright in her bed, a particularly carnal dream of her and Sam naked and sweaty and horizontal front and centre in her mind.
Groaning, she collapsed back against her fluffy pillows and stared at the ceiling. If last night had proved anything at all it was that her willpower to keep away from the man who haunted her days and her nights was practically zero once he put his hands on her, making that potential job in London look better and better.
Determined that next Friday night she was going to keep well away from him, she rolled over and checked the time.
Molly had stayed at a friend’s the night before so she wouldn’t be bursting in any second to push her to do yoga.
Maybe she’d skip it today. She had a ton of work to do anyway, along with another embarrassing escapade with her boss to try to forget about.
God, when would she learn?
Not any time soon, it seemed. Thankful it was Saturday, the first day of the long weekend and she’d have no reason to see Sam for three whole days, she flipped onto her stomach and thought about going back to sleep. Then her phone pinged, sending her senses onto high alert.
Miller’s name flashed on the screen and Ruby groaned out loud. Oh, no! Long weekend. Beach house. A month ago Miller had suggested that they have a girly weekend together. How had she forgotten that?
‘Would you believe I’m nearly ready?’ Ruby hedged, answering the phone as she stumbled out of bed and staggered into the bathroom.
‘How could you forget?’ Miller complained. ‘I left a reminder message on your phone last night.’
She had? ‘Sorry, I didn’t get it. I’m a really bad friend.’
‘Were you working late again? Is that the problem?’
‘Yeah... I had a function and...never mind.’ She peered at her wan reflection in the mirror, pressing on the dark circles beneath her eyes. ‘Am I too late to still make it?’
‘Of course not. But there’s been a slight change of plan. Red is a bit under the weather, so he and Tino are joining us. I hope that’s okay.’
Red was Redmond Ventura, Miller and Tino’s adorable toddler and, as the first baby in their circle of friends, a pseudo-nephew to both her and Molly. ‘Of course it’s okay,’ Ruby said. ‘I’ll even take Red tomorrow morning so you and Valentino can have a sleep in together.’
‘I knew I loved you.’ Miller laughed. ‘By the way, Tino has—Oh, drat, Red’s crying.’
‘Go and get him,’ Ruby urged, grabbing her toothbrush and turning the shower on. ‘I’ll be there in...twenty minutes?’
Miller snorted. ‘Sure. See you in an hour, then.’
Ringing off, Ruby ducked into the shower. She had a special bottle of champagne in the fridge to help celebrate the long weekend with her best friend. The fact that she’d forgotten that as well was a testament to how much Sam Ventura was messing with her head.
But not any more. As of now, Ruby would banish the man from her mind and her life and pull herself together. And a weekend away with Miller and her family was just the ticket. She wouldn’t have time to moon over Sam, or wonder what he was doing and with whom he was doing it. She certainly wouldn’t have time to think about kissing him.
Fair warning, sweetheart, the next time my mouth is on yours we’ll be horizontal and I’ll be taking my time.
Good grief! She blew out an unsteady breath, a rush of desire turning her insides hot and shivery at just the memory of how he had kissed her in the back of their limousine.
Just behind the driver.
She groaned, shaking her head. A week ago her life had been ticking along perfectly. She had work, yoga, good friends and Netflix. Now she had angst, indecision, erotic dreams and longing.
The longing was the worst. It was like a secret weakness she didn’t want to admit to having. Instinctively she knew that if she ever slept with Sam again she’d be changing her life for him before she knew it, followed by crying with her friends when it all went wrong. Because it would go wrong. It was inevitable. Sam was a heartbreaker. And he was too demanding, too arrogant. He would want more from her than she was prepared to give and she was very afraid she’d give it anyway.
A sense of foreboding flashed across her skin like a cold draught. Her father walking out on them all those years ago had left her with a natural sense of caution when it came to men that had always held her in good stead. So no, she was not going to let Sam any closer than he already had been ever again. That would be like carrying a metal pole onto a football field in the middle of an electric storm and hoping not to get struck by lightning.
‘Good pep talk.’ She smiled at her reflection and skipped out of the bathroom. Miller’s beach house beckoned, where she could swim, chat, play with Red and relax to her heart’s content.
Quickly pulling on white shorts and a striped top, she pushed her feet into her favourite beaten-up espadrilles, packed her bag and raced down the stairs, thankful that she only had to wait a few minutes before her cab driver arrived.
‘Double Bay Wharf,’ she said, settling back against the seat and closing her eyes. Too late she remembered that her e-reader, with the newly downloaded crime novel on it, was on her bedside table. She hoped Miller had some trashy novel she could lose herself in just in case the champagne didn’t do the job of getting Sam out of her head at night.
Arriving at the wharf, she skipped down the wooden gangplank towards Valentino’s latest motorised toy, Miller’s Way, and felt lighthearted as she smiled at a one-legged seagull that was completely unconcerned about her presence.
Rows of pristine white yachts bobbed side by side in the bright sunshine, and the deep blue of the harbour sparkled as if tiny diamonds had been dropped from the sky and floated across the surface as mystical as rainbows. It was a good day to be alive and she had three whole days of bliss stretched out in front of her. Three whole days of rest and relaxation and not wondering about whether she was going to accidentally run into a certain somebody when she least expected it.
* * *
Sam brooded as Valentino bent over the boat engine, absently stroking the black and tan puppy in his arms.
‘Wrench,’ Valentino said, his head stuck inside the engine bay.
Sam handed him the tool. The restless fluff-ball wriggled in his arms, eager to explore his new surroundings. He’d had the thing for two hours. A rash decision that was as unlike him as his actions with Ruby since returning to Sydney. And he couldn’t exactly blame jet lag for his loss of control last night, or for picking up the puppy at the rescue centre. Perhaps he had some superbug eating away at his brain bit by bit.
‘I said wrench.’ Valentino frowned at him. ‘This is a ratchet.’
Sam glanced into the toolbox. He pulled out the wrench.
‘You sure you’re okay?’ Tino glanced up at him.
‘Fine.’
Tino grunted. ‘About as fine as this engine.’
Ignoring his brother’s pointed comment, he focused on the engine trouble. ‘Will you get it running?’
Valentino threw him a look as if to say Will the sun set in the west? He stuck his head back in the hull. ‘I’d better. Miller’s been looking forward to this weekend all month. And Ruby’s bringing champagne. Hopefully on ice.’
Sam’s whole body went rigid at Tino’s throwaway comment. The puppy whimpered and he eased his grip from around its soft belly. ‘Ruby?’ Part of the reason he had made the early-morning decision to take his brother up on his offer to spend the long weekend at the beach house was to put some space between Ruby and his sudden obsession to dial her number every five seconds. Why hadn’t he asked Tino if she would be coming along?
Because he hadn’t wanted Tino to question his sudden interest in Ruby’s whereabouts until he had some plausible answers that made sense. And look how spectacularly that had backfired on him now. He
frowned at the puppy that stared back at him with huge, guileless brown eyes. He didn’t know what had possessed him to get the mutt either. He’d been walking past the animal rescue centre and the next thing he knew he was signing papers and being instructed on brands of puppy food.
‘You know, I have a mind to call back that fancy-arsed mechanic...’ Tino muttered, issuing a string of curse words under his breath. ‘Guy wouldn’t know a carburettor from a custard tart.’
Sam ignored his brother’s mumblings. He was still reeling from the fact that Ruby would soon be joining them.
Ruby for a whole three days with his brother and fiercely protective sister-in-law in tow...
‘God, I’m good!’ Tino smirked as the boat’s engine rumbled to life beneath his feet, wiping his hands on an old rag.
‘So about the weekend...’ Sam began, thinking that he didn’t care if Tino thought his behaviour was strange or not.
‘Yeah?’ Tino looked at him curiously. ‘What about it?’
The puppy squirmed like a bag of worms in his arms, yapping at something over his shoulder. Sam turned in time to see Ruby coming aboard and his heart did a weird flip inside his chest. She looked confident and radiant, her long hair pulled into a haphazard ponytail, a dazzling smile curving her soft pink lips. He’d rarely seen her without make-up and right now she looked golden and youthful and more beautiful than ever, like a sun goddess come down to earth to shine just for him.
Catching the uncharacteristically poetic sentiment, he shook his head. It didn’t seem to matter to his brain that she was completely off-limits to him. She excited him as no other woman ever had and, while he might not like that on an elemental level, if he was completely honest with himself he didn’t want it to stop either.
* * *
Ruby didn’t notice Sam until she had both feet planted on the boat. If she had when she’d only had one foot on board she might have turned and run. As it was she could only stop and stare at him.
The Billionaire's Virgin Temptation (HQR Presents) Page 9