On the Rocks

by Kandi Steiner

  And now it was Thursday, and here I was, circling yet another rack of expensive dinnerware at some fancy department store I couldn’t pronounce the name of. I had a register gun in my hand, a fake smile on my face, and a knack for pretending like I had any shot in hell of waking up the girl holding the gun next to me and convincing her she was making the wrong choice.

  The gun beeped in my hand each time I scanned a potential gift, and it was like those beeps were tied to my frustration.

  Sure, I’d played in the pool with her all day long on Sunday, but she’d gone home to him.

  Beep.

  And sure, it’d been me who helped her with the signs, with the rehearsal dinner, but it’d been him who got to kiss chocolate off her lips.

  Beep.

  And fucking sure, she told me over and over how much she appreciated me being here with her today, told me how much it upset her that Anthony hadn’t been able to make it, told me how much it meant to her that she didn’t have to do it alone.

  But it would be him she’d tell she loved in less than four weeks. It would be him she’d vow to love forever, that she’d promise to be faithful to, that she’d build a life with.

  And I would still be here.

  The friend.

  The fool.

  Beep-beep-beep.

  “You okay over there?” Ruby Grace asked, smirking at my aggressive scanning.

  I blew out a breath, cracking my neck before I resumed a more casual pace. “Just wondering why one couple needs so many plates and bowls, I guess.”

  Ruby Grace mirrored my sigh at that, holding up the gun to scan a set of wine glasses. “Honestly, I thought this would be my favorite part. I’ve always imagined hosting dinner parties the way Mama does, entertaining a house full of guests, making a four-course dinner and custom cocktails.” Her hand dropped, the gun loose between her fingertips. “Now, I just wish I could fast-forward a few weeks and have it all over with.”

  I watched her for a long moment, a sickening wave of nausea settling in at her words.

  Weeks.

  I had weeks, and only a few of them, to show this girl what her life could be if she’d only open her eyes.

  Ruby Grace went back to scanning, running her fingertips along some tablecloth fabric before checking the price tag and giving it a scan.

  Beep.

  The farther she walked away from me, the more urgency I felt. And before I could think better of it, I rounded the other side of the table she was circling, meeting her in the middle.

  “Let me take you on a date.”

  She nearly ran into me, and when my words spilled into the atmosphere, they might as well have been hands shoving her backward. She stumbled a bit, and I reached out, my hand finding the small of her back and steadying her before she crashed into a rack of crystalware.

  Her eyes were big, golden suns as they flicked between mine, her plump ruby lips popping open, closing again, popping open, closing.

  “Uh…” she finally managed.

  My brain snapped into damage-control mode. “A friend date.”

  At that, one of her manicured eyebrows rose, the corner of her lips curving into an amused smile. “A friend date,” she repeated.

  “Look at you,” I said, stepping back as if to hammer home the fact that I had completely innocent intentions.

  Even if that was a lie.

  “You’re so stressed out with all the wedding planning. It’s been consuming your every waking minute of every single day. Hell, I’ve only been helping for a few days and even I am overwhelmed.”

  “I’m okay,” she insisted. “A little tired, I admit. But, this is all part of the process.”

  “Ruby Grace, you can’t even make a decision on which stupid plates you want.” I held up the gun, clicking through a few screens until I could see everything we’d scanned. “As of now, if everything on this registry is purchased, you’ll have two-hundred-and-seventy-three of them. And I’m pretty sure you don’t plan on hosting any parties that big.”

  Her face screwed up like she was certain I couldn’t possibly be right. She snagged the gun out of my hand, studying the screen before she let out a long sigh, pressing one of her delicate hands to her forehead. She held it there for a moment before dragging it over her face on a groan.

  “Okay. You win.”

  I smiled. “My favorite words to hear.”

  Ruby Grace shoved my gun back into my chest. “The problem is when are we going to go anywhere or do anything when I have so much to get done?”

  “That’s easy. We go now.”

  “Now?!” She gaped. “We still have so much to register. We have two more floors to cover.”

  “So?” I shrugged. “We’ll get it done. We have time.”

  “My bridal shower is next Saturday. And the wedding is in less than four weeks.”

  I huffed, dropping my gun on an empty part of the table next to us before I grabbed her upper arms in my hands. “Ruby Grace, there is nothing that needs to be done in this moment. Everything will be okay. Everything will get done — and in time. I promise.”

  “But I can’t go anywhere right now. I’m not dressed for anything, unless we’re registering for wedding gifts at a department store or going to church,” she pointed out, gesturing to her knee-length sun dress and wedges.

  “That’s half the fun. We’ll figure out what we want to do and then buy the clothes we need to do it.”

  “But—”

  “You are spreading yourself so thin, you’re going to disappear completely by the time your wedding day gets here if you don’t take a moment to just live a little.”

  Her little bottom lip poked out at that, and I had to fight against the urge to pull her into me, frame that beautiful face, suck that lip between my teeth…

  “You’re tired. You need a break. We both do.” I paused, searching her worried gaze. “Trust me?”

  “No.”

  I laughed. “Liar.”

  She smiled a little at that, and then let out another long breath, her little shoulders giving way with it. “Okay. I trust you.”

  My heart did a little flip at that victory. “Good.”

  “But… Noah?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Before we go, we have to at least eliminate these plates down to less than one hundred.”

  She held up her gun, cringing at the screen.

  I chuckled, swiping my gun off the table and spinning it in my hand a few times before tucking it in the band of my jeans like a cowboy. “Lead the way, Bonnie.”

  “Does that make you Clyde?”

  “Of course.”

  “You know that story didn’t end very well, right?”

  I smirked, stepping into her space and lowering my voice so only she could hear. “I guess we’ll have to re-write an ending of our own.”

  I stood there a little too close, a little too long, eyes falling to her lips for the tiniest second before I caught her gaze again. And she didn’t say a word, didn’t swallow or step back. She just stood there, staring back at me, letting those words linger in the space between.

  She still hadn’t taken a breath when I finally walked away.

  Ruby Grace

  “No.”

  I crossed my arms, covering the new bathing suit top Noah had purchased me at the lake shop for our spontaneous “friend date.” It was all I wore — that new swim suit — but Noah was sitting on a beast of a machine, holding up a lifejacket he wanted me to put on over it.

  “Come on,” he said on a laugh, holding up the bright pink jacket again. “You’re wasting daylight, and I have more planned for this friend date.”

  “I’m not getting on that thing.”

  “It’s a jet ski,” he reminded me.

  “I know what it is, and I’m not getting on it.” I crossed my arms harder.

  “It’s just like riding a horse.”

  “No,” I argued, eyeing the beast. “On Tank, I knew you wouldn’t purposefully throw me off or do do
nuts or go sixty miles per hour.”

  “It tops out at forty-five.”

  I gave him a flat stare.

  “Fine,” he said on another laugh. “I’ll keep it under twenty until you’re comfortable. And trust me, by the end of the day, you’ll be begging me to let you drive. It’s fun. And it’s safe. Wear the life jacket and pay attention to other vessels on the water. It’s that simple.”

  I blew out a breath through my flat lips, making the same noise Tank made the night I met him as I stared at Noah, debating. It was a beautiful summer day, the sun high in the sky and beating down on my shoulders as a cool breeze drifted lazily over the blue water of Lake Stratford. It was only a half hour outside of town, and a resident favorite getaway — especially in the summer. Other boaters and jet skiers were already out enjoying the water, sunbathers lining the beach, fishermen dotting the rocky shores.

  When I finally uncrossed my arms and swiped the life jacket out of Noah’s hands, a victorious grin spread on his face.

  “You better not try to throw me off this thing, Noah Becker, or so help me.”

  He laughed, scooting up on the jet ski as I fastened the belts of the jacket around my waist. When I was all buckled in, I hopped on behind him, the tops of my thighs lining up with the backs of his, my chest to his back — which was bare, since he elected not to wear a lifejacket.

  I swallowed at the heat of him, the tanned, toned muscles of his back already glistening with water from when he jumped in the water before climbing onboard. His hair was a little longer than when I first met him, the ends of it dripping water down his neck, and I watched those little droplets of water with something similar to envy as I wrapped my hands around his middle, scooting a little closer.

  “You ready?” he asked over his shoulder, pressing the red button on the jet ski that fired the engine to life. It rumbled softly underneath us, and my heart picked up speed at the noise.

  “No.”

  He chuckled. “Hold on tight.”

  Without another word or warning, Noah pressed his thumb on the throttle, and we shot away from the shore.

  I yelped, nearly falling off backward before I gripped his abdomen tighter. “Noah!”

  I watched the speed climb the same way the grin on his face did. The numbers on the little screen increased too quickly — ten, fifteen, twenty, twenty-five. We flew over the soft waves of Lake Stratford, slicing through the water like a viper, and my heart threatened to leap out of my chest with each new acceleration.

  “I changed my mind. I want off. I want off!”

  Noah just laughed, his head tilting back a little before he reached with the hand not on the gas behind him. He squeezed my knee once reassuringly, glancing over his shoulder quickly before he turned back to the lake ahead.

  “It’s okay. I promise. Just trust me.”

  I stared at his hand on my knee, the warmth of it spreading over my entire leg before it dipped somewhere under the bottoms of my swim suit. He removed it just as fast as he had placed it there, and my heart raced in my chest for a completely different reason.

  I tried to calm my breathing, to find assurance in his promise that it would all be okay as my hair whipped in the wind behind me. But when a large boat crossed in front of us, leaving a massive wake, and Noah didn’t steer away from it, my eyes bulged.

  “Noah,” I said as a warning.

  He kept going, aimed straight for the large waves the boat had made when it passed.

  “Noah, don’t you dare.”

  “Hang on!”

  “Noah!”

  But it was too late. We hit the first wave made by the boat, the nose of the jet ski skipping up a few inches off the water. I screamed, gripping onto Noah so tight I thought I’d cut off his breathing. The next wave was even bigger, and the jet ski flew into the air, the roar of the engine ebbing a little at the loss of water pressure as we went airborne.

  I was still screaming, gripping, fearing for my life when we landed again, and this time Noah cut the wheel right, turning us along the edge of the waves instead of straight over them. We rode them fast and furious, catching another fit of air before we were out of the waves and back on the glassy water.

  I was pretty sure my stomach was still somewhere back behind us.

  Noah slowed down until we were stopped, floating in the middle of the lake to the tune of the soft, rumbling engine. He turned to look at me over his shoulder with a shit-eating grin.

  “That was fun.”

  I smacked his shoulder, shoving like I was going to push him off while I fought against a smile. “That was not fun! That was terrifying!”

  “Yeah? Why you smiling, then?”

  “I’m not smiling!” I insisted, but even as the words fell from my lips, I couldn’t fight the grin. I laughed, softly at first before it took over completely, and I laughed so hard I had to wrap my hands over my stomach, my forehead hitting the place between his shoulders as I tried to catch my breath.

  When I looked up again, Noah just quirked one brow in victory.

  I shook my head. “You’re infuriating, Noah Becker.”

  “I believe I was the first one to say that about you, Ruby Grace Barnett.”

  I smiled wider, blowing out a breath before running my hands back through my damp hair. “Okay. Fine. I admit it. That was fun.”

  “Told you.”

  “What now?”

  He grinned, thumb hovering over the throttle as he faced forward again. “Better wrap those beautiful arms around me again, sweetheart.”

  And I did, just in time for him to cut the wheel and floor it, spinning us in a donut circle that made huge, billowing waves around us. I was laughing and squealing, leaning into the turn with him when he cut the wheel again, and we went flying over the waves we’d made.

  I didn’t know how much time passed with him doing donuts and figure-eights and making waves bigger than the jet ski before he’d send us barreling over them, but I did know that the huge smile didn’t leave my face the entire time. My cheeks hurt by the time we finally slowed again, and we were both breathing hard, chests heaving with the adrenaline and excitement.

  “You’re wild,” I whispered on a laugh, trying to catch my breath.

  “What’s that?” he asked, grinning at me over his shoulder.

  “You’re wild!” I said louder, throwing my hands up in the air and turning my face to the sun. I closed my eyes, basking in the rays and the feeling of euphoria for a long moment. When I looked at Noah again, he was watching me, throat thick with a swallow as his eyes searched mine.

  The sun that had felt so light and airy just moments before seemed to beat down on us then, the heat unbearable, our lips so close where he tilted his head toward me, where I leaned into him.

  My hands slipped around his waist again, shaking a little as they settled over the ribs and valleys of his abdomen. I licked my lips, eyes falling to his before I caught his steel gaze once more.

  There were so many words I wanted to say in that moment, so many words that would have completely annihilated our friends only agreement.

  Kiss me.

  Touch me.

  I don’t feel this way with anyone else.

  Each new thought shocked me more than the last, and my lips parted, the effort to catch my breath lost somewhere in the wind that swept over us. I should have been thinking about Anthony, about our wedding, about everything I needed to get done for it, about everything we would do as a married couple in our life together.

  I should have been thinking about anything other than how much I wished Noah would cross the line we drew between us and capture my lips with his.

  He wanted me. I knew he wanted me. And I knew if I leaned in even another inch, he’d take me.

  So, with every ounce of willpower I had, I backed away, eyes floating down to the seat between us before I looked at him again, wearing a fake, everything’s okay smile.

  And instead of saying all the words whirring through my mind, I settled on t
hree safe ones, instead.

  “Can I drive?”

  Noah

  The sun was a lazy ball of fire riding on the evening clouds later that day when Ruby Grace and I spread out a large blanket on the beach. She was lying on her stomach, her legs slowly kicking in the air as she popped another strawberry between her lips. Her focus was on the lake, on the jet skis and boats and fishermen and tubers and swimmers.

  Mine was on her.

  The back of her swim suit top had shifted, showing me the lines the sun had already made on her skin that day. Her hips were narrow, her small ass curved and toned, her legs still the epitome of every man’s fantasy as she swung them gently in the air — back and forth, back and forth, ten manicured toes skating the sky.

  I would have been perfectly content to stare at her, just like that, for as long as I lived.

  Even if I couldn’t have her, if I couldn’t kiss her or touch her or pull her into me and shield her from every unwanted harm — just looking at her was a blessing. I felt her presence swell into my chest, filling me up in some way that I never would have realized before.

  Because I didn’t know I was empty.

  Not until she poured into my life.

  Ruby Grace’s content sigh brought me back to the moment as she shifted, rolling onto her side and propping her chin up with one hand. “So, what made you think of Stratford Lake for our friend date?”

  I took another bite of the sandwiches we’d bought from the lake’s convenient store, speaking around the mass of meat and bread in my mouth. “My dad used to bring all of us out here. It’s one of my favorite places.”

  Her face sobered. “And you brought me?”

  I shrugged. “I thought maybe it could become one of your favorite places, too.”

  A soft breeze rolled over us, brushing Ruby Grace’s wild hair back over her shoulders as a soft smile found her face. I marveled at the deep blue water of the lake behind her, the beige sand, the warm glow of the sun drifting in and out of the clouds. It was the kind of view an artist would stop time for, pulling out their easel or camera or pen and paper to capture the moment in whatever way they could.