Adrian pulled back without warning, first his mouth and then his body. She opened her eyes and stared at him, a little stunned at how quickly that had gotten out of hand. His expression was wild, turbulent, and he took another step back.
She drew in a steadying breath. “That was definitely not a peck.”
“What that was...” He paused, shaking his head slowly. “...was a really bad idea.”
CHAPTER FOUR
ADRIAN WAS TRYING to avoid Ruby, but that was nearly impossible in the confines of their resort cabin. Not that the place was small by any stretch of the imagination. It was built in a U-shape that enclosed a pool and opened to the ocean. The entrance was at the bottom of the U and led into the main room, with its high ceilings and low couches. It had an airy, modern design but was still relaxed.
On one side of the building was the bedroom. The only bedroom. It was open, with large windows that showcased the ocean and a king-size bed facing the view. The walk-in closet was big enough to be a room in any Manhattan apartment, and the en suite bathroom was enormous, with sleek gray tile. There were probably lots of other details he might have picked up on if he hadn’t been in such a hurry to get the hell away from the room.
He told Ruby that she could take the bedroom and he’d take the couch. She gave him a skeptical glance and told him he could at least take the walk-in closet. He wasn’t sure if it was supposed to be a joke, but he left his suitcases in there anyway.
So that left a little over one hundred and fifty hours to get through before he was safely on the plane and out of bedroom-distance from Ruby. Soon after the kiss that he was not going to think about, she’d asked him to pose for a set of photos that involved his hand, some flowers and the handwritten welcome note from the resort’s “wishmaker,” who was responsible for granting a wish to the resort’s elite clientele during their stay. Why anyone would be interested in pictures of these things was beyond him, but he didn’t have any better ideas, so he kept that comment to himself.
After taking photos, Ruby disappeared with her computer, and he tried to sit in the living room and focus on a book. That proved impossible.
A flash of red caught his eye, and he couldn’t look away as she walked out of the bedroom and onto the lanai, wearing only a tiny red-and-white-striped bikini. He watched the scene through the glass of the French doors, like a movie he’d buried deep in his mind. She dropped her towel on a chaise lounge chair and wandered over to the pool. Her long, dark hair rippled down her back as she walked, brushing against her skin, leaving the arch of her back exposed.
Fuck. Before his brain had fully registered that he was staring, his dick was hard, and he was right back where he’d been in the hallway, dying to push her up against the wall and give in to all the torturous temptation of her soft body. But he had already messed up once. He really, really shouldn’t be watching her like this.
Off-limits. Period.
Now even the living room was a land mine, so that left the kitchen. Adrian paced, the tile cool against his bare feet, trying to figure out what the hell he was supposed to do with himself.
Having a fully functioning kitchen seemed like overkill in this place, considering all the full-service meal options. But there was a coffeepot, a reminder that waiting around for service wasn’t really his idea of paradise. What else was the kitchen stocked with? Adrian walked over to the row of cabinets and began his inspection, opening doors, noting the selection of pots, pans and utensils. There was also a curious assortment of food in one of the cabinets, with basics like flour, salt and coffee—thank God—but also some sort of chili peppers and...banana leaves? Huh.
The white cabinets were topped with gray stone countertops, and there was a small oven and gas burners. He opened the refrigerator and found it stocked with fruits, vegetables and an assortment of other foods, including a big hunk of dough labeled masa, whatever that was. A list hanging neatly on the refrigerator door included all the food he had found, suggesting that these items must have been ordered by Cristina and James. In their preoccupation with whatever was happening that week, they probably hadn’t thought to cancel.
Adrian frowned. It would be a shame to put all this food to waste. What had they planned to make with all this?
He stared at the cilantro and chicken breasts in the refrigerator. He had spent some time learning to cook for himself—it was that or a lifetime of takeout—but he hadn’t gotten much further than the basics. Once, in his early days of culinary exploration, he’d seen some show where cooks were given a few, random ingredients, and they had to make a meal using all of it...
The beginnings of a plan began to emerge, one that would hopefully occupy him for a while. He pulled out a stool at the breakfast bar and brought the tablet on the counter to life. Time for a little research. Tomatoes, chicken, masa... He typed a handful of ingredients into the search engine and scrolled through the results.
It was a testament to how well this puzzle was occupying his thoughts that he didn’t hear Ruby approaching until she was close. Really close. She passed by him, and he forced himself not to watch her. Step, step, step. Her flip-flops hit the tile, then the quiet knock of cupboard doors and the clink of glass mixed with the shush of the ocean off in the distance. The water from the faucet ran, then stopped. Adrian swallowed and kept his eyes on the screen in front of him. He was not going to stare.
Step, step, step. Ruby was coming closer again. He steeled himself against the onslaught of desire shooting through him. Block it out. She’ll be gone soon.
Then her glass clinked down on the counter, really close.
“I see you brought shorts and T-shirts, too.” Her voice had that low, husky tone, and he could feel her sizing him up, heating every part of him. Ignoring her wasn’t going to work.
Reluctantly, he schooled his expression to neutral and looked up at her. Ruby was leaning on the counter just a few inches away, resting on her forearms, her breasts barely covered by the bikini top. He was absolutely not going to look directly at them.
“I even brought a swimsuit,” he said, trying to keep his tone dry. “There are benefits to a larger suitcase.”
He caught a hint of a smile on her lips. “What are you doing?”
“Looking up recipes.”
Ruby’s laughter filled the room, unrestrained, musical and filled with delight. He fought to hold back his own smile.
“That is not what I expected you to say,” she said, catching her breath. “You know this place has meal service, right?”
He grunted in response, then sighed. “Cristina and James ordered a bunch of ingredients, so I thought I’d put them to use.”
“Interesting. And perfect for taking photos.” She tilted her head a little, watching him. “Well, what did you find? Maybe I can come up with something.”
“Do you cook?”
“Not really.”
The corners of his mouth tugged up, and he met her gaze. “Generous of you to offer your help.”
Ruby rolled her eyes. “The ingredients?”
“Chicken, cilantro, tomatoes, something called masa and banana leaves.” He crossed his arms and waited, trying not to look too smug.
Her brow wrinkled, and she was quiet. Then she smiled. “Are there peppers? Hot and regular?”
He blinked. “Yes.”
“I’ll be right back.” Ruby disappeared from the kitchen and reappeared a moment later, phone in hand. After a few moments of scrolling, she looked up from the screen. “Cristina was going to make tamales.”
“What?”
“Tamales are traditional Christmas food, not just in Mex—”
“I know what tamales are,” he grumbled, cutting her off. “I mean how the hell did you figure that out?”
Ruby flashed him a smile. “Her posts on social media. They’re a great example of personal branding.”
Adrian groan
ed. Three years ago, when she’d confronted him on his refusal to go through her personal-brand tutorial, he may or may not have described it as “a useless waste of time.” Apparently, she had been waiting for this moment to prove him wrong, judging from the smug satisfaction in her smile.
“I thought I remembered seeing these when I was scheduling some posts. Cristina and her assistant documented taste-testing some of her grandmother’s recipes last month.” Ruby turned the phone for him to see. “She and James must have planned to make tamales for the holiday.”
He looked down at her phone, and sure enough, there were many of the ingredients he had found, all chopped and presented in matching white bowls. Ruby scrolled through more of the magazine-quality photos of Cristina stewing the chicken, Cristina folding the banana leaves...
Adrian’s mind started to wander, and he made the mistake of letting his gaze wander, too. Her phone was right in front of her breasts, round and barely covered by little triangles of red-and-white-striped material. Her nipples poked at the bikini top. Two perfect handfuls. Or mouthfuls. His mouth watered as his brain came to a stuttering stop.
“Um, Adrian?” The sound of his name shook a little sense into him, and his gaze snapped up to meet hers. “You want Cristina’s recipe?”
She tapped the photo on her phone, the one she had been trying to get him to look at. But he had been too mesmerized by her breast to notice.
“I’ll figure the food out on my own,” he grumbled, ignoring her phone. Hopefully she’d take the hint and walk away. Far away.
But Ruby didn’t move. Her eyes narrowed, and a mocking smile teased at her lips. “Were you...dismissing me?”
“I think we’re done with the conversation.” He frowned, and her smile grew wider.
“I’m not. I came in here because we need to look at our schedule to figure out what we’re doing this week.” She gestured to the tablet.
Adrian cleared the screen and clicked on the resort’s scheduling app. Ruby leaned closer, and the scent of coconut conjured images of the beach, of sex on the beach...
“It doesn’t say where we’re going tomorrow, just that we’ve reserved a boat and two guides.” She scanned through more of the days. “No outings on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, a coastal beach tour on the twenty-sixth, and horseback riding on the day after. Then we leave the next morning.”
“Those dinners from around the world are scheduled to be delivered every night except Christmas Eve.”
“Which is probably where the tamales come in.” She paused. “I’ve also been thinking that calling each other by different names is going to be difficult.”
He shrugged. “I suppose it might be.”
“So I propose we make up nicknames for each other, like honey or sweetheart. Something that comes naturally.”
He frowned. “None of that comes naturally.”
Her eyes sparkled with amusement. “What about dumpling? Or maybe pumpkin?”
He gave her his driest look. “I’ll think about it.”
He waited for her to leave, but she didn’t. She was still close enough to touch, and it was killing him.
“I think we should talk about what happened in the hallway.”
“No. We definitely should not.” Adrian shook his head vigorously, trying to block out the memory of her warm mouth opening, her soft, lush body against his... “No. I made a mistake. I shouldn’t have done that.”
Ruby gave a snort of laughter. “You did that? I believe I taunted you.”
“Still, I should have cut it off. It was completely inappropriate.”
He frowned at her, but it clearly didn’t put a dent in her amusement. “In the best possible way.”
His jaw was clenched tight, so he grunted his dissention.
“Come on, you know it was.” She waggled her eyebrows at him.
She was teasing him now. Adrian massaged his forehead. He had to get this conversation under control before she took her taunting to a new level. He swallowed. “It’s inappropriate just by nature of my higher status in the company.”
Ruby’s eyes widened a little, and then she laughed. “Just listening to you talk like that makes me hot, you know.”
Adrian scowled at her, but she ignored it.
“I know we probably shouldn’t but...” Her eyes glittered with mischief. “I’ll admit I thoroughly enjoyed that kind of inappropriate.”
Adrian blew out a breath. It was time to just level with her, no matter how bad it made him look. “I’m glad you enjoyed it. I, on the other hand, feel like a goddamn lecher. Like the kind of guy who’d go to high school football games long after he graduated just to watch the cheerleaders.”
Understanding registered in her eyes. It was a reference to the damn cheerleader Halloween costume that had him in knots for days. That he still thought about some nights. Except the gleam in her eyes suggested his comment was having the opposite effect he’d intended. A flush spread over her cheeks. “You were into my cheerleader costume.” Delight bubbled in her voice. “Marita said she caught you looking, but I thought she was joking.”
Clearly, he wasn’t as good at hiding his attraction as he thought he was. Adrian gave her his stoniest glare, but she ignored it.
“Guess what?” she fake-whispered. “I wanted you to notice me that day. And when I got home, I did more than just think about it.”
His cock was hardening in his shorts. “You’re not helping.”
She laughed. “I’m not trying to. Just getting my head around it.”
He had the urge to escape. If they were anywhere else, he would have walked out by now. It was how he handled everything he didn’t want to deal with: exit. But here at the Kalani Resort, mostly cabin-bound for a week, she had him cornered.
She wasn’t going to let this go. He massaged his temples, trying to figure out what the hell to say.
From the first time she’d walked into the NY Creatives Media office, Ruby had made him feel ornery, even more than usual. So why the hell couldn’t he stop getting hard for her? She was young and careless and got drunk at the office happy hour. Who had such exceedingly poor judgment to hook up with a coworker in the hallway of a Hell’s Kitchen bar? Ruby, that’s who. Yes, Raj was a good guy, and yes, some of Adrian’s judgment was mixed with the jealousy that had slammed into him when he’d caught them. Why had he been jealous?
Ruby was the opposite of what he was looking for. He wanted a family. A partner to eat dinner with, to sleep next to, to laugh with. Someone who understood him, respected that it took time for him to sort out what he wanted to say. Who wouldn’t use his weaknesses against him. It was that simple, or at least it should have been. So why did he have yet another hard-on for a woman who intentionally provoked him? Ruby was so foolishly, seductively carefree. Five years ago, in their first weeks of pregnancy, he’d had these same thoughts about Victoria. Maybe Ruby wasn’t any of the other things that Victoria was, but that still should have been enough to make him steer clear of her.
And yet, ever since she’d waltzed into his office at the ripe age of twenty-two, going on in that cheerful voice about social media and his “personal brand” for God’s sake, he couldn’t get her out of his head.
Adrian ran a hand through his hair. “Look, what happened earlier was a mistake. Let’s just agree not to do it again and move on. It’s that simple.”
Ruby raised an eyebrow. “Does it work like that?”
She was leaning over the counter, her breasts dangling in front of him like two peaches in the middle of his own personal desert. He bit back a groan as all his reasons to stay away faded. Holy hell, he wanted her, and he was absolutely not going to do anything about it.
Off. Limits.
“Of course it works that way,” he grumbled, then added, “for adults, it does.”
Ruby gave him an irritatingly sweet smile. “I’ll ta
ke your word for it. You have many, many more years of experience in that area.”
CHAPTER FIVE
RUBY SCROLLED THROUGH the photos she’d uploaded from her phone. She’d already scheduled all of today’s posts not long after they arrived, and now she needed to plan photo scenarios and play around with the wording for tomorrow’s. It wouldn’t take long to fine-tune the images and captions. Ideally, she could get ahead enough to have a few days at the end without work, which shouldn’t be difficult. After all, she was surrounded by paradise. The ocean was straight off the back of their place, just past the row of pineapple bushes—pineapples grew on bushes?—and in the shade, the temperature was hovering right around perfect. Getting a week’s worth of beautiful pictures should be easy...if she could just get Adrian to do some more intimate poses.
She looked through the French doors, into the main room, where he was currently reading a book on the couch. Good God, he was so irritating. The only way to handle him was to beat him at his own game. In this case, it meant finding a way to make him regret that “adults” comment. Mature? No. Satisfying? Definitely.
Ruby sighed and closed her laptop, then headed through the French doors to the bedroom. She plugged it in next to her phone and stretched. It was time to put away work and figure out how to occupy herself with real-life experiences in this tropical heaven. She’d been swimming twice today, and both times had been half for her own enjoyment and half to toy with Adrian, though he may not have noticed. A couple had passed by on stand-up paddleboards, which might be fun, but it would be a lot better with someone else. Considering the way Adrian had been avoiding her since they arrived, Ruby was pretty sure he’d say no if she asked.
She wandered back outside, passing the table where she’d been working in favor of a lounge chair. She lay back on the warm cushions, propping one leg up, soaking in the sun. What time was it? Too late to get a sunburn, hopefully. Sunbathing never had been her thing, but the chair was perfectly positioned for a view into the living room.
Pure Satisfaction--A Hot Holiday Romance Page 4
