Pure Satisfaction--A Hot Holiday Romance

by Rebecca Hunter

  “Mom?”

  “Yes?”

  “What would you say if I met someone now? If I was having second thoughts about waiting?”

  The line was quiet again. Ruby traced the path of the snowflakes falling down to the street below, waiting for an answer.

  “I pressed you to break up with Jimmy just because he was wrong for you,” her mother said quietly.

  “You were right about that one.”

  “What about this guy? Is he right for you?”

  Ruby gave a little snort of laughter. “Debatable.”

  “Will he hold you back?”

  Would he? She thought back to that moment on the plane when she’d had the urge to give Adrian what he wanted. “I’m more scared about what I’d be willing to compromise.”

  Her mother sighed. “That’s the hardest part, Ru. Just promise me you’ll be honest about what you want from the start. I think that was my biggest regret. Not saying all the things I wanted from the beginning.”

  “I don’t even know if he wants anything with me.”

  “Oh, sweetheart, I’m sure he does. You’re incredible. If he doesn’t, he’s an idiot and doesn’t deserve your attention anyway.”

  Ruby caught her own reflection in the window and found she was smiling. She was twenty-five, and her mother’s approval still made her glow inside.

  “Thanks, Mom,” she said. “Miss you.”

  “Miss you, too.”

  Ruby hung up the phone and stared out the window into the night. What would Adrian say if she just laid out what she wanted? Would he be willing to try dating, just to see where it led?

  Chances were good he’d say no. Because in the end, he wanted a baby, and she wasn’t ready for that. But if she didn’t try for what she wanted, she’d never get it.

  Ruby walked back to her mirror and applied her mascara. She took the cap off her cherry-red lipstick and carefully traced her lips with it. The earrings Dena had bought her for Christmas were perfect for New Year’s Eve, a glittery cascade of gold that dangled just above her shoulders, and she added the chain with a simple gold pendant that her parents had sent her.

  As she fastened her favorite gold bracelet onto her wrist, there was a knock on her bedroom door. Dena peeked in a moment later. “You ready, Ruby?”

  “Almost.”

  “Benjamin thinks it’ll be impossible to get a cab if we wait too long.”

  “I’ll hurry.”

  Normally Ruby loved hanging around Dena and Benjamin, but tonight, she wasn’t in the mood to watch them look into each other’s eyes. Selfish, yes, so Ruby had kept her mouth shut.

  She sighed and sifted through her closet for her black wool coat and the soft red scarf that would double as a shawl. Then she grabbed her wallet and phone from her dresser, ready to stuff them into her little black purse. But when she glanced down at her phone, she froze. There was a message from Adrian.

  Her heart took off. Not once had he contacted her since they’d walked off the plane. Was it fate that he was contacting her now?

  Easy, girl.

  It was probably something disappointingly practical. Or maybe he’d ask her for one last night before the new year came, and his search for his age-appropriate future wife began. Time to rein in her expectations.

  She took a deep breath and opened the message.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  I miss you. Badly.

  RUBY SANK BACK onto her bed, staring at the screen. Her heart pounded in her chest, and her stomach fluttered. A longing for him was filling her, from the deepest parts of her. Her body was alive with the memory of him.

  “Ruby? You ready yet?” Dena’s voice came through the door again.

  “Hang on,” she called.

  Ruby typed in her reply.

  R u drunk?

  Nope. I’m not in my twenties, remember?

  She chuckled. Adrian Wentworth probably never drunk-texted women, even in his twenties. Maybe she should invite him to her place for sex, and then bring up the dating thing? She’d meant to give this a little more thought, make a plan or something, but oh, how she wanted to see him.

  Ruby stared at the phone. After a long, fortifying breath, she typed an answer.

  Miss you too.

  Can we talk?

  After days of radio silence, he wanted to talk now, on New Year’s Eve? Dena and her boyfriend were waiting in the living room for her, but this wouldn’t take long. Just a few minutes. Her hands shook as she typed out her answer.

  OK

  She sent the message and stared down at her phone, waiting for him to call. Just one more time, listening to his voice, and if Adrian didn’t want to try for something more, then she’d put him behind her.

  A new message appeared.

  I’m outside your building. Can I come in?

  Her heart took another leap as she stared down at the message. He knew her address? And...talking in person? Right now? Beautiful, grumpy, ancient-Greek-statue Adrian Wentworth wanted to come to her apartment? The warning lights were flashing in her mind, mistake, mistake. This definitely could be a mistake. Or it could be the best decision of her life.

  Her heart was pounding in her chest, sending a message, loud and clear. Except she didn’t know what the message was. After one more breath, she ignored the warning lights and typed her answer.

  Apt 214

  Ruby dropped her phone and headed out of her room, straight for the front door. She passed Dena and Benjamin, sitting on the couch dressed in full winter gear. They craned their necks, tracking her as she crossed the room.

  “Is everything okay?” Dena asked.

  “Go on to the party without me,” she said quickly. “I need to take care of something.”

  Dena didn’t get up. She and Benjamin looked at each other, then back at her. Ruby reached the door just as the buzzer rang.

  “You didn’t order pizza, did you?” Dena asked. “I told you there will be tons of food at Yasmin’s.”

  “It’s not pizza. It’s, um, a person.” The weight of Dena’s stare on her was heavy, so Ruby turned to face the door. “Seriously, you don’t have to wait for me.”

  “I’ll see who this is first, thanks,” Dena said, smiling.

  Ruby was too nervous to argue. She stood by the door, staring at it, as footsteps sounded in the hallway. Adrian’s knock came, and her heart jumped in her chest as she turned the knob.

  The door swung open, and her breath caught in her throat. Adrian stood in her doorway. Snowflakes decorated his coat and the scarf that was bundled around his neck. A few more snowflakes were stuck to the brim of his newsboy cap. Short curls stuck out from underneath his hat, and his cheeks were pink from the cold.

  Ruby took a deep breath and met his gaze. Everything else around them melted away. Gone was the stern CFO of NY Creatives Media, and in front of her was the Adrian she’d known in Hawaii. He was looking at her the way he had that last time in the pool, when he was deep inside her. When she’d begged him to take care of her. When he’d said he would.

  Words were gone, and her body was alive with desire and warmth and joy. The force of this swirl of emotions took her breath away.

  She had replayed that moment in the pool so many times, enough to question her own memory of it. Maybe she’d imagined the intensity of it? Maybe she’d read too far into his words? But now she knew she hadn’t. Everything she’d seen that last time together was here in his expression as he stood in her doorway: desire, vulnerability, hope, and something she wasn’t ready to name.

  Adrian took a step toward her. Another one. He was standing so close now. His gaze wandered over her face like he was taking it in, her eyes, her cheeks, her lips... He was going to kiss her. She could feel it, and there was nothing in the world she wanted more than to kiss him. Ruby tipped her head, bringing her lips closer
to his, and slowly he lowered his mouth—

  “Are you going to invite your friend in?”

  Dena’s voice snapped her back to reality, and Ruby pulled away. Adrian blinked at Dena, like he was just as thrown off as Ruby was.

  “Come in,” she whispered.

  She took a deep breath and stepped back, and Adrian walked into her apartment. Ruby shut the door behind him, using the moment to gather herself together. Hazarding a glance across the room, she found both Dena and Benjamin staring, wide-eyed, at Adrian.

  “Dena, Benjamin, this is Adrian Wentworth.” She gestured to him. “He’s a, um, work colleague.”

  Dena’s eyes widened. “Hothole Adrian?”

  Adrian cleared his throat, and Ruby grimaced. He’d come up in conversations about work before, and not in a good way. This was just one more reason Ruby hadn’t wanted to discuss Hawaii when she came home. Dena had prodded her for more information about her mystery Christmas trip, but Ruby had skirted around the details. She’d mumbled something about work, and Dena had definitely picked up on her somber mood since she’d returned. Apparently, that was just enough information for Dena to read this situation.

  Ruby glanced at Adrian. He swiped a hand over his mouth, but she was almost sure he was fighting a smile.

  “You two really should catch that cab to Yasmin’s.” She gave Dena a meaningful look.

  “You sure?” Her friend’s voice was more serious.

  Ruby nodded. “I’ll catch up with you.”

  Dena let out a sigh and stood up. She and Benjamin pulled on their gloves and hats and started for the door. Benjamin kissed Ruby on the cheek and tipped his chin at Adrian.

  Dena gave him a skeptical look. “Be on your best behavior, Adrian Wentworth. I like your hat.”

  He smiled a little. “Thanks. A pleasure to meet you.”

  Then she turned to hug Ruby. “Text me. Seriously.”

  Dena and Benjamin walked out the door, and Ruby was alone with Adrian. Truthfully, she was ready to get right to that kiss, but the interruption had brought a little more of her good sense back.

  “Come in,” she said again, nodding toward the couch. “Can I get you something to drink?”

  He shook his head. He was looking at her the way he had when she’d opened the door. She already knew she wasn’t going to turn down sex with him. Maybe it was better to just skip the conversation and get it over with right now. Then she’d have more time at Yasmin’s to stave off the emptiness when he was gone again.

  Adrian sat down on the couch and took off his hat. He leaned forward, his legs spread, his forearms resting on his thighs. He closed his eyes, and his shoulders rose and fell. God, it was unfair how beautiful he was. Her apartment was suddenly much too warm. She tugged at the scarf around her neck.

  “If you’re here for sex, I want you to know that I’m fine with that,” she said, keeping her voice even. “More than fine. But I want to talk, too.”

  Adrian shook his head slowly. “I’m not here for sex, Ruby.”

  Her cheeks flushed. The longer she stood here with him, the more she realized she’d been lying to herself all along. Cutting things off wouldn’t help. She was already falling for him, against all better judgment.

  Adrian scrubbed his face with his hands, and when he looked back up at her, she could see dark circles under his eyes. The flush from the cold had hidden them, but they were there. He opened his mouth as if to speak, then closed it. He stood up and walked toward her, then stopped in front of her and raised a hand to her cheek. It was warm, and his touch was heartbreakingly gentle. “You look beautiful, Ruby.”

  She swallowed. There was so much tenderness in his voice. “I hope you didn’t come all this way to say that.”

  He shook his head. “I came over to tell you that I’m falling in love with you.”

  Ruby’s breath caught in the back of her throat. She stared at him. He was falling in love with her?

  “What happened to not lusting after a woman thirteen years younger than you who wears a cheerleader costume to work?” She tried to make her voice sound light, but she could hear it didn’t. She sounded nervous.

  “You’re my exception. You’re important enough to make me break my own rules,” he said, caressing her cheek. “Will you make an exception for me? Just the relationship part. No other compromises.”

  Oh, how she wanted that. But her mother’s words were still fresh in her mind. She needed to be honest, right from the start.

  “I saw how badly you wanted a baby when we walked onto the plane,” she whispered. “I’m really not ready for that...”

  “I do want a family,” he said quietly. “But I can wait. And if I have to choose between having a baby and having you, I choose you.”

  Her breaths were shaky. She wanted so badly for this to be real. Please, please, let it be.

  He continued, “As my sister so wisely pointed out, families come in many forms. It’s love that makes a family, not kids.”

  That was probably the wisest statement she had heard in a long time. “Sounds like I’d definitely like her.”

  “She’s much smarter than I am. Clearly.”

  Ruby smiled. “I do want kids, though. Just not right now.”

  He nodded. “One step at a time. Our week together was the best thing that’s ever happened to me,” he said with a hint of a smile. “That’s what I want. Everything else is a bonus.”

  A smile twitched at the corners of her mouth, too. “You want me to say yes to this, right now?”

  “That would be the best outcome in my mind,” he said, amusement glimmering in his eyes. “But I’m prepared for the long game.”

  She lifted her hand to his hair and pulled him closer. His lips brushed hers, warm and familiar. Pleasure shot through her, with a hot, aching need building inside. He opened his lips, and she slid her tongue against his. He groaned and matched each stroke with his own until they were both panting.

  “Yes,” she whispered. “Yes.”

  He cupped her face with his hands. “You have no idea how much I want you right now. But I’m not going to want to leave here if we start. And I came to invite you to my apartment for New Year’s Eve. Central Park looks amazing right now, and we can watch the fireworks from my living room.”

  Her eyebrows shot up. “You have a view of Central Park?”

  “I do. Just for you.” The corners of Adrian’s eyes crinkled. He looked happy, really happy.

  * * *

  Ruby was here, in his apartment. Snow was falling, lighting up Central Park below, and she sat cross-legged on his couch, looking out the window, dressed in a short black dress and thigh-high stockings. The thought that she had planned to go to a party, drink champagne and spend the evening without him was heart-stopping. He had come so close to missing his chance to spend New Year’s Eve with her, all because he was a stupid fucking idiot who couldn’t let go of his own rules long enough to see what was right in front of him. Luckily, Sydney had talked some sense into him.

  And now that she had, Adrian was starting to see all the ways he’d been lying to himself. Their week at the Kalani Resort was an answer to the wish he hadn’t been willing to make. All his dating rules and limits weren’t about finding the right match. They were to minimize risks. To avoid getting hurt again. It wasn’t a baby that had been the source of all this longing. He could see that now. The kind of connection he felt with Ruby was what he’d been searching for this whole time.

  “I never would have guessed you’re a closet minimalist,” Ruby said over her shoulder.

  “Not me. It’s my sister,” he said from the kitchen. “She does interior design for high-end residences. I really do think you’d like her.”

  He’d left his apartment mostly bare for months after he bought it until Sydney had insisted on fixing it up.

  “No wonder you lured
me back to your lair,” she said. “I’m never leaving this place.”

  “Fine by me,” he said. “Judging by how long it took to get a cab here, I don’t think you could get home anytime soon, even if you want to.”

  He glanced at the clock. Midnight was coming soon, and he wanted everything to be perfect when the fireworks went off. He set two plates onto a tray next to the cheese, crackers, olives and strawberries that he and Ruby had bought at the corner store. It had taken hours to get from her apartment to his, but he didn’t mind, and she didn’t seem to, either. They had spent it talking about the future. He carried the food over to the coffee table in front of the couch. He returned to the kitchen for the bottle of champagne and two glasses, then placed those on the coffee table as well.

  Finally, he sat down next to her.

  “Thank you for coming to my place to invite me here,” she said softly. “Seriously. This is amazing.”

  “My pleasure,” he said. It was impossible to describe how right it felt to see her here. The connection between them was different now that they were back in New York, more intense, and she was looking at him with a hint of wonder in her eyes. He studied her for signs of hesitation but didn’t find any.

  “Ready to celebrate?” she asked.

  “Me?” He raised an eyebrow. “Always.”

  She laughed and picked up the bottle of champagne, twisting off the cork. Fizz spilled from the top, and she picked up a glass, poured and gave it to him, then did the same for herself.

  “To us,” he said, and they clinked glasses.

  She leaned over and kissed his neck, then wrinkled her brow. “What will we say at work?”

  Adrian sighed. “I still haven’t figured that out. Maybe just say that I’m the asshole who couldn’t stay away from you?”

  Ruby laughed. “And I’m your victim in that scenario? Um...no way.”

  He squeezed her, and a little more of the years of built-up tension left him.

  “You’re not an asshole, you know,” she whispered. “Not in the ways that really count. I would never fall in love with an asshole.”