Page 42 of Lessons in Heartbreak

“Good.” My voice sounded gruff, and she must have heard it, too, because she pulled her eyes away from mine and looked down at the ground. “Could you see yourself wearing this on a nice date?”

Ruby tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and inhaled slowly before she raised her head again. Her answering nod was serious and slow.

“How much was it?” she asked. “I don’t usually spend a lot on clothes.”

“Why don’t you try on the next two, and we’ll talk about that later.”

She pursed her lips, clearly gearing up to argue, but thought better of it after seeing my face.

Like I’d take a fucking penny for those clothes.

Out of the corner of my eye, I watched her walk back to her bedroom, then glance quickly over her shoulder, our gazes locking briefly before she fully closed the door. I breathed out slowly through my nose while I waited.

A muffled bark came from the kitchen, and when I walked through, I found Bruiser waiting patiently by the back slider. At the sight of me, he jumped up on the door, splaying his front paws on the glass and wiggling his body back and forth in an excited little dance.

Upon entering the house, he circled me immediately, leaning up against my legs for a scratch. “You’re the worst guard dog in the world, you know that?”

His response was to let his pink tongue loll out his mouth while I patted the side of his belly firmly.

Ruby entered the kitchen in a deep wine–colored cocktail dress with a halter neckline and a flirty skirt that ended above her knees. This one showed her shoulders and a hint of clavicle—one of the sexiest and most underrated bones in the human body, if you asked me—and I made a low noise of satisfaction deep in my throat.

“I was right,” I murmured, circling her where she stood in the middle of the room.

“About what?” she asked, voice slightly above a whisper.

“That color is perfect for you.”

She shifted to the side just as I came up behind her, and I tilted my head. “What is it?”

“Nothing, I just ... I couldn’t get the zipper done up all the way in the back. It’s fine.”

“No, no. We need to make sure it fits,” I said, easing closer. She’d been able to pull the gold zipper up to her shoulder blades, and even though the glimpse of skin was brief—flawless, pale skin with a smattering of tiny freckles on either side of the delicate bumps of herspine—my throat went dry all the same. There was a tiny eye hook at the top of the halter, and I brushed her hair out of the way before using my other hand to tug the zipper into place.

Ruby had gone still as a statue, so perfectly unmoving that I wasn’t even sure she was breathing. Odd—I was having a hard time pulling air into my own lungs while I fastened the eye hook shut so that the dress fit properly.

“Let’s see,” I instructed, willing my voice to work properly.

It wasn’t Ruby, per se. It couldn’t be. There was no universe in which pulling up a zipper, covering a woman’s body with a dress, would turn me on. But there I was, half-hard in her kitchen because of a glimpse of her back.

Slowly, she turned, and my eyes dragged over the fit of the dress.

“Perfect,” I whispered. “You look beautiful. Do you feel it?”

Her inhale was shaky, and I found myself breathless, waiting for a response. I wanted her to feel beautiful. To feel desirable. But mostly, I still wanted her to feel like Ruby.

“I-I’m going to try on something else,” she said, her eyes flickering slightly as she stared up into my face.

She moved past me, and I was able to suck in a breath. Before she walked into her room, I called her name. “The blue bag next. Save the black bag for work tomorrow.”

“What about the gray-striped bag?” she asked.

With a small hum, I conjured up the image of what was waiting inside that one. “Save that one for a special occasion.”

Her brow furrowed, but she nodded, disappearing behind the door.

When she was out of sight, I blew out a harsh breath and rubbed the back of my neck. Bruiser was sitting at my feet, watching me with knowing eyes.

“Listen, buddy, my intentions are pure.” His head tilted, and there was an unconvinced twitch to his ears that I didn’t like. “Did you see that dress? Anyone would get turned on, okay? Don’t act like you’ve never gotten an inconvenient boner.”

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