Page 87 of Her Ruin

I pulled my phone out of my back jeans pocket. The screen opened on face recognition.

I’m craving tasting you. I want to tongue fuck you all night long

I almost dropped the phone at the sudden rush of heat that engulfed my body.Holy shit.

“All okay?” Julian asked curiously.

“Absolutely fine,” I lied, giving him a smile, and saw the next message come in.

What time will you be here? I need to fuck you.

Will you stop! I’m having dinner with Julian!!

Fuck Julian.

Tell him I said hi

do not EVER fuck Julian

Oh fuck, tell me he didn’t teach you how to deepthroat

STOP TEXTING ME

and eeeeew GROSS

He sent a laughing emoji, and I loved this lighthearted banter. It made me smile. I wanted to go and meet him, but I couldn’t. Shoving my phone in my pocket, I looked up and saw Julian watching me.

“You’ve met a guy?” he asked with a speculative look. “Who?” When I went to protest, he put his fork down and folded his arms. “Woman, I know everything there is about you. I know the happy-glowy-Isla look. You’re glowy. Tell me everything.”

“It’s a guy I met at work.” Not a lie. “We hit it off.” Kind of a lie. “He’s funny.” Not a lie and also heartwarmingly true. “He’s just being silly.” And melting my heart.

“He sounds nice.” Julian resumed eating. “What’s his name, and why am I only hearing about him now?”

“It’s new.” I couldn’t think of one man’s name right then. Nothing. “I wanted to see how we got on first.”

Julian snorted, pouring himself some wine, and seeing my glass was still full, he topped up his glass a little more. “From the red cheeks, I think you’re getting onfine.”

“Shut up.”

“When do I meet him?” he asked, finishing his dinner, and I knew it was a perfectly innocent question. Julian had met all my past boyfriends within about a week of dating. I just had no answer this time.

“Be patient,” I told him as I stood up. “Let me see if I like him first. We haven’t even been on a date.” This wasn’t a lie.

“I want details as soon as you do.” He got up and followed me to the sink. “Then I meet him, right?”

I scraped my plate into the trash, avoiding eye contact yet again. “Absolutely.”

After we cleared the plates, we settled down to watch a movie. My phone thankfully didn’t buzz again, but I noticed Julian was more restless than normal. I hit pause on the remote.

“What’s going on with you?”

“Me?” He gave me a wide smile. “Nothing.”

“Julian?”

He rolled his eyes. “I’ve seen this one.” He gestured to the TV. “It turns really sad, and you’re going to cry like a baby.” He sighed. “I wouldn’t mention it, but you have that morning breakfast meeting event, don’t you?”

I looked at the TV accusingly. “I am an ugly crier.” I turned back to Julian who was nodding in sympathy. “Why wouldn’t you tell me earlier? I’m invested now!”

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