Page 52 of Holding You
CHAPTER TEN
DECLAN
Setting the rules last night was a good idea.
It was something we should have thought about doing before Susie and I actually moved in, but as we discussed, there are going to be a handful of moments when we need to make a ruling as they arise.
I jog up the stairs, the image of Ruby in her pajamas last night still on my mind.
It was a random pair of sleep shorts and a short-sleeved T-shirt. They weren’t even matching. They weren’t revealing. I mean, sure, the shorts were short and maybe if she moved in a certain way I’d have seen more, but everything about it was pretty modest. Which turned me on even more. She revealed just enough to tease.
The part that turns me on the most is the fact that she doesn't even know how beautiful she is.
She’s smart, creative, and loves her kid with all her heart.
I guess there are a lot of things about Ruby Asher that turn me on.
And then she invited me to watch a movie with her.
Innocent. Everything about it, yet my mind instantly went to how I haven’t done something that mundane with a woman in more than a year. Maybe even two.
And I wanted to. In fact, I want to?—
“You’re kidding me, right?”
I spin from making coffee to see the woman who has been on my mind all night long glaring at me, her arms crossed, hip cocked to the side, and a scowl on her face. She’s wearing the same pajamas she had on last night, but now they are wrinkled. Thoughts of her lying in bed cross my mind.
I don’t need more images of her in my mind.
As her eyes take me in, the scowl morphs from annoyed to … hungry.
Fuck. This does it for me, too.
“Are you just going to stand there like”—she gestures up and down my body—“that?”
I glance down at my sweats and bare feet. I flip my ball cap backward and match her stance, only I’m leaning on the counter.
“You’re going to have to be more specific. I’m a smart man, Ruby Asher, but it seems I have no idea what’s going on when it comes to you.”
I’ve never spoken truer words.
“Gross, is that a pickup line?”
“A pickup line?” I repeat. “This proves my point. I have no idea what’s going on right now.”
She huffs and marches into the kitchen, nudging me with her hip, so she can take over making the coffee.
“What’s going on is, you seem to enjoy walking around in nothing but a pair of sweats. I never said anything when we were at your house or in your space, but this is two mornings in a row.”
She’s counting?
“I have a hat on.”
“I’m aware.”
“Sooo, the problem is …”
“You need a shirt if you’re going to be standing in my kitchen.”
