“Can’t wait,” Wes said, half-serious, half-dreading. “Bye. ”
He tossed the Frisbee one more time for Rodie as his sister’s words lay heavily in his gut. But his optimistic side kept fighting on Rubi’s behalf. He picked out all Rubi’s awesome qualities, justified and rationalized backward, forward, sideways, and diagonally to give her the benefit of the doubt. To tell himself he could be the one who was different for her.
But his other side doubted. And dreaded. And second-guessed his decision to start this sexual affair. A sexual affair that had instantly turned into something far more for Wes.
“Dessert,” Lexi called from the porch.
Wes waited for Rodie to return with the Frisbee, then started up the beach toward the house.
As he approached, Rubi closed her computer and met his gaze. Her eyes sparkled. Her smile heated. She leaned on the table and rested her chin in her palm. “Wes likes ice cream. ”
He instantly flashed back to her spread out over the kitchen counter, her gorgeous skin contrasted against the light granite, chocolate ice cream smeared over her already luscious body.
As he neared, Rubi’s gaze remained on his, a combination of soft, sweet, and starving. Knowing she was remembering too blew the discomfort away like a breeze, and all the emotions that had broken through the dam just days ago flooded back in.
Oh yeah. He was tripping over this woman.
At the edge of the table, he pulled his phone from his pocket, then planted his hands and leaned down until his forehead touched hers. “I love that look in your eyes,” he whispered. “What are you thinking about?”
One corner of her mouth tilted. “About you. In the shower. How incredibly handsome you looked with your hair wet and off your face. That wickedly intense expression in the moment. ” She lowered her voice and brought her mouth toward his ear. “The thought makes me wet. ”
His heart thumped so hard he didn’t hear Lexi set down the bowl of strawberries at his elbow. He waited until she’d turned away before he whispered, “Want to stay with me tonight?”
She leaned back enough to meet his eyes.
When she didn’t answer, he added, “Rodie can stay, too. I’ll even let him sleep on the bed. Just not between us. ”
Her gaze searched his a moment before she said, “That’s…not really my thing. ”
“Neither is fucking a guy more than once,” he said, keeping his voice private. “Or sex with no condom. But you’ve blown through those ideas with flying colors. ”
She pressed a hand to his cheek and turned her head to kiss his lips. He wasn’t sure why, but her kissing him in front of Jax and Lexi sent his hopes skyrocketing. “I’ll think about it. ”
The smile on her mouth told Wes that was far more of a yes than a no, and his heart constricted with hope.
“You two need a room?” Jax asked. “We’ve got plenty right behind you. ”
Wes pushed up from the table, his head light. To cover the intensity of his emotions, he went for melodrama—and heat reduction—by slapping his hand to his chest as if he were having a heart attack, stumbled backward, and fell flat on his back in the pool.
Cool water bathed his body, closed over his head, and a moment of dense silence encapsulated him. When he broke the surface, he laid his head back so the water pushed his hair off his face. Rubi and Lexi were laughing. Jax sat in a chair with a smirk on his face, shaking his head.
“What about now,” Wes asked Rubi.
A slow nod tilted her head and she spoke around laughter. “Definitely leaning toward an affirmative. ”
“Yes!” Wes pumped a dripping fist in the air and enjoyed another round of her laughter as he pushed out of the pool. God, he loved making her laugh. Making her happy. It had become his primary daily focus. And the thought of holding her all night, his body tangled with hers, sounded like absolute ecstasy.
Grabbing a towel from one of the patio chairs, he watched Rubi fix an empty plate with pound cake, strawberries, vanilla ice cream, and whipped cream, then slide it toward the spot next to her before putting a few strawberries and a dollop of whipped cream on a plate for herself. He had no idea what it was about watching her fix a plate for him that made him go all funky inside, but it did.
As soon as he sat down, a phone rang. Everyone looked down and checked pockets.
“It’s mine,” Rubi said, pulling her iPhone from her purse at her feet and frowning at the screen.
She tapped a button and put it to her ear. “Rubi Russo. ”
She put a strawberry in her mouth as she listened, and Wes cut into the shortcake she’d made for him with the side of his own fork. A vertical crease appeared between her eyes. “Excuse…me?”
Her eyes narrowed, mouth tightened, body stiffened. Wes swore the air around her crackled with burgeoning anger.