A scowl darkened his face. ‘Were you ever going to mention it?’
‘No,’ she answered after a brief pause, her heart pounding like a jackhammer behind her breastbone.
‘You had an itch and I scratched it.’ His lips twisted into a cool smile. ‘Is that it?’
Taken aback by the force of that comment, Ruby scowled. ‘There’s no need to sound so crass.’ Was that the way it had been for him? She felt a little sick at the thought, immediately reminded of the soft curse of regret he’d made before he’d set her on her feet. ‘But yes, I suppose you could put it that way. What’s your excuse? Or don’t you need one? You’re a man, I was an available woman. Isn’t that the way the story goes?’
Dead silence followed her accusation and when he spoke his voice was grim. ‘That would imply that I got more out of our lovemaking than you did. Which is not my recollection of events.’
Embarrassment at just how much she had begged him to keep going burned a hot trail down her throat. ‘Oh, come on, Sam. Lovemaking? Let’s at least call it what it was.’
‘By all means.’ A muscle flexed in his jaw. ‘Enlighten me.’
Ruby gripped her laptop tighter. ‘It was sex. Great sex, by the way. Ten out of ten to you, but it was still just sex.’
‘It was nowhere near ten out of ten,’ he corrected her.
Well, sorry. Hurt cut across raw nerves as if he’d just lashed her with a whip.
His dark eyes held hers as if he knew exactly where her mind had taken her. ‘Ten out of ten would have meant we were in a bed, naked, and we had all night together.’
‘Oh.’
Well, then.
Not sure where to look, she watched him covetously as he moved to the window and stared outside. Without his eyes on her, Ruby breathed a little more easily, but her reprieve was short-lived as he swung back to face her.
‘There’s something I want to know.’
Ruby held her breath at the serious note in his voice. ‘What?’
‘Was that your first time?’
Caught completely off guard by the question she blinked at him. Had it been so obvious?
A soft curse rent the air.
Crimson-faced, she turned to leave.
‘I didn’t use protection.’
His words landed between them like boulders off the side of a mountain, staying her. ‘I’m on the pill.’
His eyes narrowed as he looked at her. ‘Why is a virgin on the pill?’
‘Because I was planning to have sex with someone that night, and you were the lucky recipient. Why do you care?’
‘Because I was worried I might have made you pregnant,’ he argued. ‘An unwanted pregnancy is the last thing either one of us needs right now.’
The image of Sam Ventura’s baby growing inside her womb did weird things to Ruby’s equilibrium. Not wanting to consider that any of those things were bad, she shook her head. ‘Rest assured, I’m not pregnant. No need to worry.’
An emotionally charged beat passed between them and all Ruby could think about was the way his sexy mouth had felt on hers and how much she wanted it there again.
Deep down, she rued the day she had approached Sam in that bar two years ago. It had set off a series of wants and needs inside of her that she could only ever imagine him fulfilling. She hated the romantic feelings he had once inspired in her and she was very afraid that if she gave herself to Sam—truly gave herself to him—he would take more than she would want to give, knocking down every one of the barriers she had built up specifically to keep him out.
‘I apologise,’ he said, a measure of self-disgust running through his voice. ‘It shouldn’t have happened.’
Did he mean they shouldn’t have had sex? Somehow that only made her feel worse. She really didn’t need more proof as to how divergent their experience of that night had been. She’d already seen the regret on his face; she didn’t need to see it again.
‘Please don’t.’ She put her hand up as if to ward him off but he was still on the other side of the room. ‘We’re both adults and it was my decision as well.’
‘I wasn’t apologising for the sex, Ruby.’ His brown eyes glittered dangerously into hers. ‘I’m apologising for not protecting you. For being...rough.’