‘Hey, Ruby, hold up!’ Luke dodged past a couple of tourists dawdling by the entrance to Portobello Road Market to catch up with his prey.
Ruby’s head swung round and he clocked the pink flags in her cheeks before her gaze darted to both sides. ‘Luke!’ she whispered as he reached her. ‘What are you doing? Is it safe for you to be out here?’
He choked back a laugh at the urgency in her tone. ‘I think I can navigate a few tourists without killing myself,’ he said wryly as he side-stepped the Japanese pair who were now taking pictures of the Portobello Road sign tacked to the wall.
Really? Even if you filtered the hell out of the shot, wasn’t it going to look kind of generic on Instagram?
She grasped his arm and tugged him into a small alleyway off the main drag. Before checking the street again as if they were being followed by the FBI.
‘I just …’ Her gaze finally landed back on him, making his heart lift. He’d discovered he liked having Ruby’s eyes on him … Probably because he’d missed them so much over the past week.
‘I just don’t think it’s wise for you to venture out into a tourist hot spot like The ’Bello,’ she finally said, her voice barely audible above the colourful shouts of the market traders selling everything from plantains to vintage Indian silk and the back beat of an old-school reggae sound system set up under the overpass by a vinyl record stall.
He tilted the bill on his ball cap down, because he did not want to alert attention, but couldn’t resist a grin at her obvious concern for his well-being as her gaze continued to flick back and forth to the road from their hiding spot.
Good to know she still cared. He’d started to wonder, because it had been a week since he’d woken up in her bed and he hadn’t managed to speak two whole sentences to her since. She’d either been too busy, locked in her apartment doing taxes, or accounts, or planning something with Jacie, or away from the theatre all together while he was on the premises, running anonymous errands that no one else seemed to know anything about. Such as this one.
But this time he’d gotten the jump on her, spotting her heading out just as he was arriving for his morning shift. So he’d decided to follow her.
And now here he was risking exposure in a West London tourist mecca and he actually did not give a damn. Because he’d wanted to get Ruby alone for a week.
He thought they’d come to an understanding a week ago, that the sex had been awesome but could never be more than that. But he’d decided in the last week – as long as they knew the limitations, which they had both agreed on – that still left some room to manoeuvre.
Stepping closer, he placed his palms on the wall on either side of her hips, effectively caging her in, while also shielding them both from any inquisitive passers-by. Time to test his theory. That he hadn’t been wrong about their chemistry. If she wasn’t interested, he’d back off.
Her chin popped out, her darting gaze landing squarely on his face, at last.
‘Luke, what are you doing?’ she said, a little breathless, but he could see the delightful pink flags waving on her cheeks.
‘Kissing you?’ he murmured, dipping his head.
He took it slow, so she could stop him if she wanted to, but she didn’t move, didn’t evade him, and his lips arrived at their destination without a hitch.
A gasp came out of her mouth, but then her body softened against his.
He explored, in leisurely strokes, enjoying her murmurs of encouragement as she let him lead their dance.
He broke away, and drew back, before things got out of control again. His own cheeks heated.
Well, that sure as hell settles that.
She was staring at him, her eyes dazed, her breathing thready. He basked in her reaction, while getting his own breathing back under control.
‘Have you been avoiding me?’ he asked.
So what if it made him sound needy? He was needy. One hook-up hadn’t been enough to satisfy this hunger. And from the eagerness of the kiss they’d just shared, and the way her pupils had dilated to fill her irises, and her cheeks were rocking a blush worthy of Mary Poppins in a strip joint he didn’t think she would disagree with him.
She blinked slowly, her lips pursed, but then she broke eye contact. ‘I haven’t been avoiding you,’ she said, addressing the boxes of trash from the market stalls stacked next to their feet. ‘I just … I’ve been very busy. And so have you.’
He tucked a knuckle under her chin.
‘Ruby,’ he said firmly when her gaze finally reconnected with his ‘It’s a good thing you never wanted to be an actress, because you’re a crummy liar.’ He tried not to be charmed by her guilty expression. Had he ever met a woman who was easier to read?
‘But I have been busy,’ she said.
‘You’ve also been avoiding me, admit it.’
She swallowed and the blush flared, but this time her gaze remained steady. And finally, she gave a small nod. ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t know what else to do.’
He straightened, hating the apology, and her sincerity. And the question he was forced to ask next.
‘Things got a little weird a week ago,’ he said, suddenly feeling like a prize jerk. He hadn’t wanted things to get heavy between them, but they had, stuff had been said that couldn’t be unsaid. He didn’t want her thinking he was coming on to her again to fill an emotional hole. Because the desire he felt was a heck of a lot more basic than that. But he knew what a soft touch Ruby was, and he didn’t want her giving him a pity screw either. ‘Because of the business with my old man and Matty. But I have no expectations here. You do know that? I swear, I would never pressure you.’
The promise sounded disingenuous, at best, given the kiss he’d just initiated but he refused to regret it.
‘Oh, for … Of course I know that, Luke,’ she said, the guilty blush spreading up her neck. ‘That’s not why I’ve been avoiding you at all. In fact, it’s sort of the opposite.’
He should have been relieved, at least she wasn’t scared he was expecting something from her no man had a right to expect from any woman, but the end of her declaration didn’t make a whole lot of sense.
‘Okay, good, but you’ve lost me. How has you avoiding me got something to do with the opposite of me pressuring you?’
He frowned, because saying that out loud only made it sound like more of a mind fuck.
‘It’s just I didn’t want to pressure you into anything,’ she said, with complete conviction.
Say, what now?
‘Huh?’ was all he could manage round the lightning strike of complete astonishment. Was she saying what he thought she was saying? That she had been avoiding him because she didn’t want to take advantage of him?
‘It felt like I’d taken advantage of you.’
‘What?’ he croaked. Jesus, seriously?
‘At a time when you were obviously very vulnerable.’
‘Vulnerable how?’ he asked, because his brain was starting to knot.
‘After everything your mother had told you about your father and Matty that day,’ she said and the fog of confusion started to lift.
Shit! Of course. He’d let slip that he was the one who had found his father’s bloated corpse hanging from a light fixture in his Montecito bathroom.
Thank Christ he hadn’t gone into any of the details.
But even so, he should have figured this might be Ruby’s reaction. Because she was that kind of a woman. Unlike most of the people he knew, she took responsibility for her actions, and faced the consequences without complaint. Wasn’t that exactly how she’d reacted when they’d gotten arrested after scattering Matty’s ashes? Taken all the blame and made no excuses.
He should have realised by spilling his guts she’d somehow feel responsible for his shit now, too.
‘What your mother told you had obviously upset you quite a lot,’ she continued. ‘And given what had happened before, with your father, your emotional equilibrium was shot that night. You needed comfort and support and …’ She sighed, a heavy sigh which reverberated in the pit of his stomach, making the twist of embarrassment and incredulity burn. But beneath the burn was a weird glow.
Sure he’d been surprised – maybe even a little shocked – by what his mom had told him. And, yeah, he’d wanted Ruby that night so he could forget about it all. But vulnerable? Heck no.
He just wasn’t the vulnerable type.
You had to grow a thick skin fast – and learn basic survival skills at an early age – to deal with the kind of nomadic rootless childhood he’d been given. And become mature ahead of schedule if both your parents had treated responsibility like a disease. But there wasn’t a thing about his childhood he regretted. That thick skin and those survival skills and that hard-won maturity had stood him in good stead over the years. Give or take the odd panic attack, it had made him a wealthy man before he’d hit thirty, put him in charge of his own destiny, given him options and best of all the stability he’d always craved during the chaos of his childhood.
But even knowing he didn’t need Ruby’s sympathy or her concern, he was still kind of touched she’d offered it so willingly and without any expectation of a reward.
No one had ever thought he needed protecting before – mostly because they knew him well enough to know he didn’t. Ruby didn’t know him that well, which was why she’d read way too much into his over-sharing the morning after their epic night. Her sympathy and her concern were misguided, but even so the glow in his gut spread, obliterating the burn of embarrassment, and the twist of humiliation until all that was left was the bubble under his breastbone he recognized but hadn’t experienced since they’d laid the cornerstone on Devlin Properties first fully funded new build in Manhattan eight years ago.
He’d certainly never experienced this kind of euphoria during his interactions with a woman.
He’d probably be a little concerned about the novelty of that another time.
But as Ruby’s gaze met his, so honest and forthright, the bubble of euphoria expanded … and felt way too good to regret.
‘And given all that, I totally took advantage of you that night,’ she continued, her transparent expression a picture of contrition and shame. ‘And I didn’t want to risk doing it again.’
A chuckle formed in his chest. Going with instinct he pressed his palms to Ruby’s cheeks. Her eyes widened, but she didn’t draw back. And the chuckle worked its way up his torso.
He stroked her cheeks, feeling the guilty heat on her skin, but as she leaned into the caress, he could see the need she couldn’t disguise, and the chuckle burst out of his mouth.
‘Jesus, Ruby. Do you have any idea how goddamn adorable you are?’
***
Adorable? Really? What does that mean? Does he think I’m cute? Or does he think I’m special?
The questions whizzed around in Ruby’s head.
She’d been trying so hard to steer clear of Luke in the last week while she and Jacie had worked up a proposal for The Rialto in every spare moment in between all the usual chores of running a busy neighbourhood picture palace.
But she’d deliberately scheduled all the meetings with Jacie in the last few days first thing in the morning, when she would usually be checking stock or helping Errol in the projection room transferring any digitally stored films to the main drive and adding the cues in a desperate attempt to avoid the torture of seeing Luke.
Ultimately, she’d been forced to take drastic action, because trying not to notice him, not to objectify him, not to pressure him or pine after him or flirt with him had been absolute agony with him right there, in her movie theatre, in their movie theatre, doing amazing things with his strong capable hands wearing a bloody tool belt – especially now she knew what it felt like to have all that focused attention and those strong capable hands on her, instead of the wet rot in the foyer.
As she struggled to process any kind of coherent answer for him now, Luke’s lips touched hers again.
She flattened her palms against the worn cotton of his T-shirt. His abdominal muscles tightened deliciously beneath her palms as he licked along the seam of her lips. Tempting, teasing, torturing her …
On a sigh of surrender, she opened her mouth to welcome him in.
Sod it. There’s only so much abstinence a woman can take, especially in the face of extreme provocation.
His tongue thrust into her mouth in hungry, driving strokes, reminding her of the feel of his big body pounding into hers and she thrust back, unable to deny herself – and him – a moment longer.
He lifted his head at last, because breathing was required. But as they both got their breath back, his hand settled on her hip, the thumb rubbing across her hip bone in an absent gesture that felt both easy going and wildly possessive.
The hum of pleasure rose up her torso.
Don’t you dare read too much into this. He’s just horny and so are you.
But even as she told herself to enjoy the moment and not what it might mean – that Luke was as keen on repeating their wild night as she was, no hidden agendas required – she devoured his relaxed smile. A smile she realised she’d never seen before, but could easily become addicted to.
He seemed amused and in control, nothing like the intense, conflicted, wounded man she worried she might have taken advantage of last Friday.
Perhaps she had read way too much into what he’d shared with her.
After all, she was pretty over-emotional herself at the moment, thanks to the fallout from Matty’s death, the revelations about his affair with Falcone, and the stress of finding a way to save The Royale. And she did have a tendency to over-compensate anyway, to be too sensitive to the heartache of others. Wasn’t that precisely why she’d ended up cutting ties to her mother, because every time her mum had a bad break-up, Ruby was the one who had felt the need to fix her mother’s heartache. Only to eventually realise – with a lot of help from Matty – she wasn’t responsible for her mother’s mistakes. Or the deadbeat guys she had a bad habit of falling in love with.
‘Excusez-moi! Do you know Notting Hill Gate, how long away it is?’
Luke’s rubbing thumb dropped away as Ruby spotted the man with the French accent standing at the entrance to their alleyway.
Luke tugged the bill of his cap over his face and looked the other way, as she replied.
‘It’s a good fifteen to twenty-minute walk from here, down Portobello Road,’ she said. ‘It’s a very pretty walk, but if you’re in a hurry I’d suggest hopping on a bus,’ she hurried on, even though she could see confusion in the man’s expression. Usually she loved being asked directions, especially by tourists, proud of the fact she was a local and grateful for the opportunity to get chatting and possibly stick in a plug for The Royale. But for once she did not have any desire to get into a conversation. ‘You can catch a number 52 or a 452 bus from Ladbroke Grove, which runs parallel to Portobello Road.’
The tourist nodded and disappeared back into the crowd, probably picking up on her impatience. She dismissed the twinge of guilt at her abruptness.
‘Helpfulness is your superpower,’ Luke said, his shoulder propped against the wall as he watched her. ‘Isn’t it?’
Although his expression was shadowed by the cap, she could see the indulgent quirk of his lips.
‘Actually, that was me being irritable and impatient,’ she said, basking in his approval maybe a bit too much. ‘But seriously? He was French? Couldn’t he see we were busy kissing? I certainly wouldn’t have expected Gerard Depardieu to be so insensitive.’
He chuckled again, the rough sound stroking all the erogenous zones he’d woken up with his kisses, then lifted a forefinger to trail it down her cheek.
He thinks you’re adorable.
She chewed her bottom lip to prevent an excited chuckle popping out.
Control yourself, you are a grown woman, not a schoolgirl with a crush.
‘Shall we head back to the theatre together?’ he said, dropping his finger so he could capture her hand. ‘I’ve already wasted half an hour of my morning shift.’
She nodded, not able to speak without risking another chuckle.
Were they holding hands now? Actually?
He led her down the alleyway, towards Portobello Green and away from any more interruptions.
She probably ought to object, she thought vaguely, as he led her through the small park. After all she’d been on an important errand when she’d left The Royale this morning. But as she could not for the life of her remember what that important errand was, how could she object?
So instead, she gave herself permission to swing her hand in his as they walked in the sunshine back towards Talbot Road.
It was official, she was having a thing with Luke Devlin. A hot-sex-only, no-strings, no-ties, no-complications, no-dangerous-emotions-allowed kind of a thing – but still definitely a thing.