As he’d done for their last two outings, Rashid drove silently and pulled up in front of Jasmine’s house first instead of taking Ruby home, even though the girls were wide awake and talking animatedly about the ballet. He put the car in park, then turned to Ruby. “Stay put. I’ll be right back.” He helped the girls out, then took them inside.
Ruby bit her lip. What exactly was going to happen when he got back to the car? Was he going to drive her home and they’d continue exactly as they were before she’d realized that with the right man, her hand could be an erogenous zone? Thankfully Ruby didn’t have to wait very long to get an answer to that question. He was back in the driver’s seat in minutes. But he didn’t start the car. He looked at her with an intense, almost sultry expression on his face. Her skin tingled with goose bumps. “Okay, Ms. Dhanji,” he said, slowly. “I’m putting this completely in your hands. What happens now?”
She bit her lip. “What do you mean, what happens?”
“I mean,” he said, running his finger over her thigh again. “Am I going to drive you home and drop you in front of your building, and then you’ll say goodbye and we won’t talk until next week’s outing except for maybe a few texts? Or…” He smiled wide.
“Or what?”
“Or are you going to invite me up for a drink that we won’t actually drink.”
Ruby’s eyes widened. It was getting hot in this car. She narrowed her eyes like she was thinking about her options. “I don’t know, Dr. Hakim. It’s a hard decision. Tell me, what exactly would we be doing instead of drinking that drink? Are you thinking…conversation?”
He shook his head. “No. The first thing I would do is tell you to take off that red dress. Because as stunning as you look in it, I suspect you would look even better out of it.”
Ruby inhaled sharply. Somehow, she found her voice to ask another question. “Okay, then you’d take off your clothes, too?”
He shook his head. “Eventually, but first, I’d look at you.” His voice was slow and smooth. “I’d run my fingers over the soft skin on your arms, then the sides of your ribs. I would finally touch those legs that I’ve been daydreaming about since I first saw you dragging a tree on the sidewalk. I would lick the soft skin under your ear and inhale that spicy sweet perfume you wear. I would worship you, Ruby Dhanji, like you deserve to be worshiped. So, your call. Do you want now what we both know is going to happen eventually, or do you want to wait?”
Ruby let out a shaky breath. She had no idea how he was so steady when Ruby felt like she was going to combust. There was no way on earth she could say no. Hell, she wasn’t sure she could say anything at all. Instead, she leaned forward, took him behind the neck, and pulled him in for a deep kiss.
Rashid moaned as Ruby’s tongue dipped into his mouth. It was as good as last time. Actually, better. His arms wrapped around her, and she almost climbed over the center console of the Volvo and onto his lap. Hell, she wondered if she should just get out of this dress now so she could feel the hands that made love to her fingers at the ballet on her bare skin.
But this was a nice neighborhood, and anyway, sex in a car was always better in theory than in practice. She pulled away from the kiss and put her lips to his ear. “Take me home. I want you in my bed now.”
He laughed. “Yes, ma’am.” He turned on his car.
It was a good thing that it was only a five-minute drive from Jasmine’s house to Ruby’s condo because she wasn’t sure either of them could last much longer than that. Ruby had been with a number of guys before, but she honestly didn’t rememberwanting—no,needingsomeone this much. She needed to be consumed completely by him. She needed to feel nothing at all but Rashid Hakim.
He parked in a visitor spot, and they rushed inside to the elevator. Neither of them said a word until Ruby unlocked her door and they were in her tiny apartment with their shoes off. He walked to the window near the tree and closed the curtains. Then he turned to Ruby.
“Okay,” Rashid said, eyes intense. “Take off the dress.”
Oh.He’d been serious about telling her to just undress like that? She thought he was just being sexy. She’d assumed that things would carry on like normal. Like, they’d kiss a bit, move to the bed, take off each other’s clothes, and go from there. But no. He was at least four feet away from her, and his eyes were locked onto her body. And he wanted her to take off her dress.
She swallowed. Had anyone looked at her like that before? He still had that content smile on his face, but his eyelids were heavy. Ugh—that expression on his face was breathtaking. He was so incredibly sexy.
“The dress, Red. Let meseeyou.” He paused. “Please.”
Well, since he was asking so nicely. She reached behind her to the zipper of her red dress. Every millimeter of her skin screamed to be touched as she slowly lowered the zipper, then slipped her arms out one at a time. She skimmed the dress over her hips, letting it puddle on the floor.
After stepping out of the dress, she leaned down and picked it up, folding it and putting it on the back of her couch. She didn’t look at Rashid—for some reason this whole striptease was easier without making eye contact. She knew his eyes wereon her, though. She hoped he liked what he saw. She assumed he was somewhat surprised by one particular thing on her body that she’d never told him about.
She finally looked at him. And yes, his eyes were wide with surprise.
“You have tattoos?” he asked.
She nodded. All she had on now was a simple black satin bra and matching panties, and her black lace tights. The bra was full coverage, but not full enough to hide that there was a large floral tattoo across her chest.
He didn’t say anything else about her ink, and instead pointed to her legs. “Take off your tights.”
She did as he asked, this time watching his face as she peeled off the stretchy black lace. Thank goodness she’d had a wax recently—not that she’d had any idea that this would happen.
Rashid inhaled sharply when she tossed her tights behind her and took one step closer to him in nothing but her bra and panties. She wasn’t self-conscious about her body… not really. Having had major breast surgery meant she was used to people, mostly in the medical field, looking at her undressed. She smiled when she realized Rashid was yet another doctor studying her body. This didn’t feel anything like when other doctors inspected her, though.
“You’re beautiful, you know that?” he said, voice thick with emotion.
Feeling a little bold, she put one hand on her hip. She smiled cheekily. “I had an excellent plastic surgeon.”
