“I’ll let you finish your dinner in peace. It was delicious, by the way. You’re a very hospitable person. Thanks for the company.”
“You’re welcome. I enjoyed you too.” Her soft voice touched my heart despite her body language that warned me to keep my distance.
As Ruby resumed her meal, I sighed. I could tell that she was a broken person, just like my ex. I didn’t need to jump into whatever mess she was going through, since I already had too many things to fix in my own life.
Chapter
Four
RUBY
NIGHT CAP
Amari took his tools into the basement, and I finished my meal. I stared out the window, replaying our dinner conversation and the roller coaster of emotions it pulled from me.
Instead of putting my bowl and glass in the dishwasher, I washed them by hand to buy time and think. As the almost scalding water began to burn my hands, my mind wandered.
It was almost dark, and the roads would be bad. Although the quiet and stillness of the night outside should have brought me peace, the quickening descent of the snow reminded me of who I once was and the passion that ruled me.
Amari should have been at his home enjoying the warmth of his hearth, yet he chose to stay with me. His presence in my home was safe yet dangerous.
I tried to process the polarity of that but had a hard time making sense of the turmoil I felt inside. He made my heart race in ways I hadn’t felt in years.
As it always did this time of year, my mind jumped to my Christmas angel, LaRue. Tears blurred my vision as I remembered how delicate she had been. She didn’t stand a chance in a world that was so cruel. I held her close to my heart, praying for and singing to her every day for the ten days of her life, willing her to live as the new year began.
I’d trade my life for what could have and should have been in another time and another place with Larenz Starks, a man who promised me the world but didn’t have it within himself to give me.
I wiped my eyes with my wet fingers.
Don’t break down. Keep it together until Amari goes home.
For a second, I wondered if I should change clothes before he came upstairs. The robe I wore wasn’t exactly demure.
Amari Snowden reminded me of what the intimacy of a fine man felt like. I was fully aware that he was peeking at my dainty bra and biting his pretty lips when I leaned over to show him my repair list. Like the flirt I used to be, I touched his strong shoulder and stood still as he tilted his tempting body closer.
I reached into my robe and rubbed the moisturized skin of my stomach with my hands, imagining what it would feel like for Amari to caress me the same way and tell me how silky soft it was. I took a cleansing breath and wiped my hands on the cloth nearest me.
My eyes lingered on the open door to my basement. I needed to see Amari again.
I finished cleaning my kitchen and walked to the basement. I held the rails of the somewhat rickety staircase and adjusted my eyes to the dim light. Although I’d cleaned the area withhousehold cleaner, the smell of dusty old furniture and boxes still met my nose.
“Amari?” I called out to him, ducking my head and tipping into the space as if I wasn’t familiar with it.
Slow movement in the corner caught my eye when I descended the bottom three steps.
“Over here.” Amari’s deep voice sent a tingle down my spine.
When my foot hit the basement floor, I sucked in my breath as unexpected warmth met me.
“Why is it so hot down here?” I called out in the direction of Amari’s voice, fanning my face with my hands.
My eyes continued searching for Amari, whose head and shoulders were the only parts of his body visible behind a stack of tall boxes in the corner. When he took a big step from behind the boxes, I gasped audibly.
His flannel shirt was unbuttoned, revealing a glistening, fully tatted chest that confirmed how fit he was. He wiped his hands on a cloth he held. Instead of paying attention to me as I openly ogled him, he concentrated on the cloth. Sweat dripped from his mocha skin and glistened in his beard as he furrowed his thick eyebrows. His dark mood made my heart race, alerting me to the intensity that drew me to him. He finally raised his eyes to mine as I continued to stare.
“I’m sorry.” I darted my eyes toward the small basement window near the ceiling as if I’d walked in on Amari naked.
He wiped his brow with another towel that must have been in the bag he brought downstairs. If he was aware of how flustered his open shirt made me, he didn’t let on since he did nothing to cover his broad chest.
