I felt my face flush with embarrassment.
“Woman, you are sexy. Just own it,” Alley teased.
Everyone laughed. The conversations continued on to anything and everything.
When we finished I was so glad I’d gone. More heartfelt words were exchanged about how they were there for me any time I needed them, teasing about the company I was having that night, and promises to have a girl’s shopping trip soon. Hugs were doled out too.
They’d also invited me to Summer and Gyth’s for dinner with all the ladies, men, and kids. It was another thing they liked to do from time to time. Not only for special occasions such as birthdays, holidays, and whatnot but to spend time together as true friends.
Friends.
That was something that, for the first time in my life, I believed I found after leaving lunch with all the special ladies.
I drove home thinking about my day and the night to come. Whatever happened with the phone call, I was going to do my best not to allow it to ruin my time with Lyric.
Maybe I was jumping the gun, but I knew how I felt. We’d known each other for longer than the last few weeks even if it had only been here and there. When I was around Lyric it seemed as if we’d know each other forever.
Anticipation raced through me when I thought about him in my bed.
All I needed to do before that happened was hide Gramps shotgun, then tell him and Jett I was having a sleepover.
A giggle of nervousness filled the car.
ChapterNine
LYRIC
Fuck.The woman was a sight for sore eyes.
When I drove up to the house and saw Ruby walk out onto the porch wearing those damn yoga pants again, my body trembled with the impulse to throw her over my shoulder, forget about dinner, and take her to bed.
Earlier that day when she’d asked me to be with her when she returned the call she had been dreading to make, my heart swelled with triumph that she’d come to me first. But when she flirted and asked me to stay over, it was my cock that swelled to life as images of her on her bed in her bra and panties shifted through my mind.
I hoped we’d get there, in her bed together, but if she changed her mind after she found out why her mother was having some unfamiliar woman contact her, I would be happy to just be there for her. I’d seen her face as she listened to the message and I couldn’t imagine everything she’d been thinking as it played out.
As I got out of the truck, I kept my eyes trained on the gorgeous woman who was watching every step I took. I shut the truck door and moved her way.
The sun had set and darkness started to fall, the only light showcasing Ruby was the one from the porch, but it was bright enough that I could see something dancing in her gaze as I grew closer.
I prayed I was reading her right because I walked straight into her space and backed her up to the railing until she was pressed against it, leaving her nowhere else to go.
Then I kissed her senseless.
She gave as good as she got. Our tongues tangled, our breaths mixed becoming one, and we were both gasping for air when the kiss ended.
“Wow.”
“I couldn’t agree more, sweetheart.”
Our bodies were still glued together, my arms wrapped securely around her back, and we stared at one another communicating more with our eyes than others did when they spoke.
I knew then that I was falling head over heels for Ruby.
* * *
“Baby,are you okay? Do you want to talk about it?”
For the second time that night, I had Ruby in my arms as she shook her head from side to side against my chest. She would talk when she was ready so I just held her hoping to comfort her even though I honestly had no clue how to do that with the news she’d received. She was in shock and completely unprepared for the bombshell that was dropped.
