“This is exactly what I hoped for,” he says, his eyes sparkling a little as he takes in the quaintness of it all. Despite working in a bar, I know he still struggles in large crowds or restaurants that aren’t open enough for him.
But just as we’re about to open the door and head in, a couple walks out, causing all of us to stop for a split second. Our eyes connect, and I’m stunned into silence, my hand tightening around Caleb’s.
“Ruby,” he says, my name holding more inflection than it should. He could’ve just walked by, ignored us, but no. “How are you?” His question and the way he asks it makes it seem like we’re old friends, like he didn’t just see me two days ago. But more than that it makes it seem like I wasn’t dealing with his overly friendly ass and having to fake a relationship to get him to back the fuck off.
The woman behind him steps forward and waits, an introduction should be taking place, but all that’s left is awkward silence when I don’t answer his question either.
“Lydia, this is one of my students, Ruby Collins,” Professor Keller says, turning to the woman I assume is his wife. She’s much too old to be a student, but she’s still very pretty in a classic way; tall and leggy with perfectly curled hair and flawless makeup.
“And Ruby this is my wife, Lydia Keller,” he continues, the awkwardness bubbling just below the surface. Lydia smiles a tight smile, her face flat, her features giving nothing away, but her body language says, I’m not the first girl she’s had to size up in the last week.
I don’t bother dwelling on it, not letting it have any more time than it needs, I squeeze Caleb’s hand again, his eyes steely and his lips pursed. This isn’t the way he wanted his evening with me to begin and so without letting ourselves linger any longer, I say goodbye and walk into the restaurant.
It all happened so quickly, but not quick enough and I notice the change in Caleb instantly. He looks back again, Professor Keller and his wife still just outside the door, an argument ensuing and Caleb takes it in.
“Let it go,” I murmur, pushing up on my toes so my mouth is next to his ear, my hand resting on his cheek.
He nods his head, but I know that it’s far more difficult for him to just walk away from something that causes his senses to go into overload. Seeing Professor Keller will not ruin our night, so I distract Caleb, pulling him toward the bar and ordering us each a shot of tequila and a drink from the specials menu.
The bartender sets down the shots, a salt shaker and a few limes and I smirk at Caleb. “You ready?” Without waiting for an answer, I run my tongue along the inside of my wrist and sprinkle on the salt, but before I can lick it off, Caleb grabs my wrist. His warm tongue slides along the row of salt, making my pulse ratchet up a few notches and he then takes his shot, his eyes never leaving mine.
“Your turn,” he says, leaning over to kiss me, tequila still lingering on his lips. His eyes are wide, his pupils dark and I love the shift I now see in him.
The night is back to being ours.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Caleb
I wake early on Monday morning, not because of any nightmares, but because I can’t get enough of Ruby, who lies naked in my arms.
I feel like she’s somehow breathed air into me, giving me life, and now that she has, I can’t stop wanting her. Can’t hold back either.
Having just spent an amazing weekend with her, today is kind of a jolt back to reality given she has class, I have work and Sienna and Reid are back, but it doesn’t stop me from trying to hold onto this thing we’ve created for as long as possible.
I roll onto my side, watching her as she sleeps beside me, her head tucked into my neck, her arm draped across my hips and her legs tangled with mine. Her skin is warm beneath my fingers, which trail lightly over the curves of her body and I watch as a sleepy smile tugs at her lips.
“You watching me sleep, creeper?” she asks, her voice husky.
I chuckle. “Maybe.” I lean down and press my mouth to hers, pulling her closer. “Or maybe I’m just thinking about what I’m going to do to you this morning,” I tease, pushing my obviously hard dick against her.
Ruby lets out a combination groan and giggle that’s both adorable and a total turn on as she rolls onto her back, pulling me with her so I’m lying on top of her. “Oh yeah,” she whispers between kisses. “And what did you come up with?”
I smile against her mouth, my hand reaching for the box of condoms on the nightstand. “Oh, I have something in mind.”
A couple of hours and several condoms later, we finally drag ourselves from bed, Ruby taking a shower while I wander into the kitchen to make her some coffee and a late breakfast. Eventually Ruby walks in, sliding her arms around my waist from behind as she pushes up on her toes and leans her chin on my shoulder, chuckling a little when she sees I’m eating a slice of the cake she made me.
“That’s breakfast?”
I grin, taking another bite as I glance back at her. “It’s fucking delicious,” I tell her. “Just like you.”
Ruby smiles, her eyes lighting up as she presses a kiss to the side of my neck. “What are you going to do today?”
I finish my cake before turning in her arms and pulling her against me. “Take you to class,” I say, leaning down to kiss her lips. “And then come back and get you afterward.”
Ruby smiles. “You want to go for a run before you head to work tonight?”
I return the smile, my hands sliding down to her ass. “Or we could get our workout in other ways.”
Ruby raises a brow, her smile widening. “I could be up for that,” she says. “Reid and Sie will be back though. We still planning to fuck with them?”
“Oh yeah,” I say, laughing. “We are definitely doing that. Not that it means we’re hiding anything though, okay?”
Ruby nods. “I know. I get it. And besides,” she says, pushing up to give me another kiss, “considering the shit we’re going to get from them, I definitely want to milk this for as long as possible.”
After we’ve eaten and had our coffee, Ruby grabs her things and we head outside so I can walk her to class. I have no idea if that creepy professor of hers has still got a thing for her, but after running into him last night, I’m not taking any chances. We might have started off faking this whole relationship just to remind him that Ruby is off-limits, but that’s all changed now. And I’m all about reminding him to back the fuck off every chance I can get.
I slip my arm around Ruby’s shoulder, taking her bag and slinging it over my other shoulder as we head toward the campus. We chat about mindless stuff on the short walk, before someone calls her name. We stop and a girl I don’t recognize walks over and Ruby says hello to her before introducing me to her as her boyfriend, before they both chat about their weekend.
Hearing her say that about me, describing me in that way to her friends is kind of surreal, but in a really good way. I’ve always known this connection we share is something special and that despite our first meeting when she was drunk, which meant she forgot I was even staying in her house, that connection has only grown over the past few weeks.