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A country Christmas ballad piped in through the speakers surrounding the room. “Would you like to dance?” he asked.
She smiled sweetly, the kind of smile that suggested softness. And he would’ve believed that if he hadn’t seen her just deck a man. A big man.
Her head tilted to the left, and she gauged him thoughtfully.
He was still standing, so that was a plus. She didn’t find him out of line.
“Sure. I’d like that, Galahad.”
“It’s Brooks.”
“Ruby.”
She led him to the dance floor and he took over from there, placing his hand on the small of her back, enfolding her other hand in his. Small and delicate to big and rough. But it worked. And how, did it work.
He began to move, holding her at arm’s length, breathing her in as they glided across the dance floor.
“I thought you were in trouble back there,” he said.
“I gathered.”
“Are you a black belt or something?”
“Nope, just grew up around men and learned early on how to take care of myself. What about you? Do you have a knight in shining armor complex or something?”
He laughed. “Where I come from, a man doesn’t stand by and watch someone abuse a lady.”
“Oh, I see.”
“Apparently I was the only other guy in the place who didn’t know you could handle yourself.”
She was looking at him now, piercing him with those cocoa eyes and giving him that megawatt smile. “It was sorta sweet, you coming to my rescue.” Was she flirting? Man, oh man. If she was, he wasn’t going to stop her.
“I was watching you, like every other guy at the bar.”
“I like to play pool. I’m good at it,” she said, shrugging a shoulder. “It’s a great way to blow off steam.”
“That’s exactly why I stopped into the bar myself. I needed to do the same.”
“You get brownie points for not saying the obvious.”
“Which is?”
Her lips twitched and she hesitated for a second, as if trying to decide whether to tell him or not. “That you know a better way to blow off steam.”
Her raven brows rose, and he stopped dancing for a second to study her. “You must drive men wild with your mouth.”
She shook her head, grinning. “You’re sinking, Brooks. Going under fast.”
“I was talking about your sass.”
She knew. She was messing with him. “Most men hate it.”
“Not me. It’s refreshing.”
He brought her closer, so that the tips of her breasts grazed his shirt and the scent of her hair tickled his nostrils. She didn’t flip him over her shoulder with that move. She cuddled up closer. “So far, I have two brownie points,” he said. “What can I do to earn another?”
Her gaze drifted to his mouth with pinpoint accuracy. Air left his chest. A deep hunger, like none he’d experienced before, gnawed into his belly.
“You’ll think of something, Galahad.”
* * *
The stranger’s lips touched hers, a brief exploration that warmed up her insides and made her question everything she’d done since setting eyes on this guy. Usually she wasn’t this brazen with men. She didn’t flirt and plant ideas in their heads. But there was something about Brooks that called to her. He had manners. And he knew how to speak to a woman. He seemed familiar and safe in a way, even though they’d never met before. He wasn’t hard on the eyes either, with all that blond hair, thick and wavy and catching the collar of his zillion-dollar shirt. He was as citified as they came, even if he wore slick boots and sported five-o’clock stubble. As soon as she’d spotted him at the bar, she knew he didn’t belong. Not here, in a dusty small town out in the middle of nowhere. Cool Springs wasn’t exactly a mecca of high society, and this guy was that and then some. His coming to her rescue, all granite muscles and fists ready to pummel, was about the nicest thing a man had done for her in a long while.
Trace came to mind, and she immediately washed his image from her head. She wasn’t going to think about her breakup with him. He was six months long gone, and she’d wasted enough time on him.
Instead she wrapped her arms around Brooks’s neck and clung to him, her body sizzling from the heat surrounding them. He began to move again, slower, closer, his scent something expensive and tasteful. Her nerves were raw. Something was happening to her. Something unexpected and thrilling. Her life was too predictable lately, and it was time to change that.
His mouth found hers again, and this time the kiss was hot enough to brand cattle. A fiery mix of passion and lust, making her forget she didn’t kiss strangers like this, on an open dance floor with half the town watching. But Brooks didn’t let up, and she couldn’t pull back or move away. It was that good.
She played with the curling ends of his hair.
He slid his hands lower on her back.
She tucked herself into him.
He groaned and kissed her harder.
The music ended and she hardly noticed.
She stared into his blue eyes.
He gave her a smile.
Her body was shaking.
He was trembling, too.
“What now?” he rasped. “You want another dance?”
She shook her head. “I need air.”
He took her hand and led her off the dance floor and out the door of the C’mon Inn. Clouds shadowed half the full moon, and the bite of December air should’ve cooled her down. But Brooks kept her close to his side, his body shielding her from the cold. Any shivering she was doing was caused by the man beside her and not the dropping winter temperature. He led her around back, where a bench made of iron and wood sat unoccupied near a walled garden. “Would you like to sit?” he asked, and before she could answer, he took a seat and reached for her, giving her the option of where on the bench she wanted to plop down. She chose his lap.
His satisfied smile was her reward, and she wrapped her arms around his neck. “You’re beautiful, Ruby. You probably hear that all the time.” His hand grazed her neck as he held her hair back to nibble on her throat. Then his tongue moistened her skin as he laid out a row of sensual kisses there. Her insides went a little squishy from his tender assault. Whatever this was, it was happening fast. His rock-hard erection pressing against her legs told her he was as turned on as she was.
“Not really. I tend to scare men off.” By her own choosing, she warded off men’s advances before giving them half a chance. She’d been waiting around for Trace, hoping he’d come back to her, but that hadn’t happened. And now she found pleasure in this man’s arms. She didn’t know a thing about him, other than her instincts said he was a decent man.
“Little ole you,” he whispered softly before claiming her lips again. The taste of alcohol combined with his confidence was a sweet elixir to her recent loneliness. His mouth pressed hers harder, and the tingles under her skin bumped up another notch. “You didn’t scare me off.”
“Maybe that’s why I’m here with you.”
“I like the sound of that.” The rasp in his voice intensified.
They stopped talking long enough to work up a sweat. Sharp and quick tingles ran up and down her body, and her breaths came in short bursts. She was aware of him at every turn. His well-placed touches made her tremble. His kisses swamped her in heat. Brooks wasn’t far behind. His passion swept her up, and the proof of his desire strained the material of his dark pants. She arched her body in a curving bow, craving more, wanting his hands on her everywhere. Under her cropped shirt, her nipples tightened, and an ache throbbed below her waist.
Finally Brooks touched her breasts, and the beauty of the sensation purred from her lips. “Oh, yes.”
Low guttural sounds surfaced from his chest, groans of pleasure and want as his hands moved over her body, palms wide, so he could grasp every inch of her. He flattened her erect nipples, followed the curve of her torso and dipped down lower to her hips. He ran his hands along her legs, up and down her thighs, and from under her jeans she felt the burn on her skin.
Laughter coming from patrons leaving the inn rang in her ears.
Brooks stopped and listened.
The sounds became softer and eventually ceased. Thank goodness those people weren’t coming back here.
“Ruby, honey. I’m not one for public groping.” He hesitated a second. “I have a room.”
She bit down on her lower lip, his taste lingering on her mouth. It helped her make the decision. She wasn’t ready for this to end. “Take me there.”
* * *
Ruby drove him wild and crazy with want. Yeah, he’d been without a woman for several months, but this woman was more than he’d ever dreamed of. This woman, he couldn’t have even imagined. She was the hottest female he’d met in his life, and she was exactly what he needed to...ah, hell, blow off steam. Her flipping that oaf on his back had been just the beginning. From then on, every word that came out of her mouth, every tempting gesture and coy smile, had been perfect. Brooks had it bad for her. Suggesting taking her to his room had been brash. Insane, really, since he’d known her less than an hour.
No one messes with Ruby unless she wants to be messed with.
Apparently he’d made the grade. ’Cause he was messing with her, and had her full approval.
He scooped her up from the bench, and she automatically wound her arms around his neck as he climbed the outside staircase that led to his room. She was petite and lightweight, and it wasn’t a struggle to carry her up the stairs in his arms. Darkness concealed them for most of the way. Once he slid the key card into the lock and shoved the door open with a hip, he moved inside and set her on her feet. She still clung to him.
Lord have mercy.
They were finally alone. Brooks’s deep sense of decorum kicked in big time. He knew what he was dealing with. She wasn’t some floozy who staked men out in a bar. She wasn’t an easy piece who’d consider him another conquest. He could tell that from the warm glow in her eyes now, from the way all the men at the bar respected her, from the way she’d chosen him and not the other way around. For all those reasons, he wasn’t going to take advantage of the situation.
He brushed a kiss to her lips. “Welcome.”
As antiquated as the inn was, at least the place was clean. There was no flat-screen television on the wall, no wet bar or cushy king-size bed for added luxury. Nor was there a spacious wardrobe closet or a sunken bathtub or any of the things Brooks was accustomed to. Ruby strolled over to peer out the back window. From where he stood, the view was hardly noteworthy or attractive: just a vast amount of unincorporated land. The lack of illumination was actually a plus since there was nothing to see out there. “I’ve never been inside one of these rooms,” she said.
“I figured.”
She whirled around. “You think you’ve got my number, Galahad?”
“Maybe. I know you don’t do this.”
Her bright laughter ended with an unfeminine snort. “You’d like to believe that, right?”
“I do believe it. So, why me?”
She glanced out the window again, gazing into the darkness. “Maybe I like you. Maybe it’s because you came to my rescue—”
“Which you didn’t need.”
She continued, “You came to my rescue with no thought of the danger to your own hide.”
He took a step toward her. “Are you saying I couldn’t take that guy?”
“Hold on to your ego. I’m only saying that you’re the one I want to be with tonight. Can’t we leave it at that?”
He nodded and inclined his head toward the door. “We were about to combust out there. That’s never happened to me before.”
“So, you’re saying you don’t like losing control and decided to slow down the pace?”
“What I’m saying is, you deserve better than that.”
She smiled, and the natural sway of her body as she walked toward him fueled his juices. “There, you see? Things like that are exactly what a girl wants to hear. So, what did you have in mind?”
Her scent filled him up, and the shimmering sheet of dark, straight hair falling off her shoulders gave him pause—was he crazy to slow things down?
Her eyes were on him, warm and soft and patient.
“A drink, for starters?”
Another survey of the room had her gaze landing on the amber bottle of whiskey he’d brought from Chicago sitting on the bedside table. “Okay.”
He grabbed two tumblers and poured the whiskey. The very best stuff. He’d figured he would need some fortification before meeting his biological father, but he’d never thought he would entertain a lady with it.
Standing before her, he offered her a glass. “Here you go.”
She eyed the golden liquid. “Thanks. What should we drink to?”
“To unexpected meetings?”
She smiled. “I’m glad you didn’t say ‘to new beginnings.’”
He wouldn’t. He wasn’t in the market for a lover or a girlfriend. And apparently, Miss Ruby—he didn’t know her last name—wasn’t looking for a relationship, either. She’d dropped enough hints about that tonight. Somebody must’ve hurt her along the way, but Brooks couldn’t delve too deeply into her past. He wouldn’t want anyone prying into his, and tonight was all about the present, not the past or the future.
He touched his glass to hers, and a definitive clink sounded in the room. “To unexpected pleasant meetings.”
She gave him a brief nod and then took a sip, taking time to relish the taste before swallowing. “This is pretty amazing stuff. It surely didn’t come out of any minibar.”
He was surprised she would notice the quality. “Are you a whiskey expert?”
“Let’s just say I know good whiskey when I taste it.”
She took a seat on the bed and continued to sip. He sat beside her, enjoying her quiet company. His heart was still racing, but he was glad he’d toned things down some. She wasn’t a woman to be rushed. And he wanted to savor her tonight, in the same way she was savoring her whiskey.
“Tell me,” she said, “aren’t you afraid that I’ll come to my senses and walk out on you?”
