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But then his own shoulders drop, and he looks at me with sadness in his eyes.
“I didn’t handle this right at all.”
“No, you didn’t,” I snap, unable to let go of my anger just because he actually took responsibility for throwing me to the wolves.
“I was going to ask if you wanted to come have dinner with us so we could all get to know each other,” Ken says, his expression looking akin to that of a kicked puppy. “But I think I need to spend some time sorting a few things out first.”
I cross my arms and just glare at him, but my expression says exactly what my mouth doesn’t.
Ya think!?
“I’m sorry, Ruby,” he says. “I truly am. I’ll make this right.”
Never in my life have I lived on a man’s promises, and I don’t plan to start today. I stay silent as Ken gives me an awkward grimace and a wave then turns and walks the path that splits off to his house.
Then I slam the door, not caring in the slightest if it makes me seem immature or childish.
I spin around and look at the interior of the picture-perfect guesthouse, wishing for just a moment that I were the kind of bitch who would absolutely trash the place in anger.
But I’m not that girl, and I don’t have it in me to go exercise right now, my normal anger processor off the table.
I wander through the house, feeling aimless and irritated for a few minutes before my eyes fall on the clawfoot tub in the bathroom.
I might not want to go on a hike right now to feel better, but I can always do the next best thing.
* * *
When I hear Boyd walking through the house, I wonder what his reaction will be.
He wanted to take me up to some viewpoint tonight, and when he asked me yesterday, it sounded fantastic. But after the confrontation with Ken, the only thing that felt like it would make me feel better was a soak in the tub, some relaxing music, and delicious-smelling candles.
So when Boyd texted me fifteen minutes after I crawled into the steaming hot water to say he was on his way to get me, I told him he should come inside because I wasn’t ready.
When his face shows up in the doorway, his surprise is evident, but he quickly adopts a wolfish grin, crossing over to where I’m sitting back against one end, covered in a heap of bubbles.
“Well, aren’t you something,” he says, leaning down to press a kiss to my lips. “I’m gonna be honest, it would be quite the ordeal to get this tub all the way up Easy Street.”
I bite my lip and smile at him.
“You were going to take me to high school hookup central?” I ask, my voice heavy with teasing. “And here I thought you were interested in my personality.”
Boyd leans a hip against the counter, folding his arms and crossing his long legs at the ankles. “I’m interested in everything, Ruby.”
“Really?”
He nods.
“Even interested in taking a bath with me?”
He ducks his head slightly, as if there is any way he’d be able to hide that smile of his.
“You want me to get in?” he asks.
When I nod, he doesn’t waste any time pretending to think it over. He strips down quickly, first his socks and then his jeans. His shirt, his boxer briefs, his watch set on the marble counter.
He walks across the small room stark naked and looking every inch the sexually primed male, absolutely no shame in his expression at the way my eyes rove over his body.
Lifting one leg at a time, he steps into the opposite end, the water undulating in soft waves at the movement and change in water level.
