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Chapter 9
Anderson angrily kickeda chunk of snow that was on the sidewalk and watched it skitter across the icy street. He was heading away from Ruth’s apartment and on his way back to the bar, cursing himself for losing control of the entire situation. She had been right to send him away.
Would it have been better if she had said yes, and they had gone to her apartment? No, that would have made things weird at work. Really, he didn’t want to lose his great secretary over sex. Even though he had no idea what she did all day that made his office run so smoothly. Whatever it was, it worked.
Stopping when he got to the sidewalk, he looked at the spot where he had first held her in his arms and knew he liked this time a whole lot better. Turning, he smiled and looked at her window. The lights were blazing inside. Now that he knew it was her apartment, his eyes were drawn to it. Though the curtains were closed, he tried to see if there was a shadow of her looking back down at him.
He had to stop himself from turning back and charging up the stairs to take her into his arms so that he could see what she tasted like. Just a little taste was all he needed, though he was sure he wouldn’t be able to. One taste would lead to another, and another. Cursing, he forced himself to walk back to the bar. She had told him no, and he had to respect her for that. In fact, it made him like her a little bit more. She had the control that he lacked.
Once the warm air of the dim bar hit him, he realized he didn’t want to be there. Every possible ounce of fun was gone now that Ruth was at home. It had been a fun night, watching the three women get toasted, laughing and giggling the entire time. He had a good conversation with Rafferty, who couldn’t keep his eyes off the group either. When Tess Thorn had left, and the two women left got quieter, their excuses to talk to them had dried up. At about that time, Heather had started hitting on him, like every time he was in the bar since his breakup. He had no interest in the woman, but so far, she didn’t take the hint.
It was during that conversation that Ruth had nearly passed out. Even now he was upset that he had taken his eye off her for one moment. It hadn’t helped that Rafferty had seen it happening and had caught her. Anderson had wanted to be the one catching her. Heather had made him miss his opportunity, all for nothing.
He had to make sure she didn’t pass out in the street, so he followed her out of the bar. He wasn’t there for her once, and that wasn’t going to happen again. But on the street, she seemed perfectly fine, if not a bit drunk.
Anderson still loved her reaction when he had questioned her about her car, and she’d realized that he knew. He loved that unexpected curse once she knew her secret was out. Her anger had almost made him laugh, but he had managed to hold it in. It wasn’t even that big of a deal where she lived. He hoped she had more secrets he could find out, just to hear her curse again.
Everything that he had been thinking and feeling for the last month had bubbled to the surface as they were in that little landing, almost touching. Anderson was surrounded by the smell of roses and vanilla, and it was completely Ruth Kennedy. It was a smell he had barely noticed until one day, he recognized it. Since then, he could smell it everywhere in the office.
All he had wanted to do was kiss her, but instead, he had touched her hair, fascinated by it for what seemed like forever. Then stupidly, he asked if he could come up. Why did he ask? Of course, she said no.
If he had just carried her up the stairs, he would be stripping her down to nothing right now, tasting her lips to see if she tasted of the whiskey Cokes she had been drinking or something else that was entirely Ruth. Instead, he had asked, and she had shot him down. Which was the right call because going up there would have completely destroyed whatever they had at work, changing it all irrevocably in one night.
Mia and Rafferty were sitting at the table that the women had been sitting at earlier. They seemed to be arguing, but not like usual. More like having a friendly argument than an “I want to murder you” argument.
With them too busy to notice him, he headed for the door. He didn’t need any more alcohol and didn’t want to talk to anyone that was there. So instead, he slipped back out into the bitter cold. As he walked past the office, he looked up once again and saw her light still on. But instead of going up there, he got into his truck and drove away.
Now that he was away from her and could think, he knew he was not ready to lose his secretary for a little sex. Not yet, anyway.
