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He laughed, noticing how easily she pressed into him and warmed him from head to toe. “I’m not. But I love music, and I would have to be a fool to not want everyone in Royal to see me with the most beautiful woman at this party.”
She shook her head. “You heap entirely too much praise on me.”
“Not true. In fact, I get the distinct impression that you don’t get enough praise and attention in your life. I worry about you living down that road, all by yourself.”
“I know. It wasn’t that smart for me to buy my place, but I wanted a fixer-upper and that was the cheapest thing I could find.”
He disliked the thought of her having to worry about money, but he supposed that was part and parcel of being in her line of work. It certainly couldn’t be lucrative. “So you fixed up the whole thing by yourself?”
“I did. I worked through my grief by knocking down walls and ripping up old tile and putting in new light fixtures. The whole nine yards.”
“I can’t believe you didn’t hire someone to do it.”
“It was a learning experience. I wanted to push my limits. So I sanded those floors on my hands and knees, chipping away at it a little more every day. It took forever. Which is why I was so mad when you wouldn’t take your boots off.”
“I eventually succumbed to your requests.”
Her eyes had a sexy glimmer. “And my kiss. You succumbed to that, too.”
He turned her in a circle, and the whole room fell away. Despite the negativity that had been aimed at him this evening, none of it came close to matching the positive charge of being with Ruby. “Of course I did. I’d been thinking about it for hours.”
“You had?”
“Pretty much from the moment I laid eyes on you.”
She swallowed so hard that he saw the motion in her graceful neck. “What were you thinking?”
He pulled her even closer and swept her hair aside so he could speak right into her ear. “I was thinking that if I could convince you to kiss me, I would be the luckiest guy in the world. I was thinking that I wanted to touch you and taste you and explore every inch of your beautiful body.”
Ruby audibly sighed. “And I disappointed you.”
“No. You didn’t. It’s not possible for you to disappoint me. I’m glad we waited. And we can wait as long as you want to.” It wasn’t an easy thing to say, but he meant it. He was fully committed to following her lead.
“What if I said that I was thinking about you from the moment I met you?”
That admission made everything below his waist draw tight. “Really?” His voice came out raspy and raw.
“Yes, really. I almost kissed you in the driveway when I fell.”
“Seriously? I was acting like a person with half a brain.”
She shrugged. “It was endearing. That you cared that much. Most people don’t care about anything outside themselves. You do. It’s very sexy.”
“When else did you think about kissing me?”
“In my room, when we went to get the mattress. I almost pushed you down on the bed right then and there and begged you to take me.”
Not only was this conversation making Heath’s blood run hot, it was making him feel so damn lucky. That instant attraction he’d felt went both ways. “I would never make you beg.”
“Not even a little?”
A lustful groan rumbled around in the base of his throat, and he found his head drifting closer to hers. He wanted to kiss her so bad it hurt. “I’m not saying it wouldn’t turn me on.”Just like this whole conversation. Just like everything about you.
Ruby leaned in and nudged his cheek with her nose, her breath hot against his skin. Then she inched closer to his ear. “Please tell me you want me. Tell me now.”
“I want you,” he muttered. “Now.”
“You’re going to have to wait. We’re at a New Year’s Eve party and it’s not even eight o’clock. Don’t you want to ring in the New Year?”
