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Finally, she lifted her gaze, saw him coming toward her.
He saw the light of recognition blink on in her eyes, and something else. Was she pleased to see him?
He couldn’t be sure. It was only there for a second before it disappeared behind the mask of caution that seemed to be her default when she wasn’t chatting up customers in the coffee shop.
They stopped walking at the same time, when they were just a few feet apart.
“Hello,” she said, looking up at him.
He smiled down at her, his pleasure at seeing her again a warm flush in his chest. “Hello.”
Her skin shone, her alchemical eyes wide and clear. “I’m afraid I can’t offer you overpriced coffee or stale pastries. We’re closed.”
His smile grew wider. She wasn’t afraid of him, didn’t seem angry that he’d shown up when she’d turned him down. “I was thinking I could offer you something instead.”
She tipped her head, studying him, and he was glad he’d chosen casual clothes. The last time he’d seen her, he’d been in a suit like some fucking trader. He’d felt stiff and out of place in her comfortable apartment, her relaxed company.
Today he’d worn jeans and a button-down shirt. No tie, although the button-down cost over a thousand dollars and had been custom tailored to his large frame.
But Ruby didn’t need to know that.
People were streaming around them, casting annoyed glances their way and cursing under their breaths as they maneuvered to get around Roman and Ruby, standing in the middle of the sidewalk like tourists.
He touched her elbow gently and felt like he’d won a prize when she didn’t flinch.
“We should…” He tipped his head to the edge of the sidewalk and they moved out of the way in tandem.
“Taking another shot, huh?” she asked him.
He grinned down at her, feeling like an idiot. His life was about to explode, his future uncertain. He was supposed to marry the porcelain doll that was Valeriya Orlov, not that he had any intention of doing so.
Still, this was not the time to start something with a woman, especially a woman outside the bratva, a woman who wouldn’t understand their business.
But he couldn’t help himself: he was drawn to her like a honeybee to the first flower of spring.
“I couldn’t stay away.” He said it lightly, but it was true. True in his bones. He shook his head and raked a hand down his face. “The truth is, I can’t stop thinking about you.”
“About me?” She sounded genuinely confused.
He nodded. “About you.”
She opened her arms a little, looked down at her lusciously curvaceous body. “Why?”
“Why can’t I stop thinking about you?”
She nodded, looking him over. “You’re… I mean, you’re obviously some kind of… What kind of work do you do exactly?”
“Business,” he said.
She nodded. “Okay, vague, but that’s fine. You’re in business. You clearly have a lot of money. You’re…” She paused. “Well, you’re extremely good-looking, which I assume you already know, although…” She craned her neck to look more closely at his battered face. “It does look like you got the shit beat out of you.”
“You should see the other guy.” He’d taken a few licks at Basil’s, but the other guy had been unconscious when his last fight had finally been called.
She smiled and shook her head. “I just… don’t get it. I’m a single mom, a barista for fuck’s sake, and not even a very good one.”
Not to mention the extra twenty pounds I’ve been carrying around for the past five years.
“I beg to differ,” he said. “Only a good barista could make the coffee at Roasted palatable.”
