Billionaire’s Date

Blurb

I have finally found my match.

Ruby Woods – the sexy, sassy, smart executive who’s got the reputation of pushing her agenda through everything.

I’ve heard she’s an overachiever at work,

She plays to win.

And she does not want a relationship.

She’s too busy fighting for a cause.

Or fighting me, I should say!

And this is not going to end nice.

Because I am done playing the nice CEO at work.

One night with her,

And all I wanna play now, is a terrific bedroom game.

A game that lasts forever,

I bet that s*xy a$$ and those perky nip*les would be a treat to watch and play with.

But what’s gonna happen when she finds out about the big secret I am hiding?

There is a lot at stake, and I have to make a choice.

You bet it’s a tough one!

Chapter One

Nathan

Friday evening and I was still at work. Late as shit. Always. The CEO of a huge company and I couldn’t figure out how the hell to get a little bit of time to myself. Not that I needed it. I’d squander the hell out of it most likely. But squandering was fun… or could be.

There I was, though, swiveling in my office chair, staring up at the books on the shelves covering my walls. I didn’t even think I had ever read those books. In fact, I was sure the decorator put those books there for show. When I was younger, you’d always find me with a book in my hand whether it was Thoreau, a little old-school Plato, or even some biography of one of the late greats. However, when I reached my teenage years, I realized people didn’t like to be around intelligent people, they were intimidated, so I stopped right then and there. Instead, I picked up a book about finance called “The Intelligent Investor” by Benjamin Graham. That was it for me, at fourteen I knew what my path was.

That’s the small version of how I got where I was, 33 years old, CEO of the most prestigious accounting firm in America, Pope Financial, and getting ready to make moves toward an even broader market. People think I started all this after graduating from Harvard, but in reality, Harvard was just a tool for me, a way to get in the door with the big guys, and it worked. I had spent the better portion of my life thus far creating an empire, building it brick by brick and then covering it in steel to make it solid and lasting. I looked up at Chris standing in the office talking to someone on his cell phone.

I liked Chris, I always had, though sometimes he forgot who ran the company. He was my corporate advisor and my best friend. I went to him for everything from business challenges to the few personal issues I might ever have. I wasn’t a guy who liked drama, nor did I have time to cater to a woman full-time so I guess you could consider me a playboy of sorts. Women flocked to me because of money and good looks but seldom would you find one who wanted to stay around for who I was inside, which was fine with me, I didn’t feel comfortable with commitment when I knew my money was what they wanted in the end.

“Man,” Chris said, hanging up the phone and sitting down in the chair across from me. “What a fucking day.”

“Well, why are we still here?”

“I want to talk to you about expansion overseas,” Chris said. “I think the way to go here is through outsourcing. It takes a lot of funds to get in overseas, and this would allow us to outsource a lot of our major stuff, especially IT, and save boatloads of cash. That money can be implemented back into the system to create these overseas entities.”

“I don’t know,” I said. “I want to be overseas, there’s no question. I’m not sold on outsourcing, however.”

“Chew on it,” Chris said. “We have time. And in the meantime, let’s get our asses out of this office and over to The Exposé Club, I hear there are some serious hotties on the 3rd floor tonight.”

“Well, I didn’t pay a shit-ton of money for my gold card to hang out in the regular area and not get my dick sucked,” I laughed.

I patted Chris on the back and flipped off the lights as we left the office. Neither one of us wanted to go home first, which was fine since it was only ten at night anyway. We headed straight to the club, and I, not feeling like socializing, went right up the elevator to the third floor. The music and lights were bumping, and I looked around the room, seeing if there were any women I had been with before. The week had been brutally long, and I wasn’t looking forward to having to talk to some girl until I could get her in a private room. Besides, this was why we came up there in the first place, the floor wasn’t meant for intellectual conversation.

“Hey there cutie,” a voice said from behind me.

I turned around to see Mindy, a chick I have had more than one romp around the back room with in the past. She was no muss and no fuss, which was exactly what I was looking for. To top it off she was young, firm, and she liked a cock in her mouth. I nodded my head at her and smiled, seeing her eyes dilate at the interest I was showing.

“Come on,” I said, nodding my head toward the door. “Let’s go.”

“Not up for talking tonight, huh?”

“Not at all,” I chuckled. “And I have a pretty good idea where I want that mouth to go to.”

She looked at me for a second and then took me by the wrist pulling me back to one of the private rooms. I walked inside and strolled over to the couch, plopping down and looking up at her. She locked the door and turned toward me, her eyes darkened and her lips plump and juicy. She walked forward and grabbed a pillow tossing it on the floor in front of me. She looked up at me and smiled coyly as she undid the buckle on my belt and slowly slid the zipper down. She tugged on my pants, and I lifted my ass, letting her pull them, along with my boxers down to my ankles. I spread my knees apart and pulled my arms behind my head as she reached out and grabbed onto my already hard shaft. I had been ready for this all day.

She slid her hands up my thighs and dug her nails in, causing me to jump slightly. I could see the pleasure from my pain flash over her eyes, but before I could say anything, the feeling of her hot wet heat flowing over the crown of my cock took the words right out of my mouth. Her tongue flicked across the head, whipping back and forth to tease me and increase the intensity. She pulled my dick a little farther into her mouth and sucked hard, massaging right beneath the head with her tongue.

“Fuuuck,” I groaned, feeling her moist pouty lips trailing over every inch of my dick. She was so damn good at what she was up to. I had a moment of thinking about how many men the cute little hooker had put her mouth on. It was a fleeting moment. The pleasure swelling in my balls was enough to jerk my stupid ass right back into the moment.

I reached my head forward and curled my fingers through her hair, pushing down as she slid my dick into the back of her throat. I let her stay there for several seconds before tugging her head slowly back up. She glanced up at me with her soft blue teary eyes and groaned, the vibration shaking through my entire body. Immediately I wanted more, and I let go of her head, knowing she knew exactly what I wanted.

Up and down her head bobbed, the sound of her spit pulsing through my ears. I could feel her moist mouth dragging down my shaft and back up again, the cold air of the club hitting the wet areas and increasing my need to release. She reached up with her right hand and cupped my balls, rolling them gently in the palm of her hands. I groaned loudly, feeling my balls begin to tighten as she pulled her head back up and sucked hard in the back of her throat. She reached up with her left hand and situated right below her mouth, twisting it as she rose up, creating a sense of warm friction against my skin.

“You know what I want,” I groaned and lowered my voice, commanding her. “Make me come.”

I moved my hands down and grasped the edge of the couch knowing exactly what her next move would be. Both her hands grasped my thighs to brace herself, and her lips formed into a circle sheathing her teeth. She rose up on her knees and began to bob up and down on my cock so hard her face was hitting my stomach. I moaned loudly tensing the muscles in my thighs as she deep throated my erection over and over again until I couldn’t stand it any longer. I reached down and grabbed her head, slowing her speed just enough to hold back for a few more seconds. She smiled through the sucking, and I shook my head, wanting to see her pull my dick into her mouth.

As soon as I let go of her hair, she picked up speed again, placing her hands on my thighs and grasping on tightly. Her tits bounced against the insides of my legs as her face moved up and down in a frenzied rhythm. As the heat in my stomach began to overflow, I tensed my muscles and pushed her head down, watching as she put the head of my cock on the back of her tongue and sucked. I could feel the explosion inside her mouth, her throat pulsing against my cock as she swallowed my flowing hot seed. She moaned loudly, vibrating my shaft and I fell backward, the orgasm trickling away.

And that was the best way I knew for de-stressed after a hell of a week at work. Nothing felt better than the warmth of a willing girl’s sweet mouth. And especially the one that knew exactly what she was doing.

Chapter Two

Ruby

“It’s important that we drive the message home,” I said to the crowd at the meeting. “We want to get past the stigma people have about protestors. We want them to be open to listen to what we have to say. The time of non-sourced Facebook sharing is over. I want you to always present evidence of our cause through reliable, peer-reviewed, clear-cut information. In an effort to combat the Huffington Post sharers out there we have put together a packet of links every one of you will receive tomorrow morning. These are links to articles that are completely legitimate and have been tested and found to be true and unbiased in intent. We have some big protests coming up, and I want everyone to stay safe. Remember we are peaceful protestors. In the words of Dr. King, himself, ‘Non-Violence is a powerful and just weapon, which cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it. It is a sword that heals.’ Thank you, everyone, for coming out.”

Everyone stood and clapped, making me feel satisfied that the speech had been successful. I had been protesting for years, through many different topics, but right then, my focus was centered around outsourcing and the damage it is doing to the economic and social climate in this country. Technically, I worked for an organization called Climate X who focused on different social justice issues. But in my free time, I headed up the local New York chapter of Keep Jobs at Home, a group of concerned citizens looking to make a difference in our current and future political climate when it came to outsourcing jobs to people in other countries. Today was the last full meeting before we marched through the streets of the city next week.

“Ruby,” Elizabeth, the co-chair of KJAH called out for me as I walked toward a desk at the back of the room.

“What’s up?”

“That was a great speech,” she said holding her folders close to her chest.

Elizabeth was a young college student, interested in social justice, passionate about the causes, but lacked the assertion to get out there and protest with all her might. Not everyone was made for sit-ins, sign holding, and marches through the city, so I took Elizabeth and put her in a position where we could use her talents of organizing to the best possible ability. She thought the world of me, which I never understood since I barely had said two words to her since she started with the organization.

“Thanks,” I said smiling. “I am excited about the protest next week. They told me you specifically went above and beyond, and we are supposed to have a noticeably increased turn out this time.”

“Yeah,” she said excitedly. “I mean the Facebook event alone has over three thousand people who said they were coming. Even if only half of them show up, it’ll be triple of what it was last time. Your message is getting out there.”

“It’s not my message,” I said patting her on the shoulder. “It’s the message of the people. The message of those who are without jobs, without companies, and are struggling because the U.S. is working against their own interests when it comes to business. It’s also about the people doing those jobs. They work in unbelievable environments, are paid pennies on the dollar, and are subjected to torturous scenarios, all to go home and live in poverty.”

“Absolutely,” she said blushing.

“Okay, I am going to go meet my sister for some drinks,” I said. “You got the rest of this.”

“Yeah,” she said nodding her head. “I’ll see you soon.”

As I walked out of the building, I stopped and shook several other protestors hands. I didn’t know how I had become the face of this movement, locally, but it was kind of exhausting trying to get the job done when everyone wanted to have a conversation. The day was over, though, and I had promised my sister, Lisa, who also happens to be my best friend, that we would meet for drinks at a local pub in the Art District. She wanted to go to this uppity club, Exposé in Manhattan, but I was not feeling that at all. I was glad that she conceded and picked a more low-key spot.

When I arrived, I paid the cab driver and wandered inside, looking around for Lisa. I spotted her at the end of the bar, sipping on a pint of ale and trying to ignore the idiot guys behind her at the pool table. I smiled as I made my way over to her, hugging her tightly.

“My sister,” she sighed. “How was your meeting? You save any small children or large animals?”

“Not today, my friend, not today,” I said laughing. “It was the outsourcing organization. We have a protest next week.”

“Nice,” she said looking up at the bartender to get his attention. “Did you quote Thoreau this time?”

“No,” I grumbled. “That goes right over these people’s heads. I went with Dr. King this time because I was talking about peaceful protesting.”

“Good choice,” she said nodding her head. “So, what exactly are you working on with outsourcing.”

“It’s a social injustice, another way for big business to further separate the classes,” I said taking a sip. “People in this country are working jobs that don’t pay the bills because there isn’t anything else, especially for the working class. In the meantime, big companies with the money are sending jobs overseas, paying ridiculously low wages, and then using that money so they can buy bigger houses and more jets while Jane starves in the streets. Not to mention they skirt most of the labor laws this country has enacted to ensure workers are treated fairly, furthering the degradation of other countries and keeping their poverty line at unnecessarily low levels.”

“Don’t companies do it so they can stay in business because of the extremely tight measures on taxation and manufacturing guidelines?”

“They use that as an excuse. But the reality of it when you look at their quarterly earnings, they make more than enough money to keep everyone in the company happy and still create jobs in the United States which would help in decreasing our own poverty line,” I explained. “In the end, though, Joe CEO and his shareholders don’t want to take a million dollar pay cut.”

“I mean, would you?”

“When I made hundreds of millions a year? Yeah, I’d sacrifice that million or two,” I said shaking my head. “It’s greed and power driving them, and their want to keep the classes so far apart that no one will ever be able to move up, better their lives, and create a fairer wage system in this country.”

“I don’t know,” Lisa said. “There are pros and cons to everything.”

I did not want to have that conversation with her again. We had very different views on a lot of things, and we kept our peace with that by not discussing it. She was intense, I was passionate, and the two of us in a debate always turned into a screaming match. So, a long time ago we decided to cut off conversations before they reached that point.

“Yeah, there are,” I replied. “Anyway, so what’s up! How’s work, life, all that stuff?”

“Good,” she said, obviously okay with me changing the subject. “Stressful and always go, go, go, but you know how that is.”

“Yeah,” I snorted. “I don’t think I’ve had eight hours of sleep since I was a kid. And to think I complained when mom got me up during the summer after ten hours. I’d kill someone with a Twinkie to get 10 hours of sleep.”

“Oh,” Lisa said turning toward me. “That reminds me. I want to set you up on a blind date.”

“Okay,” I said cautiously.

“He’s a nice guy, a friend of mine,” she said shrugging. “He wants to take you to dinner on Friday.”

“Sure,” I said smiling.

“Really? I thought you would put up a fight,” she laughed.

“Nah, I need to meet people, even if it’s not a romantic match,” I said. “Everyone I know is in the business, it gets hard to have a conversation after a while. I need to get out, step out of my comfort zone.”

“That’s awesome,” she said, raising her glass. “To new beginnings.”

“Here, here,” I said clinking her glass and taking a sip.

Sure, the guy might be an immature tool like every other guy I’ve dated, but at least I would meet someone new. I had a challenging time with guys because they all wanted to play games and have fun. I had goals, a life, and a lot on my plate. I was starting to think there wasn’t a mature guy left out there.

Chapter Three

Nathan

I lived on the 51st floor of The Avalon, an apartment complex dedicated to the service of the excessively rich. There were 69 floors, maid service, concierge service, a café and roughly every amenity you could come up with. I liked it because everyone had their own little cliques, and I wasn’t part of any of them, so they left me alone. I was born into a wealthy family, so having a maid and all of that was perfect for me. I never had to worry about the little things. I stopped off at the café and grabbed a cup of coffee, saying hello to the usual barista, Gabby, who always had a sweet smile for me. I liked pleasant people, they made me want to be friendly to others as well.

As I walked toward the front door, I looked over to see George, Avalon’s doorman, standing to the side looking through some papers. He was one of my favorite people at the complex, and I was happy to see him since he had a firm grasp on things and usually gave wise advice. He was a portly man, in his mid-fifties, and always wore the standard bellhop outfit in red with gold trim. It made me think of those wind-up monkeys that slap the symbols together. It also made me appreciate my Louis Vuitton suit that was pressed and perfect on my back.

“George,” I said smiling and reaching out my hand. “You look younger by the day, sir.”

“Mr. Pope,” he said smiling back and grasping my hand tightly. “I feel younger by the day, too. How is business?”

“It’s great,” I said nodding my head up and down. “We are thinking about expanding overseas, it’s an enormous undertaking.”

“I’ve heard,” he said looking interested. “I read in Forbes, though, that companies that want to continue for decades are almost forced to expand internationally, so they don’t get left behind.”

“That is very true, all-American only works for a select few,” I replied. “My advisor has been trying to convince me to move forward with outsourcing to fund our expansion, but I’m struggling with the idea.”

“Well, as a working-class man outsourcing is not something I support,” he said. “But I have a different perspective than you. You personally need to choose what’s best for the company, but remember what’s best isn’t always what is most lucrative in nature. Sometimes you have to lose a little to gain a lot. Just my thoughts on it.”

“Your thoughts are always insightful,” I said smiling and shaking his hand again. “I’m off to work, you have a fantastic day and don’t let these richies give you a hard time.”

“You too,” he said with a wink.

One thing I always loved was the insight I garnered from George regarding the collective common man. It helped take my face out of the quarterly reports and remember that my company did have an impact on everyone else. It was hard to see that from the ivory tower at the top of the company, but George was always the man to let me know when I haven’t been thinking everything through. It was true, I had to do what was best for the company, and from the outside outsourcing seemed like the right choice, but I needed more time to figure out what my other options were.

I hopped in my town car parked out front waiting for me and headed to the office, which was only about seven blocks from The Avalon. I looked out the window at Central Park which was across the street and wondered about the people who went to the park to play with their dogs, read a book, or just walk around. What was their life like? Were they part of the system disrupted by outsourcing and corporate greed? It was a deep thought, something I usually tried to stay away from, but this one was going to have a direct impact on how I ran my company.

When I got to the office, I sat down and skimmed through my emails, answering the important ones. There were always so many damn emails that I could sit here all day, every day, and still not make a dent. I needed to hire someone just to go through my inbox every day.

“Mr. Pope,” my secretary said from the intercom. “Chris Cantu is here to see you.”

“Yes, send him in,” I said, closing out my desktop.

“Chris,” I said as he entered the office. “How are you feeling?”

“Still hungover from our Saturday debauchery,” he said plopping down in the chair in front of my desk.

“You too? I pretty much laid around the apartment reading the paper all day yesterday,” I said. “Even my normal green smoothie didn’t take away the punch.”

“Neither did my plate of fried foods,” Chris said laughing.

“You need to consider a healthier diet,” I replied, always getting on him for eating like a teenager. “One day you’re going to wake up with clogged arteries and a hundred extra pounds.”

“I don’t think it happens overnight,” he laughed.

“All the more reason to get ahead of the game now,” I said smiling. “Besides, chicks don’t like fat guys, unless they have enough money to make it worthwhile.”

“True,” he said lifting his eyebrows. “But speaking of getting ahead of the game, have you put any more thought into outsourcing?”

“Of course, it’s been on my mind,” I said with a sigh. “I’m not quite ready to make a decision. There are a lot of things to be weighed and it kind of goes against the whole reason I started this company in the first place.”

“I understand you have your way of doing things,” he said leaning forward. “But at some point, you may have to step out of your comfort zone to push the company in the next direction.”

“That’s true, but to do that I need all the facts,” I said taking a deep breath.

“Well, let me know if you want to see the numbers,” Chris replied standing up. “I have some meetings to get to, I’ll catch up with you later.”

“Sounds good,” I said standing and shaking his hand.

I watched Chris walk out of the office, shutting my door behind him. He was a good guy and had the best financial interest of the company at heart, but he was very disconnected from the rest of it. When I started the business, I knew I could grow it fast enough that it would make a significant impact on the stimulation of our economy, and it has done exactly that. Today, it was one of the largest stimulators of our country’s economy, but I could see it taking a turn. Corporate America was not what I wanted out of Pope Financials, and though I knew it was impossible to stay entirely out of the circuit once the company reached a substantial size, it bothered me that it was starting to dive in, instead of sticking its toe in the waters.

I knew from watching my father, reading, and seeing the trends of the largest corporations in the world, that once you completely submerged yourself in the politics and policies of the corporate big time, the company often lost all will to remain a morally intact organization. That was what I was afraid of, running and owning a company that was questioned by the very people that kept it afloat. I didn’t want to be the latest corporate scandal, or the company found to be working along with the big government to fill the pockets of politicians. I had made it this far without dabbling in morally questionable actions, and that had been difficult, especially once Pope Financials hit the top ten companies. I was publicly traded, had investors, and the whole nine yards, but I was very careful with what avenues we took to get ourselves there. It was starting to become harder and harder.

I leaned back in my chair and rubbed my chin, wondering what other companies thought about this. I knew I didn’t have to outsource to get overseas, but I also knew that financially it was a risk to expand on the back of current profits. If anything went wrong, there would be no net to catch us. With outsourcing, we could save a lot of money and put that back into expansion. At the same time though, that would turn off a lot of people, put thousands out of work, and create a stigma of morally questionable operations with the public and behind the scenes. Personally, it would create a question in my own mind.

The decision was difficult and I knew I couldn’t jump in head first.

Chapter Four

Ruby

The week had gone by so fast I didn’t even know what I was doing. It was Friday which meant the protest march was almost there. I didn’t have many spare moments to be taking personal time, but I had promised Lisa I would meet her friend, so that was what I was going to do. I had to remind myself that she didn’t force it on me, I agreed, knowing I needed to get out there and broaden my horizons a bit, it just never seemed to be the right time.

I looked in the mirror at my long dark hair, pulled up one side. My hazel eyes glimmered against the dark eye makeup I had applied, and I was satisfied with my outfit. It was a tight black dress with a black suit jacket over it, creating a serious but playful effect. This was one of my problems, I thought about everything way too much. People didn’t like intelligent people, it made them uncomfortable, but I had a hard time playing dumb, especially with so much ignorance already in the world.

That ignorance was in full force this week when the higher powers would found out about the number of people that the march and protest were going to bring. No one ever paid attention when it was under a thousand, but you could start to feel the push back when the numbers breached that mark. We had done that and more, especially with the controversy swirling around in the current administration. People were ready, they were no longer hiding behind the comfort of their front doors. They wanted change in any shape they could find it. In some ways, the political unrest happening had strengthened our ability to get the issues noticed. Three years ago, no one would have cared about a protest against outsourcing, it wasn’t one of the popular human rights issues, but now people were starting to take notice of everything.

That was good for us but also brought the opposition in our faces full force. I had seen it all through the years from death threats to financial bribes and this time was no different. You knew when people started to get nasty and show their colors, you were headed in the right direction. They were paying attention to you and perceived you as a danger to their pocketbooks. The thing you had to remember was they were people just like you, and their threats and callous words didn’t mean anything more than someone was taking notice. Still, it brought a level of discomfort and stress to my life since I had somehow become a leader in this movement.

I grabbed my bag and headed out the door, ready to go meet this guy at a restaurant in Manhattan. My sister had described him as funny and handsome, two things that were a plus but not the core of what I was looking for in a man. I just had to keep telling myself that like him or not, I was getting out there and meeting people, which I needed desperately in my life.

When I arrived, he was standing in front of the restaurant in a pair of dress pants, a button-up shirt that looked slightly too big on him, and a nervous smile. I stepped out of the car and watched his eyes grow bigger, obviously pleased with how I looked. I smiled at him and walked over, leaning in and kissing him on the cheek.

“Jack, I presume?”

“Yes,” he said smiling. “Ruby, you look beautiful.”

“Thank you,” I said, liking the smell of his cologne.

“Shall we?”

I nodded my head and walked through the door he held open for me. The hostess showed us to our seats in the back of the restaurant where we could talk more privately. You could barely tell how a date was going to go from the first twenty minutes, especially with nerves running wild between two people sizing each other up. That was the time when we decided whether we were attracted physically. He was handsome, I would give him that, but there was nothing smooth about his mannerisms. He looked like a big kid fumbling around at a fancy restaurant. I tried to ignore it and give him the benefit of the doubt.

However, after a bottle of wine and some food, I had a better idea of who this guy was. Jack was your typical spoiled middle-class male, from a family with enough money to keep their attention focused on moving up in the world, but not enough to enjoy dinners at places like we were sitting. He had been coddled to the point where he had no clue what went on in the world around him. It was like watching the news, listening to them recite the bull crap that was passed down from channel to channel until the truth was utterly unrecognizable. He lacked the capacity to make a clear, intelligent statement without replicating precisely what he read on his Facebook feed. I was trying hard to not be rude, but he was making it very difficult.

“You actually believe the CEO’s of these companies care about a few million dollars? They are making decisions on what will grow their business,” he said shaking his head.

“Of course, they care,” I scoffed. “And so do their stockholders. When you get that big, you start to lose touch with why you started in the first place. Though, some of these guys knew exactly what they wanted, without any moral or patriotic base to their decisions whatsoever. There is more than one way to accomplish a goal, Jack, it’s just that the most lucrative are almost always the easiest and quickest way around a problem.”

“You sound like a conspiracy theorist,” he laughed.

“You sound like an idiot,” I replied, not feeling sorry about it at all.

I looked down at my purse and pulled some cash out for dinner and tossed it on the table. I was done, I tried. This was the reason why I didn’t put myself out there anymore, it ended in me being pissed and storming out of whatever social situation we were in.

“Thank you for a lovely evening,” I said looking over at him.

“Oh, come on, Ruby,” he chuckled. “It was a harmless conversation. Don’t go.”

“It’s not harmless,” I said turning around. “It’s the world we live in, and I can’t sit there and even consider spending time with someone that sees things through the same mainstream goggles that led us into this mess in the first place. I’m sorry, I’m sure you are a delightful person to hang out with outside of the debate, but this is my life.”

He shook his head with a snide smile on his face as I turned and walked out of the restaurant. I was pissed, not because he was the same old unintelligent guy that I seemed to always find, but because the world was so blind to everything. I couldn’t even socialize myself for a long enough time to make friends. Maybe I was kidding myself, maybe the people I worked with and protested with were the only people that I would ever feel even minutely comfortable with.

I stopped on the sidewalk and looked around, not ready to go home yet. I was too wired to go back and sit in my apartment, and I didn’t want to go to any of the gatherings the people I knew were throwing. I needed a drink and some time to myself. I looked across the street and recognized the name, it was that club, Exposé, that Lisa wanted to go to. I was fairly positive they had a bar on the lower level. I walked over and showed my ID, smiling at the doorman as he let me through. Straight ahead was a dark room with lights moving all around and a deep drum of music. To the left was a quieter bar with red carpeted floors and marble counters. There were small candles lit on all the surfaces and a few other people sitting around lost in conversation. It was still early which was probably why the place wasn’t packed yet.

I walked over and sat down on a bar stool, smiling up at the bartender behind the bar polishing glasses. I ordered a whiskey and diet and sighed, glancing up at the muted televisions playing the latest news channels. I looked to the side and there was one couple, pressed tightly together, and two guys, talking to each other about the local sports games and what chicks they were going to score with. I looked down at my drink as I swirled the straw around in the glass. I was thinking I needed to let the idea of a relationship go. I didn’t have time for it anyway.

Saddened by this revelation, I downed my drink and ordered another. If my date was over already, I might as well get wasted and drown my sorrows.

Chapter Five

Nathan

I had agreed to meet Chris at Exposé that evening, but when I got there, he was already upstairs on the 3rd floor. For once, I felt like socializing, though I knew that probably wouldn’t last long since most of the people that came there were so wrapped up in themselves a conversation was almost impossible. Still, I wandered down through the clubs, scoping out the place. The girls were all dressed in their sluttiest attire, some staring over at me flirtatiously, and others already having picked their victim for the night. When I got to the first floor, I stared down the hall at the dark club that most of the non-VIP’s ended up partying in. It seemed like an interesting idea, talking to some normal everyday women, but it also seemed like a huge headache. I went to take a step forward toward the room and glanced over, realizing they had a bar at the front. I had been going to Exposé for years and never realized they had a nice quiet bar there.

I shrugged my shoulders figuring it was worth a try and walked into the room. It had low lighting like the rest of the place but looked much more upscale than any of the pubs I usually frequented. I walked up to the end of the bar and nodded at the bartender. They had just about any liquor you could think of plus some that I had never heard of before. I was going to stick to what I knew, though.

“What can I get you?”

“I’ll have a Blanton’s on the rocks, please,” I said.

I reached to my back pocket to retrieve my wallet and looked up at the person sitting a few stools down. I paused staring at this woman, who was sipping her drink and looking slightly miserable. She had a couple of empty shot glasses in front of her, too. Her hair was long and deep chestnut brown, and as she glanced up at the television, I could see her striking hazel eyes. She had fair skin with rosy cheeks, and she seemed so perfect that it was hard to believe she was real.

“Sir?”

“Oh,” I said looking back at the bartender and taking my drink.

I wandered over to the closest place I could sit without being a creeper and pulled out the stool. She glanced over at me, and I smiled, watching her cheeks grow a bit redder. She smiled sweetly back and then looked up at the television. On the screen, they were playing some sort of local news channel, their rhetoric streaming across the bottom of the screen in captions.

“Every time the news comes on I feel like they want you to think the world is ending,” I said glancing up at the screen. “I don’t know how someone does that job without losing it and telling everyone the truth in a glorious on-screen meltdown.”

She looked at me for a moment with a shocked look on her face and immediately I remembered why I didn’t have regular conversations with people. I said the wrong thing, as usual, forgetting that most people were sheep just like the mainstream media. Hell, for all I knew she was a reporter for one of the stations.

“I’ve been saying that since I was a little kid,” she said with a smile on her face. “The truth is everywhere except up there on that screen. It’s all money, power, and politics.”

“I’m Nathan,” I said, immediately impressed.

“Ruby,” she replied.

“I wasn’t even watching it, it was just somewhere to focus my face, so I wasn’t staring blankly at other people,” she said, slightly tipsy.

“Ha,” I said throwing my head back. “That’s totally my move. I’ve been in a bar and watched an entire basketball game before and had no idea who played.”

“Bars can be awkward,” she laughed.

I scooted over and sat in the seat next to her, continuing the conversation. We talked about the politics on the screen, the truth of money and power in society, and many other deep conversational topics. I liked her. She was not only gorgeous, but she seemed to be relatively intelligent as well. She was extremely passionate but not in a way that she let her emotions take over too much, which was a good thing since too many people made huge decisions based off their emotional responses to things. It wasn’t that I didn’t have emotions, I just was able to separate them from the reality of a situation.

We sat there for several hours, conversing, drinking and just generally having a good time. She was slightly hard to read since her first reaction wasn’t to flirt with me, but at the same time, so was I. I was the guy that flirting never came naturally too, and after a while, and several embarrassing one-liners, I decided that being myself was the best option.

“Wow,” I said glancing down at my watch. “It’s already midnight.”

“Really?”

“Time fly’s when you’re having fun,” I said with a smile.

“That it does,” she said, looking kind of flirtatious for the first time that evening.

“Long shot here but would you like to come back to my place and have a drink? I just live down a few blocks across from Central Park,” I asked, feeling self-conscious about the question.

“Sure,” she said after a few moments of contemplation. “Let me just pay my tab.”

“Please,” I said. “Allow me.”

I handed the bartender my credit card and glanced at her, letting him know I wanted to cover her tab too. She looked up at the thick black card in my hand and sighed slightly, but I ignored it, figuring she was just reacting to me purchasing her drinks. We left the club and took a cab since we were both a bit on the drunk side.

When we got to The Avalon she didn’t say a word, merely followed me to the elevator that took us to the 51st floor. When we walked into the apartment, she looked around, her eyes wide with the well-appointed, expansive space. She ran her fingers down the large glass table that was situated in the dining room and turned to me, shaking her head.

“Impressive,” she said. “What did you say you did?”

I ignored her question as I poured us both a drink from the bar. I smiled thinking about her reaction if I told her I owed a large corporation. She would have something to say about that. For the moment though, I didn’t want her to know. I turned and walked over, handing her a glass and tapping mine against hers.

“I didn’t say,” I said with a mischievous smile.

She smiled back and reached forward, pulling my glass from my lips and out of my hand. She set it down on the table and turned back to me, stepping forward. Slowly she leaned in and brushed her lips against mine, the smell of her lavender scent pulsing through my nostrils. I could feel my heart pick up the pace as our lips barely touched and her hot breath smoothed over my mouth. I reached forward and grabbed her around the waist, pulling her into me and tilting my head to the side, opening my mouth as I forced the passion between us to come out of hiding. I pushed through her lips with my tongue, and she met with hers, swirling around each other, tasting the whiskey on our breath. It was erotic, and there was something about this woman that made me want to take my time.

She moaned lightly into my mouth as she wrapped her arms around my neck, leaning further into the kiss. Electricity shot through my chest as she pushed her hips forward pressing against my cock that was fully erect in my pants. I reached down and picked her up with one arm, holding her tightly, pulling back and staring into her eyes for several moments. The tension between us was thick and hot, and all I could think about was getting her back to the bedroom and undressing her slowly. Her chest was heaving up and down, and she moved her head back to mine, pulling her legs up and wrapping them around my waist.

I walked from the living room and down the hall, entering my bedroom and sliding my finger down the censored light switch. The room was dark, streams of low light cascading across the floor from the moon outside the window. She walked slowly over to the floor-to-ceiling glass panels that looked out over the city and the park, unbuttoning her jacket and dropping it to the floor.

I couldn’t wait to find out what she tasted like.

Chapter Six

Ruby

I knew the only reason I was standing in The Avalon taking my clothes off for a stranger was because I was wasted, but I didn’t give a damn, it was time I lived a little. This guy was not only incredibly handsome with his black hair and bright blue eyes, but he was educated, intelligent, and looked past what was right in front of his face and cared about a person’s insides. That alone was turning me on, but his well-defined, rippling muscles weren’t too bad either.

I could feel Nathan walk up behind me, my face close to the window which fogged with every breath I took. His fingers slid up my back and grasped the hook on my zipper, slowly pulling it down. He reached forward and pulled the straps down my arms and let go, allowing it to fall to the floor around my black six-inch heels. I stepped out of it, leaning my head back against his shoulder and feeling his lips run down the nape of my neck while the tips of his fingers grazed over my collar and down to my breasts. He rubbed his fingers over my hard nipples sending electricity through my chest. I moaned softly as he cupped both of my breasts and massaged them, his mouth moving back up to mine as I turned my head.

I twisted back around so that I was facing him, keeping my lips locked to his. My hands found the buttons on his shirt, and I slowly undid them, feeling his large hands still groping my tits. I yanked on his shirt, untucking it from his pants, and opened it up, pulling it down his shoulders. He let go of my breasts and undid the buttons at his wrists, taking the shirt off and dropping it to the floor. Staring at his rippling pectorals, I reached down and unclasped his belt, undoing the button on his pants, and pulling the zipper down over his bulging crotch. His pants fell to the floor, and he stepped out of them, standing confidently in the moonlight, wearing nothing but his tight black boxer briefs. He walked forward, pushing me toward the bed until I could feel the comforter hit the back of my legs. I fell backward, pulling myself up the bed and onto the pillow as he followed me, crawling toward me with his eyes locked on mine.

I gently laid my head on the pillow as he kissed over my stomach, his tongue slipping out of his lips and running across my abdomen. He reached up with both hands and pulled off my little black satin panties and set them to the side. Lust flushed through my veins as he stared down at me, licking his lips and smiling. He put his arms on either side of my hips and lowered himself down on his stomach, spreading my legs wide. He reached up and pulled my wet mound apart, leaning forward and licking between the folds. I gasped feeling the warm wetness of his tongue caress the skin between my legs. His tongue moved down and then back up, swirling over my clit with pressure.

“Mmmm,” he groaned sending a fire into my stomach as the vibration of his voice hardened my nub.

Without warning he dove in, his intensity increasing tenfold as he swirled his mouth through my juices sucking and pulling on my lips as he treated my pussy the same he did my mouth just moments before. He squeezed my thigh as he brought his other hand over, pushing two fingers through the juices and inside of me, twisting and turning them as he thrust in and out. I grabbed onto my tits holding tightly as the pleasure built higher and higher in my system. His mouth felt so amazing on my body. My hips tilted upward, and I began to grind, now feeling the desperate clutch in my stomach wanting release. My hand slid down over my stomach and pushed through his hair as he slowed his head and allowed me to take control, fucking his mouth hard and fast as he fingered me.

As the orgasm flowed over out of control, I arched my back and tossed my head backward, taking in a deep breath and feeling every wave of pleasure that washed over me as I came. Unable to grip onto his head any longer, he growled loudly, lapping at my juices and finger fucking me harder as lust and pleasure continued to erupt through my entire body. My legs shook in desperation as my muscles began to release and he pulled his head up, looking deep into my eyes. He sat up on the bed and pulled his boxers off, his huge cock springing out from captivity. He reached over to his nightstand and grabbed a gold wrapped condom, removing the top and pulling it down over his shaft.

He moved forward pushing my thighs apart and leaning down over the top of me, his face inches from my own. His lips glistened with my juices, and I reached up taking his bottom lip into my mouth and sucking hard. He rolled his hips downward as I brought my legs up around his sides, sliding his cock through my wet pulsing mound and deep inside of me. I bit my lip and closed my eyes, feeling every inch of him pushing deeper and deeper as his hips rolled like the waves over me. I looked up and rubbed my hands down his contracting abs, moaning at the feeling of his body rubbing against my clit. I pulled my hips up higher and watched as he pounded in deep and hard, groaning as my pussy swallowed every inch of his shaft.

Nathan shifted up on his knees and pulled me by the hips, so I was in the right position. He pushed my legs forward, and I grabbed my ankles, pulling them up toward my head. He reached up and grabbed my thighs for leverage before he began to thrust with force and erotica. I screamed out, feeling his abdomen slap hard against my clit, and his balls bounce against my ass. I could see the beads of sweat gathering on his tanned smooth chest, and he gritted his teeth pushing deep and then pulling out again. Just as it had happened before, the feeling of heat in my stomach began to boil up to the edge. I reached up and grabbed his arm, screaming out in pleasure.

“Don’t stop,” I moaned loudly. “Fuck, don’t stop.”

As if those words were the straw that broke the camel’s back he growled dark-eyed and needing, thrusting forward and digging his fingers into my thighs. I reached out, screaming in ecstasy as another orgasm hit me like a force, and my body was no longer in my control. I could feel him thrust forward once more, leaning in as deep as he could and moaning loudly. His cock pulsed inside of me as my juices exploded over his shaft. His hips moved in small thrusting motions as he too lost control and released, coming hard and deep inside of me.

After my body stopped shaking and my breath came back, I opened my eyes and watched the last few seconds of his all-encompassing orgasm. Slowly he let out the air trapped in his lungs, and his body relaxed. He sat back on his heels, pulling out of me and collapsing to the side. We laid there for several moments, trying to control our breath and our heartbeat. When we had calmed, he opened his eyes and stared at me, a comforting look from a man I barely knew. He leaned forward and kissed me gently, pushing me onto my side, and wrapping his arms around my waist. He reached down and pulled the white down comforter over us and snuggled his face into the back of my neck.

The room was slightly spinning from the alcohol I had drunk, but I still couldn’t help but feel completely at ease, wrapped in this man’s arms. He was smart, sexy, ambitious, and based on the fact that he lived in The Avalon, capable of taking care of himself. It was a break from the typical asshole slacker I ended up on dates with. I didn’t care about his money, but I did care about the fact that he could hold an intelligent conversation and saw through the bullshit of the world around us. Laying there in his arms was different for me since most of the time I was up and out before the sun could breach the windows. However, this time I laid there and thought to myself that maybe, just maybe, I was wrong about finding someone that could keep up with me on an intellectual and personal level. Maybe, Nathan had some serious potential.

Chapter Seven

Nathan

I opened my eyes, realizing I hadn’t moved positions from when I fell asleep. Laying in my arms, her hair strewn all around us was that beautiful creature I had met at the bar the night before. She still smelled like lavender, and I breathed the scent in deeply, not at all concerned that she was the first woman in a long time to spend the night at my place. She was smart and sassy, and I had immediately found her interesting enough to sit at a bar for several hours talking about politics and business. She had to have realized I had money since I lived at the Avalon but she didn’t know that when she agreed to come back to my place. Maybe, just maybe, she wasn’t there because of my money or my charm. Perhaps she was there because she found more than just my good looks appealing to her.

I laid there thinking about that, struggling with the idea that she may like me more than just a one-night stand. I was used to one-night stands, and my life didn’t permit me to move outside of my bubble very often. However, there was a reason she was still there, and I wanted to let go of that control, even if it was just for one Saturday. Slowly I pulled my arm out from underneath her and slid from the bed, pulling on my boxers and a T-shirt. I tiptoed out of the room and closed the door quietly behind me. I wasn’t used to having women in my apartment, so I wasn’t sure what to do next. I did know, though, that I wasn’t ready for her to leave, there was something nice about having her sleeping in my bed.

I walked into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water, downing it in an attempt to soothe my aching hungover head. I shouldn’t have drunk so much, but the conversation was so intriguing I hadn’t paid attention to what I was consuming. I looked around the house and over at my blender, realizing I probably couldn’t feed her my usual spinach smoothie. I opened the fridge and pulled out everything I had that was somewhat breakfast like and started cooking, hoping she liked veggie omelets and coffee with milk instead of creamer. When I was done, I loaded it onto a tray and went back to the bedroom, setting it down on the table and waking her gently with a kiss on the cheek.

She opened her eyes and blinked a few times, probably trying to recognize where she was. She looked over her shoulder at me and smiled, reaching up and rubbing my arm. She was even more beautiful in the early morning than all dolled up at the bar.

“Morning,” I said. “I made us some breakfast.”

“Awe,” she replied, rubbing her temples. “That’s so sweet.”

“Here, drink this water, you’re probably dehydrated,” I said, handing her a bottle.

We sat on the bed eating breakfast, laughing at how drunk we were the night before. It wasn’t awkward like I thought it would be, though I was pretty used to feeling awkward. Her smile was warm, and she related to everything I said. When we were done eating, I called down to the front and asked them to send some clothes up in her size.

“Why’d you do that?”

“I thought maybe we could go out in town, spend a little time together,” I said with a smile.

She liked that idea, so we got dressed and headed out, starting first in Central Park. It was a gorgeous day, just slightly breezy and warm enough that I was glad spring had finally arrived. The winter had been harsh this last year, and New York was a slushy mess. As we walked, we talked about a lot of different things. She told me about growing up in upstate New York, about her family, and that her sister lived in the city too.

“It’s hard to make friends in this city,” she said. “There are so many people, but no one wants to connect. And forget the dating world, it's atrocious.”

“I know what you mean,” I replied. “Most of the people I meet are hard to talk to, too caught up in the media, the trends, Instagram, Facebook, and what everyone else is doing. I feel like I’m the only person my age with drive and the ability to look outside the box.”

“So true,” she said turning to me smiling. “Honestly until last night I had stopped talking to anyone. I was at the bar because I walked out of a terrible blind date my sister set me up on. The guy was your typical no direction, blind, drone, not willing to look outside his own comfort level. I know it shouldn’t bother me, but those people irritate the hell out of me. Why is everyone so afraid to be wrong?”

“I don’t know,” I chuckled. “Being wrong only means you get to learn something at the end of it. Then you can be right again.”

“Exactly,” she laughed jutting her hands out passionately. “Ugh, it’s exhausting.”

We walked out of the park and down the street, grabbing lunch at a small deli on the corner. It wasn’t the best place in the city, but I liked the people there. They were friendly, helpful, and the owners were also the operators. I could still remember how hard it was when Pope Financials started out, I worked non-stop, seven days a week. I was thankful to everyone who put their faith in me, so, I tried to pay it back wherever I could.

The day seemed to fly by, and before I knew it, the sun was starting to go down. We were standing back in front of The Avalon after spending all day just walking around the city and talking. There wasn’t a moment that I could remember thinking this woman was boring or unintelligent and that had been the first time in my adult life that I hadn’t had those thoughts at some point or another. She looked up at me and smiled, stretching her arms high in the air.

“I guess I should be getting home,” she said.

“Not a problem, we’ll take the car,” I replied.

She nodded her head yes, and I walked over and opened the door for her. I climbed in next to her and listened as she told the driver her address. She lived right outside of Manhattan in one of the brownstones I always thought were so cute. For the first time ever, I felt self-conscious about the fact that I lived in such an excessive place, but I didn’t have the time to be as self-sufficient as I assumed she was. I worked all day and most of the evening and relied on my money to see me through. I knew it was a pathetic excuse, but it was the way I had always done things.

As we drove along, watching the lights of the city, I reached over and took her hand, pulling it into my lap. She looked over at me and smiled, her green eyes sparkling in the reflection of the passing buildings. She was so beautiful, I still couldn’t get over it. I had been with plenty of beautiful women in my life, something having money and a charming smile did for a guy, but there was something different about her that attracted me, and not only in the pants. I shook the feeling off, knowing I was being illogical and emotional, I had only known the girl for twenty-four hours.

When we pulled up in front of her place I smiled, seeing the wreath she had hanging on the door. I walked her to the bottom of the steps and watched as she smiled and took a deep breath. It was the first time all day I didn’t know what to say.

“Well,” she said. “Here I am.”

“It’s beautiful,” I said looking up at the house.

“Thanks,” she replied. “Thank you for today, it was surprisingly relaxing. It was what I needed.”

“Give me your phone,” I said, handing her mine.

We stood there and exchanged numbers before passing our phones back. I leaned down and kissed her gently but with meaning, wanting to let her know I had an amazing time, even though I couldn’t muster the words. When we pulled apart it took her a few seconds to open her eyes, and she giggled, turning to walk up the stairs. I watched her all the way up and waved as she smiled and shut the door. I walked calmly back to the car, feeling like I could take off in a sprint. She was the first woman I had been able to hold a conversation with, ever. I wanted to see more of Ruby.

Chapter Eight

Ruby

I walked along the sidewalks of the city, looking at it in a different light than I had just a few days earlier. Nathan had just dropped me off the night before at my house, but I already hoped he would call and ask me out again. Meeting him was a surprise, something I didn’t think would happen in a million years. I literally went to the bar to get away from guys after that horrible blind date, but I sure was glad I did, because that one night and day had done wonders for my faith in men. I still didn’t know if I would ever see Nathan again, but I had a good feeling about it.

I walked up to the door of Marie’s, a bakery and bagel shop that I was meeting Lisa at for our weekly Sunday morning coffee and gossip session. When I walked in, she was in the back booth waving her hand at me with a full mouth of food. I swore she was the skinniest person, but she ate like a freaking three-hundred-pound man. I walked over and plopped down in the booth, letting out a deep sigh.

“Hey there,” Lisa said looking at me curiously. “How’s it going?”

“Freaking awesome,” I said shaking my head.

“Well, I know it’s not from my friend because he called me after your date to let me know how much of a bitch you were,” she said laughing.

“Yeah, no, he was a complete moron,” I said scrunching my nose. “What were you even thinking?”

“You needed to get laid,” she admitted.

“Gross,” I replied.

“Okay, so if it wasn’t him then who?”

“Why does it have to be a who? I am capable of being happy without a man,” I said unconvincingly.

“Seriously?”

“Fine,” I said leaning forward excitedly. “After I left the restaurant I went across the street to Exposé and sat at their bar.”

“They have a bar?”

“Yeah,” I said. “So, I’m sitting there drowning my sorrows in whiskey and mainstream media, and in walks this gorgeous guy in a suit I swear probably cost more than my college education.”

“Probably worth more too,” she said sarcastically.

“Anyway,” I said rolling my eyes. “He sat down and started talking to me, and I assumed it would be more bullshit, but it was so far from that I couldn’t even explain it. He was intelligent, open-minded, and pretty much my male clone.”

“Oh, lord,” she replied.

“So, we drank and talked and then I went back to his place,” I said. “In The Avalon.”

“What? He lives in The Avalon? What the hell does he do?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “I haven’t asked yet. But then the next morning he cooked me breakfast in bed and then took me out into the city for the entire day, talking and walking.”

“Like talking about life or what?”

“Everything,” I said excitedly. “Politics, worldviews, people, food, the city, family, everything.”

“I don’t get it,” she said looking at me strangely.

“You don’t get what?”

“You meet a guy at a bar, you sleep with him, then you spend the whole next day with him,” she said as if it were a question and a statement at the same time.

“Yeah, and?”

“And, are you kidding me? And you don’t even know what he does for a living,” she said. “He lives in the most luxurious and expensive place in the city, goes to Exposé on the weekends, and you didn’t think to ask what he did? He could totally be in the mob or like someone who extorts money from people.”

“No,” I said shaking my head. “I’m sure he owns a company or something.”

“So, when are you going back out with this guy?”

“I don’t know,” I sighed. “Whenever he calls and asks me out, I guess.”

“Mmmm,” she said looking down at her watch and packing up the food. “We have a ten o’clock appointment at the nail salon. We gotta go.”

We left Marie’s in a hurry with me almost spilling coffee all over myself as I ran for the cab. We were always doing that, getting caught up in conversations and then having to rush to whatever appointment we had. I honestly forgot all about the nail appointment since I usually never paid to get a manicure. I knew that Lisa enjoyed it, it was her break from having to do anything but focus on herself. She was a professor at New York University, and her days, and nights, were always filled with student and faculty issues. She was the youngest tenured professor in the history of NYU, but to get that title, she had to seriously kick some ass and put in the time.

When we arrived at the nail salon, we picked out our colors and were seated next to each other. The woman behind the desk pulled on my hand and turned the lights on it, starting the manicure. Lisa sat next to me smiling at her tech, who happened to be an attractive guy, who also happened to be wearing a Gay Pride T-shirt from that year’s parade. When he walked away, I pointed it out to Lisa, and she got pouty quickly.

“So, what does this mystery man look like?”

“He’s tall, tan, extremely muscular, with dark hair and blue eyes,” I said. “Like drop dead gorgeous.”

“When you say extremely muscular do you mean like a sexy built guy, or like muscles so big the veins pop out, and you can see the blood circulating?”

“Ew,” I laughed. “I mean like sexy built guy. Like Channing Tatum body.”

“Nice,” she said. “Well, I guess you owe me then.”

“For what?”

“For helping you find this guy,” she said.

“You had nothing to do with me finding him,” I laughed.

“On the contrary,” she said in her professor's voice. “I set you up on a date.

“A miserable failure,” I added.

“Still, if it wasn’t for that you wouldn’t have ended up at Exposé’s bar, and thus you would not have met Mr. Sexy Eyes.”

“You are stretching it,” I said with no expression.

“Whatever,” she sang. “You are welcome unless he turns out to be a douche bag then it’s all your fault.”

“Of course,” I laughed.

We spent the rest of our manicures arguing over who was responsible for me meeting Nathan. Finally, I conceded and let her take the credit, it was way easier than fighting with her about it. Besides, she did have a point, if I hadn’t met the asshole, I would have never ended up across the street. At that moment, I was finding that to be a lucky thing, but I wasn’t sure if my view on that would change or not. If he didn’t call, I might go back to being that cynical bitch that pissed off every date I had.

After the manicures, I rode along to Lisa’s apartment since it was on the way to mine. When we pulled up, she looked at me and smiled. She reached over and took my hand, looking as if she were going to get a bit sentimental.

“Look,” she said. “All joking aside. I’m glad you met someone that made you this excited. I haven’t seen you so non-serious since we were kids. I hope he calls, and even if he doesn’t don’t forget the feeling you have right now, it’s what keeps us going.”

“I love you,” I said, leaning in and kissing her cheek.

“Love you too,” she replied opening her door. “Now, go spend the rest of your Sunday being lazy for God’s Sake, and call me if he calls!”

“I will,” I yelled as she shut the door.

I laughed and shook my head as the cab pulled off, heading for my house. She was so goofy, but I loved her nonetheless. Growing up I could have never imagined my older sister being my closest friend, but I seriously felt like there were too many times to count, that if she hadn’t been there, I would have gone insane. The cab pulled up in front of my apartment, and I paid the driver and then jumped out on the sidewalk. I waved at my neighbor as I climbed the stairs to the house, ready to lounge around with my freshly painted fingernails. As I put the key in the door, my phone started to ring. I reached down into my bag and pulled it out, not even looking at the number.

“Hello,” I said cheerfully.

“Hey there,” Nathan said on the other line, making me almost drop the phone. “You busy?”

“Busy? No,” I stuttered.

“I was calling for two reasons,” he said. “I wanted to see how you were feeling today.”

“I feel great,” I said smiling. “I had breakfast with my sister, and now I’m walking into the house.”

“Good,” he said. “And my other reason was that I wanted to ask you to dinner tomorrow night.”

“I would love to,” I said excitedly.

Oh, boy, I had it bad already.

Chapter Nine

Nathan

My reflection in the mirror made me nervous about the date I was getting ready to go on. I felt like I was trying way too hard, obsessing over every single hair and its placement. I had changed my outfit at least six times, and I wasn’t even sure if I picked the right cologne, though at that point it was too late. I pulled on my shirt, making sure it was tucked in and my tie was perfectly aligned. I couldn’t figure out why I was so nervous, I was taking Ruby to dinner, not proposing. Still, I hadn’t been this anxious about a date since I took Kathy Lane to the junior prom. Of course, if I stopped and thought about it, I had been so obsessed with work and so put off by all the gold-diggers out there I hadn’t been on a date with anyone I cared about before. This was going to be an interesting night.

I finally decided that my hair was as good as it was going to get and left the bathroom, flipping off the light. I grabbed my jacket off the chair and looked at my whole ensemble in the mirror on the back of the door. I had to admit, I looked sharp, especially for the guy who loathed fashion and conforming to the norm with expensive suits and boring ties. I sighed and opened the door, leaving my bedroom and heading out into the living room. Before I left, I picked up a few things strewn about the apartment just in case I happened to bring Ruby back there later that night.

I grabbed the keys to the apartment, my wallet, and my cell and headed out to the elevator. When it finally arrived on my floor, I jumped inside and headed down to the lobby. I nodded my head at George who was getting off his shift, and he waved over at me with a kind smile. Sometimes, when the place was practically empty, and I didn’t get too many stares for being so nice to the staff, I kind of like the place. I imagined my next house having a staff as friendly as The Avalon had. At least I would try to make it that way so I would at least have some company in my solitude.

I left the building and climbed into the limo I had hired for the evening and headed over to pick up Ruby. When it pulled in front of Ruby’s, I walked up the steps, ringing the doorbell anxiously. Ruby answered the door, and my mouth fell open, staring at the beautiful woman standing in front of me. She was wearing a strapless black dress that hugged every one of her curves perfectly and came down narrowly to her calves. She was wearing black strappy five-inch-heels and had her hair pinned back with a large front section falling to the side and curled. Her lips were plump and juicy, and her makeup was dark, highlighting her amazing green eyes. I leaned forward and kissed her cheek, giving her my arm as we walked down to the limo.

The ride there was quiet but extremely comfortable, and when we pulled up, I exited first and lent my hand to Ruby to help her out of the car. I was impressed with my mannerly romantic skills since I hadn’t had to use them in a long time. Before Ruby, I thought to be mannerly meant handing the girl my handkerchief to wipe the cum off her lips after sucking my dick on the 3rd floor private rooms. That seemed cheap now. The hostess showed us to our table in the back corner where we were afforded some privacy from everyone else.

I ordered a bottle of wine and some appetizers and waited until after the waiter poured our first glass to begin the conversation. I looked across the table at Ruby who was looking around the dimly lit restaurant in wonder. I was curious about where she usually went to eat since she seemed to be in awe everywhere we went. Maybe it was just her charming curiosity that I found to be adorable.

“So,” she said taking a sip of her wine. “Tell me, Nathan, what is it that you do for a living?”

“I was wondering when you were going to ask that,” I chuckled. “I own an accounting firm called Pope Financials.”

“You own Pope Financials?” She choked slightly on her wine.

“Heard of us?”

“Yeah,” she scoffed. “That’s impressive for someone so young. I’ve heard some great things about your company and how they treat their employees. Bravo sir.”

“Thank you,” I said proudly. “And how about you?”

“A little less glamorous,” she said swallowing. “I work for a social justice firm downtown. We help people who have been targeted by racism, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia, and more. We help get them good counsel and direction through the long and arduous task of getting justice.”

“That sounds like an amazing job,” I said, very impressed.

“It is,” she said. “Sometimes it can be stressful, but very rewarding.”

We spent the rest of dinner talking back and forth about our jobs, our hobbies, and where we wanted to go in the future. We shifted to personal views and ideas rather quickly which was fine with me since I had enough of talking about the company. Everyone wanted to ask questions about Pope Financial but Ruby, she asked questions about me. When dinner was over, I invited her back to the apartment, excited when she said yes.

When we arrived, I had an idea, so I stood her in the lobby and went over to the concierge, whispering my request over the desk. As usual, they were more than happy to oblige and sent me on my way with two towels and a keycard. Ruby looked down at the towels with confusion, but I didn’t say a word. Instead, I led her to the elevator and took us up to the 50th floor and escorted her off the elevator. I walked down the hall to the last door and slid the keycard, leading her into the room. She smiled as she saw the Infinity Pool, and I locked the door behind us.

“This is beautiful,” she said. “And the view, it’s to die for.”

“I figured after a good meal we might as well go for a swim,” I said taking off my jacket, tie, and shirt.

“I didn’t bring a bathing suit,” she said, turning to me.

“Neither did I,” I said, dropping my pants and boxers to the ground.

“What if someone comes in?”

“They won’t,” I said walking to the edge. “I rented the pool for the evening.”

I dove headfirst into the water and swam back up to the surface, feeling the warm water wash over my body. It was so refreshing and freeing, and I turned up to see Ruby beginning to undress. I smiled and turned away, not wanting her to feel uncomfortable. As I heard her body splash into the pool, I turned back around and watched her naked body glide along under the water and surface directly in front of me. She was beautiful with her hair down and wet around her shoulders. She smiled at me with darkened eyes, and I reached forward, bringing her in close to me. I could feel her large firm tits pressing against my chest, and I leaned down, kissing her warm wet lips.

“You are so full of surprises,” she whispered. “It’s an adventure with you, and I like it.”

“I’m glad,” I said, leaning over and kissing her neck. “I’d like to take you on another adventure, right here, right now.”

“Mmmm,” she moaned as my hands slid down her soft sides beneath the water.

I pulled her against me and thrust my hips forward, letting her feel my hard cock filled with my desire for her. She smiled, reaching down beneath the surface of the water and wrapping her hand around my shaft. She squeezed it hard as she reached forward and cupped my balls with her other hand. I groaned loudly, wanting to feel even more of her. She smiled coyly as her hand began to move up and down my erection, the water flowing around us. I gripped the edge of the pool and closed my eyes, letting her take my cock and jerk it hard. As I opened my eyes, I saw the mischief in her eyes, and she dove down under the water, finding my cock with her mouth.

This girl was amazing.

Chapter Ten

Ruby

I had spent most of my life swimming so this new idea to suck Nathan’s cock beneath the still waters of the Infinity pool seemed like a well thought out plan. Well, after a few thrusts and some water up my nose, I decided that it may be a better idea to stick to something more conventional. When I came out of the water neither one of us could help but laugh, but that laugh quickly silenced as he stepped forward and brushed my hair from my face with his hand. He leaned down and kissed my lips softly, finding pleasure in our connection. There was something familiar and warm about him, and I ran my hands up his chest, feeling his large bulging muscles.

As we stood staring and caressing each other, he slid his hand down my stomach and pressed it between my legs. I moaned softly as his fingers moved against me, my body writhing against his, passion flowing through my veins. He wrapped his other hand around my waist and lifted me slightly, sliding his fingers inside of me and pressing his mouth against mine. I wrapped my arms around his neck and whined into his throat, feeling the heat of orgasm beginning to bubble deep inside of me. I pulled my legs up and wrapped them around his waist and leaned back, giving him room to continue his magic. He slid his fingers slowly in and out of me, using his other hand to massage my clit. I moaned loudly, listening to my voice echo off the walls of the room. I looked up at Nathan and watched his eyes darken as he realized I was close to exploding.

He picked up the pace, finger fucking me hard and fast, swirling his thumb over my nub. My hips began to grind against him in motion with the waves our bodies were producing. He bit his bottom lip and let out a growl, his hard cock rubbing against my ass as I ground against his hand. I leaned my head back and closed my eyes, taking in every single ripple of pleasure that his fingers created. My breath increased, and I could feel my heart pounding in my throat. He pushed deep and hard, and I arched my back, barely keeping my grasp around his neck as my body exploded in orgasm. I screamed out, feeling him continue to rub my nub and glide his fingers through my juices. My body twitched and shook the top of the water until finally the orgasm dissipated and I relaxed, pulling myself into him and hugging him tightly, my arms and legs strongly situated around him.

Without skipping a beat, he reached down between us and grasped the shaft of his cock, stroking it lightly as I lowered myself down slightly. He positioned the head of his cock on my pussy, and I looked up in his eyes, gasping as I pulled my hips forward, taking it in until my hips reached his. He groaned loudly and began to walk forward, my hips pulling back and thrusting forward, feeling his rock-hard cock pulsing inside of me. I wanted so badly for him to stop, lean me down and fuck me hard but I could tell he had something else in mind. He moved quickly through the water and up the stairs grasping my ass as he climbed and held on. I pushed my hips in hard, taking him deep as he moved across the room and laid me gently down on the reclining furniture.

I spread my legs wide and watched as he knelt down, holding his cock at the base. His body moved into mine, his enormous erection sinking down through my juices and filling me completely. I moaned loudly feeling that initial push all over again. I reached up and pulled him down onto me, his strong arms grasping the chair tightly. He pulled his knees under him and pulled up on my hips, thrusting deeply as I arched my back, my firm tits bouncing up and down with the movements of his hips. I reached up and grabbed my breasts massaging them tightly as the passion between us grew more intense by the second. The room was warm, and sweat glistened on his chest as he groaned wildly, feeling every inch of me begging for more. He pushed in deep and slowly pulled back out, barely leaving the crown inside and then with a firm grip to the chair he slammed into me, pushing an erotic scream from my chest.

Over and over again he pulled slowly out only to thrust hard back into me. The sound of our wet skin slapping together rang out, and I reached down, grabbing onto the sides of the chair and lifting my hips up to give him more leverage. He grabbed my hips and growled as he began to move faster and faster, the sound of our passion spilling out over the edge of the Infinity pool. I moaned loudly, rubbing my nipples and feeling the heat inside of me spilling over. As he reached down and rubbed his thumb across my clit, I arched my back, that one touch being enough to push me into full orgasm. He reached his hands down and grabbed my hips hard watching my body stiffen and release as the orgasm filled my soul.

When he could no longer wait, he pulled out and flipped me over, bringing me to my knees and thrusting hard into me. He slapped my ass cheek and held on as the juices flowed out and over his erection. I could feel his muscles tensing as he drove his dick in and out, grunting loudly with every thrust.

“Fuuuck, Ruby,” he groaned as my pussy contracted and released around his shaft.

After about four more thrusts he leaned forward and pushed deep inside of me, grabbing my shoulders for leverage. His hips made short bouncing movements forward trying to get as far into me as possible. Suddenly, he pulled it out, letting out a deep breath and stroking his shaft hard and fast. I moaned at the feeling of his hot seed exploding in streams along my back while his legs and stomach tensed and released against my ass. He sat there stroking for several more moments before sitting back on his feet and letting his heart slow a bit.

When Nathan had calmed, he stood, taking my hand and pulling me to the side where the pool showers were. He turned me around, so my back was to him and smiled sweetly as the cool water ran over my body, the remnants of his pleasure washing down the drain. He turned the water off, and I stood there and watched as he walked over and grabbed the towels. He dried my shoulders, my breasts, my stomach, and my legs before wrapping the towel around me, under my arms, and securing it at the top. He said nothing as he moved around the room, gathering our clothes and shoes and folding them neatly into a pile with my purse. He wrapped the other towel around his waist and winked at me, taking his free hand and pulling me from the room and toward the elevator. He pressed the button and waited. I stood there grasping the towel in front of me and looking around, not wanting anyone to see me in that manner, especially not at The Avalon. He looked over at me and chuckled.

“Relax,” he whispered in my ear. “They’re all smoking cigars, drinking whiskey, and bragging about how amazing they are right now.”

He kissed my cheek and grasped tightly to my hand as I looked at him and smiled. When the elevator arrived, we stepped inside. My cheeks burned watching the boy operating the elevator stare straight ahead, no expression on his face. Nathan only lived one floor up, which I was relieved about since I didn’t want to be on the elevator in only my towel when someone else climbed aboard. We got off and headed down the hall to his grand front door, still clutching hands. When we stepped inside I took in a deep breath, the smell of his cologne wafting through the air. I wondered if the same happened for him at my house with my perfume.

Nathan kissed me on the forehead and set our things down on the kitchen counter, and we headed back to his bed. As soon as I saw it, I realized how tired I was, and I handed my towel to him, climbing in and nestling down under the covers. As he climbed in behind me and wrapped his arms around my body, pulling me in close, I smiled. It was crazy, but I was starting to like this guy, and on a level that I was unfamiliar with completely.

Chapter Eleven

Nathan

Waking up next to Ruby was something that made me feel alive, happy, and it felt right. It was a strange feeling, and though I could feel myself try to push it away, it wasn’t going anywhere. The night before had been amazing. Amazing food, amazing sex, and then amazing sleep with her wrapped up in my arms. She was probably one of, if not the, most beautiful women I had ever had in my life. She woke up not long after I did and popped into the bathroom where I was taking a shower. She was already dressed and kissed me on the cheek, letting me know she needed to get home so that she could get changed for work. I was sad that I wouldn’t be able to ride with her into work like I hoped for, but as she flashed that beautiful smile at me, I felt my heart melting.

I listened as the front door shut behind her and dipped my head under the cascading showerhead. I rubbed the water up and down my face, trying to control what I was feeling, but before I could stop it, I was smiling from ear to ear. This was insane, but it was what it was, and I was going to go with it. I climbed out of the shower and dried off, looking at myself in the mirror, I looked happier than I had in a long time. I got ready for work, taking a lingering amount of time to make sure my suit was perfect, the tie matched, and my hair was done just how I liked it. I spritzed on the cologne that Ruby loved so much and headed out of the apartment.

When I made it to the lobby, I stopped at the Avalon Café and grabbed a coffee, saying hi to the barista I was used to seeing, Gabby. George tipped his hat to me, and I waved as I grabbed a newspaper and headed out to the car. I climbed in and set my coffee in the holder, opening the paper and thinking about the day ahead. In the local section, there was a picture of a protest that had occurred the week before. The people on the front were carrying signs protesting outsourcing by American companies. It was strange that I felt more in tune with their beliefs than my own company’s.

When I arrived at the office, I sat down in my chair, tossing my empty cup from the café into the garbage. Chris walked in the door behind me and nodded, handing me a file. He plopped down in the chair in front of me and crossed his legs.

“What’s this?”

“It’s a report of the different areas you will save money with outsourcing,” he said. “I was actually surprised at how many areas that would be affected. Marketing, Training, Advertising, Benefits, and a ton of others. This would make some serious cash and fast.”

I opened the folder and skimmed over the information, knowing that no matter how much I didn’t like the idea, I needed to at least take a look at it. The company was at a standstill growth wise, and I needed to push us into the overseas markets. I still didn’t have the numbers, though, on how our company would be affected by taking part of our revenue and assets and investing that in expansion instead of cutting thousands of jobs and moving them overseas.

“The average IT here makes over twenty dollars an hour,” Chris continued. “The average outsourced employee makes close to two.”

“And you don’t see anything wrong with that?”

“Their political nature of how other countries handle their own people and their wages are not our concern,” he said. “But think of it this way, these people might not have a job otherwise.”

“You think because these people live in a different place they shouldn’t be awarded the same kind of luxuries as us?” I was a bit irritated.

“Look, Nathan, I’m not here for a political debate or a class in morality, that’s your forte,” he said. “You ultimately make the choices that include those things. I am here to tell you what the most lucrative path for the company is.”

“You are here to advise on the best path,” I replied, trying to get him to listen the fuck up. I knew what I was talking about. Period. “The most lucrative is not always the best.”

“You’re right,” he sighed, handing me another file. He needed to hear me out, but for some damn reason, he was having a really hard time with that. “So, I did a breakdown if we took current assets and revenues and planned it out for expansion. It would take three times as long, and that is only if the stockholders agreed to that financial burden.”

“Thanks,” I said breathing deeply and letting the breath out slowly. “I’ll look these over and get back to you.”

“Alright,” he said standing up. “Drinks tonight at that bar in Exposé?”

“Sure,” I replied staring at the outsourcing numbers though I would have rather been just about anywhere else.. “Come grab me at the end of the day.”

I spent the rest of the day in and out of meetings, reviewing different material for the outsourcing options, and sitting at my desk thinking. I did a lot of thinking in that chair over the years, but I had to be honest, it was the first time that thinking was interrupted with the vision of a woman running through my mind. I wanted to call her and ask her to come over that night, but I didn’t want to smother her. I needed to keep at least a bit of business mindedness to myself. It was bad enough that I wasn’t doing my regular evening reviews anymore, I couldn’t spend time at work thinking about Ruby.

The end of the day came rather fast, and when Chris came to my office, I was more than ready to get out of there. I had been trudging through the day, and my mind was prepared to relax and have a drink. There were so many decisions to be made, yet I had no idea how to do it. It was times like those that I wished I had someone to go home and talk to about everything. Someone that wasn’t directly connected to the company. Maybe one day, but for the time being, I went to the bar with Chris and ordered myself a tall glass of whiskey.

Exposé was always relatively busy but for a Tuesday it seemed a little more crowded than anticipated. I assumed that everyone else had a day at the office like I did, and didn’t blame them for showing up at the bar. Chris and I sat there, and while he was scoping out the women, I was staring up at the television that was on mute, thinking about the last time I had sat there. Ruby had been so beautiful when I walked in the doors, and I did not expect in any way for her to be the woman she turned out to be. I took a sip of my whiskey and sighed.

“Hey man,” Chris said nodding his head down the bar. “Look at those two. Come on. Let’s make a move.”

Before I could protest, he was up from his chair and sitting down next to the blonde on the end. I sighed and moved with him, sitting down next to the brunette. Chris immediately started spitting his normal game, and of course, the blonde fell all over herself for him. I was busy staring up at the screen and didn’t even notice the brunette leaned in.

“So, what do you do?” she whispered in a sensual voice. It was a little overkill but most women that were aggressive enough to start the game were the ones that were willing to end it. She was ballsy, but I wasn’t sure I was in the mood. I had a tone of shit on my mind, and she wasn’t my type. Not that I’d fully checked her out.

“Finance,” I said with little interest.

“He’s modest,” Chris laughed. “He owns Pope Financial.”

“Ohh,” she said flirtatiously, reaching her hand over and brushing mine. “Do you like being the big boss?”

“Yeah,” I chuckled pulling my hand back and standing. “If you’ll excuse me.”

I glanced over at Chris who gave me a wild look, not understanding why I just blew this chick off. She was sexy as hell, the typical girl I’d end up on the 3rd floor with, but I had zero interest in her. As soon as her hand touched mine, Ruby flashed through my mind, and instantly I wanted to be with her instead. I took my drink and wandered around the club, trying to wrap my head around what happened. I didn’t know why I would turn down a woman for one that I had spent very little time with, but all I could think about was Ruby with her beautiful eyes and contagious spirit. Regardless of the walls I had built up, how I felt about relationships, and all the things I had told myself through the years, I wanted to see Ruby again, and my brain wasn’t going to let me out of it until I did.

Things were going a way I never thought they would, but for some reason, I didn’t care at all. In reality, I welcomed the change. A woman like Ruby didn’t come around often, and I needed to make sure I didn’t screw this one up.

Chapter Twelve

Ruby

Walking through the halls of NYU gave me flashbacks of my time in college. Sure, this place was way quieter than I remembered, but the smells and sounds were just the same. You could hear the instructors inside the rooms, the acoustics boosting their voices and echoing it throughout the room. The smell of textbooks, desperation, and tears lingered in the air, as it did in most colleges. Students were walking around and making their way to the courtyard, and banners hung everywhere for the events on campus. It made me miss my college days when the only worry I had was getting to class on time and scoring good enough grades to make my parents satisfied. The classes were always easy to me, but my mind was wrapped around whatever protest the groups I belonged to were planning. I had been a leader for as long as I remembered but never put myself in that position. I was always pushed there, and before I knew it, everyone was looking to me for guidance.

I took a left and quietly opened Lisa’s room, making sure the door didn’t slam shut. I crept along the back and took a seat in the back-row nodding at Lisa as she smiled up at me. I loved watching her work, she loved her job. She had always been a teacher, even when we were kids. She loved to share her knowledge with me, but the way she looked at causes and protests drove me nuts. I was sure I had never met anyone more down the middle of the road than Lisa. She always scientifically broke down every cause and looked at the pros and the cons. The thing was, she never came to a concise decision on whether something was bad or not. She just accepted that all situations were split, which was not the truth in my eyes. I loved her though, her sensibility kept me grounded more than once, especially since I had a way of becoming extremely passionate about the causes I was working for. Just when my feet were about to lift off the ground, she would reach out and remind me that I had to be more level-headed for anyone to listen to what I was saying and in a way, she was right.

When the class was over, I sat there watching the students pack up their backpacks and begin to head out of the classroom. Lisa turned off the projector and wiped the boards, gathering her things and sighing. It was Wednesday, which meant she taught three classes that day, and I knew she was more than exhausted. On top of that, she had her other faculty duties to attend to that included a huge research project the college had received funding for her to head up. She was my hero when it came to dedication and work ethic. I stood up and met her at the top of the stairs, throwing my arm around her shoulder.

“One class down,” she sighed. “Two to go.”

“You got this,” I said. “Let’s go refuel.”

“I’m starving,” she groaned. “Let’s go to the Thai place across the street. I can’t be gone too long, I have to check in on my research students.”

“Okey-dokey,” I replied prancing out of the college with her and across the street.

We sat down at a booth in the back to get away from the loud conversations that the other patrons, mostly students of the school, were having. We got our food and settled in, eating quietly for a few moments before Lisa chimed in. I could tell she was curious.

“So, how are things with the big financial guy?”

“Amazing,” I said rolling my eyes. “Like seriously, amazing. We went out the other night, had dinner, talked about everything, then came back, took a dip in the Infinity pool and then I stayed over at his place.”

“Again?” Lisa looked shocked. “You are sure spending a lot of time with this guy.”

“He makes me smile,” I said with blushing cheeks. “He’s intelligent, handsome, motivated, and settled, everything I was looking for in a partner.”

“So, wait, are you guys official?”

“No, not yet,” I said. “I mean I was just thinking about it. If things keep going this way, I don’t see how they couldn’t become official.”

“Have you guys talked about it?”

“Oh, god no,” I said chuckling. “You know how men are about that kind of thing. I’m waiting for him to bring it up. I don’t want to be that girl, and I don’t want to scare him off.”

“Wow,” she said lifting her eyebrows.

“What?”

“I just am shocked at how you are talking about him,” she shrugged. “It’s weird hearing that come from you.”

“It’s not like I was hell-bent on being an old single cat lady,” I laughed. “You know I’ve always wanted to eventually settle down and have a family. I’m not saying he’s the one, but he’s the best I’ve ever come across.”

“Wow, ever?”

“Lisa, I don’t think I’ve ever felt this way about a man,” I said. “Especially not a man that I’ve known for such a short amount of time. He blows me away on a constant basis. He is so sweet and kind, and oh my God the sex is out of this world.”

“Does he know what you do?”

“I mean he knows I work for Climate X doing social justice work,” I said.

“Right, but does he know you spend your free time protesting against companies like his?”

“I protest against causes, not companies,” I pointed out. “And no, I haven’t told him yet, but I will when the timing is right. He loves how passionate I am about things, I’m sure he will be on board with it.”

“Okay,” Lisa sang eating her soup.

“Yeah, spill it,” I said. “I know what that tone means. What are you thinking?”

“I don’t know, Ruby,” she said looking up at me. “I’m just a little worried I guess.”

“About what?”

“You are headstrong, jump in with both feet kind of girl,” she responded. “I think you should be careful with this guy. Get to know him. I can tell that you are falling for him and fast.”

“What’s wrong with that? It happens all the time,” I said. “When it’s right it’s right.”

“Yeah,” she said trying not to upset me. “But he’s is a young billionaire male that is extremely attractive and career-obsessed. Men like that, they usually are not interested in the long-term. They are playboys, men who want what they want when they want it, and when they are done, it’s a swift kick in the butt toward the door. Playboys like him and the others don’t normally ever stay with one girl much less commit to one.”

“I don’t think that’s how Nathan is,” I said shaking my head. “He’s different. He makes an effort, and he is intelligent. So intelligent that I know a lifestyle like that would become boring quickly for him.”

“Just be careful, okay?”

“I will,” I said smiling. “I promise. I’ll keep my emotions in check and take it day by day.”

While the words were coming out of my mouth, I knew they were a lie, and in her own way, I was sure that Lisa knew they were too. I just couldn’t imagine Nathan tossing me to the side like that. He showed in every way that he was interested in me for more than just sex. For a man who could get any woman at any time why would he put so much effort taking me on dates and doing all the things that he has done? The fact of it was, I felt like I knew him better than that, even if we had only been around each other a short time.

I had met the playboys, even slept with a few of them, and that was not how Nathan acted in any shape or form. He listened to me when I talked, and I knew that because he was able to offer some kind of intelligent reply. It wasn’t just him letting me speak to feel important when we were together. It was like we were in tune with each other. I needed to get my sister’s words off my mind before I let it affect the way I was feeling. I was a pretty good judge of character, and nothing about Nathan pointed to playboy, whether he was one before he met me or not. I didn’t care about his past like Lisa thought I should. All I cared about was his future and whether he saw me a part of it like I saw him as a part of mine.

Chapter Thirteen

Nathan

It had been a month since I started dating Ruby seriously. We never had any kind of relationship talk, but everything fell in line like it was supposed to. She was smart, funny, passionate, and I felt like I could talk to her about my life. We had seen each other in one way or another almost every day. Sometimes we would only have time for lunch dates, while the rest of the time she would come stay the night with me at my apartment at The Avalon. We ate out quite a bit, but I was enjoying the fact that Ruby had started getting into grocery shopping and cooking dinner at home. The place almost felt wrong when she wasn’t there, and home was beginning to include Ruby more and more every day. I wanted her to feel comfortable at my place, and though I knew she probably wanted me to come to her house, she never complained or asked, so I went with the flow. She had brought over some clothes, and I gave her space in the closet, so when she stayed the night, she didn’t have to go home before going into work.

Though I knew that I could talk to Ruby about anything, there were several conversations we had that made me feel a bit apprehensive about bringing up the subject of outsourcing. From her other views on things, most of them being views I myself shared with her, I had a feeling I already knew how she would feel about the concept. I still hadn’t made my mind up one way or another, and I could tell that Chris was starting to get anxious. The market was good, better than it had been in years and it was reaching a point where I needed to capitalize on that and make a decision. The last thing we wanted was an expansion overseas when the market was down, it wouldn’t help anyone.

“I’m excited to see you tonight,” Ruby said on the other end of the phone.

“Me too,” I said smiling. “What do you want to do for dinner?”

“I was going to stop at the market and pick up some food,” she said. “I’m feeling like spaghetti with homemade sauce. I have a delicious recipe that my mother and grandmother used when I was growing up. I’ve never made it myself, but I’m sure I can knock it out of the park.”

“I like that idea,” I said. “And I have the perfect Chardonnay to go with it.”

“I thought that afterward we could curl up and watch a movie,” she said. “Your choice.”

“My choice? What’s the special occasion?”

“Nothing butthead,” she laughed. “I just know you are probably tired of watching romantic comedies and movies about politics.”

“You do have strange taste in movies,” I laughed. “But that just makes it easier for me to get in a boob grab while you’re not paying attention.”

“I distinctly remember you getting in more than a boob grab last time,” she laughed.

“You can’t blame a guy for trying,” I laughed.

“Not at all,” she replied chuckling. “In fact, I encourage it.”

“How’s work today?”

“Okay,” she sighed. “It’s quiet. There are several members of the staff in DC for some of the Congressional decisions on issues we handle. I’ve been catching up on paperwork.”

“You didn’t want to go?”

“I’ve been to about fifty,” she laughed. “Besides, we just hired a round of newbies fresh out of college. It’s their turn to go through that hell, especially since the temps in DC are hot this time of year and the places we stay while we are there are not considered high budget. I don’t know why it seems to always be hotter there than here.”

“The hot air from Capitol Hill,” I laughed.

“Ha,” she said. “Very true.”

I glanced up at the doorway and saw Chris making his way into the office. I sighed quietly, not ready to hang up the phone yet. He looked like he was on a mission, though, and I knew that I needed to get to him before he exploded with Ruby on the phone.

“Hey sweetie,” I said. “I have to let you go, I have a meeting walking in.”

“Okay,” she sighed. “I should probably get back to work anyway. I’ll see you tonight. Text me if you think of anything you want from the store.”

“I will, have a good day,” I said before hanging up the phone.

“Ruby?” Chris looked at me smirking.

“Yeah,” I said taking in a deep breath. “Just planning dinner later.”

“You two are adorable,” he said sarcastically.

“Don’t hate,” I said pointing my finger.

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” he said laughing. “So, I have a trip planned for us.”

“A trip?”

“I think that before you can make an educated decision on outsourcing, you should see some of the facilities I have been looking into,” he said. “That way you can see how it’s done first hand instead of going off what you’ve read or heard from the media. I know how you like to explore and educate yourself from the source.”

“Hmm,” I said nodding my head. “Where would we be going.”

“India,” he said. “Hyderabad to be exact. It has a solid infrastructure, city like aspects, and is ranked number three in the top outsourcing destinations in the country, and has some reputable facilities. I can say it might make you feel a bit better because it gives us the cheaper labor while maintaining a modicum of employee rights.”

“Alright,” I said with a deep breath. “Let’s do it. When do we leave?”

“Very early Wednesday morning so we can get there by evening,” he explained.

I liked the idea that Chris brought me, seeing the process with my own eyes. It didn’t take away the fact that I would have to lay off thousands of my own workers, but at least I could see what was happening before making a decision one way or another. This was a very tricky topic for me, and I felt like it was partly emotional as well since I had always seen my company going in a different direction. However, with the market crash a decade before, and the ebb and flow of the financial industry, I had to go with the tides. We were one of the very few financial institutions that had maintained our morality and had never been investigated for any type of crime by the federal government. I took the integrity of my company very seriously, and that was the thing pulling at me the most. I couldn’t quite figure out where outsourcing fell within those lines.

“I promise this is going to help you make the decision that is best for the company,” he said.

I nodded my head as Chris stood up and walked out of the office. I was excited to do this and even felt it could be a bit of a vacation, something I hadn’t taken in a long time. I had been dedicated to my work, building my company, and felt vacations were useless until I met Ruby. She had already started to show me there was another side of life outside of the daily drum of business. I hadn’t worked a weekend since I met her and that alone was a huge step for me. I could tell Chris wasn’t too fond of the idea of me having a girlfriend, but it wasn’t his choice. He had an insatiable need to succeed which was one of the reasons why I hired him in the first place. However, sometimes he tended to forget it was my company, not his. I knew he had nothing personal against Ruby, but my time was taken away, and his eye rolls and snide comments were very telling.

Speaking of Ruby, if I was going to take a vacation there was no way I was going to leave her behind. I figured it would be the perfect time for her and me to shake things up a bit and add some culture to our relationship. I knew she loved to travel, but didn’t get to do it very often. I would ask her to accompany me to India over dinner, I was sure it would be amazing fantastic surprise for her. I picked up the phone and called Chris’s office.

“Yeah boss,” he said answering.

“I am going to bring Ruby along,” I said.

“Alright,” he replied in a monotone voice. “I’ll make the arrangements.”

“Thank you,” I replied. “And Chris, I’d like to keep the reason for our trip between us, I’m not sure how she will react, and I’d like to avoid any awkward conflict.”

“You’re the boss,” he replied before hanging up.

Hopefully, she would be as excited about this as I was.

Chapter Fourteen

Ruby

Walking through The Avalon by myself always made me feel self-conscious. When I arrived, I wasn’t sure where to go since I didn’t have a card for the elevator. There was a lovely man at the front named George, and he seemed especially excited when I told him I was there to see Nathan. He called up to the apartment and then personally escorted me to his floor, helping me carry the groceries I was lugging. Nathan tipped him generously and then helped me inside. I went to work straight away, making the sauce that I had seen my mother prepare so many times before. I loved cooking, I just never had anyone to cook for, and I thought it was stupid to put that much work in for just me. I glanced over at Nathan as I stirred the noodles, noticing that he looked like he had something on his mind. I figured it was probably a long day at work for him and if he wanted to talk about it, he would. He wasn’t one to hold back very often.

I set the table as he flipped through his phone, finishing up answering emails he didn’t get done at work. I realized quickly that I no longer felt lost at his place, and knew where things were that he didn’t even know were there. It was humorous to me. I had been there enough that the place was like home to me. When I finally sat down, I smiled over at him, watching him finish up his typing and put his phone away. He smiled at me and looked down at the food.

“Looks delicious,” he said smiling.

“Thank you,” I said with pride. “So, how was your day?”

“It was long,” he said holding out his plate as I served him some of the spaghetti and bread. “I had to get a lot done today that I didn’t think I would have on my plate.”

“Why?”

“Well, I’m taking a work vacation of sorts,” he said looking up at me.

“What exactly is a work vacation? It sounds like no fun,” I laughed.

“I have one small thing to take care of in India on Thursday, so I figured why not make it a vacation, I haven’t ever taken one,” he said smiling.

“Oh, wow,” I replied. “That sounds fabulous. I have always wanted to go to India. Their culture is so beautiful.”

“I hoped you would feel that way,” he laughed. “I want you to go with me. We would leave tomorrow night, well early Wednesday morning, but we would have to be at the airport a couple hours early.”

“That sounds amazing,” I said excitedly. “I’m sure I could get time off for that, especially since everyone is coming back from DC tonight.”

“Good,” he said proudly. “Then it’s settled. After dinner, we will go to your house and pack some clothes for you.”

“I’m so excited,” I said, standing up and leaning over the table to kiss him.

We spent the rest of dinner talking about the trip, where it was, what we could do there. It was a short trip, just a few days, but it was the first time I was going to get to travel outside of the country. Well, except for when I went to Mexico but that was more of an alcohol-infused blur at the time. He looked giddy almost, like me saying I would go with him made his day. Part of me started to wonder what kind of business an American company would have in India, but I quickly shoved it out of my mind, too excited about everything else to give it much thought.

When dinner was done Nathan helped clear the table. He rinsed dishes while I put the leftovers in containers and stuck them in the fridge. We had gotten ourselves into a rhythm where I didn’t even think about it when dinner was over. He helped me clear the table and then one of us washed while the other took care of the food. It was kind of cute when I thought about it, but I didn’t say anything, not wanting to upset the smooth rhythm we’d developed. When we were done, Nathan changed out of his work clothes, and we headed over to my house.

It was nice being there with him, we didn’t spend much time at my place. I didn’t mind, but sometimes it was nice to be home. He followed me upstairs to the bed, patting me on the ass and winking as he walked by. I could feel my cheeks getting hot, and I walked into the closet and pulled down my suitcase. I hadn’t packed for a trip in so long I didn’t even know where to start. I looked up the weather in India in April and was surprised to see that it was going to be hotter than hell, over a hundred degrees some places. Where we were going was a tad bit cooler but only because it was on the coast. I pulled down my summer clothes bins and started going through them.

“You should just wear that bikini the whole time,” he said glancing down at the red bikini in the box.

“Yeah, right,” I laughed. “I want to have a good time not get chased down with pitchforks and torches.”

“You are ridiculous,” he said walking over behind me. “You are absolutely gorgeous.”

I turned around and kissed him passionately, feeling his arms around my waist. When we pulled away, I kissed him on the nose and smiled. He looked at me dreamily, and I knew what was on his mind, but I needed to get packed.

“Calm down, sir,” I laughed, slapping him on the chest. “I have to pack.”

“Okay, okay,” he said, walking over to the bed and falling on it. “This is comfortable.”

“Yeah, my dad got it for me when I moved in,” I said.

I went through all of my clothes, asking Nathan his opinion, putting items back, switching pieces out, and for the first time in my life wishing, I didn’t have so many clothes. When I was finished, I went into the bathroom and loosely packed my toiletries, knowing that I would need them the next morning. I walked into the bedroom holding my hairspray bottle.

“Will they allow this on the plane?”

“We are taking the company jet,” he said nonchalantly. “You can bring whatever you like.”

“Oh, well la-de-da,” I laughed. “Taking the private jet to India for a small weekend away.”

I walked back in the bathroom and packed it, listening to him cracking up laughing at my sassiness. When I was done, I sighed, thankful that the hard part was over. I turned off the bathroom light and plopped down on the bed beside him, curling up with my head on his chest. I was so comfortable and didn’t want to move.

“Why don’t we stay here tonight?”

“Really?” I popped my head up in surprise.

“Yeah,” he chuckled slipping his shoes off onto the floor. “We’re already here. We will have time tomorrow to go back to my place so I can change and grab my bags. I’ve been on so many trips that I have three drawers of just clothes for trips. Makes packing easier.”

“You are so spoiled,” I laughed.

I reached over and clicked the lights off, grabbing the remote and turning on the television. Nathan sat up and took his shirt and pants off, and I did the same, getting comfortable under the covers. I laid my head back on his chest and watched the old black and white movie on the screen, feeling his chest rise and fall as he breathed. I could hear his heart beating in his chest, and it was almost like a lullaby comforting me even more than I already was. This man made me feel at home no matter where we were. I was nervous about visiting a new country, but knowing that Nathan was going to be there was all the comfort I needed.

We watched the movie and when it was over flipped on another one. I could tell he was distracted by other things on his mind, so I just laid there listening to his heart and feeling his hand stroking my back. I didn’t know where any of this was going, but for the first time in my life, I felt okay with not being in control of it. I knew that whether it turned out alright or not, I would have some beautiful memories and a bunch of once-in-a-lifetime adventures. With those thoughts trapped carefully in my mind, I yawned and let his breathing lull me into a deep, unhindered sleep.

Chapter Fifteen

Nathan

Falling asleep with Ruby on my chest was the best thing I could have imagined for last night. We both slept soundly in her bed, waking up to the chirping of birds outside the window. We gathered her things and headed back to my place, stopping and having breakfast at a coffee shop on the way. She was quiet but content, and I couldn’t help but think about how beautiful she was. I was getting ready to go on my first vacation in I don’t know how long, and I was getting to do it with this woman who was changing my life for the better.

When we had finished packing everything up, I got a call from Chris that if we wanted to leave early, the plane was free and ready to go. So, we went ahead and loaded our luggage into the limo and headed to the airport. It was a 19-hour flight from New York to Hyderabad so it would be late in the evening by the time we arrived there. I wanted to have time to take Ruby on a date, so I thought this change in itinerary worked out well.

When we boarded the plane, I could see how impressed Ruby was by the accommodations. It was obvious she had never been on a private jet before. Chris took a seat on the right, and Ruby and I sat comfortably in my usual area to the left. At the back of the plane was a bedroom we would sleep in later on and at the front was a bar in case anyone needed a drink.

“This is better than I even imagined,” she gawked. “I could live on the jet.”

“That would be an expensive house,” Chris chuckled. “It costs about five grand an hour to use one of these.”

“Wow,” she said turning to me. “A one-way trip to India costs $100,000?”

“Yeah,” I chuckled. “But it’s not so bad because we own it and when we aren’t using it, it is rented out to private parties. It kind of pays for itself in a way.”

“Oh,” she said. Suddenly she did not seem as enthusiastic about the plane.

After we took off and it was safe to unbuckle our seatbelts, the flight attendant made us some drinks, and we sat back, watching the clouds fly by the windows. We talked and laughed while Chris flirted with the flight attendant and kept to himself. Our dinner was served on silver platters, and we ate watching the sun sink below the horizon. When it was late enough, we retired to the bedroom, and I found that Ruby was out before I could even climb in the bed. It was cute, and I realized that she didn’t know alcohol affected you differently on a plane than it did on the ground. She slept through the night and late into the morning.

When she awoke, we had breakfast and then settled into watching movies, trying to pass the time. It was an extremely long flight, but it was worth it. When we landed, her eyes grew wider still, and we drove through the streets of Hyderabad. There were so many people, more than I had ever seen on New York’s streets. They walked along, road bikes, and zoomed around us in small cars. We were staying at the hotel Daspalla which was one of the most luxurious hotels in the city. The penthouse had been booked for Ruby and me, and a luxury suite for Chris. We checked in and made our way up, smiling kindly at the employees who were ten times friendlier than those in America.

The penthouse was decorated lavishly with beautiful rugs, draping tapestries, and gold accents everywhere. The bed was laden with luxurious fluffy comforters and about a dozen pillows. I wasn’t even sure where we would sleep. We put our things away, and both took quick showers, dressing for a night out in India. I wasn’t scheduled to see the facilities until the next morning, and I wanted to start our time there with a romantic evening out.

The car picked us up outside and drove us to the Zafraan Exotica, a restaurant in the Banjara Hills. The ambiance of the restaurant was perfect with candlelit tables and low lighting. I requested a seat outside, and we enjoyed the sights and sounds of the Indian city while we dined. Ruby was so curious, looking around, asking questions of the waiter and taking everything in. When she had settled a bit, I looked over, reaching across the table and taking her hand.

“Thank you for coming with me,” I said smiling. “When I found out I was coming here I immediately thought of how I wanted to bring you with me.”

“I’m glad you did,” she said. “This is quite an adventure, and I wouldn’t want to do it with anyone but you.”

We sat talking about everything from where we were to where we would be going when we got back to New York. It was almost as if all the waiting to know where we stood with each other was finally over and I knew how I felt for Ruby. She was the most amazing woman I had ever met, and I knew that I was falling in love with her. Normally that would have scared me, but instead, it just made me want to keep her closer than I already did. There was nothing about what was between us that gave me even a moment’s hesitation, not even with Chris’s snide looks and head shakes. I never thought in a million years that I would feel like that about any woman, but Ruby wasn’t any woman. She had a spark to her that lit up the room wherever we went. She had a feisty nature and a kind soul, and her passion was catching.

When we had finished eating, we took a drive around the city, watching out the windows at the thousands of people crowding the streets. We saw the rich, the poor, and everyone in between. We saw vendors, vagrants, and everyday people walking home after what looked like a long day’s work. I wondered what kind of impact I would have on these people by moving my company out there, or at least my company’s jobs.

When we got back to the hotel, it was very late, and the concierge sent up a bottle of champagne. Ruby excused herself to the bathroom to change and wash her face, and I grabbed a pair of pajama pants and changed my clothes in the bedroom. When she came out, she was wearing a silk nightgown that fell right in the middle of her thighs. Her hair was loose and wild and fell gently over her shoulders and down her back. She looked more beautiful than I had ever seen her look before. I popped the bottle of champagne and poured us a couple of glasses, throwing the nine thousand pillows off the bed and sitting down.

“To a beautiful time in a beautiful place,” she said holding up her glass.

“With a beautiful woman,” I added clinking mine against hers.

Her cheeks blushed as she sipped her bubbly her eyes still fixated on mine. I reached over and took her glass from her, setting it on the nightstand. She sat perfectly still as I moved back toward her, running my hand across the soft fabric of her nightgown, across her belly, and wrapping it around her waist. I pulled her close to me, cupping her face in my hand. I stared deeply into her eyes, showing her how much I cared, how much I wanted her and pressed my lips firmly against hers. It was almost like a kiss in one of the black and white movies we watched, and she melted into my body. We kissed passionately for a long while, my hands moving through her hair. She ran her hands up my thighs and stopped at the top, her fingers just inches from my already raging hard cock.

I turned toward her and carefully laid her down on her back, moving down between her legs. I pushed her satin nightgown up over her hips and ran my fingertips over the soft fabric of her panties. She moaned softly feeling my touch so close to her wet mound. I pushed her panties to the side and ran my fingers through her folds, pushing them apart and leaning down to run my tongue through her juices. She tasted sweet, and I could feel her gasp as my tongue touched her skin and moved up around her clit. I watched her back arch and her arms move to the sides, grasping onto the sheets. I picked my head up and pulled her panties off of her, tossing them on the floor. I hooked her legs over my shoulders and dove back down, determined to bring her more pleasure than she ever felt before.

Chapter Sixteen

Ruby

My legs shook slightly as Nathan’s tongue swirled through my juices, igniting a fire in my belly. He held tightly to my thighs as he swished his mouth around, sucking and nibbling on my clit. It was erotic but sensual at the same time, and I felt like he was taking his time, showing me everything he had in him. I reached down and ran my fingers through his hair, my muscles tightening and releasing with every swipe of his tongue. As his lips moved through my wetness, I screamed out, not sure how much longer I could hold onto the building passion in my belly. Slowly he ran his hands up the back of my thighs and swept inward, pressing two fingers against my pussy and pushing in. I gasped feeling his warm fingers sliding inside of me, twisting and turning as he pushed deep and then back out again.

He groaned against me sending vibrations through my lips and around my clit. I moaned out grasping at the sheets and trying to find anything to help me hold back my release. He began to move his fingers in and out of me faster and faster, his tongue swirling wildly across my nub. Suddenly I could feel the explosion inside of me and I arched my back, throwing my head backward and screaming out as the orgasm filled my senses. It was as if I could no longer see what was real and what wasn’t and I held my breath as the waves of pleasure washed over me. My body twitched in Nathan’s hands, and I let out a deep breath, relaxing back into the pillow. He sat up, wiping his mouth on his arm and pulling his pajama pants off.

I wanted more and sat up, rolling toward him and crawling across the blankets. I put one hand on his chest and pushed him backward pulling his boxers to his knees. He leaned back on both hands and closed his eyes as I dove forward, taking his shaft and running my tongue up one side and down the other. I could hear a small growl escape his throat as my hand grasped the base of his cock and my lips moved over the top. I pushed my head forward, taking his dick deep into my throat and lingering there for a moment, sucking hard at the back of my tongue. He reached his hand up and through my hair, pulling me up and then pushing me back down. He groaned wildly, his eyes shut and his muscles tensing each time my head dipped down low.

I reached my hand forward and cupped his balls, dragging my tongue up his shaft as I sucked hard and long. His hand gripped tighter in my hair and I opened my throat, moving faster and faster up and down his erection. He growled, pulling my head up and holding it at the tip, his cock red and pulsing in my mouth. He shook his head and took in a deep breath, opening his eyes and looking down at me.

“Fuck,” he said breathlessly. “Not yet, I’m not ready to come yet.”

I smiled and tried to push my head down again, but he chuckled and pulled my face up and leaned forward, kissing my lips. He reached under my arms and lifted me upward and onto my back. He pulled my nightgown from my body and tossed it to the side. With a fluid motion, he scooped his body down over mine, spreading my legs apart. I wrapped them around him and reached down, grabbing his cock and guiding it into my pussy. He groaned and stopped, leaning over to his wallet on the nightstand and pulling out a condom. He ripped the top off and pulled it out, quickly pushing down over his cock and then dipping his hips back down low, so he entered me with force. I gasped and moaned, feeling him fill me completely, my body shuddering from the feeling of him inside of me.

He reached his hands up and pulled my arms over my head, clutching them with one hand and holding himself up with the other. He ground his body into me, pushing slow and deep inside of me. In and out he moved, his body flexing as he sunk deeper and hit my sweet spot. I closed my eyes and grasped onto his hand, feeling his body rub over mine, my clit being massaged with every dip of his hips. I could feel how hard his dick was, and I knew it wouldn’t be long until he exploded. I tilted my hips upward and began to grind against him every time he lowered himself onto me. The heat was once again pooling in my belly, and I wanted to feel my pussy contract tightly around his shaft.

As I moved my hips harder against him, he began to thrust faster, leaning his head down and pressing his forehead to mine. I screamed out, feeling his body get tenser by the second, wanting to feel every inch of him. I put my feet down on the bed and pushed my hips into the air, rubbing my clit against him each time he slammed into me. As his hips rolled against my nub and a groan slipped from his lips, I arched my back, the explosion of pleasure pulsing through me. I grabbed tightly onto his hand, digging my nails into his skin as my pussy shook around his hard cock. He groaned, holding on as the feeling of pure delight moved through every muscle in my body.

As my hips sunk back down in the bed, he let go of my hands and reached underneath me, pushing in deep and hard and closing his eyes. I could see the muscles in his face contract as he clenched his teeth and growled. His body shook, and I could feel his cock pulsating as it released his hot sticky seed. He kept a slight motion forward with his hips until his body began to collapse, and the air left his lungs. He hung his head low and then scooted back, pulling out and falling to his side. Immediately, before even trying to calm his breath, Nathan wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me close to him, kissing me cheek and relaxing into the bed.

Our bodies laid there intertwined for quite some time, our hearts beating wildly, and our lungs begging for more oxygen. When I had caught my breath, I picked up his hand and brought it to my lips, kissing it gently before turning toward him. He rolled over on his back and pulled me close to him, resting my head on his chest. I could hear his heartbeat slowing as he ran his fingers up and down my back. My hand caressed his smooth hard chest, and I realized that my feelings for this man were more than what I thought they were.

He had come into my life when I had given up, and it had been a whirlwind ever since then. There hadn’t been a day that went by that he hadn’t been on my mind one way or another. There wasn’t a day that went by that I didn’t think about missing him. He spoke to me like an equal, like someone who could show her intelligence and not be ridiculed. He listened closely to every word I said, and when there was nothing to say in return, he would kiss my lips in understanding. When we made love, it wasn’t desperate or lustful anymore, it was sensual and seductive. I couldn’t believe how far we had come in such a short amount of time.

“Thank you for bringing me here,” I whispered. “I couldn’t imagine a better vacation.”

“Thank you for agreeing to be here with me,” he replied. “And I agree, this is by far the best vacation of my life.”

I smiled and rested my head back down, my mind going a million miles a minute. I looked over across at the large picture windows and remembered I was no longer in New York, I was in India. Excitement surged through me realizing we had several more days to explore the beautiful country, and no one to ruin that for us. It was the alone time we needed with only one work appointment and the rest of the trip exclusively with each other.

My feelings for Nathan were no longer complicated at all, it was evident that I was falling deeply in love with this man, and there was no stopping it. In all reality, I didn’t want to stop it. I wanted to feel everything I could for him, even if loving him was the wrong thing to do.

Chapter Seventeen

Nathan

The phone on the nightstand vibrated, forcing me to open my eyes and stare out the window into the bright sunlight of the morning. I reached over and grabbed my phone, opening it and staring at a message from Chris reminding me to wake up because we had work to do. I groaned and rolled over, feeling Ruby inch over and put her head on my chest. I sighed, running my hand through her hair, remembering the fantastic night that we had. Even when I was facing something I didn’t want to do, she reminded me of the brighter side of life, it was insane. I stared down at her beautiful face and watched a smile spread across her lips.

“I thought vacation meant sleep,” she whispered.

“I know,” I sighed. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright,” she said, yawning. “What did Chris want?”

“To remind me we had a work thing to do today,” I groaned.

“Don’t groan,” she said sitting up. “It’s your company, the thing you have obsessed over your whole life. It’s just for a few hours anyway.”

“A few hours away from you,” I sighed.

“So, I’ll come with you,” she said cheerfully. “You can lie and say I’m your secretary or something.”

“Uh, oh,” I laughed. “Banging the secretary. That’s pretty cliché don't you think?”

“I’m not complaining,” she laughed. “Though I haven’t seen my paycheck.”

“I’ve got your paycheck,” I replied rolling over and pinning her to the bed.

She giggled loudly as my hands tickled her sides. I laid my head on her chest and breathed deeply, listening to her heart beat as she rubbed my back softly. I could have stayed there all day, or all year for that matter. Her soft skin under my face felt intoxicating, but she was wiser than I was and pulled herself out from under me, jumping from the bed and laughing. My head fell into the sheets, and I groaned, reaching out for her but hearing her laugh as she dodged my arm.

“Come on,” she said. “I’m hungry, let’s eat breakfast and go do this so we can get back to our vacation.”

“Alright,” I sighed again.

While Ruby was in the shower and getting ready, I dressed and ordered room service. I sat down in the chair in the living room and scanned through my notes from the week before. I wasn’t looking forward to this day at all, but I knew I needed to at least see what was going on. I still didn’t want Ruby to find out about outsourcing and was glad to know the place would be toured during non-operating hours. When Ruby got done the staff rolled the card of food in, and we sat on the patio eating our traditional Indian breakfast. We tried roti, which was like a flatbread of sorts, dosas, lentil based crepes with a honeyberry chutney, and some spiced potatoes. It was delicious, and I practically stuffed myself, eating nervously and waiting for Chris to say it was time to go.

When I received the text from Chris I groaned, and Ruby smiled, walking over and sitting down in my lap. She wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me sweetly, the smell of her shampoo wafting into my nose. She leaned back and stared me in the eyes, ready to get the day started.

“The sooner we get this done, the sooner I can give you a blowjob,” she said smiling.

“Well, let’s get this show on the road,” I said picking her up in the air and walking toward the door.

Her laughter was contagious, and we both were giggling all the way to the bottom floor of the hotel. We jumped in the car waiting out front and sped off toward the building where Chris already was at, waiting for us to arrive. We pulled out of the upscale area of the city and through a very poor area. People stared as we drove by, standing outside of their one-room shacks or their tents, doing chores, some of the women holding tightly to their naked babies. I could see the sadness in Ruby’s eyes as we passed through, and I reached out and took her hand. She smiled quietly back at me, and I looked forward, seeing the massive building in front of me.

The parking area we stopped in was very well kept, but I could tell it was not the employee parking lot. There was a gate and guard at the front, and the entire property was surrounded by fencing. I got out after Ruby and took her hand, walking across the parking lot toward Chris. We followed him along the building to the door where we would meet the guide. I looked up the side of the building at the large nets hanging down. I had read about those, though I thought they were in Japan. Those were nets that would catch employees when they tried to commit suicide. Immediately I did not like the idea of outsourcing in the least bit, and I thought about the conditions these people must endure to reach that kind of place in their lives. There was no way I was going to let my company take on that kind of moral dilemma, especially since it was halfway around the world and barely in my control. The company in India would handle the workers, and I would never even know who worked there.

We walked in the front door and met the guide who took us on a tour of the facility. It was obvious they tried to clean as much as they could, but I could still see the dark footprints that trekked up and down the floors. The guide showed us all the areas of the IT “factory building” that we would be utilizing if we chose to outsource our work. I kept glancing down at Ruby who looked more and more confused as to why we were there. I knew I would have the discussion with her later, but right then was not the right time. I was pretty sure she sensed that something was weird since she was walking quietly behind me at all times.

When we were done with the tour, I let Chris handle the wrap-up and walked with Ruby back outside. I didn’t even realize there was a strange smell in the building until the fresh air hit my face. What a way to have these people work. I couldn’t even imagine what the factories that were considered the bad ones were like. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, letting the hot sun beat down on my face. I could feel Ruby walk in close to me and put her arms around my waist, squeezing me tightly. I knew she was going to have questions, I was just hoping we could make it away from this place before I started to try to answer them. I opened my eyes and looked down at her smiling as I rubbed her back.

“Nathan,” she said pulling away. “Why are we here? He was talking about people working here, the capacity for computers, and a bunch of things I didn’t understand.”

“Can you trust me on this and I’ll explain everything when we get out of here?”

“Yeah,” she said suspiciously. “I can do that.”

Chris walked around the corner and sighed shaking his head. I gave him a death glare, but he seemed to not be phased by it. I looked over at Ruby and back at Chris, waiting for someone to say something.

“What are you guys up to the rest of the day?”

“I’m not sure,” I said, glad that he changed the subject. “Maybe some sightseeing, or some food.”

“I’m going to head back to New York,” he said. “I’ll send the jet back when I get there.”

“Sounds good,” I said shaking his head.

“Hey,” Ruby called, still standing by the building and looking up. “What are those huge nets for?”

“This work can be tedious,” Chris responded. “It’s for the employee’s safety.”

“What kind of factory is this?”

“An IT outsourcing building,” Chris said without much thought.

“Wait, what?”

“Ruby, let’s just get going, and I’ll explain.”

“No,” she said, instantly angry. “I thought you cared about the morality of your company, Nathan! How could you even look at something like this? And you brought me here? Are you kidding me? I can’t believe you would do this.”

“Ruby, please,” I said chasing after her.

“Ride with Chris,” she barked turning around and stopping me in my tracks. “I’m going home. Don’t follow me.”

With those words, she jogged to one of the two cars parked in the parking lot and got inside. The driver looked confused and got into the driver’s seat, hesitating for a moment and then pulling off. I stood there in complete shock, unsure of what to do from there.

“Dude,” Chris said. “I’m sorry, I didn’t even think.”

“It’s not your fault,” I said. “I should have never lied in the first place.”

Chapter Eighteen

Ruby

I wasted no time heading straight to the hotel and grabbing my luggage. I didn’t want Nathan to track me easily so I told the driver I would take a cab from the hotel. I went to the penthouse and gathered all my things, piling them into my suitcase. I knew that I should be hurt but all I could feel at that moment was anger and I needed to go home. I couldn’t believe I thought he was an ethical corporate owner. I guess I was too blind from caring for him so much and I missed the signs. I knew he didn’t know about my involvement with the protests, but he had to know I would not be okay with outsourcing at all. It didn’t take much to read who I was.

When my bags were packed, I jumped into a cab and took it to the airport. I stood at the counter for a while, but they were finally able to book me on a flight back home. It didn’t leave for an hour, so I made it through customs and grabbed a cup of coffee from the Starbucks on site. I found my gate and sat down in a chair, staring out the large floor to ceiling windows that overlooked the runway. Planes were arriving and others taking off. I pulled out my phone and dialed my sister’s number, needing someone’s guidance, or at least an ear to talk to. It would be expensive, but I felt so alone and upset.

“Hello?”

“Hey sis,” I said with a sigh.

“Hey! How is India?”

“Terrible,” I said. “I am at the airport waiting for my flight.”

“Wait, what? I thought you flew in a private jet,” she said confused.

“I did, but I left Nathan, and I want to get home,” I replied, a lump forming in my throat.

“Okay, okay, calm down,” she said. “What happened?”

“Everything was perfect, and then he had a work thing he took me to,” I explained. “It was this building where the people out here work. It was an outsourcing building with the nets and everything on the outside.”

“Oh, God,” she said.

“He never told me anything about this,” I said. “He knew how passionate I was for people and not only did he show me he never cared about the morality of his company, he brought me halfway around the world to shove my nose in it.”

“Ruby,” she said calmly. “I don’t think he meant to hurt you.”

“Well, he did,” I said.

“Look, I have never heard you talk about a man like you do Nathan,” she said. “You can’t end this over something like outsourcing. You may never find another man you feel that way for.”

“Then I’ll die alone an old spinster,” I said. “I am not going to budge on how I feel about this issue.”

“I think you are making a mistake,” she sighed. “But I love you, and I support whatever decision you make.”

“Thank you,” I said breathing deeply. “My flights about to board. I’ll call you when I get back.”

“Okay, be safe,” she said before hanging up.

I waited in line to get on the plane, drying my tears and sucking it up. I needed to hold it together, even though it was a shock I did not see coming at all. I still could not understand how a man like Nathan could consider implementing something like that. I boarded and stowed my carry on, taking my window seat. I buckled my seatbelt and waited for takeoff, staring out the window at the passing planes. I wanted this whole thing to be over with.

After the plane took off I pulled my bag out from under my seat and rifled through it, finding my sleeping pills I had brought just in case. I took two of them and waited, knowing it would be a good hour before they kicked in. The flight attendant offered me a drink, noticing how upset I was, but I declined gracefully, knowing alcohol wasn’t going to help me at all in my situation. I pressed my forehead against the window, watching the clouds pass by as the plane headed back home. That had been the worst and shortest vacation I had ever taken, and I was starting to regret everything I had said and done. After a while, my eyes began to get heavy, and I drifted off to sleep, hoping that I would get through the flight without breaking down in tears.

When I woke up, the sun was shining directly in my eyes, and I realized I had been asleep for over half of the flight. Good thing, since when I woke up my heart was aching, and I didn’t feel better in the least. I ate the airplane food and put my headphones in, staring blankly at the movies that streamed across the screen overhead. I started to feel numb, and I was okay with that. I had never had a broken heart before, and I already could tell that it was going to suck.

By the time we landed back in New York, I was ready to get home to my house, take a shower, and turn on the television in my bed. I was hoping I could sleep the weekend away, not wanting to feel what I knew was coming. The airport was busy as usual, and it took me a while to retrieve my luggage, get through customs and immigration, and find a cab. It was raining in New York which fit my mood perfectly. The cabbie asked if he could help me inside but I smiled as best I could and thanked him, carrying my own bags up the steps. I opened the front door and walked inside, holding my bags in my hands and looking around the silent house. I stood there for several moments, not wanting to feel anything. I couldn’t believe I had let myself fall for him without finding out the true Nathan hiding deep inside.

The house was empty, and I could feel it echoing through my chest. I took two steps forward and stopped, hearing a knock on the door behind me. I sighed and set my bags down, hoping it wasn’t the cab driver still wanting to be helpful. I walked over and flung the door open my face ready to burst into tears any second. I started at his feet and looked slowly up the designer pants and perfectly pressed button-down shirt. Standing in my doorway with a look of need was Nathan, and I didn’t know how to compute that in my brain.

I had taken longer to get back because I took a commercial flight, and he must have gone straight to the jet and come home. I glanced behind him at the car sitting out front and wondered how long he had been waiting there. I looked back in his face and didn’t know what to say, there were no words. Yes, I was angry at him for considering outsourcing, but I was even more upset that he hadn’t been truthful to me about what his vision for the future of his company was. I held my beliefs and morals in very high regard, and though many people would say that was stupid, or that I was going to miss out on things for taking them so seriously, my feelings on how people are treated are the basis of who I was. By then, Nathan was sure to have known that.

Everything I had done in my life was centered around helping others whether it was through direct contact or holding a sign and marching down the street. I didn’t work for corporate America, so no I wasn’t going to lose my job to outsourcing, but I was going to be affected by the economic effect it had. I would be affected by the people that lived in poverty around me, and I would be affected by the fact that my life was controlled by some greedy man in a big office somewhere. I had thought Nathan was different. I thought he was a man that I could look to and be proud to have at my side. How was I so desperately wrong about everything?

I stood there in the hallway, tears welling up in my eyes, staring at him standing in the doorway. I couldn’t move or speak and had no idea how I was supposed to even hear what he had to say. I had protected myself for so long, and in the blink of an eye, I screwed it all up by falling in love with someone that I didn’t even feel like I knew anymore. I didn’t know what to do.

Chapter Nineteen

Nathan

When she left, I knew that I needed to give her time to calm down, so I waited until she had collected her things from the penthouse, and then gathered my stuff. I could tell, as soon as Chris saw how upset I was, he felt awful. I wasn’t going to beat him up, he wasn’t the one who was truly at fault. If I hadn’t lied to her in the first place, none of it would be an issue. Chris had the plane chartered and ready to go by the time we got there, and we took off within minutes. I knew I would have about an hour on her, even though we had to stop before leaving and finish fueling. Either way, I figured I would get to her house around the same time she did. I knew she didn’t want to talk to me, but I was panicking. I couldn’t let Ruby go, especially not over something like that.

I spent the entire plane ride staring out the window, watching the day turn into night, and back into day. My head was spinning through everything I wanted to say to Ruby, concocting the perfect speech, and knowing how I needed to handle it. All the preparation in the world was not going to help me get through the wall I instantly saw come up when she realized why we were in India in the first place. It was a bit of a surprise to me that she acted so passionately, but that was Ruby, a passionate woman that stood up for what she believed up no matter who she was facing.

When we landed, I jumped in the car and headed straight over to Ruby’s house. That was where I was standing at that moment, in her doorway, staring at her as she stared back at me. She looked utterly distraught, totally heartbroken, and pissed as hell. I guess the nineteen-hour trip back wasn’t as calming as I hoped it would be. I suppose if I had to spend that much time on a commercial flight in coach I’d probably be agitated too. I needed to start talking, and hope that she listened to what I had to say.

I stepped forward into the house and closed the door behind me. I looked at Ruby standing there in the hall, and I just wanted to put my arms around her. However, with the look on her face, I had stepped as far as I was going to get into the house.

“Ruby,” I said putting my hands up. “I want to explain. Let me explain.”

“Fine,” she said crossing her arms. “Talk.”

“When I created Pope Financials I had a vision,” I began. “I wanted a financial institution that people could trust. I wanted a company that would help boost the economy. I wanted to run it like I wanted to run it, and I never wanted to be part of corporate America. When the company exploded on the market, I had no choice but to open a little to the idea of corporate mindset, but I fought it every step of the way. I want to expand, to take my services to other countries, but it is extremely expensive. Chris has been pushing the idea of outsourcing on me for months, and I have pushed it off repeatedly. Finally, when he came to me with the idea of me seeing the factories for myself, I agreed, knowing that at least when I turned him down, he knew I made the decision based on facts and reality not only my own thoughts and feelings. So, before the tour was even over I had already decided that outsourcing was not going to work for Pope, even if that meant expanding wasn’t possible for a long time.”

“I don’t understand why you would even consider it,” she said.

“I didn’t,” I replied. “But as the CEO of the company I had the duty to look at the information I was given and make an informed decision. I wanted to say no from the beginning, but I needed to have a backup and reasoning as to why I was saying no. I had to play politics with my shareholders so I could get what I wanted without looking dismissive or flighty. On top of all of that, I had no idea you were this passionate about the subject. I would have never taken you there if I had known. I am not interested in outsourcing, and I would never make a choice that would force me to give up my relationship with you. Money is not worth sacrificing happiness.”

“Money is what makes the world go around,” she said shaking her head. “I just don’t know how I am supposed to believe you. I feel like I don’t know who you are. I have seen this Nathan that no one else seems to have ever experienced and now with this, it makes me feel like no one has experienced him because it’s not the real you after all. I feel like I got played hardcore and I can’t figure out why. I can’t do anything for you that you can’t do yourself. I don’t understand Nathan, please help me understand.”

I stood there for a moment thinking about the right thing to say, knowing in the back of my mind what needed to be revealed. I was nervous, not just about losing Ruby, but being hurt so bad that I went back into my recluse stage, never letting anyone in, and turning my life into nothing but work. I wanted so bad to fix this, but I knew I had to make the right choice in what I was about to say. She deserved for me to be open and honest with her, not shielded by my own fear. I took in a deep breath and stepped forward.

“No one else has seen me this way for a reason,” I said.

“Yeah? And what reason would that be?”

“I love you, Ruby,” I said.

She stood there staring at me, her arms loosening and falling to her side. I could see her anger begin to melt away, but she also was watching my face, trying to figure out if I was telling the truth. It was the first time I had ever told her I loved her. I knew for a couple weeks those feelings were there, but I was scared to admit them out loud. I was afraid if I said them to her, everything would change. I was scared she didn’t feel the same way, and the last thing I wanted was to scare her away before she had the chance to feel the same way about me. However, the moment she ran off, leaving me in India with Chris, I knew I had to suck up that fear and tell her how I felt. I knew that if I didn’t, if I held it in and never said it, and she decided not to see me anymore, I would regret it for the rest of my life.

“Ruby, I’ve been in love with you for a while,” I said. “You’ve made me a better man, a more open man, a man that wants to see the sunshine now and not just be locked away in the top floor of my office. I want to travel and see the world, and I want to do it all by your side. I messed up, and I didn’t tell you about the outsourcing thing because I think in the back of my mind I knew you would be upset and that terrified me. I don’t know why I didn’t tell you that I wasn’t interested and was doing it for show, but I didn’t, and I can’t take that back. The man you know is the real me, not some made up person for you. The main point to all of this is I love you a thousand times, I love you.”

She stood there with her head tilted to the side for several moments before she began to walk toward me. She stood close to my body staring deep into my eyes, tears collecting in the corners of hers and slowly trickling down her cheeks. My heart was racing, wondering what she was thinking, what she was feeling, but all I could do was stand there and wait. It felt like an eternity, a million hours of just standing and waiting for someone else to decide my fate. She cleared her throat as her face softened and she reached out, grabbing my hand.

“I love you too, Nathan,” she said.

I waited for the “but,” and it never came. Ruby leaned in and pressed her lips firmly against mine, and I smiled, feeling how much she meant it. This was the love of my life, I already knew it.

Epilogue

Ruby

It had been a year since Nathan had stood in my doorway and told me he loved me. That day had changed my life in ways I couldn’t have anticipated. When he said those three words, it was like everything I thought I knew about myself and about him changed and for the better. I realized that the man I knew was the real Nathan, the one he never let anyone see because he was afraid they would turn their backs on him. He was the man I had been looking for my entire life, and I didn’t know it until that minute.

Since that day things got better and better and after spending so many days and nights at his apartment in The Avalon, he asked me to move in permanently. I couldn’t have imagined anything more perfect, and I immediately said yes. We put my house on the market, and it sold quickly, giving me just enough time to get my things and move out. We redecorated the apartment and brought both of our tastes into one space. That routine we had settled into after just a month, blossomed and evolved to the point where we were our own little family. We rarely ate dinner out after that, making sure that we cooked at home and spent quality time together. I told him about the organization against outsourcing and all the protests I had been involved with. He immediately made a significant donation to us, helping us take our concerns all the way to Washington. There was a long road ahead for the cause, but I felt so much more optimistic with Nathan behind me.

As far as Pope Financials was concerned, Nathan went to work creating a plan to expand without outsourcing. He explained to the board why he felt it was the best way, and to his surprise, they all agreed. They wanted to see the expansion, and they had joined his team because they believed in his moral approach to business, something that was pretty much extinct in the industry. They started the project, Chris heading it up, and in the next month or two they will be opening their first office in London. Everything he wanted to do with his company was happening and he felt good about his choices because they were on his terms.

I stood there in the mirror, staring at myself, and admiring the beautiful diamond necklace he had given me just a couple weeks before. Nathan walked up behind me, and I smiled, feeling him grab the zipper of my dress and pull it all the way up. He leaned over and kissed my neck, sending shivers down my spine. He was taking me to dinner for our one-year anniversary, something that I had been looking forward to all week. He hadn’t told me where we were going, but I knew wherever it was we would have a delightful, intimate time.

I grabbed my shawl and followed Nathan from the apartment, riding the elevator down to the lobby and smiling sweetly at George as we passed. He had been the biggest cheerleader for me when I first moved into The Avalon and was trying to get used to all the wealthy people that were judging me on a daily basis. After a few weeks, though, they figured out who I was, and they left me alone. Turns out Nathan Pope is known as a very powerful man, even if he thought that was preposterous. I guess money still equates to power, just another thing that drove me nuts about society.

We hopped in the limo and headed out into the city, staring out at all the lights. I loved New York at night time, it was always so beautiful. The people, the giant buildings, and the sounds of the city made me feel like I was where I was supposed to be. After a few minutes we pulled up out front of the restaurant and he smiled, knowing he had picked one that I had been eager to try. It was the Public, and little did I know when we arrived, but Nathan had rented out the entire roof for our dinner. He continually spoiled me with such lavish surprises, and I wasn’t going to lie, it was heartwarming and made me feel loved.

We sat across from each other and stared out at the view. It was so gorgeous with all the buildings lit up in the background and the lights on the terrace creating a sexy and romantic vibe. We had our own private server who brought us wine, appetizers, and drinks that Nathan had preordered for the occasion. We sat there like not a day had passed since we first met, drinking, talking, eating, and laughing. He had become my best friend and calmed me even better than my sister was able to do. He smiled and listened as I ranted and raved about something that happened on the news or in Washington and then sweetly reminded me to remember the bigger picture, something I was getting better and better at as time passed.

After our entrée’s they brought out several desserts and we grabbed our spoons sharing all of them at once. The server tried to hide a smile, but I was sure she thought what we had been told a million times. We didn’t act like your typical billionaire power couple, we acted like regular folks, minus the fact that we had rented out the roof of one of the most expensive places in the city. That aside, we joked, laughed, and acted like children around each other. It was the perfect relationship for me, one that I knew I never wanted to see end. When we were done with the desserts, I noticed the server disappear back down into the restaurant, leaving us alone on the roof.

“Ruby,” Nathan said. “I want to tell you something.”

“What’s that?”

“When we first met I could not believe there was a woman out there that was not only beautiful, but passionate, intelligent, and motivated,” he said. “You were everything I wanted in a woman but had given up on finding because I felt like it was never going to happen. That night in the bar changed my world forever. You have shown me I can be myself and I don’t have to be afraid or guarded. You have shown me there is much more to life than working all the time. You have shown me how to be compassionate and empathetic toward others in a way that has not only improved me as a person, but it has improved my company as a whole. There is something to the saying that behind every great man, there is an even greater woman. You pull the strings, that’s for sure, but you pull the right ones. There hasn’t been a day that’s passed since India that I haven’t thanked the Universe for allowing me to keep you in my life. I don’t ever want to lose you again.”

I smiled at him and reached for his hand, but he had already pulled it away. I looked at him curiously as he stood up from his chair and reached into the breast pocket of his jacket. He slowly pulled out a small black velvet box and lowered himself down onto one knee. I gasped, covering my mouth with my hands and immediately bursting into tears.

“Ruby Woods, you are everything in this world that makes me happy,” he said. “Please do me the honor of accepting this ring and becoming my wife.”

“Yes,” I said nodding my head up and down, tears streaming down my face. “Of course, yes.”

I stood up as he did and wrapped my arms around his neck, kissing his lips and laughing through my tears. I looked down at the ring box that was open, and my eyes widened, the largest diamond I had ever seen was sparkling up at me. He reached into the box and pulled it out, taking my hand and slipping it onto my finger. I spread my hand out and looked at it, amazed at how it sparkled. I turned back to Nathan and hugged him again, this time pressing my lips long, hard, and passionately against his. I could feel the love pulsing through every inch of me, circling us like a bubble on the rooftop. I pulled back and stared him deep in his eyes.

“I love you, Nathan,” I said. “I cannot wait to be your wife.”

I knew right then and there that happily ever after was real, and I had found mine.