Chapter Five

Ruby

Steven Maxwell.

Seeing him again was a big surprise, and when he’d first arrived, my mind wandered into a new, unexplored territory…straight to the package in his jeans. I’d never thought about Max—Steven—like that before. Not even in high school when some of my friends said I was lucky he was always over at our house. I didn’t see it back then. But I would have to have been struck blind not to see it now.

We worked side by side, unloading the boxes of my belongings that had arrived from New York and carefully stacked them inside the small storage unit I’d rented. My eyes roved over the way his shirt pulled tight over the muscles in his back. The way his forearms worked and moved as he lifted boxes full of books and other heavy items as though they were filled with pillows.

Stop it, Ruby. It’s Max!

It didn’t matter. He was hotter than any man I’d ever met in my life—the complete opposite of the stuffed shirts back in the city. Steven was dressed casually. A pair of jeans that fit him like a glove, a long-sleeved blue waffle knit shirt, and a pair of brown boots that added another inch to his already tall body. But it wasn’t just his body that had me panting as I worked at his side, unloading and moving things around. It was his deep voice and the sideways smile he flashed at me every time he caught my eye. It made me feel like we were sharing some inside joke or secret.

And got me wishing that we could actually make some secret memories.

I knew it was wrong, and that Rick would kill Steven, me, or both of us, but I couldn’t help but let my thoughts wander. Especially when he bent over to secure the metal door. Wow. Holy fuckin’ wow. I’d bet money his ass was just as sculpted as the muscles in his arms and back.

“You got a lock?”

“Hmm?” I shook my head slightly, realizing what he’d said a moment too late. Smooth, Rubes. “Um, yeah, here—”

I pulled the shiny lock from my back pocket. I’d had to buy it at the front counter, since I wasn’t prepared for this. The delivery driver that dropped my stuff off at my parents told me that they were trying to get everything out before Christmas and my shipment got a bump. I knew most people would have been thrilled with an early arrival, but in my case, it was annoying as hell. I’d tried to be gracious, but I knew I’d looked like a total bitch. I just hoped that Steven hadn’t heard that part.

The problem wasn’t that my stuff was there. It was that I hadn’t told my parents about losing my job or subletting my apartment on a whim. The right words hadn’t come to me yet. Besides that, my mom had been a one-woman tornado since I arrived and hadn’t slowed down long enough to have more than a utilitarian conversation. Things would settle down once my brother and his family were in town. My parents would both be off work and my mom wouldn’t be trying to do three hundred things at once.

I sighed and sagged against the wall, letting the stress wash over me as Steven locked the storage unit. When he was done, he brushed his hands off on the back of his jeans, and smiled over at me. “You all right?”

I nodded, and pulled my hair back away from the slight sheen of sweat on my neck and forehead. I secured an elastic around it, smiling to myself at how short the ponytail was since hacking off six plus inches a few weeks back. “I’m good. Thanks for all of your help.”

He looked as though he wanted to ask me something, but dismissed it with another heart-stopping smile. “Anytime.”

“Hey, there’s a little bar just down the way from here. They have killer margaritas. What do you say? Let me buy you a drink to say thanks.”

Steven grinned. “Not necessary. But—”

“But you’ll take one?” I interjected, laughing softly. Pleading in my head he’d say yes.

He shrugged and flashed another heart-stopping grin. “Sure! I haven’t had a proper drink with such beautiful company in quite a while. It would be nice.”

My stomach flip-flopped at his compliment. Steven Maxwell thought I was beautiful.

If only our seventh grade selves could see us now.

I smiled. “All right. Then let’s go!”

* * * *

The small, cantina style bar, was pretty busy for a weeknight but Steven snagged us a spot at a table for two in the corner and insisted I take a seat while he went up to the bar to order our drinks. As he crossed the room, I saw just about every woman in there take notice of him. I grinned to myself. He certainly hadn’t had that effect in junior high or high school. Sure, he’d been popular enough, but he was always too busy playing sports to pay much attention to the girls in his class—or any of the others, for that matter. Even now, it appeared the extra attention went unnoticed. He leaned against the bar, caught the attention of the bartender, and placed our order, gesturing over to our table. Our eyes met and I clenched my thighs together. He certainly knew how to make me squirm, and I had a feeling he wasn’t even trying. But those eyes…they were going to be my undoing.

Maybe inviting him out for a drink was a mistake. How was I supposed to handle myself with those dark brown eyes staring back into mine? In the last two hours we’d been together, he’d been friendly and warm, and had even told me I was beautiful, but other than that, he was the perfect gentleman and hadn’t even tried to brush against me while we’d worked to unload his truck. Was he just being friendly for old time’s sake? Or was there something more?

I shoved the anxieties to the side and flashed an easy smile as he sauntered back to our table and lowered into the seat opposite mine. He was so comfortable. Secure. He moved like a man who didn’t have a care in their world. Had that cool confidence come from his time in the navy? Granted, I knew virtually nothing about what he did there. The only reason I’d even known he was in the military was because he was overseas when Rick and Vanessa got married. Rick had to have his work friend, Hans, stand in as his best man because Steven couldn’t be there.

I smiled to myself, vaguely wondering what would have happened if he had been there. Damn, I bet he could wear the fuck out of a tailored suit.

I probably wouldn’t have been able to keep myself off of him. By the end of the night, I would have been dragging him off to the coat check, begging him to tear off my awful bridesmaid dress with his teeth.

“You good now?” Steven asked, watching my absent smile.

I snapped out of my wedding reception fantasy and my cheeks warmed. “Sorry? What?”

Steven chuckled softly, a glint in his eyes. “Are you all right, Rubes?”

The bartender swooped in, saving me from answering, as she dropped the two margaritas down on the table—making sure that Steven got an eye full of her boobs as she did.

What the hell? Am I invisible?

Sure, I knew Steven and I were only friends. If we could even claim that title after a decade of not seeing one another. But the bartender didn’t know that. What made her think he was interested in her? Or even single?

The thought struck me. What made me think he was single?

He wasn’t wearing a ring, but that didn’t mean anything. Maybe the comment about me being beautiful had just been a friendly thing to say. He probably had some drop-dead, model-pretty fiancée squirreled away somewhere.

The waitress wandered off, shaking her ass for Steven, though as my eyes wandered back to his, I realized he wasn’t looking. Yeah, he’s definitely taken.

How tragic.

“You want to play darts?” he asked, still smiling at me.

I shook my head. “No. I suck.”

He laughed. “All right. Pool?”

“Not great at that either.”

Steven leaned in, his arms folded and resting along the edge of the small table. “Come on, Rubes? Tell me what’s going on. Are you in some kind of trouble?”

I wanted to roll my eyes. Great, now he was going to slip into some kind of “big brother” role and try to help me. Ugh. As if the clusterfuck of my life was something he could even attempt to solve. Not unless he secretly ran some finance firm and had an open position and would give me a jump on my salary so I could find a new place to live. And furniture. Gotta have furniture.

“No, silly. Of course not. I was just, um—” I stopped, stalling for time as I dragged my tiny black straw through the foamy blended drink. “I was just having some things put into storage. That’s all.”

He didn’t believe me. Not by a long shot.

He smirked and took a drink of his own blended margarita, bypassing the straw and wrapping his lips over the edge of the glass. Damn, I envied the margarita glass.

I sighed. “All right, fine. You wanna know the truth?”

“I usually find it preferable.” He laughed. “Seriously, though? Only tell me what you want.”

I took a big gulp. The tequila was top shelf, smooth and with just the right amount of heat as it hit my belly. “Two weeks ago, I got laid off. Two nights after that, I got mugged. Some asshole stole my purse. So, I decided to let my super sublet my apartment—furnished—so I didn’t come home from my Christmas vacation to an eviction notice on my front door. I’m too chicken shit to tell my parents that I’m homeless, unemployed and broke. I was planning to tell them before my stuff from New York arrived. But, thanks to some cruel twist of fate, my stuff got bumped onto an earlier truck and showed up today.” I stopped and chugged back half of my margarita. “So, that’s pretty much that. The whole pitiful story.”

“Damn, Rubes. I’m sorry.” Steven stirred his drink thoughtfully. “Did you get a look at the guy who stole your purse? Press charges?”

I shook my head. “No. But he didn’t get away with much. I didn’t have any cash on me. And as soon as I got home, I canceled my cards. I had to get a new license. It was more of an inconvenience than anything else.”

“And scary as shit, I’d say.”

I shrugged, not wanting to cop to how terrified I still was over the whole thing. I’d had nightmares about it every night since it happened.

Steven gave me a sad smile. “You know you can trust me, right?”

I cocked my head. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I just mean that you don’t have to pretend with me. You don’t have to be so tough. What happened to you—I mean, damn—that had to scare the shit outta ya. You don’t have to act like it’s no big deal.”

I scoffed, staring down into my drink. “I don’t feel so tough right now.”

“Why not?”

I glanced up and found his steady, warm stare watching me. I straightened in my seat and gave a slight shrug of my shoulders. “I couldn’t hack it.”

He arched a thick brow. “Come on, Rubes. We might not have seen each other for ten years, but I still know you.”

A shiver swirled up my back.

Steven reached for my hand and squeezed it slightly. “You’ll land on your feet.”

I smiled at his confidence, wishing I could borrow a handful of it for myself. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew he was right. I’d find another job, another city, another apartment. I had all the things that really mattered. Didn’t I?

For some reason, I wasn’t sure anymore.

Lonnie was my only friend that I spoke to on a weekly basis and unless I moved back to New York, I’d never see her again. We’d stay friends on social media, liking each other’s pages and status updates, but eventually even that would fade. Just like it had with my college friends. I’d managed to lose track of most of them over the two years I spent getting my masters and running down the Wall Street job.

All for nothing. What a joke.

I sighed. “Sometimes, I think I should have just stayed here in California, gone to community college, or a UC, gotten married, and had a kid or two by now.”

Steven laughed. “Or two? Fuck, Rubes, you’re not that old.”

I smiled, but couldn’t quite get out a laugh. “Hey, more than a few of the girls from my class have two kids. Houses, dogs, two car garages.”

Steven hopped up and reached for my hand. “Come on.”

“Where are we going?”

Steven shrugged. “Anywhere but here. You’re turning into one of those sad girls that drink and get all introspective and sad. You’re too good for that, Rubes. Let’s go get some fresh air.”

My heart fell into the pit that had taken up residence in my stomach the day I was laid off from my job. Even Steven thought I was pathetic and lost. Ugh. This is why it never worked out with me and men. They always wanted the fun, bubbly, cheerleader type and I could never quite measure up.

Steven dropped a handful of bills onto the table and we abandoned the half-empty drinks. He led the way as though he was a regular at the little cantina. At the side door, he paused and held it open for me. I thanked him and breezed past him, wishing I could press into him and breathe in the scent of his cologne and the warmth from his solid body.

Outside, a small set of steps led down to the sand. The beach spanned out below and looked to be mostly abandoned. The sun was dipping low and the sky was already getting dark as the hot pink and orange light of the sunset faded to black.

Steven took my elbow as we made our way down the stairs. “Come on, let’s take a little walk. I’ve missed this ocean.”

“Ten years is a long time to be away from home. Where do you normally live?” I asked him once we got to the sand. To my chagrin, he released his hold on my upper arm once we started walking. I paused and stepped out of the pair of flip flops I’d hurried into before flying out of the house. I carried them by the straps as we wandered toward the tide’s edge.

“The SEAL base isn’t too far from here, in San Diego.”

My mouth dropped open. “You’re a Navy SEAL?”

Steven gave a firm nod. Not elaborating.

I was impressed. I had no idea he was special ops. It was humbling to think that someone I used to know so well had such an important job in the armed forces. “That must be…well…I don’t really know. What is it like?”

Steven chuckled and threw a glance my way. “Really? It’s a helluva lot of paperwork.”

I laughed and pushed at his arm, finding his biceps to be just as hard as I’d imagined. It took all my strength to release him again. I wondered what they looked like when he wasn’t wearing a shirt… I shook my head, clearing the vision. I grinned up at him. “Come on, be serious. What’s a day in the life?”

He scratched at his jaw. “It’s exciting and tedious all at once, I guess. For every exciting, dangerous mission there is ten times the amount of prep work. Briefings, strategy meetings, practice drills. And, yes, paperwork. We all have to watch our asses not only physically but from a political standpoint as well. Especially after everything in the past couple of years. More eyeballs on us, I guess.”

I nodded slowly. “Do you love it though? I mean, it’s worth it?”

He paused for a beat and then smiled at me. “Yeah. It’s hard to imagine doing anything else.”

Well, thank you.”

“For what?”

“Being a SEAL, protecting us while we sleep.”

“You’re welcome.” He chuckled that deep laugh and my heart jumped. Just to be here with him made me feel things I hadn’t felt in a long time.

“So, where do you live? If not here?”

He slipped his hands into his pockets. “I have a little crash pad in San Diego, for whenever I’m stateside, but I’m hardly ever there. I rent it out as a vacation rental when I’m not home. Usually, I’m overseas, staying at different outposts and stations.”

I hesitated for a moment, wringing my fingers together. “Doesn’t sound like there’s a lot of room for much of a personal life in all that.”

Steven dropped his head back and laughed. “Yeah, not so much!”

I smiled along with him, but couldn’t ignore the way my stomach knotted up. I knew it shouldn’t matter to me. The idea of Steven and me together was nothing more than a lust-fueled fantasy. The desperation of my situation causing me to look for an escape route. But still…

“I’ll confess, this is my first date in quite some time, Rubes.”

I nearly tripped over a patch of sand. “Date?”

He chuckled again and unpocketed his hands, letting them swing freely for a moment. “Well, drinks, walk on the beach under the stars. Kinda seems like a date.” He gave me a lingering side glance and our pace slowed.

“I tried to pay for the drinks…” I protested, trying to keep my voice steady.

He smiled and came to a stop in the sand. “Well, if I’d let you do that, then we couldn’t call it a date, and then…” he paused to smooth a strand of my hair away from my face. “Then, I couldn’t do this.”

His lips moved to mine and I instantly melted into his soft kiss. Steven’s hands went to my waist, his thumbs pushing past the edge of my shirt and finding my bare shin all too easily. My thoughts swam and then vanished as the kiss deepened. I could feel Steven’s immediate excitement pressing against me and moaned just as Steven’s tongue prodded past my lips and tangled with my own.

Heat blossomed in my stomach and quickly traveled south, settling between my legs. Steven pressed in closer and I ached at the way my breasts felt against his solid chest. It would be even better if there weren’t a barrier between us. A problem that Steven appeared to be remedying as his fingers slipped up under my shirt and traveled over my stomach in a soft caress.

A car horn honked in the distance. Three, clipped beeps.

“This is a family beach! Get a freakin’ room!”

Steven groaned as he pulled away from me. A man in a red lifeguard Jeep rolled by. He honked three more times and then drove off laughing.

Steven glared after the departing Jeep but then his lips turned up into a playful smile. “Family beach, huh? Yeah right, like he’s not jerking off in his lifeguard shack watching all the bikini babes all day.”

I snorted into my hands. “How embarrassing!”

Steven laughed and rubbed his hand at the base of his neck. “Guess we got a little carried away.”

I nodded down at my bare feet. With a smooth motion, I reached over and pulled my sandals from their place on the beach and pointed back up the beach toward the little bar we’d stopped at. “Rick’s probably already home. We should probably get back and say hello.”

“Yeah, your right.” Steven agreed, though I caught a glimmer of disappointment in his eyes. “Come on, let’s get you back home.”