Page 42 of A Tempting Seduction

Ruby whimpered, the sound going straight through me like electricity.

She pulled me closer, her body soft and warm against mine, then she whimpered again.

The second sound made me pull back, worried I'd pushed too far or moved too fast.

Ruby's eyes were unfocused, her lips swollen from our kiss. She looked dazed, almost bewildered.

“Are you okay?” I asked, my hands still framing her face.

She blinked slowly, and I watched her come back to herself.

“I'm okay,” she whispered.

I stroked my thumbs across her cheeks, giving her time to process whatever had just happened between us.

“I want to see you again.”

Ruby nodded, still seeming unable to find her voice.

“Soon.”

Another nod.

“I'll call you tomorrow.”

A third nod.

I leaned down and kissed her again, softer this time, a promise rather than a demand.

“Lock up after me.”

“Okay.”

I chuckled. “So, you can talk.”

“Smug is not a good look on you,” she said, but she was smiling.

I forced myself to step away from her. I opened the door and went down the porch steps to my car. Every instinct I had screamed at me to turn around, to go back and see if she was really all right.

But I'd pushed far enough for one night.

I started the Mustang's engine and pulled away from the curb, catching a glimpse of Ruby still standing in her doorway in the rearview mirror.

The drive home gave me time to think about everything that had happened. The way Ruby had looked in that green sweater. The surprise and delight on her face when I'd given her flowers. The careful way she'd deflected questions about her past.

There were secrets there, layers I hadn't even begun to uncover. But as I pulled into my own driveway and killed the engine, I realized something important.

I didn't care what Ruby was hiding.

I was already in too deep to let anything from her past change how I felt about her future.

Our future.

Carrie was so, right.

CHAPTER TEN

I knocked on the apartment door marked 2C at Mid Lake Retirement Community, balancing the bakery box from Rogers in one hand and my purse in the other. The familiar sound of voices drifted through the door, more than just Luther and Violet's usual quiet conversation.