running my thumb down the line of her jaw. “Do you hear me? What they think of you is not who you actually are. They do not have that power over you.” I smirked. “Plus, someone else will fuck up and give them a change of subject. I mean, just leave it to me and my brothers. We’ve been doing it all our lives.”
She chuckled, but it died quickly, sadness washing over her again. “I feel like a fool.”
“It’s him who’s the fool,” I assured her, searching her eyes with my own. “You are, without a doubt, the most caring, loving, passionate, intelligent, and classy woman I have ever met. You walk with a confidence unparalleled by anyone in this town, and you give without ever expecting anything in return, and you’re brave.” I shook my head. “You are so fucking brave.”
Her eyes softened, her voice just a whisper again. “You didn’t mention the way I look in any of those bullet points.”
“You’re beautiful,” I said easily. “But that’s not what makes you the woman I l—” I swallowed, throat constricting like her eyes held it in a vise grip. “That’s not what makes you the woman you are. You are more than your eyes, and your hair, and your strawberry smoothie lips and long, lean legs. You’re not meant to be a puppet in some man’s sideshow, Ruby Grace. You’re meant to be his entire world.”
Ruby Grace let her eyes wander over every inch of my face, as if she was just noticing me for the first time.
And maybe she was.
“I love the way you see me,” she whispered.
I swallowed, heart picking up speed as she leaned in closer, her hands fisted in my shirt, her eyes on my lips.
“I just see you with my eyes.”
“No,” she argued, her lips centimeters from mine, her sweet breath invading my senses. “No, you see me with your soul.” She swallowed, eyes flicking up to mine before they fell back to my mouth. “And I feel you with mine.”
Her lips touched mine tentatively at first — feather light, each of us releasing a shaky, anxious breath. I felt that tiny, almost non-existent touch in every inch of my body. A wave of chills rushed through me, our lips hovering, breaths hard and heavy with want.
With need.
Then, my hands slid into her hair, and I pulled her into me, claiming her mouth like it had never touched another man.
She moaned, melting into me as I deepened the kiss, my lips hard and hot on hers. Her hands twisted in my shirt before she let it go completely, sliding the warmth of her palms beneath the fabric and over my stomach. I shivered at the touch, groaning against her kiss and pulling her closer.
I felt stupid for ever thinking I could know, could fathom, what it would be like to kiss her, to have her in my arms like this.
Kissing Ruby Grace wasn’t like kissing a normal girl. It was like kissing royalty, like kissing a goddess, like being hand-picked by the heavens to surrender your heart forever in exchange for just one, tender, earth-shattering moment.
I surrendered to that moment, to that sacrifice, letting my hands wander her curves, my lips savoring the pressure of hers, my tongue tasting the sweet taste buds of her own. I pulled her closer — tugging, reaching — until she straddled me on the couch.
But when the heat of her center rubbed against my hard-on, I bit her bottom lip, sucking in a groan and releasing her mouth on a panting breath that felt like I’d been sucked back down to Earth and landed flat on my back.
“Stop,” I breathed, pressing my forehead against hers.
Ruby Grace’s chest heaved, her hands still under my shirt, lips parted.
I swallowed. “I don’t want you.”
Her face crumbled at that, brows bending together as she pulled back to look at me.
“Not like this,” I clarified. I reached under my shirt for her hands, folding them in mine and bringing her knuckles to my lips. “I have thought about kissing you since the day you showed up at the distillery, Ruby Grace. And I’d be lying if I said I’d never thought of doing more. But, I… I can’t. Not now. Not when you’re torn up over another man.”
The level of hurt on her face in that moment was enough to make me wish I’d never opened my door in the first place. I knew that kind of hurt — it was rejection. And