Our fingers brush as I take the toy, and an electric spark shoots through me like it always does. Maybe I should see a doctor about that. Diagnosis: simp for Ruby Lynn Hayes.
“Do you want to come in? I have coffee.”
“Say less.” She strides through the door.
My eyes linger on her ass as she passes me in the entry, sauntering into the kitchen like she owns the place—like she ownsme.
Because she does.
“Ok, Grumpy. Caffeinate me.”
On a long list of demands I’ve been dying to hear from those lips, that one is dead last, but who am I to deny Ruby her vices?
I take a deliberate step into her space, and her ample breasts brush against my chest with each ragged inhale. I lean in, my lips barely a breath away from her ear. Her scent wraps around me. I almost forget what I was about to say when I lower my voice to a gravelly tone. “Say please.”
She bites down on her bottom lip, slow and sensual, glancing up at me through her thick lashes. Responding to my challenge with a silent one of her own, she brings her mouth within an inch of mine. “Make me,” she whispers.
My cock hardens, and I have to clench my fists to stop myself from throwing her over my shoulder and dragging her to my bedroom like a goddamn caveman.
“You’re playing with fire,” I murmur.
“Then it’s a good thing you know how to put them out.”
Fucking hell.
I clear my throat and take a long step back, turning my attention to the pot of coffee. “Sit.”
“Sir, yes, sir,” she says with a salute.
I pull out one of my Oak Ridge Fire Department mugsand doctor up Ruby’s sickly sweet coffee, sliding it across the island.
“A little birdie told me you got a full-time position at the department.” She brings my mug to her sassy fucking mouth to blow on the hot liquid. The sight does nothing to douse the fire still coursing through my veins. “Congrats.”
“Thanks. But if I can’t find a nanny for Aiden in the next couple of days, I’m screwed.”
“I’ll do it.” There’s not a single shred of reluctance in her voice. That probably shouldn't surprise me; Ruby’s always had an impulsive streak.
“What?”
“I’ll do it. It’s not like I’m busy. How hard can it be to hang out with the coolest kid in the world?”
“Harder than you’d think. I’m doing twenty-four-hour shifts with a forty-eight-hour turnaround, so you’d have to stay here. In the meantime, you’d have to manage school drop-off and pickup. Meals and bedtime…”
“I’m failing to see the problem here.”
I raise a single brow and pin her with a hard stare. “You learn how to cook sometime in the last ten years?”
“I get by. I was a struggling artist for a while, remember?”
“I remember pictures of takeout boxes and fast food. You’re a Hayes. You weren’t exactly slumming it with ramen noodles and peanut butter sandwiches.”
“That’s beside the point. You need help, and I have the meager skillset to handle it.”
I search for any sign of regret, but there’s only sincerity reflected at me. She’s offering to be my savior, and there’s no way I can turn her down. I wouldn’t even if I could. Having Ruby in my home? Yeah, I’ll take that offer any goddamn day. “Alright. Pack your shit. You’re moving in.”
She giggles. “Funny.”
“I’m not joking.”
