For One Night Only (15 page)

She’d slotted into his road ‘family’ with an ease that surprised her. When not involved with the project, she joined in with the workload, helping anyone who asked. Ruben hadn’t liked her doing it, but he’d understood finally that she needed something to do while he was busy—which was most of the time.

Watching him perform from the edge of the stage night after night was a huge turn on. He came off stage electrified—charged by the reaction of the crowd. More often than not, she could feel the sexual tension radiating off him in waves, only held in check by the fact they were not alone. Realizing early on that her presence was a distraction, she’d gotten into the habit of avoiding him after the show until she knew he had no company. Usually, he would be on the tour bus pacing behind the door, pulling it open and dragging her in when he heard her gentle knock. His staff learned quickly that it was a very bad idea to disturb them after that.

He sure had a temper on him. Luckily he seldom lost it and, even if he did, it was over quickly and never directed at her. Well, not so far. It struck her as strange that she wasn’t frightened of him the way she had been of Simon. Maybe it was because she knew that underneath all that noise and fire, there was a kind heart.

Annoyed at herself now for ruining her happy mood with thoughts of her ex, she began to dry her hair and prepare for Ruben’s arrival.

* * * *

‘Ignore it,’
Bethany panted some hours later, frustrated by the ringing phone. She had pounced on his body as soon as he’d got back, and had no intention of sharing him with anyone for the next hour or so.

Ruben seemed to comply, his continued thrusting showing he had no intention of disobeying her. Her hands on his ass urged him deeper, giving him no choice. Hooking a leg over his calf possessively, she groaned in satisfaction, as his attention returned to her approaching climax.

‘Shit! I must answer it Beth. It could be important,’ Ruben apologized as the insistent ringing began to irritate and distract him. Rising up on his elbow, he grabbed for the receiver. ‘This better be good,’ he growled into the phone.

Bethany
groaned.
Was it too much to ask for some privacy?
This was their first night in a proper bed for days and his staff knew how much he relished his free time. Byron’s voice barely reached her ears down the phone line. She heard him say he had rung to notify Ruben of last minute changes to the schedule and then began to run through them in a dull monotone.

Realizing it was nothing important, Ruben turned his attention back to her and grinned as he saw her biting her lip to avoid making any noise. Her hands drifted along his torso and she sat to lick at a nipple with a playful gleam in her eye. Reclining sinuously, she rolled her hips as she beckoned him back to her with a crooked finger. His barely suppressed gasp caused her to smile.

‘Will that be all?’ Ruben asked through gritted teeth. Byron voice droned on again.

Cupping the mouthpiece in his hand, Ruben kept the phone to his ear and gave her a hard thrust.
Bethany’s eyes flew open and she stuffed a fist into her mouth to muffle her yelp. Again she rose. The arm supporting his weight shook uncontrollably as she slipped her tongue into his ear.

‘Ruben—are you still there,’ came the voice, loud enough for
Bethany to hear.

‘Uh huh,’ He couldn’t speak.
Bethany had shifted her weight up onto her elbows, grinding her pelvis against him. He threw his head back and she watched as the smooth column of his neck convulsed with his ragged panting. Trying to make her behave, he placed his weight on her, pinning her back down to the bed. Turning it to her advantage, he was again within easy reach and she wasted no time, reaching around him to push insistently at his butt, urging him into her again and again. Her teeth grasped his shoulder, as she tried to suppress the unmistakable sounds of a woman about to come.

‘Later,’ was all he managed to grunt into the receiver before slamming the phone in the general direction of the cradle. It slipped unheeded to the floor. Both hands now on her hips, he pulled her hard against him, thrusting rapidly. Ripping her mouth from his skin, she threw her head back and groaned loudly as her insides undulated around him. He rocked into her blindly a few more times before coming himself, very hard and very loud.

Lying at her side, spent and panting afterward, Ruben suddenly went quiet. Sitting up, he cocked his head, as if trying to hear something. Nudging her hard, he pointed wordlessly to the handset of the phone lying on the floor.

‘Hello? HELLO?’ it said in a tinny voice. ‘Are you there? Can you hear me?’

Bethany
’s eyes widened and her hand flew to her mouth in mock horror as she began to laugh. Hitting her with a pillow, Ruben scooted to edge of the bed, retrieving the phone.

‘Byron? You still there?’ He stifled a snort. ‘Sorry about that. It was the TV. I must have sat on the remote,’ he lied.
Bethany convulsed into a fit of the giggles as he tried to finish the call. Laughing out loud, he had to turn his back on her.

* * * *

Arriving at the familiar building, she almost felt as if she had never left. Soon after she had first visited Ruben’s condo months ago, she had gotten into the habit of sitting in the coffee shop opposite, where she could see the comings and goings of the residents.

The waiter recognized her as she entered, smiling in welcome as he commented on how long it had been since he saw her last. She didn’t know why she’d come. Ruben was out of town for a couple more days so there was no chance of seeing him.

The idea of seducing the guard came to her as she watched him craning his neck to check out all the girls walking by from his position at the door. He seemed to like the ladies and expected them to like him too, apparently believing that his age and appalling physical condition was no barrier. The gold band on his ring finger didn’t seem to cramp his style.

Men were so easy to figure out, and he had been no exception. Approaching the short, fat man with badly dyed black hair on the premise of asking for directions, she’d been able to calculate—almost to the minute—just how long he would take to invite her inside.

From then on, it was a simple matter of playing to his ego. Tony couldn’t wait to tell her about the clientele living in the building and how important his job was. Trying at first not to give too much information away, he folded like a deck of cards when she had teased that he was lying about the famous people he alleged were residents. Constantly amused by how easy it was to distract and fluster an aroused man, she hitched up her skirt a little more as she feigned surprise and delight at the mention of Ruben’s name.

Tony wasn’t as stupid as he looked, and it didn’t taken long for him to get the message she was sending—that the pretty girl panting over Ruben might pant for him if he impressed her enough. Within minutes, he had locked the street door, and was leading her up to Ruben’s apartment. Pausing, he made her swear never to tell anybody. She nodded quickly; pushing passed him before he changed his mind.

Moving through the huge rooms as fast as her feet would carry her, unsure how much time she had, she took in as much detail as she could. The tasteful, Eastern inspired décor was a surprise. Muted browns and creams dominated the impressive interior, accented by touches of bronze and flashes of red. Asian art adorned the walls, complimenting the many pieces of Buddhist sculpture used to full effect in all the rooms. By the time she reached the bedroom on the upper floor, she was aroused to the point of dizziness—the heady thrill of entering his inner sanctum made her body throb.

Tony shouted in protest when she threw herself across Ruben’s giant hand carved, wooden bed. She was surprised at the plain, functional linen—Egyptian cottons and thick chenille rather than the satin sheets and exotic fabrics her imagination had conjured up.

Moving to pull her up, Tony stopped dead in his tracks as she rolled over onto her back and opened her legs for him. Pulling the crotch of her panties to one side, she showed him her glistening flesh, happy to let him believe that he was the one she was getting hot for. Recovering his composure quickly, he lumbered onto the bed beside her, scrambling to get his penis out of his pants.

Having sex with him in Ruben’s bed was surprisingly enjoyable, the knowledge of where she was making up for Tony’s lack of technique and stamina. Closing her eyes to the horror of the old, sweaty man grunting on top of her, she managed to block him out and focus purely on her surroundings and her feelings for Ruben. The encounter was blissfully short, thanks to her partner’s physical limitations.

The sudden bleeping of his radio sent Tony into a blind panic and he became abusive and dismissive toward her. In his haste to get them both out of Ruben’s apartment, he didn’t notice the discarded condom as he rushed to straighten up the bed. Anticipating what the consequences would be for him when it was found, she kept silent, deciding that his disrespectful attitude towards her—and Ruben, for that matter—shouldn’t go unpunished. Walking away from Tony without a backward glance, she returned to her booth in the coffee shop. Signaling the waiter, she sighed. If something didn’t happen with Ruben soon, she was going to have to push a little harder. Fate alone wasn’t bringing them together
. She was gonna have to find a way to get to him.

So this was the jerk she was pining for
? Ruben threw the dossier onto his desk in disgust, sending the picture inside floating to the floor. Retrieving it, he stared at the image, stunned at how different he and Simon were.

He and Beth had been back in
New York
for a week. The short break in the schedule had been a perfect opportunity for her to move into his permanent residence. Stupidly, he’d thought the idea of living in a condo that was part of a prestigious, upscale development in
Manhattan would make her happy.

After a few days of watching her walk around the place like she was still in a hotel, he’d lost his temper. Questioning why she was refusing to put down roots and make herself at home, he’d been furious at her reply. He was getting pretty sick of how every new step for them reminded her of mistakes she had made with Simon. Ruben hated a guy he had never met, thanks to
Bethany’s insistence on punishing him for someone else’s mistakes.

Having someone dig up the info had been wrong, but he couldn’t help himself. Ruben needed to know why Simon still had such a hold over
Bethany’s emotions. He was almost a silent partner, ever-present in the middle of their relationship, and Ruben felt like he was constantly being compared to him.

He didn’t understand what she could have seen in the dirty blonde haired man staring out of the picture with the flabby, pasty face and watery blue eyes. The corporate haircut he had did nothing to strengthen unimpressive features. Ruben could tell by the slope of the man’s shoulders that he had very little muscle definition and a relatively slim physique.

Strangely, he didn’t feel reassured by the knowledge. Beth’s attraction to the guy certainly couldn’t have been physical, which meant it was emotional, and much more difficult for her to overcome.

Ruben scanned the other documents, wondering if Bethany knew that Simon had moved back to Vegas about six months after he’d run out on her. Married and divorced since then, too. No kids to speak of.

The desperation and futility of his actions hit him suddenly. Shaking his head, he slammed the folder into a desk drawer. He felt no better than before, even with the newly acquired information that was certainly far more impartial than any Beth had given him. In fact, he felt worse. Now he felt deceitful as well as confused.

The unwitting victim of the shameful intrusion into her past life walked into the room, moaning that her feet were killing her. He watched as she kicked off the high-heeled pumps she wore, wriggling her toes to encourage the blood to circulate again.

‘Here, let me do that,’ he said, helping her onto the sofa before lifting her feet onto his lap.

‘Thanks, sweetheart,’ she smiled, pricking his conscience with her trusting gaze.

His brain raced as his fingers worked, smoothing the ache out of the arch of her foot before turning his attention to her toes. He knew he should tell her.
How would she react?
She’d be mad, as she had every right to be.

‘Ouch!’

Her shout scared the crap out of him, jolting him from his thoughts. ‘What?’

‘You nearly broke my toe,’ she grimaced, taking her feet back and rubbing the pain away.

‘I’m sorry, Beth…’ He dropped his head, brushing away an imaginary speck of dust on his jeans.

‘What’s wrong Ruben?’ The concern in her voice made him feel more of an ass than he did already. ‘Have you had a bad day?’