She heard him let out a curse word and then the sound of his firm tread as he came to the door. He opened it and stood there glaring down at her—without his sunglasses this time. The outer rims of his irises were a dark smoky grey, the centre an ice-floe-blue with ink-black pupils. His lashes were long and thick, his eyebrows prominent. His hair was tousled, as if he had been raking his hands through it, but if anything it made him look even more attractive. He had taken off his shoes, but he still towered over her.
‘I thought I told you I wasn’t hungry?’
‘And I told you how important it is to eat well. A good diet will help your recovery.’
He gave a rough-edged sigh and his hand fell away from where it was gripping the door. ‘I never knew you could be so persistent. I’ll be down in a minute. I need to put on my shoes.’
Ruby could have gone ahead and got ready to serve dinner, but she stayed in the open doorway, watching as he tried to locate his shoes. He bumped his foot against the bedside table and let out another colourful curse.
‘Damn it to hell.’
‘They’re over here.’
Ruby went to where the shoes were half pushed under the bed. It wasn’t the first time she had entered his room—during her girlhood crush she had slipped in unnoticed several times. Her cheeks warmed as those memories resurfaced. She had been so infatuated with Lucas, so desperately in love with him—or at least with the version of him her teenage mind had conjured. She bent down to pull his shoes out from under the bed, and then straightened and brought them to him. She crouched in in front of him and set them next to the socked toes of his left foot.
You are not going to think about the fact you are on your knees in front of Lucas Rothwell. Gulp. In his bedroom.
Ruby wouldn’t have wished blindness on anyone, but right then, with her cheeks hot enough to solve an energy crisis, she was glad he couldn’t see her blush.
‘Here you go.’
Lucas slipped his feet into the shoes and gave a grimace. ‘Thanks...’
Ruby straightened in front of him, conscious of how close they were standing to each other. Never had she been so aware of a man. Of his power and potency. Of his commanding presence and how it affected her. Her body tingled from head to foot. Even the roots of her hair lifted away from the skin of her scalp. Her heart began to beat a little faster—a staccato rhythm that banged against her breastbone and made it hard for her to draw another breath. She knew she should step back, put some distance between them before she was tempted to touch him.
Don’t even think about touching him.
But for some strange reason she was unable to step back. Her feet were nailed to the floor by an invisible force she had no way of counteracting.
Time seemed to stand still. The silence stretched. Her heart hammered like the piston in a faulty engine.
Lucas lifted his hand to her face, touching her cheek with the lightest touch, his fingers ever so slowly trailing down to the base of her chin. So close...soachinglyclose to her lower lip that her mouth buzzed and fizzed and tingled in anticipation. She drew in a soft breath and his hand fell away as if her skin had burned him.
‘Forgive me.’ His tone was so rough he could have been gargling with gravel.
‘It’s okay...’
Ruby couldn’t seem to get her voice above a whisper, or get her heartrate to slow down to anywhere near normal. Her heart was bouncing up and down in her chest cavity as if it was on a pogo stick. His touch had been so light, but it had created a firestorm in her flesh. Stirrings and yearnings and urgings were erupting in places she didn’t want to think about. Places sheforbadeherself to think about. The one time she had touched him in the past it had turned into the most humiliating experience of her life.
Lucas stepped away, his forehead cast in a severe frown. ‘It’s not okay. You have my word it won’t happen again.’
I want it to happen again.
Ruby was shocked at where her mind was leading her. Shocked and ashamed and furious with herself. For years she had done everything in her power to avoid touching him. But now the desire—the fervent, aching desire—to touch him beat in her fingertips like a primitive drum. It was an ache in her flesh, an urgent ache to feel his hand gliding down her face. And not just her face but other places on her body. Touching her, exploring her, pleasuring her...
She suppressed a tiny shudder. ‘I guess you have to use your other senses to make up for your loss of sight. Touch is one way of knowing how someone looks or what expression they have on their face.’
‘I don’t have to touch your face to read the pity that’s likely there.’ His tone was embittered and his expression dark and brooding.
‘You think I pity you? If I do, it’s not because of your lack of sight. It’s because you’re refusing to make what you can of your life at present. Thousands—no, millions of people are blind and live happy, fulfilled lives.’
‘Please spare me the lecture on how I should live my life.’ He spoke the words through white tight lips.
Ruby let out a long sigh. ‘I know this must be an awful time for you. Everything has happened so suddenly and, just like after any surgery, it’ll take some time to get used to your new circumstances. Everything must seem out of whack for you right now. And I want to help you get through it. But I can’t do that if you aren’t prepared to meet me halfway.’
‘I don’t need your help.’
‘When was the last time you shaved?’