Slumber by Tamara Blake Page B

of champagne. Or lines of coke.”
    Tam’s amusement faded. “I know. I fully admit that we’re fucked up at Cottingley. Maybe that’s why I’m so into you. You’re…real.”
    â€œMaybe a little too real,” Ruby muttered. His expression was almost painfully sincere expression and she turned away.
    â€œHey.” He caught her wrist. “Being real is a good thing. You’re beautiful and fun and you don’t put up with my bullshit, and…I dunno, there’s just something about you that’s got me hooked.”
    â€œIs this is one of your better pick-up lines?”
    â€œIs it working?”
    She laughed uncomfortably. It kind of was working.
    He shifted a tiny bit closer, and lowered his voice, saying almost shyly: “Would you come back to Cottingley Heights with me? Not as a housecleaner, but as my guest.”
    And just like that, temptation ended. “You know that Cottingley isn’t my scene, Tam. I actually kind of hate it there.”
    â€œThen come with me to the city, to my buddy’s art gallery opening. It’ll be fun! You can give me a crash course in Kentaro’s art so I don’t make a fool of myself. I’d…I’d consider it an honor if you’d let me take you.”
    Ruby couldn’t quite believe what she was hearing. Tam was a total catch for anyone, and after seeing where she lived, what her life was like, he was still interested in her? “Are you seriously asking me out?”
    He cracked another great big smile. “Yes, Ruby! I want to go out with you.”
    Ruby hesitated. Did she really want to get mixed up with a guy who lived in a world where orgies and drugs and out-of-control parties were part of everyday life? Her head told her it’d be better to end it now, while they were still friends.
    While her heart was still unbroken.
    She opened her mouth intending to turn him down, but Tam reached out. With a gentle touch he brushed a strand of hair away from her forehead. “Ruby,” he murmured, gazing intently, almost sorrowfully into her eyes. “Please say yes.”
    Her defenses broke. What the hell, she thought, it’ll just be for one night. Why not give him a chance?
    â€œOkay,” she said. “I’ll go out with you.”
    He leaned forward and pressed a kiss on her forehead. “That’s so great, Ruby. We’ll have a good time, you’ll see.”
    The kiss practically burned her skin. Ruby knew she was still blinking stupidly at him when Shelley ran in the kitchen. “Is dinner ready yet?”
    They broke apart. “Not yet. It’s my fault,” Tam said. “I’ve been distracting your sister.”
    â€œCould you stop doing that? ’Cause I’m hungry.”
    â€œShelley,” Ruby said warningly but on a laugh. She opened the refrigerator, intending to take out the milk to make the mac ’n’ cheese sauce. A two-pound package of hamburger sat on the bottom shelf. She stared at it. When did Mom buy that?
    â€œI guess we’ll be feasting tonight after all,” she said, suddenly in a very good mood.
    Dinner was actually a lot of fun. Tam was a good sport, letting her boss him around the kitchen while she browned the hamburger and added it to the mac ’n’ cheese. Shelley ran back and forth between the kitchen and the living room in general high spirits, and even Mom looked better, Ruby noticed, her pallor gone, and her energy level higher than it had been in long a time. And the kiss Tam had pressed on her forehead lingered; she felt its heat warming her almost as much as the answering glow in his eyes when their glances met across the table.
    After dinner, Tam reluctantly announced he had to go. Ruby walked him outside to his car. The stars twinkled in the night sky, and a gentle breeze from the coast brought in the shush of the surf, which seemed to mask the sounds of game shows and canned laugh