The Light Between Us Read Online Free Page A

hoped.
     
    “ Hi,” she said, a little breathlessly, when she reached his table.
     
    The man smiled, and Ruth's stomach swooped.  Damn, this guy really is gorgeous, she thought.    “Hi,” he replied, blue eyes dancing. 
     
    “ I saw you looking at me.”  She cringed a little at the words, feeling too blunt as they tripped off her tongue.  But then, maybe this guy like blunt.  He certainly wasn't going for subtle.             
     
    “ I saw you see me looking.” 
    Ruth's mouth hung open for a second, not quite sure what to make of the man's response.  Was he mocking her?  Or was this how the mating dance worked?  She felt so clumsy, so out of practice.  Which, of course, she was.
     
    All of a sudden, laughter churned in her belly and bubbled up and out of her before she could stop it.  Ruth felt her cheeks grow red as she laughed. 
     
    “ I'm sorry,” she sputtered around her mirth.  “Really.  I'm not laughing at you.”
     
    The man didn't seem offended.  More amused than anything else, those amazing blue eyes still filled with mirth.  “Go right ahead and laugh,” he said. 
     
    “ It's just – I mean, really?  What you said – I saw you see me looking?”  Ruth snorted.  “That is quite possibly the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard.”
     
    “ Oh,” said the man, forehead crinkling and the laughter falling out of his own eyes for the first time.  “I'm sorry I offended you.”
     
    Ruth shook her head, sliding into a seat as she tried to compose herself.  “No, I'm not offended.  I love ridiculous things.  Like, seriously.  That was amazing.  And ridiculous.  And amazing.”  She wiped tears of laughter from the corners of her eyes  “Sorry, that's probably weird, huh?” 
     
    The man looked at her appraisingly, then his frown gave way to a smile.  “Don't call it weird.  Call it quirky.  That makes it sound cooler.”
     
    She rolled her eyes.  “Because I am nothing if not the epitome of cool,” she said, words heavy with sarcasm, feeling her nervous energy ebb.  “As I just so eloquently demonstrated.”
     
    The man shrugged.  “I like quirky.”  He extended a hand.  “I'm Derek.”
     
    She took his hand and shook it.  “Ruth.”
     
    “ Nice to meet you, Ruth,” he said, smiling.  Ruth felt glad she was sitting, because even perched in a chair that smile made her legs feel weak.             
     
    She took a sip of her wine.  “So, seriously.  What's up with all the staring?”
     
    “ Why wouldn't I stare at you?”
     
    Ruth cursed the flush rising on her cheeks.  “I don't know.  I guess . . . guys usually don't stare.  At me, I mean.”
     
    “ Their loss.”  Derek placed his hand over hers where it rested on the table.  She stared at the sight of his hand on hers.  Was this really happening?  The hottest guy in the bar – no, the hottest guy in ever – was interested in her?  Was touching her?  She wasn't sure if she should be flattered or suspicious.
     
    To hell with should , she told herself firmly.
     
    Then he looked Ruth squarely in the eye and – her mouth fell open – drawing her hand to his mouth, placed a warm kiss on its back. 
     
    She froze.  She was probably meant to find the gesture alluring, she knew, but all she could think of was how her father used to kiss her mother's hand in just the same way when he wanted her to shut up, to quit nagging him or wanting him to take her out or put his dirty socks in the damn hamper already.  And her mother would always, always fall silent, her voice somehow smothered by an act that should have been one of love, and instead had become one of dominance, of distance.
     
    Ruth felt her face twist in revulsion.  She refused to be the silent – no, silenced – partner in any relationship, no matter how superficial. 
     
    “ I'm sorry.”  She sprang to her feet, sure that her whole face shone crimson but not much caring.