Chapter Text
The giant ushered them forward. “This is Mr. Gold and Mr. Hopper, co-owners of Briar.”
The two men stood. The older, Mr. Gold, came to stand before Belle and the younger, Mr. Hopper, approached Ruby, rather nervously, and she smiled at him before looking at Belle. Belle smiled back to her, and watched as Ruby meandered a little to the side, Mr. Hopper following like a puppy.
Ruby moved off to a corner of the balcony, one facing slightly away from the throng of people, but over the bar, and leaned over the railing. She was very aware that her ass looked incredible from that angle, and figured nervous-looking Mr. Hopper could use a little show.
She felt him come up beside her and saw him lean over the railing next to her, looking down at the bar below.
“How many of these people do you think came here tonight because they’re lonely?” Ruby asked aloud. She expected some kind of very male response from her companion, something chauvinistic or stupid about curing loneliness for a night, but she was surprised at what actually came out of his mouth.
“Are you lonely?”
She turned her head to him and scoffed, a little too quickly. “No.” She turned her body, angling it in an alluring pose and adopting a look of boredom. He merely regarded her from behind his glasses with a thoughtful expression, pulling his arms from the railing and shoving his hands in his pockets.
She rolled her eyes. What was his deal, anyway? “So, Mr. Hopper,” she said, emphasizing the Mr., “what’s your game?”
He gave her a puzzled little smile. “Game?”
She laughed. “Yeah, game. What’s your thing? What do you do?”
“Oh!” He gave a nervous laugh in return. “Oh, I-I’m a doctor. A psychiatrist, actually.”
“So it’s Dr. Hopper then?” She gave him a sharklike smile, extending a hand. “Pleasure to meet you, Dr. Hopper.”
He took it, his large, warm hand engulfing her own. “Likewise, Miss…?”
“Ruby Lucas.”
“Well, pleasure to meet you, as well, Ruby Lucas. I’m Archie.” He smiled, genuine and warm, and she felt her stomach do a flip.
She pushed the feeling away, turning on her usual Lucas charm, and moved closer, still holding his hand. “So, you own this club, huh?”
He stared at her, his eyes widening a little at her nearness. “Y-yes. Well, part, ah, part ownership. I’m mostly here to-to save Mr. Gold from himself as necessary.”
Ruby looked over to where Belle and Mr. Gold were standing, locked in a somewhat passionate embrace, his hand on her friend’s rear. She giggled. “Doesn’t seem like he needs that much saving, Doc.”
Archie followed her gaze, and immediately blushed to his hairline. “Oh, my…” She heard him gasp as it became apparent that Mr. Gold was very quietly making Belle come right there in his arms.
Ruby gave a saucy murmur of agreement, silently congratulating her friend. Archie’s face was once again puzzled and she wondered if it was a shrink-thing or a him-thing.
“Does your friend always act like that?”
It was Ruby’s turn to frown. “Like what?”
“Well, I’m pretty sure they just met.” He looked from the couple back to Ruby and caught her thunderous scowl. “Oh, no, I didn’t—“
“Are you slutshaming my best friend?” Ruby interrupted with a hiss, dropping his hand and holding hers up defensively. “Is that what you’re doing?”
Archie’s face went from bright red to ashen in seconds and he shook his head. “N-no! Not at all—“
“Because I will drag her ass and mine out of here like that,” she snapped her fingers, “if you think that you get to fuck whomever you want but then shame us with that bullshit double standard, Doctor Hopper—“
“Ruby.” He put a hand over hers where it was pointing at him, practically poking him in the chest. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to-to slutshame anyone. Not your friend, and certainly not you.” His eyes were calm as they held hers, and his touch was soothing her ire as he slid his hand to gently grasp her wrist, his thumb pressing into her palm. “Your defense of her is…quite sweet.” He smiled.
She scoffed, but didn’t remove her wrist from his light grasp. “I’m not sweet, Dr. Hopper.”
“Please, call me Archie. And I think you are sweet…and perhaps a bit lonely. You just don’t want anyone to see it.” He gave her a small smile tinged with empathy.
Ruby pulled her hand out of his with more force than necessary. “Oh, no. Don’t you start that shrink shit with me. We’re done here, tell Belle I’ll meet her in the car.” But just then, she saw Belle and Mr. Gold breeze past them, and caught Belle’s eye as she was leaving. Ruby had enough presence of mind to give her a thumbs-up and a smile before they went through a door marked “Private” and out of her sight.
Shit.
Well, she still had the car keys and her cell, and she knew Belle had hers. It was time to cut her losses and end the night. She pulled out her phone and sent a quick text to Belle, letting her know she’d see her tomorrow and to text if she needed anything, and turned to leave down the same stairs she’d climbed earlier.
“Ruby, wait!” Archie called after her and hurried to the top of the stairs, where she was poised, ready to descend.
She turned back to him, annoyed and wary. “What, Doc.”
“I…” He fidgeted with the glasses he was wearing, clearing his throat. “Would you like to get out of here, maybe go somewhere with me?”
She couldn’t help it as a barking laugh escaped her. “Wow. Yeah, hard pass, Doc. Thanks anyway.” She rolled her eyes and began to climb down the steps. A hand captured hers and she turned in surprise, ready to slap him for touching her like that when she’d quite clearly said no, but the look on his face stopped her.
“Ruby, I didn’t ask you so we could go someplace and have sex. I…need you to understand that.”
“So then why are you touching me?” She said dryly, and he dropped her hand as if it scalded him.
“I’m sorry. I just…didn’t want you to leave without asking you, and especially not with a misunderstanding.” He took a step back, and she read the gesture as one of respect. “It was nice to have met you, Ruby. Please get home safe.” He turned to walk away.
Damn it, Lucas. “Wait!” It was her turn to call after him, and to her odd relief, he stopped, turning to look at her with a hopeful expression.
Ruby walked over to him, arms crossed. “If you didn’t want to have sex, then what did you want to do?”
He smiled shyly, ducking his head as a blush crept in his cheeks. “I was…going to ask you to have a midnight snack with me.” He cringed a little. “Though now that I say it out loud, it sounds…very dirty.”
Ruby’s heart did a little pitter-pat in her chest. He was adorable and she was losing the battle to remain unaffected by him.
“Where did you want to go?”
He gestured generically to the door of the club. “There’s an ice cream parlor that’s open late on the weekends. I thought maybe we could go sit and talk for a little while.” He dropped his arm. “I-if that doesn’t sound too…silly.”
Ruby laughed, genuinely and softly. She was in trouble with this one. “It doesn’t sound silly, Archie. Not at all.” She closed the distance between them, loving how his eyes grew wide again, and pressed a kiss to his cheek, leaving a small smear of lipstick.
“Oh, sorry, I smudged you.” She reached to wipe it away, but he caught her hand.
“No, leave it. I…I don’t mind.” He kissed her palm, closing his eyes and nuzzling into her hand gently. She felt her face grow warm, his simple, sweet gesture somehow more intimate than if she’d stripped herself naked before him.
They didn’t let go of each other as they maneuvered down the steps, and made their way to the door. Ruby gave her ticket to the valet, and a few minutes later, he pulled up in her little red car.
Archie chuckled. “I should have known you’d have a red car.” He moved around to the driver’s side door, opening it for her.
Ruby grinned. “It’s kind of my color.” She slid into the driver’s seat and started the engine as Archie climbed into the passenger side. They clicked in their seatbelts, and Ruby pulled away from the building and into traffic. Archie gave her the directions, and then settled back in his seat as she drove.
“It suits you. The color red, I mean.” He glanced at her, seeing the corner of her lip quirk upwards. “You sort of embody it.”
“Yeah, I can get kind of like a charging bull sometimes.”
“No, not that. Red is the color of passion, of sensuality and love. All the good things in life, and you can connect them all to the color red.” He smiled. “You’re obviously a very passionate woman, so it…fits.”
She looked at him briefly before returning her eyes to the road and shaking her head fondly. “What am I going to do with you, Archie?”
He looked out the window. “Anything you want,” he said under his breath, too low for her to notice.
Before long, they pulled into the parking lot of the ice cream parlor, and Ruby laughed at the name. “‘Any Given Sundae’?” She snorted. “That’s a little on-the-nose, don’t you think?”
“Yeah, but they have amazing stuff here. Trust me.” He got out and moved around to open her door, holding out a hand to help her stand.
“You’re quite the gentleman, Archie. Careful with that, or I might not let you go after tonight.” She smirked at him and he blushed again.
She turned to shut and lock the car, making a decision in that moment.
The hell with it.
Ruby maneuvered him so he was against the car and pressed herself to his front, sliding her hands up to grip the lapels of his jacket. They were of a similar height, and that suited her purpose just fine.
She leaned in, giving him enough time to push her away, but he didn’t. Instead, he closed the gap between them, and pressed an open-mouthed kiss to her lips.
A moan of satisfaction escaped her and he took it, swallowed it and slid his arms around her gently, though she could tell from the strain in them that he wanted to clutch her to him tightly. One around her lower back and the other sliding up to grip the back of her neck.
He was the sweetest man she’d ever kissed, literally and figuratively, and she never wanted to stop.
She pulled back, though, before they could get too carried away, pressing her forehead to his and letting out a shaky breath.
“So,” he growled, and a shiver of delight chased down her spine at the change in his tone, “how about that ice cream now?”