Heart & Hope (Rosewood Ranch #2)

Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

REED

I lie on the shortest sofa known to man, washed up and in my t-shirt and boxers. Guessing I’ll have a crick in my neck at the very least in the morning. The door to the bathroom is open an inch, and I stare at the ceiling as Ruby moves about in there, getting ready for her shower.

The springs were a good reprieve. And I’m glad I made her laugh, let her de-stress a little. She deserves a break. She deserves so much more from the people in her life. Period.

The rustle of clothes hitting the floor sees my gaze flick to the bathroom door.

Shit.

I force my eyes back, staring at the hideous popcorn ceiling and counting backward from one hundred. I shouldn’t look.

Ruby should shut the door.

And when she slips past the door on her way to the shower without a stitch on, I stifle the groan that rattles up my throat. I slam my eyes shut and force air into my lungs as my cock stretches my boxers. With loose underwear, it makes an unwanted hard-on that’s much more difficult to defuse.

When the water turns on and she sighs, I roll over and drag my hands down my face. I stare at the horrid baby-puke-colored upholstery and try to count the threads in each inch. Like that will save me. I fill my mind with anything that I hate.

Harry’s tax papers.

Seeing Mack off on another tour.

Disappointing Ma.

Nothing douses the fire that is building in my core, not even that last one. Or dulls the thunder of the blood bounding through my ears. When the tap squeaks and Ruby curses, I roll back and shove my hands under my head, closing my eyes.

“Reed?”

Shit.

“Reed? Can you grab me a towel off the bed? I forgot it.”

My heart hammers as I glance at the rolled-up white towels on the queen-size bed. Of the two that were there, one remains. I roll off the sofa and stride to the bed and swipe up the towel. When I reach the bathroom door, I knock on the wall beside it. “You decent?”

Sweet Jesus, you idiot, Reed.

“Um, no? But I’m freezing. Towel!”

I hold the towel around the doorjamb. I hear as she sweeps the curtain back and steps onto the tile. The towel is tugged from my hand, and I hear the rustle of her wrapping it over her body. I rest my forehead on the wall and suck in a breath. The door opens, and Ruby steps out, hands twisting her wet hair into a messy bun on her head. I push off the wall.

Water droplets sit on her elegant shoulders. Her brown eyes find mine, and she smiles. “Thanks, didn’t want to have to streak across the room for it.”

I drag my gaze from her neck and jaw to her eyes. “Huh?”

“The towel. Thanks.”

“Sure.”

“You want to order in? The kitchen isn’t fully operational as yet, and I don’t think I can take any more Mary-Sue today.”

“Yeah, sounds good,” I say, but my voice is raw.

Ruby studies me. She steps closer and then eliminates the space between us. “Thank you, for this.”

I dip my chin, taking her in. So close, I can smell her skin. The fire in my core from earlier roars back to life. How the hell am I going to be in close quarters with Ruby Robbins and survive?

“You’re welcome, baby.” Now my voice is pure gravel.

And she notices.

“Reed . . .”

I put space between us. Dragging her down with my pitiful existence was not part of the Reed-and-Ruby fake marriage deal. She deserves so much better.

I drop onto the sofa and pluck the takeout menu from the small table beside it. I’m looking at the words, but none make sense. I wait for the pounding behind my ribs and the fire in my veins to peter out. And when I can finally breathe without feeling like I’m gasping for air, I run my eyes over the options.

“Steak and veg for me, well done, Diane sauce.”

I hand her the menu. She takes it, and her fingers brush over my hand.

“Sure, what’s good on here?”

After a minute, she chooses a chicken salad and a bottle of white and calls it in, still in her towel. I grab my phone from the side table and check my messages. One from Ma, wishing me and Ruby a fantastic weekend. Poor Ma, she’s gonna get her hopes up about this. One from Huddo, says he needs a few things for the barn at my place.

I send back responses to both and lock the screen, returning the phone to the table when Ruby steps out of the bathroom, dressed in her PJs, her hair almost dry and loose around her shoulders. She’s beautiful, even in her PJs.

Good Lord, I am a dead man walking.

When she flops on the bed, she pats the mattress and turns on the TV with the remote, flipping through channels. I hesitate but make my way to the bed and take the left side, sitting up near the pillows, leaning on the headboard like she is.

“What do you want to watch?” she asks.

“I’m not fussy. Don’t really do TV.”

She turns to me, her mouth open. “Really?”

“Yeah, not my thing.”

She wriggles, settling down into the pillows before choosing a channel. Something about people renovating houses.

“This one, they have to buy a property and have a set budget to renovate before turning it over within a set time frame.”

She points to the screen with the hand still holding the remote. I stare at her in awe. Little nerd.

A knock rattles the door, and I jump up and grab the food and wine we ordered. It comes in a carton, the chilled bottle swinging from the delivery guy’s hand. I place the bottle on her bedside table and pour her a glass of wine before placing the cardboard container of food in front of her. It feels natural, like the two of us having dinner at home. Not that this is home, or we are a thing. Or could ever be.

Ruby wastes no time digging into her food, making short work of it. And as she pours her second glass of wine, she starts to clean up, popping the now finished plates back onto the tray, pushing it to the door with one hand and sipping on the wine with the other.

On her way back, she drains the glass and sets it on her bedside table before climbing under the covers, still sitting up. But she yawns. It’s been a long day for her.

“Oh, I forgot something,” she says, turning to the bedside and opening the top drawer.

As she twists back to face me, she grabs my hand and drops a ring into it.

“Thought we might need these for tomorrow night, at least.”

I stare at the silver wedding band in my hand, her fingers still wrapped around mine as our hands hang between us. She holds up her left hand and waves her fingers, flashing a white gold wedding band at me. A small smile peeks across her pretty lips.

Heart pounding, I say, “Good idea. Can’t have guys thinking my wife is available,” I joke, but it comes out flat.

“Didn’t want Mary-Sue sussing us out before the gala. Olive would have a fit if this didn’t work out. She is oddly attached to me pulling this off.”

“Sure, can’t have that.”

When she drops my hand and starts to fluff the duvet, I take that as my cue to head to the sofa. Ruby organizes the pillows before rolling over and turning the lamp off. I pull the sheet I found in the cupboard over my frame, now draped over the couch. This is goin’ to hurt in the morning. My neck is pinching already.

I punch the pillow underneath my shoulders.

Then the only sound in the room is our breathing. The soft humming of the town outside fills the spaces between. Ruby tosses and turns before sitting up in the dark. And despite the dimness, her gaze is on me.

“Reed, come sleep on the bed.”

“I’m fine, Rubes. Honest. Go to sleep.”

She sighs and lies down. And when another ten minutes passes, I stifle a groan at the ache in my lower back. Well, almost.

“That’s it,” Ruby says.

She is beside me, looking down at me in the dark a heartbeat later. “In the bed, Reedsy. I promise not to steal your virtue.”

I chuckle as she grabs my hands. “Come on. Can’t have a broken husband.”

Who am I to argue with the woman? I pry myself from hell’s sofa and follow her to the bed. She leads me to the left side, pushing on my shoulders until I sit on the edge of the bed. What I wouldn’t give to wrap my arms around her waist and drop my head to her stomach. To breathe her in.

“You want a pillow wall between us?” she quips. I can feel her smile in the dark. Hear it in her voice. Can imagine her eyebrow raised.

“I think I trust you not to get all handsy, baby.”

She huffs a soft laugh and walks to her side and slides under the covers. The bed is a godsend compared to the sofa. I roll over to face Ruby, and she does the same. I resist the urge to touch her face, to trace the soft outline of her lips and cheekbones in the dim room. Her shampoo and soap fill my senses.

And lying next to the most beautiful girl I have ever seen, with only a foot of mattress between me and her, I’m hard as stone. I close my eyes, willing my body to stop reacting to hers so close.

To stay friends.

To be what she needs from me.

To not screw this up.

So instead of pulling her close and smashing my mouth to hers, I say, “Tell me about your family.”

At first, she doesn’t respond, and a beat passes between us.

“What do you want to know?”

“What are your parents like?”

“Nothing like yours. They are career-driven, always have been.”

“Ah, I know a girl like that,” I tease.

“Well, they make me seem lazy.”

“I highly doubt that. What about your sisters?”

“Tammy is a lawyer, works with Dad. And Sienna is in finance. And then there’s me, in the planning and events sector. Nowhere near as prestigious as law or money. They love to remind me of that. But I guess for older sisters, they are normal. We love each other, in our own way.”

“Sounds ominous.”

She chuckles. “Maybe, but they are all I have known. Until your family, that is.”

“Yeah.” I roll onto my back and shove my hands under my head. “My family has a knack for thinking everyone should belong. Or at least, they are welcome to be, if they want.”

“That’s nice you have that. Addy was right, your family is incredible.”

“Adds said that, hey?”

“Yup. I don’t think you could get rid of her even if you wanted to now.”

“Not sure Hudson will ever let her leave.”

“She’s lucky to have found Hudson.”

I glance at her now. In the dark, I can see the sorrow in her face.

What’s that about? Who the hell hurt this sweet, amazing woman?

“You want to talk about it, Rubes?”

She huffs a laugh and runs her hand over the mattress between us. “I don’t do relationships, Reed. My rules. But sometimes I wonder if all this effort I put in, all the sacrifices I make, professionally and personally, will be worth it in the end.”

“What’s the end?”

“To run my own planning and events firm; one day, that is. And I have been working and saving for over a decade. I’m so close, I can’t let up now.”

I roll over and push up on one elbow, looking down at her. “You’ll make it, baby. I see how hard you work. The attention to detail. Everything you do comes off amazing.”

“Thanks. Some days it doesn’t seem like I’m getting anywhere. More like I’m spinning my wheels on someone else’s hamster wheel.”

“One day, you’ll be the hamster wheel master.”

She laughs, tossing her head back into the pillow, and I can’t help it when my knuckles brush her cheek and tangle in a strand of her hair before dropping beside her. Her laughter dies out, but her eyes burn into mine through the dark between us.

I pull my hand back.

My chest heaves.

Keeping time with hers.

“Ruby,” I say, but it’s raw and too soft. She makes a job of straightening out the duvet and pulling it over her shoulder as she rolls over to face me. Her lips are pursed together before she closes her eyes with a little shiver. “Night, Reed.”

I sit up and tuck her blankets into her sides, two hands at a time, down her sides. “Snug as a bug in a rug.”

She giggles, and it sends the heat in my core surging around my body. “Night, baby.”

A smile blooms over her face, but she flattens it as quick as it appeared.

“Night, Reedsy.”

I lie on my back and stare at the ceiling, hands by my sides. It takes a solid hour to calm down enough to fall asleep.

When I’m dozing off, she touches my forearm with one of her arms, now out of her snug cocoon. “Reed?”

“Yeah, baby?”

“I want you to be happy.”

A stone forms in my throat as I drag in a ragged breath. “I want that for you, too, Rubes.”

When I wake up early the next morning, Ruby’s sweet ass is pushed up against my rock-hard cock, her hair plastered over her face, arms hugging her pillow. I lie on the edge of the bed, on my side. And it takes everything I have not to wrap my arm around her belly and pull her into me.

Because right now, that’s all I want to do.

What I wouldn’t do to wake up with her, like this, every day, for the rest of my days.

Somehow, nothing else would matter.

And I could take on the rest of the world, and whatever it threw my way.