She sighed, finally pulling away from where I held her and leaning her hip against the railing. “Well, Annie found Trav. They got married, she’s pregnant now. She never did go to UNC. And I… well…” She held up her left hand, pointing to the rock on the third finger.
I nodded. “Yeah. I mean, I know it’d be a little different without Annie, but you could still go. Right?”
She scoffed. “Of course not. I’m getting married.”
“I guess I just don’t understand what that has to do with anything.”
“It has everything to do with all of it,” she said, flustered. “I’ll be a wife. A politician’s wife. I have new duties now, new things expected of me.”
“And would your new husband not understand if you wanted to chase your own dreams for a while?” I countered. “It wouldn’t be forever. Why can’t you have what you want while giving him what he wants, too?”
She shook her head. “You don’t understand.”
“Oh, I think I understand just fine.”
I stepped into her space, and before I could think better of it, my hand touched her arm, sliding up to her neck, her jaw, until I slipped my fingers in the soft strands of her hair and framed her face, tilting her gaze toward me again.
“You deserve to have the things you’ve dreamed about, Ruby Grace,” I said. “And when you marry someone, you become a team. It’s not all about him and his dreams and his achievements. You are not just a sidekick.”
I paused, licking my bottom lip as I considered my next words. Ruby Grace’s eyes were soft, wide, almost a little scared as she watched me.
“You are the heroine just as much as he is the hero,” I reminded her. “And if he loves you, he will support you and your dreams just as you’ve supported his and will continue to in the future.”
She leaned into my touch, eyes fluttering shut before they opened slowly again. “You make it all sound so easy,” she whispered. “So simple.”
“With the right person, it is,” I told her. I swallowed, glancing at her lips before I found her gaze again. “If you were mine, Ruby Grace, your dreams wouldn’t come second to anything.”
It was an overstep I didn’t mean to make.
The words came out before I even realized what I was saying, and now, it was too late to go back. There was a line between us, one we never had to draw because that ring on her finger had drawn it for us the first day she came back into town. But there on my porch, in the soft, cool, Tennessee summer night, those rules didn’t seem to apply.
We were in another universe altogether, and in this one, that ring on her finger didn’t exist.
I hadn’t even realized her hands were on me, not until they fisted in my t-shirt at my abdomen, pulling me closer. My hand in her hair gripped a little harder, her eyes on my lips, mine on hers until we were so close I couldn’t even see them anymore. Our breaths met in the space between, hot and heavy with words we wouldn’t say.
Her lips parted.
Mine grazed hers, eliciting the sweetest gasp.
But before I could connect the kiss, before I could pull her in, feel her melt into my arms, the front door swung open.
Ruby Grace jumped back, folding her arms over the railing and looking out over the yard like she had been before. I looked up at the awning over my porch, suppressing a groan as Mikey bounded out, completely oblivious.
“Two root beer floats,” he announced proudly, handing me two Mason jars filled to the top with the frothy vanilla ice cream and soda mixture. “And Ruby Grace, we demand a double-or-nothing rematch.”
She finally turned toward us, her smile weak.
She wouldn’t look at me at all.
“Thank you, Mikey, but I actually have to run. I didn’t realize how late it was. Would you mind grabbing my purse?”
He shrugged — again, completely oblivious. “Sure! Be right back.”
When Mikey dipped inside, I sat the floats down on the table by the rocking chairs before turning back to her. “You’re leaving?”
She still wouldn’t look at me.
“I think we both know it’s for the best.”
Her words twisted like a knife in my chest, but I didn’t have any words to say to make her stay.
She was right.
I hated it, but it didn’t change the fact that she was right.
Mikey came out moments later with her purse, and the guys met her at the door, giving her a hug and a little more shit for taking their money. She was all gracious smiles and warm thank you’s until the door shut, my brothers back inside, leaving us alone on the porch again.
I opened my arms. “Thank you for today. For tonight.”
But she just stared at me, her eyes filling with tears that wouldn’t shed. “Why did you have to do this?”
I frowned, letting my arms fall. “I—”
“No,” she said, shaking her head, hands clinging to the strap of her purse like a lifeline. “Everything was fine. I was fine until I met you. You’ve messed everything up.”
My brows furrowed more. “What, by reminding you that you have a choice? That you don’t have to marry someone who makes you feel this way?”
“I love him,” she spat.
“Fine. But does he love you?”
She scoffed. “Of course he does. How dare you even insinuate otherwise.”
I smirked at the word insinuate, sensing the well-to-do woman she was raised to be slipping back into place just like she always did.
Shaking my head, I put my arms up in a mock surrender. “You’re right. I’m sorry. Just forget about AmeriCorps, about school, about anything that doesn’t revolve around Anthony and his career. Clearly, you’re very happy and I was mistaken by saying anything at all. I sincerely apologize.”
I was being an asshole. I knew it, but just like I’d overstepped earlier, I couldn’t stop myself from doing so now.
I wanted her to wake up, to see what I saw.
Even if it hurt.
Ruby Grace’s bottom lip trembled a bit as she pressed it to the top, adjusting her purse on her shoulder before she growled and stormed off my porch.
“See you around?” I called after her.
My only response was one middle finger thrown my way over her shoulder.
* * *
Ruby Grace
Once again, I found myself speeding through town with the top down on my convertible, cursing Noah Becker’s name.
“Oh, the nerve of that man!” I growled, punching the gas again once I made the turn down the old road that led to my parents’ house. The warm night air whipped through my hair, little tendrils of fire red invading my vision as I drove. The radio was silent, the only noise the revving of my engine and the revving of my temper.
Noah had crossed a line. He shouldn’t have held me the way he did in the pool, with his hands on my hips, his chest so close to mine. And then on his porch, he’d stepped into my space like he owned it, like I was his and not Anthony’s.
And he’d even said it.
“If you were mine, Ruby Grace, your dreams wouldn’t come second to anything.”
My cheeks heated, a rush of blood flowing through me at the memory of my hands in his shirt, his in my hair, our lips touching just long enough to send a zip of desire through me.
I’d nearly cheated on my fiancé.
I shook my head, letting out another frustrated growl as I took the turn into my driveway.
“It wasn’t even a kiss,” I reminded myself out loud. “We got a little too close, but that was it. It was a mistake. We were just caught up in the moment.”
It would never happen again.
And I promised myself I’d stay far away from Noah Becker to ensure it.
By the time I put my car in park, punching the buttons on the consul to put the convertible top back in place, I’d made my decision. Noah was nothing more than the guy who showed me the barrel I purchased for Anthony. He wasn’t my friend, and he wasn’t someone I should lean on the way I had been.
It didn’t matter how I felt around him, or how I found myself already caring about him and his family.
He was a lightning storm, fun to watch from afar but dangerous to dance with.
I wasn’t going to toy with that line of danger.
I dragged myself out of the car, exhausted and ready for a hot shower and my bed, but the sight of a familiar car next to my dad’s truck in the driveway made me pause.
Before I could even register what that car meant, the voice that belonged to it spoke in the darkness.
“There she is.”
Anthony trotted down the steps of the front porch, his wide and brilliantly white smile visible even in the dim light of the night. He held his arms open, but my feet remained glued to the spot I stood.
“Come here, beautiful,” he said, taking my hesitance for shock as he chuckled and pulled me into his chest. He wrapped his arms around me, swaying me in a hug before he pulled back and framed my face with his hands. “God, I’ve missed you.”
His lips were on me in the next second, kissing me with the longing of the last few weeks we’d been apart. I didn’t come to until halfway through it, and when I did, I wrapped my arms around his waist, kissing him in return as my mind reeled.
And I couldn’t figure out why when his lips were on me, I was still thinking about Noah.
When Anthony pulled back, he wrapped me in his arms again, threading his hands on the small of my back as he smiled down at me. He was tall, body built like a brick wall from playing lacrosse his entire life. His bicep muscles were the size of my thighs, and with them encompassing me like that, I felt an equal measure of warmth and confinement.
“Shocked?” he asked with an amused smile when I still didn’t say anything. His blond hair was styled in a neat wave, his hazel eyes matching the hue of mine. He reminded me a little of a Ken doll, or Superman, or a combination of the two with his cleft chin and strong jaw line, his face freshly shaved and smooth, his skin a perfect shade of bronze.
I nodded, forcing a smile.
He chuckled. “I thought you’d be. Where have you been? I’ve been waiting all night to see this look on your face.”
Panic zipped through me, but I swallowed it down, running my hands over his chest. “Oh, just at the nursing home. I didn’t know I had such a surprise waiting for me.”
Warmth touched his eyes. “My girl, always the giving heart.” He shook his head, leaning down to peck my lips before he pulled back again. “One of the things I love most about you.”
My smile was genuine this time, and I mentally slapped the guilt I felt away. I hadn’t done anything wrong with Noah. We hadn’t actually kissed. It was a mistake, a weak moment where I was too close to him, too close to my feelings of anxiety surrounding the wedding.
It could happen to anyone.
But it wouldn’t happen again.
I pulled Anthony in for another kiss to seal that promise to myself, and when I pulled back, he threaded his hand in mine, tugging me toward the house.
“What are you doing here, anyway?” I asked. “And how long are you here?”
“Well…” he said, and before he could answer, he swung the door open and Mama bounded toward me, wrapping me in her arms in an excited hug.
“Oh, Ruby Grace! You’re home!” She squeezed me tight before pulling back and framing my arms in her hands. “Can you believe it? Anthony surprised us all this afternoon. And he’s staying until the wedding! I’m just so thrilled!”
My brows shot up. “You are?” I asked Anthony.
“I am,” he said, a soft grin on his perfect lips. “We’ve been getting a lot of media attention with me running for state representative, and it seems that marrying you is everyone’s favorite topic. Can’t say that I blame them,” he said, chucking my chin. “Anyway, Dad thought it would be good to capitalize on all the attention. He sent me out here with a small film crew. They’re going to film us preparing for the wedding, capture our love story for the media outlets and possibly some campaign commercials. Don’t worry,” he said when he saw the worry in my eyes. “They won’t be with us all the time. And we’ll have a say in what they can use.”
I nodded through my discomfort, especially since I couldn’t quite place its origin. Was it the thought of cameras following me that made my stomach lurch like that, or the fact that Anthony was in my hometown to stay for the next five weeks?
And if that was the case, why did it make me uncomfortable?
“Oh, I just can’t believe it!” Mama said, clapping her hands together. “I’ll have to plan a dinner this week for the crew. We can all get to know each other and I’ll make my famous lemon bar cookies. We’re just so thrilled to have you, Anthony!”
She wrapped him up in her arms before scurrying off, calling down the hallway for Dad to come join us in the living room for a night cap.
I stood in the foyer in a daze, blinking repeatedly, sensing the disarray of my hair as if it were the only sense I could focus on in that moment. I smoothed my hands over the frizzy curls, over and over, staring at the family photo that greeted all our guests who entered the house.
“Hey,” Anthony said, taking my face in his hands. He leveled his gaze with mine. “I know this is a lot, and surprises aren’t really your thing. Why don’t you run up and take a shower, get changed, take some time for yourself. I’ll handle entertaining your parents until you feel ready to come down and join us. Okay?”
My heart squeezed painfully in my chest. He was so aware of my needs, of who I was, and I’d just been in the arms of another man. I wanted to cry, to throw myself into his arms and beg for forgiveness, but I didn’t even know what to apologize for.
Or, maybe part of that came from the fact that I wasn’t sorry, not the way I should have been.
“Okay,” I said, eyes watering a little as I nodded.
Anthony kissed my forehead in understanding, and once he let me go, I dragged myself up the stairs and to my room. Anthony’s stuff was in the guest room down the hall, and I passed it, eyeing the luggage before I swept into my own room and locked the door behind me.
I ran the shower water as hot as I could stand, hoping it would scald away my guilt, my confusion, my warring thoughts.
My fiancé was in town. He would be here to help with planning, with all the decisions. We’d be able to spend time together, celebrate this time leading up to our wedding like a normal couple.
The man I loved was here, and I wanted to find relief in that, to wrap myself up in the comfort of his arms.
I just had to fight through the feeling of suffocation, first.
Chapter 9
Noah
Against my strongest urges, I left Ruby Grace alone after that night at my house.
I told myself it was because I was respecting her claim that she loved Anthony, and that he loved her, but the truth was probably somewhere more along the lines that I knew I’d see her later that week. I fought the urge to text or call her Monday through Wednesday because I knew on Thursday, I’d get to see her in person.
And I always did my best work in person.
I needed to apologize, that much I knew fairly clearly. I didn’t necessarily want to, because the bigger part of me wasn’t sorry for pulling her close on my porch, for nearly kissing her, for calling her out on the bullshit rules of the marriage she was about to enter into. I didn’t want her to give up her dreams for his.
There should have been balance, and room for both.
I didn’t know why I felt so passionately about it, why it irked me so much that she was so willing to push everything she wanted aside for him. More sane people might have seen it as an honorable sacrifice. But me? I thought of my parents, of how Mom supported Dad in all his aspirations at the brewery while he supported her dreams when it came to building our family. They respected each other, and not one part of the team was more important than the other.
I wanted that for me.
And for some unbeknownst reason, I wanted it
for Ruby Grace, too.
So, on Thursday, the night of the annual Scooter Whiskey Single Barrel Soirée, I went over everything I’d say to her while my hands worked on autopilot getting the event ready.
“Can you even imagine what it would be like,” PJ spoke through grunts as he unloaded another barrel from the truck. “To have enough money to just blow fifteen grand on a barrel of whiskey?”
I smirked, reading the name inscribed on the golden plate of the barrel he’d just pulled off the truck. I scribbled a check next to the one on my sheet, nodding to Marty, who loaded it onto a dolly and took it on down the line to the buyer’s VIP tent.
“Trust me, if I had money like that, I wouldn’t be blowing it on alcohol,” he continued.
“Oh, yeah? What would you spend it on, PJ?” Eli teased, leaning one elbow on a barrel. “Let me guess. Hookers.”
The guys snickered while PJ turned a bright red. “No,” he answered quickly. “I get plenty of sex. For free.”
“Right,” Eli said. “And Noah is celibate.”
“Hey, don’t drag the innocent bystander into this,” I said, chuckling as I checked off another barrel before sending it down the line.
“I don’t, nor would I ever, pay for sex,” PJ insisted again. When no one answered with more than a lifted brow, he threw his hands up in the air before letting them hit his thighs with a slap and a groan. “You guys suck.”
We all laughed at that, me ruffling his hair before telling him we were just teasing. He was the youngest, just like a little brother to us, and we couldn’t help it. He didn’t seem appeased, but he got back to work, each of us falling into the groove as Eli rambled on about what he would buy if he had stupid money.
They didn’t ask me what I would do, and I was glad for it. I probably would have lost a few of my man points if I told them the truth. All I’d want is a modest house, big enough for my family and my horse. I’d want to spend our time traveling or farming or building memories together, never working another day in my life and making it so my wife wouldn’t have to, either. Not unless she wanted to.
Fall in Love Book Bundle: Small Town Romance Box Set Page 289
