Chapter Eight

Ruby

“So, tell me, how is it that no one’s snapped you up yet?” Steven asked, his fingers tracing over my hip and waist as we lay facing each other on the small bed.

I laughed softly. “I don’t know. I dated a few guys in college, but nothing that ever lasted for more than a semester.”

“How come?”

I sighed. “I guess I’m too picky…”

Steven shook his head, immediately discarding my theory. “Impossible.”

A smile flickered over my lips. “How do you know? I might have crazy rules.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know…something like he can’t drive a red car or like baseball or that he has to have a Persian cat!”

Steven laughed. “Do you?”

I shook my head. “No.”

“Didn’t think so.”

I rolled to my back and Steven relaxed his hand on my stomach. It struck me as strange how intimate we were. Sure, we’d just had sex, but the aftermath was usually the most awkward part of the whole thing. Usually the guy was trying to figure out how to get me out of his bed. Hell, usually I was the one looking for the way to get back in my clothing as soon as possible. But with Steven, it felt like the most natural thing in the world to lie together and talk about life and love.

“What about you?” I asked, lolling my head over to face him.

He smiled. “I’m never in one place long enough.”

“Come on. Don’t tell me that in the ten years since you left here, you haven’t had a girlfriend.”

He shrugged. “Not really. I went to boot camp right after I turned eighteen and you remember me in high school. I wasn’t exactly the cool, confident son of a bitch that I am now.”

I laughed and threw a small decorative pillow at his face. “I don’t know that you’re any cooler now, Maxwell. You did bring up superheroes during foreplay.”

He tossed the pillow right back with a deep laugh. “Umm, think you need to rewind the tape, Westin. That was all you. Over there fantasizing about Captain America while you stripped me.”

Tears pooled at the edges of my eyes from laughing so hard. “All right, all right, you win. That was all me.”

“Thank you.” He gathered me closer as our laughter subsided. Our eyes met and the room went quiet all at once. He traced a finger down the side of my cheek and kissed my lips softly. “You want to know why I’m still single? The real answer?”

I nodded, barely daring to breathe.

“I haven’t met the right girl yet.”

I lifted up from the pillow and kissed him again. Words passed between us without speaking as our lips met and it was almost like time stopped, frozen in place for as long as we kissed.

Until a loud ringtone shattered the silence.

“Shit!” Steven sprang away from me and went to grab his phone from the table that held a sewing machine.

He silenced the call but barely made it three steps back toward the bed before it rang again. He snatched it up and cursed again, “Shit!” Steven had his back to me and I jolted at his harsh tone.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, tugging the sheet up to cover myself. I glanced over the side of the bed and spotted my discarded clothing. Should I get up and dress? Was I staying? Was he?

Steven turned around but his eyes remained glued to the screen. “It’s my CO.”

“CO?”

He flicked a glance at me. “Right, sorry, um, Commanding Officer. I need to call him back.”

“Oh. Right. Umm, let me just—”

Something dark flashed in his eyes. Regret? “Rubes, I’m really sorry. This was—”

I held up a hand, silencing him, before offering him an easy smile. “This was just a little Christmas fun. No strings, remember?” I got out of the bed and retrieved my clothing. When I dared to look up at Steven, his eyes were wide, locked onto mine. His lips parted and my heart hitched, clinging onto a shred of hope that he would correct me, but the hope vanished in an instant, swallowed by the sharp ringtone again.

“Shit! Sorry. I gotta—” he stopped and went into the bathroom attached to the bedroom.

Tears stung at my eyes as he closed the door. “What the fuck, Ruby?” I scolded myself, flicking them away. “This was just a one-night thing. Don’t go all gooey fairy tale.”

I dressed quickly and slipped out the window, not wanting to risk running into his parents in case they returned home before I made it to the front door. I shimmied down the tree and jumped the last three feet. I landed in the soft grass with a thump. I paused at the base of the tree and looked up at Steven’s window. The bathroom light flicked off and I waited, hoping he would call down for me, but he didn’t come close enough for me to see him.

I dragged myself away and rushed back to my parents’ house before I could start crying again.

* * * *

“Ruby? Are you home?”

“Yes,” I groaned, answering my mother’s frantic call. “Where else would I be?”

She bustled into the kitchen minutes later, both arms weighed down with rows of plastic and paper bag handles. “Help, help, help.”

I jumped up from my place at the kitchen island—my unofficial office for my stay—and rushed over to help take the bags. “Mom, you do know it’s okay to take two or three trips, right? It’s not like this is my walk up in New York. You have a garage.”

She laughed. “I know. But I’m in a rush.”

I sighed and set three of the bags on the counter. They looked full to the brim with the supplies for Christmas dinner. Since Rick and Vanessa and little Kayla were heading to her parents’ for the actual holiday we were having Christmas dinner as a family, two days early. “There’s a shock.”

My mom shot me a scowl and peeled the rest of the bags from her arms. “Okay, shopping is done and they had these amazing little helpers at the mall and for a twenty-buck donation, they did all my wrapping!”

I wrinkled my nose.

She caught my sour expression and scoffed, tossing her long, blown out hair over her shoulders. “Don’t give me that, Ruby Marie. I was in a pinch.”

“I know, I know. I guess I just rank paying people to wrap your presents up there with fake trees and pre-cooked turkeys.”

My mom flapped a hand at me. “It’s done, and right now, that’s all that matters. If we had more time, I’d have done it properly. But between work deadlines and this last minute plan of your brother’s to go to her side for Christmas…” She paused and shook her head.

“We both know that wasn’t Rick’s idea,” I muttered, starting to unpack the groceries.

“Yes, well, he’s certainly not trying very hard to change her mind is he?”

My mom’s bitter tone startled me. She’d never really warmed to Vanessa. None of us had. But I’d never heard her say anything negative about their relationship. Then again, no one had ever tried to pry her brand new baby granddaughter out of her arms two days before Christmas.

I sighed and shut the door to the refrigerator. “I know. But we’ll have a good time tonight and then you guys are stuck with me.”

The only silver lining to Rick’s early departure was that he wouldn’t be there to heckle me when I finally got around to telling my parents about my job and housing situation.

My mom smiled and scooped me into a quick embrace. She pressed a light kiss to my temple. “Thank God one of my babies will be here.”

Probably for longer than you even realize…

She released me and I went to unpack the final bag of groceries while she took the shopping bags of wrapped presents to one of the two Christmas trees in my parents’ house. The larger, professionally decorated tree sat in the front living room beside the fire place so that anyone driving by could see it. The one we’d decorated as a family with our knick-knack assortment of ornaments and decorations was in the breakfast nook off the family room where we would gather to open presents.

“You want me to get started on the pies?” I offered, seeing the recipe cards scattered on the counter once the final grocery bag was put away.

My mom finished unpacking the presents and stood up, folding the bag together. “Sure, honey. That would be a big help. I need to get the bird into the oven. Let me go change and I’ll come join you.”

“Okay.”

I started getting the ingredients from the walk-in pantry and when I poked my head back out again, my mom was stopped in front of my laptop. I cringed as her eyes swept the screen. She glanced up and her eyebrows rose up her smooth forehead. “Honey? What’s going on? Are you…looking for another job?”

I drew in a slow breath. “Well…I…um…”

“Ruby?”

I pressed my eyes closed tightly. “I was going to wait and tell you and Dad together…once Rick left. But, I…I got laid off from my job.”

My mom blinked twice like she couldn’t quite understand the words that had left my mouth. “Laid off? When?”

“Two weeks ago. Roughly.”

“Right before Christmas? Who does that?”

“I know. Wall Street isn’t exactly a touchy-feely place. Apparently, they don’t care about things like holidays.”

“I’m so sorry, sweetheart!” She raced around the large island and gathered me into a tight embrace. I shut my eyes again, fighting off the tears that had been dangerously close to the surface all day. The job hunt was harder than I’d imagined, mostly because I had no idea where I wanted to end up living, and—therefore—working. And then, in any down time, my brain liked to remind me of my night—with Steven—and highlight the fact that he hadn’t called or texted since.

“Well, at least you’re in New York. I mean, sure the competition is stiff, but think of the opportunities there!”

I groaned against her shoulder. “No, Mom, I’m not.”

“What?”

“I sublet my apartment…”

“You what?”

“Mom, can we talk about this later?”

She eyed me for a moment, but then brushed my hair out of my face and smiled. “Of course, honey. Let me go change and we’ll start baking. Go ahead and finish that application if you want. You know we’d love to have you so close. San Diego would be lovely!”

I smiled as she started from the kitchen. It was nice to know that no matter how sideways things went, my parents would always support me. When she’d gone, I perched on the bar stool at the counter and reassessed my progress on the application. It was impossible not to think about Steven when considering a job in San Diego. We hadn’t talked much about his career, but I remembered he mentioned staying in San Diego when he was stateside. What would happen if I lived there too? Could we pick up where we’d left off the other night and maybe see if there was more there than just sex? Something more solid?

It seemed like a far-fetched idea, but the job was good and I convinced myself it was something I would have applied for even without knowing Steven was nearby.

I hummed away, my fingers flying across the keys as I completed the form before my mom came back downstairs.

It was worth a shot.