We eat in near-total silence. Kyle and Ruby don’t ask how the other’s food is, don’t make small talk, hardly even look at each other. It’s probably the worst date I’ve ever seen, and it’s made ten times weirder because I’m chaperoning.

Not to mention that every thirty seconds for the past couple days I think about Ruby, in the barn, my mouth on hers, her body arching into mine, or the way she felt in my arms in the laundry room. The last thing I should be thinking about right here, right now, but it’s satisfying as hell to remember while she’s on a half-assed date with someone else.

Kyle shoves his plate away.

“Give me your hands,” he says, a slight, impatient whine in his voice.

Ruby does, and he clamps his fingertips around hers like he’s some sort of alien who’s never held hands before, but I’m suddenly jealous anyway. That he gets to touch her and I don’t, even though I’m the one she wants to touch.

“Ruby Burgess,” he says, then looks at her and waits.

“Yes,” Ruby says after a long pause.

“I want to make my intentions toward you perfectly clear,” he begins.

I’ve met the guy twice and even I can tell he’s about to begin another self-righteous monologue. Ruby’s face is carefully, perfectly blank, and I’m pretending I’m not paying attention while hanging onto every word this slimy fuckwit says, my hands locked together on the table.

God, I hate that he’s touching her. I know she doesn’t like it and I still hate it.

“After careful study, prayer, and consideration, I believe that our personalities, interests, and beliefs are well-aligned. Both of us have certain black marks in our past, but I think that together, with faith and perseverance, we can both overcome these things and join together someday in the sight of God,” Kyle says.

My back straightens and one hand tightens into a fist on the table.

Is he proposing? He can’t be fucking proposing.

“I believe that our union may take more spiritual work, guidance, and patience than others, but as I stated earlier, a marriage is a marathon and not a sprint. Therefore, Ruby, I intend to ask your father his permission to begin an engagement.”

Engagement.

I think I’d be angry if I weren’t just fucking confused, because it’s the worst proposal I’ve ever heard.

Was that really it? This douchebag just said we don’t really like each other but let’s get married to Ruby, of all people?

My knuckles are all white. There’s a muscle twitching in my neck, because I want to take him by the collar, drag him out of this restaurant, and give him a good hard lesson in treating women right.

Ruby clears her throat.

“I don’t think I’m ready for that sort of commitment,” she says, her voice perfectly neutral, her ever-present smile soft and sweet. “It hasn’t been very long since my marriage to Lucas ended, and I just don’t think that I’m ready to take that step with someone else yet.”

Kyle frowns slightly.

“It’s been six months,” he says. “And I don’t mean to be rude, but you’re already twenty-six.”

Ruby’s eyes flash, and her smile falters for a moment.

“For right now, my place is in my father’s house, with my family,” she says, her voice syrupy-sweet. “I’ve prayed this over quite a bit, and the Lord is clear that he wants me to wait.”

Kyle nods, stiffly.

“I see,” he says. “Well, I hope the Lord hasn’t laid it on your heart to wait too long! Ha!”

Ruby pulls her hands away like she can’t do it quickly enough, and something relaxes in my chest, just a little. Kyle frowns, then looks around.

“The service here has gotten terrible,” he says. “Maybe I should talk to the owners about this…”

Ruby looks at me, almost like she’s laughing. Like we share some dark joke, just between the two of us. Maybe we do.

“Ugh,” Kyle says, and stands, flinging his napkin back into the booth. He rises and stomps away, looking for our waitress, and I take a deep Kyle-free breath.

“You should have said yes,” Pearl says with the air of a teenager who knows everything.

“I don’t need this from you,” Ruby says without changing her tone.

“Look how angry he is. He might not ask again,” Pearl points out.

I bet Ruby would be heartbroken, I think, and there’s the almost-smile from her again. Pearl turns to me imperiously.

“You wouldn’t ask again, right?” she says. “If a girl rejected you like that?”

That’s not how I’d propose a date, let alone a goddamn marriage, I think, but I don’t want to get into it with Ruby’s little sister.

“It depends,” I say, trying to sound as neutral as possible.

“That means no,” Pearl proclaims.

That means I’d do it right and fuck yes I’d ask again if I thought it would work.

“It means it depends,” I tell her.

She turns back to Ruby.

“You’re not going to get to pick and choose,” she says, and for a moment she sounds exactly like their mother.

“You’re here to chaperone, not give me life advice,” Ruby says, sounding bored and irritated.

“You’ll remember this when you’re an old maid,” Pearl says smugly. “Let me out, I need to use the ladies’ room.”

Ruby lets her out of the booth and then slides back in until she’s almost across from me. There’s still no sign of Kyle.

“For your sake, I hope this is the worst date you’ve ever been on,” she says.

I want to take her hands, lean over the table, and kiss her. For fucking once I want Ruby to know that someone’s excited about her, that someone wants her like fire in his veins, that someone jerks off twice a day thinking about her.

“If I go now I could take that little motherfucker to the alleyway out back and fucking teach him how to talk to women on dates,” I offer, my voice low and quiet. “I won’t even leave a mark.”

Ruby turns bright pink.

“Please don’t,” she whispers.

I just shake my head. I’m not an idiot, and I know that beating up Kyle right now would only land Ruby herself in trouble or worse. Doesn’t change how badly I want to, though.

Something else occurs to me.

“Ruby, have you ever been on a real date?” I ask.

“You mean alone with someone? No chaperones?”

“Right.”

“Sure,” she says. “Plenty of times with Lucas after we got married, and last week when you found me at the pub. Though I guess that wasn’t really a date, that was…”

“I bought you a drink and took you home,” I point out.

“You’re my bodyguard and it’s your job to know where I am.”

“It’s my job to keep you safe, it’s not my job to enjoy your company.”

We look at each other. Her eyes flick to my lips for a split second, and I swear it takes every drop of self-control I have not to lean across the table and crush her mouth against mine, right then and there.

“Is it your job to offer to beat up my suitors?”

“Suitors, plural? Are there more of these assholese somewhere?”

Ruby looks at me, looks down at the table, looks back at me like she’s trying not to smile.

“There’s only the one official suitor,” she says. “And I think you just heard him bring his romance A-game.”

“Sounds like you need an unofficial suitor.”

“I’m not sure I need a suitor at all,” she says. “I think I just need someone whose company I enjoy and who walks me home. I’ve had it with suitors, Gabriel.”

“We could just leave this restaurant right now,” I murmur. “We’ll go somewhere else for an hour. I don’t care where, and I’ll tell your father that I thought there was a threat and I needed to get you out and keep you safe.”

“Please don’t get fired,” she whispers.

I nearly reach across the table and take her hand in mine, but instead there’s an annoyed sigh off to the side, and Pearl appears. Ruby lets her sister back into the booth, my heart still hammering.

The moment’s over, my heart pounding at Pearl’s sudden arrival because Ruby makes me a little crazy, a little reckless. I know better than to flirt with my charge while she’s on a date with someone else, but here I am.

I can’t stop thinking about it: Ruby, the barn, the space behind the hedge, backstage at that first rally. I’m thinking of the flash of belly I saw the other day as she hid the letters, how nearly impossible it was not to grab her and kiss it, or of her in my arms.

Kyle’s hot on Pearl’s heels, looking smug, and he sits next to me, across from Ruby.

“I had to speak with the manager again, but I think he understands my concerns about the level of service here,” he says. “Simply put, to keep up in today’s society, a restaurant needs to be…”

Something bumps against my ankle. I move my foot away out of habit, but a split second later, Ruby catches my eye.

Slowly, I move my foot back. A shoe bumps my ankle again, then nuzzles along my foot, and I have to force myself not to smile as I nuzzle back.

Kyle drones on, waiting for the waitress. Ruby watches him intently, her green eyes practically boring holes through him, as she plays footsie with me and I play back.

It’s probably the stupidest possible way to get caught with her, but I’m not about to stop.