Page 5 of Ruby's Strength

Three

Rett

After working a full day with Gabe, Cole, and Slate, they invited me to have dinner at Cole’s house. I guess they get together every Saturday with their family for dinner, so it’s not like I’ll be imposing on something special. It makes me think of the kind of family I wished for when I was growing up in foster care. My parents died in a car accident when I was four. With no immediate family, and no extended family willing to take me in, I was placed in a foster home. I bounced around every six months or so until eventually I was just placed in a boys home until I turned eighteen. Luckily for me, that was a couple months after I graduated high school, so I had time to prepare.

I wasn’t sure if I should go and intrude on their family dinner or not, so I declined. Gabe persuaded me by saying he needed another guy around to talk to since his brothers were all about their women whenever they were all together. I finally agreed to come and not two seconds later Gabe volunteered me to bring the beer. This is the first time I’ve felt like a part of something in a long time and call me crazy, but I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to the people that accepted me without knowing me. The guys all brought me into the fold so easily and told me about their family as we worked throughout the day. Come to find out Maura, the park ranger from Berry Delicious, is Slate’s woman and Cole and Aubree are very recently married. I could feel the love they all felt for their sister and how protective they were over her.

Now here I am pulling up the drive of Cole’s property with a case of beer in my front seat excited for a night with friends. I park behind the same vehicles I did this morning letting me know I’m in the right place. I don’t hesitate to get out, ready to spend a night relaxing with people I hope to consider friends soon enough. Grabbing the twenty-four pack, I walk up to the front door and knock, but no one answers. There’s country music playing, and I can see people in the house through the windows, so I decide to make my way around and see if there’s another entrance. Finding the back door, I knock, and the door swings wide open from not being closed all the way. I was only going to peek my head in when I hear Cole and Aubree telling their family the good news.

My eyes instantly zone in on the only person I don’t know standing in the kitchen surrounding the happy couple. She’s got a full head of dark hair that touches the top of her tight ass and is staring at Aubree and Cole with a wide smile across her beautiful face. With the way she’s smiling, I can tell the news of their pregnancy is the best thing she’s heard all day. My eyes travel down the length of her body, and I wonder what I have done right in this world to breathe the same air as this stunning woman. I watch as she inhales deeply and then looks up and over at me, meeting me stare for stare. So many emotions fill her light blue eyes in the sixty seconds it takes for me to realize I just met my future.

I drop the case of beer I’m still holding on the counter and make my move toward the beauty in the red dress, vaguely hearing everyone else call my name. I have never felt such extreme emotions course through me in all the years I’ve been on this planet, but I don’t question them. If I’ve learned anything over the sixteen years I was enlisted was not to question when something good is dropped in your lap. You take the good when it’s offered and thank God for your blessings, holding on tight, never letting it go. That’s exactly what I plan to do with this woman, as soon as I learn her name and tell her she’s mine.

By passing Cole and Slate’s attempt at saying hello, I grab her hand and bring it up to my mouth, kissing the top of it softly. Her heavy-lidded eyes watch in wonder. “Good evening ma’am, my name is Everett.”

She blinks slowly, staring at the place where I tasted her sweet skin and watches as my thumb rubs back and forth over her knuckles. The room goes silent, and I feel the stares of those around us burning into my back. I step closer to the woman who will be ruling my world until I’m mere inches from her face. Her pulse is racing, and she’s breathing fast as her tongue parts between her lips and traces her bottom lip before slipping back inside her mouth. “Tell me your name precious,” I say roughly, the need I feel for her bleeding into my voice.

“Ruby?” Cole questions with concern and her eyes shift from mine to where her brother is standing behind me. The atmosphere around us is charged, and I feel as though one wrong move will have me on the wrong end of her brothers’ fists. Squeezing her hand lightly, I let it go to give her the space she obviously needs. I don’t miss the way she holds on tighter for a split second before she releases mine.

Backing away from Ruby, I turn around and face Cole and Aubree, holding out my hand to shake his. “Congratulations Cole, Aubree. I wish you nothing but the best.” He takes a minute to study me before gripping my hand tight and slowly shakes my hand. He’s giving me the stare down he’d give any man interested in his sister.

Aubree stands beside him and wraps her arm around his waist. His rigid stance becomes relaxed at her touch. “Thank you Rett, it’s still early yet. I’m so glad you could make it tonight. We’re about to eat, can I get you something to drink before we sit down?”

“I’ll just have a beer. I can get it.”

I turn back to grab a beer. Taking a moment, I pop the top and take a long pull, needing a second before I join the group and pretend my world hasn’t just been rocked on its axis. I listen to the others make their way out of the kitchen and sit down at the table. When I turn around Ruby is sneaking peeks in my direction and then looking back at her family as they talk excitedly about the holidays.

Dinner tastes even better than it smelled and I’m full by the time Aubree pulls out the rum cake she made earlier today. Deciding to let our food settle, Slate and Maura start on the dishes in the kitchen and Gabe steps outside. I take a minute for myself to use the restroom. When I come out, Cole and Aubree are nowhere to be seen, and Ruby is sitting on the couch in front of the fireplace, watching the flames dance.

Sitting next to her, so close our legs are touching knee to thigh, I rest my arm along the back of the couch behind her head. Her body stiffens instantly, but I stay where I am, needing her to get comfortable with me. “When I was twelve my foster parents sent me to a summer camp the state was putting on. It was the first time I had been away, and I didn’t know what to expect. It was a two week overnight camp filled with other boys in similar situations as me, some more blessed than others. It was the first time I felt like I belonged and I wasn’t different. We would have bonfires at night and would stay up late telling stories and goofing off like boys did at that age. Every time I see a fire, it takes me back to those days.”

She continues to stare at the fire, but I can tell she’s thinking about what I said. “Do you always just tell people intimate parts of your life like that?”

“You’re not just anyone Beautiful. I plan on telling you everything, so why not cut the small talk bull shit and really get to know one another?”

“Who said I wanted to get to know you?” She sasses.

I grin and lean in close, so my lips are close to her ear. “You’re fighting the pull between us, but I refuse to believe I can feel this strongly after only a couple of hours and you have zero feelings for me in return.”

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