Page 21 of Heart & Hope

“I’m sure she loves whatever you guys create.”

“Yeah, she always does.” He sounds wistful.

“Reed? You have no idea how lucky you are to have a mom like Lou.”

“Lou, is it? You two are gettin’ on like fire, then?” He chuckles.

“Huh, yeah, I guess.”

Happiness fills me up. And when his hand reaches across, I don’t flinch or pull away. Only meet his gaze. His chest hollows out in a second. His thumb rubs the back of my hand before he flips my hand over and traces a finger over my palm and down my wrist.

“Rubes.”

I swallow hard.

Rule number one.

Rule number one.

Rule nu?—

“How can I ever repay you for all this?”

And for whatever reason, my brain flicks back to the inn. Mary-Sue’s ridiculous rules about working women being married. Olive’s insistence that I figure this out on my own. So, I need a fake husband.

No. That’s a fucking stupid idea. I refuse to play a role in their outdated, insane, old-fashioned mindset. But then I say . . .

“Be my husband.” The words blurt from my mouth like vomit.

Reed stares at me, stunned.

I pull back my hand like a hot coal.

Fuck.

“No, I mean—I need afakehusband, for work at the inn. My client has these stupid old-fashioned ideas about working women having to b?—”

“Sure, I can be your husband, Ruby Robbins. Or should I call you Ruby Rawlins?”

I gape at his cheeky face, the way he so confidently slung those words out. Uncertainty flashes through his eyes, so fast anyone not paying attention would have missed it.

“Are you sure? We don’t have to make out or anything. Only need you to be my marital plus one for a week or so when I’m at the inn. The first event is when I come back.”

“Come back?” His voice is raw.

“Yeah, after your ma’s party, I have to go home for a few months. But I’ll be back for the gala and grand opening. Then again for the Christmas bash they want now. That is an add-on that needs to be ironed out back home.”

“Not an email kind of meeting, hey?”

He sounds disappointed, and I can’t tell if it’s because I’m leaving or the fact that I’m staying longer than planned.

“Not an email. But hey, we might find time for that ride in your spectacular hills?”

“Anything you want, Ruby Rawlins.”

He grins at me like a Cheshire cat. My seat aches against the hard wood of the branch and I shift uncomfortably.

“Actually, it’s Reed Robbins. Mary-Sue thinks my married name is Robbins.”

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