Page 19 of Rags to Royals

Going with the flow lasted about five minutes.

Shocker.

I don’t want to be pissed at Henry. I’ve never been angry at him for more than a couple of hours at a time in the past. Yes, that’s definitely happened and it’s almost always because he told me something I didn’t want to hear, but that happens so rarely that Henry is possibly the person in my life I get along with the best.

Besides, my niece, Saoirse, and I are great friends. I was the third person to hold her after she was born, following my sister, of course, and Colin, their bodyguard, the man who would become Saoirse’s surrogate father in pretty much every way.

Saoirse was surrounded by adults from day one—Fiona, Colin, me, Henry, Torin, and Jonah—but we had a special bond. I was the one who was always up to play. When the other adults had work or more adult things to worry about, I was always free for tea parties, playing pirates, pretending we were hunting monsters, and yes, even playing prince and princess. Saoirse has always gotten a kick out of her royal bloodline.

She’s the only one in the family.

All of that makes me think about the fact that Scarlett is not the fun aunt who took her niece Mariah on spontaneous road trips, bought Mariah her first puppy—against her mother’s wishes—did movie marathons with ice cream sodas, and who was the one to give Mariah the ‘real’ sex talk. Not the one about the physical technicalities, but the one about how a man should treat you, the bullshit red flags, the words to never believe, and what an orgasm is.

Scarlett is Mariah’s mom. And apparently not fun.

I scowl. That can’t be right.Wewatched movies and had orange soda ice cream sodas. We talked about the road trips we’d taken. And she definitely knows about orgasms and what she needs to get them.

AndIknow about her orgasms, how to get her there every time, how she feels and looks and sounds when she comes…

“You ready?” Henry asks as we stand inside the door and let our eyes adjust from the bright sunlight outside.

My first impression as I take in the interior is that…it’s a bar. There is nothing unique or remarkable about it at all.

“You sure it was a good idea not to text her ahead of time?” I ask Henry.

“Trust me, it’s better if she doesn’t know I’m coming.”

My usual upbeat friend sounds discouraged. “That bad?”

“I hurt her. She doesn’t want to see me.”

“What about when shedoessee you?”

“I have no fucking idea.” Henry heads for the bar.

Damn. This is definitely a new side of Henry. This is going to be a very interesting trip.

There’s a woman behind the bar with her back to us. She’s slender, about five-six, with a nice curvy ass, long dark hair, and when she turns, I actually suck in a breath.

Fuck. She’s gorgeous.

Because she looks just like Scarlett.

The sense of déjà vu is short-lived though.

Yes, this woman’s shape, her eyes, and hair look like Scarlett. But it only takes me three seconds to realize that it’s not her. I can’t put my finger on a single specific thing but there’s just something about this woman that makes herfeellike a stranger even though she looks exactly like the woman I fucked for three nights straight.

Ruby freezes when she sees Henry.

Her mouth drops open, the towel she’s holding hits the floor, and her eyes widen.

“Ruby.” Henry’s voice is gruff.

I cast him a quick glance. His face is etched with what I can only describe as longing.

Ruby blinks three times, then she rounds the bar. She comes to stand directly in front of us. She looks back and forth between us. Then she pulls her arm back and slaps Henry. Hard.

His head snaps to the side. He sucks in a quick breath, then faces her again. Suddenly she bursts into tears and launches herself into his arms. He catches her with both hands under her ass as her legs circle his waist, and she buries her face against his neck.

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