Page 62 of Recklessly Rogue

I’d started wondering where she was, but I’d refrained from texting. I was proud of myself for that.

But when I see her face, I swear internally. She’s upset.Bloody hell.

I don’t know what about exactly—not that it matters—but I wonder if she’s heard from Scarlett.

“Hi,” she says, setting a container of brownies on the counter.

Just a container of brownies.

Yeah. Upset.

“Hey.” I give her a smile. “I just got a text from Elliot.”

That kid will cheer her up.

“Elliot has your number? Wait, Elliot has a phone?” she asks.

I grin. “Will has my number. Elliot’s using his phone.”

I love that he texted me. He wanted to share what he’s doing tonight and he thought of me. It’snota big deal but…it is to me. I’ve convinced him that I’m someone who cares about him and what’s going on with him. That matters.

Ruby smiles and the tension around my chest loosens a bit.

“Okay, that makes sense. What’s he texting you about?” She shrugs out of her jacket, tossing it over the back of one of the kitchen chairs. She’s wearing the black fitted v-neck tee withI like Big Dick’son the front in electric blue letters and I have to fight the urge to roll my eyes.

Honestly, the T-shirts are funny.

On anyone other than my…fuck it,my woman. She is. Whether we’re saying that out loud or she wants to admit it or not, she is.

She comes around the breakfast bar and slides up on the stool next to me.

I turn to face her, my knees on either side of hers.

I turnmy phone to show her the screen. It’s a photo of Elliot. And a potbellied pig.

She grins. “Aw, that’s cute. Elliot’s excited to live with Porter, and April thinks it will be a great trial. He’ll get a chance to be around an animal and help take care of it, but they won’t have to commit to something they’re fully in charge of. If Elliot does well, she’s thinking about getting something when they move out on their own though.”

“Mandy and Will actually have a pig as a pet?” I ask.

“Yep.” Ruby looks up. “Their middle daughter, Riley, got him when she was in high school. Told them he was a ‘teacup’ pig, but teacup pigs are just a type of potbelly pig, actually ones that have been malnourished, so they stay small.” She frowns. “Anyway, he wasn’t truly a teacup pig, and he ended up growing full-sized. He’s nearly two hundred pounds. She couldn’t take him with her when she went to college, so now he’s Mandy and Will’s.” She laughs. “He’s also kind of mischievous.”

“I told Cian that teacup pigs weren’t actually tiny,” I mutter, looking at the photo. Should I send the photo to Cian withI told you so? Or will that just encourage him?

“You and Cian talked about pigs?”

“Let’s just say that I’m considering volunteering our dear prince as a pig sitter for Mandy and Will and hope that gets it out of his system.”

Ruby laugh. “Mariah loves Porter.”

I groan. “Don’t tell me that.”

“Cian definitely seems like the kind of guy to have a pet,” Ruby muses. “He has a lot of energy. He probably needs a big rambunctious dog. Or a bunch of goats or something.”

I nod. “You’re right. He’s been around animals forever because of Fiona. Of course, he’s used to things like giraffes and lion cubs. Not just cats and dogs. And he had a bunch of goats to play with in Autre.”

Thank God. Those goats are trouble, and Cian thought they were hilarious. His willingness to help round them up when they escaped the petting zoo and ended up in people’s backyards, the motel’s front lobby, and the funeral home’s serenity garden probably kept them from becoming ground meat.

“You’ve never found a puppy hidden in the back of his closet?” Ruby asks with a grin.

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