Page 77 of Recklessly Rogue

He cups the back of my head, resting our foreheads together. “I knew you would. But I know it sucks.”

“I don’t know, it definitely proves that I haveamazingtaste in men. When I finally, fully fell in love with someone, I fell for the best man in the whole world.”

He pulls me in for a deep kiss. It’s slow and sweet, but it’s all-consuming. He tastes me fully, making sure I feel every stroke, every press, every emotion.

I’m about to climb into his lap and start stripping my clothes off when my phone starts ringing, and Henry’s dings with three texts in a row.

We pull apart.

We stare at each other for a long moment.

But then, because we are who we are, we, of course, both reach for our phones.

Someone might need us.

Chapter 18

Henry

“It’s Scarlett,” Ruby says, looking at her phone.

“Go. Talk to her. I know you want to hear how things are going.”

She gives me a little smile. “Things are going great. I listened to the podcast.”

I know things are going great. I heard from Jonah just before Ruby got home. But I didn’t tell her. That would have been rubbing it in that Scarlett and Mariah were fine without her. I knew that would be hard.

“You still want to hear it from Scarlett. Hear how she feels about it.” I know hearing Cian’s version of events is always different.

She nods. “Yeah.”

“Go talk to her. I have a couple of messages to return. I’ll clean up the kitchen.”

“Okay. I…”

I wait.

She sighs as if she knows she shouldn’t say it, but then she smiles and says, “I love you.”

I smile. “I love you, too.”

That complicates everything. It makes all of this harder.

But it’s still true.

I’m glad I told her about Alfred. I’m glad she knows my whole history.

She heads upstairs to talk to Scarlett, and I open my text.

From April.

April:Elliot and I are going to spend the night at Mandy and Will’s.

Me:Ruby would really like to see you and hear how things went at dinner.

I know that April is already getting her life together and moving on from Christopher, which is not only impressive, it’s healthy. I don’t want to block that. But Ruby needs a little slower separation. She deserves to hear and see April and Elliot doing well and being happy, at least. Not just seeing it in texts.

April:I will fill her in tomorrow.

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