Page 41 of Lessons in Heartbreak

Ruby smiled sweetly. “There’s still plenty of day left for that to happen.”

I booped her nose. “How true, my little student.”

She swatted at my hand. “If you keep doing that, I’m going to tell Bruiser to eat you.”

“Mmm-kay.”

Ruby frowned. “Seriously, what’s in the bags? They look expensive.”

Instead of answering that, because they were expensive, I simply held them out to her. “Off you go.”

Her brow furrowed, doing that cute little wrinkle thing. “Off I go, where?”

“You may have deprived me of the shopping montage, but Iwillget a private fashion show.”

Ruby’s mouth hung open. “A ... what?”

I tilted my head down the hall. “Black bag first. I handed them to you in order of how I’d like to see them.” The way her eyes narrowed had me grinning. “Oooh, you were right. I spoke too soon. There’s the look I was waiting for.” Gently, I curled my hands around her shoulders and turned her in the direction of her bedroom. “Come on now. This will be painless, I promise.”

“Not for you,” she muttered.

I laughed as she stalked off, wondering not for the first time how the hell I’d ended up here. Earlier that morning, my ass had popped out of bed, eager to start the day.

“There are clothes in here,” Ruby said.

I whistled. “You are quick today.”

Her head poked out of the bedroom door. “You bought me clothes? Where?”

I picked up the top book on a stack in her family room, studying the creased spine.Persuasionby Jane Austen. “Fort Collins.”

She huffed, disappearing behind the door. I could hear the muffled sound of her clothes being removed, and I gritted my teeth for a moment, unwillingly imagining her peeling off a shirt to reveal that deep-blue lace bra.

“And you’re aware of the best places to shop in Fort Collins how?”

I set the book down and picked up another.Frankensteinby Mary Shelley. Underneath that was a book of poetry with intricate gold designs on the cover. “My agent’s wife gave me the name of her favorite boutique.”

“So you just waltzed right in, huh? I can only imagine the looks on the other shoppers’ faces.”

One of the poems caught my eye, but I looked up from the book. “Oh, no one else was there. They closed down for an extended lunch so I could shop with just the manager’s help. Her card’s in there if you want to go in.”

The rustling sound of a bag came down the hallway as Ruby found the card. She made a dry laughing noise. “She wrote her cell phone number on here and said, ‘Call me anytime you’re in town.’”

I grinned. “Did she, now?”

Ruby muttered something under her breath.

“How’s it going in there?” I asked, flipping back to the poem I’d noticed.

I missed her response as I read through the pages about yearning and aching, seeking something to fill all those empty places we all seemed to feel.

Ruby cleared her throat, and I snapped the book shut, my lips spreading in an easy smile.

It was on the tip of my tongue to tell her she looked fucking gorgeous, but I waited, not wanting to make her uncomfortable. “Well ... how did I do?”

The dress fit her perfectly, a more tailored fit than anything I’d seen her wear yet, and she smoothed her hands over the delicate floral embroidering along the front. It was a pale–sky blue dress with a collared neck and fitted design. The cap sleeves were lace—the manager had assured me it would balance out a petite figure nicely—and Ruby’s eyes were huge, looking bluer than they ever had before when she looked up at me.

“I love it,” she said simply.

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