Page 41 of Wrong Car, Wright Guy
I slide out of the booth and drop a kiss on the side of Ruby's head. "Then to the cocktail bar it is."
"He's a sweetheart," Ruby says. "They both are. Don't let all that bluster intimidate you. It’s just for show. Although, since you're full of a heckuva lot of bluster most days, I reckon you probably speak the same language as each other."
“Har, har,” I say, giving her one last kiss before I escort Darren to the bar as requested.
“Let’s make these introductions official. I’m Darren Murphy aka Coco Monroe,” he says, sliding his long-nailed hand against mine and giving me quite a powerful handshake for such a small guy.
“Tanner Wright. Lacking any other alter ego to speak of.”
“That’s a positive,” Darren says, picking up the cocktail menu and perusing the list of offered drinks.
“Good to know.”
“Tell me, Tanner. What’s the deal with you not wanting to be in this billboard campaign? Why do you need my boyfriend for it?”
“Family obligations. The station comes under the Wright Media umbrella, and as the heir to that empire, I have certain standards to uphold. Keeping my face out of the tabloids—including billboards and the side of buses—is part of that.”
"So, it's not just that you don't want to be photographed with Ruby?"
My brow furrows "No. If I had my way, those photos would be of me tilting her back while I kiss the life out of her so every man in this state knows that she belongs to me."
Darren uses the menu to fan himself. “OK. I can get on board with that explanation. It's your family that's the problem, not my family."
"Correct. For the record, the only thing I care about right now is making Ruby happy.”
“OK," he says, slapping the menu against my chest. "I'll just take a scotch on the rocks, and an assurance that you won’t do anything to hurt my baby girl. I don't think you understand the damage a dozen drag queens coming at you could do."
“I don’t doubt it,” I say, giving him a solemn nod despite the comedy of his words. “She’s in safe hands. I could never do anything to hurt someone I love.”
His pencil thin brows arch high. “Love, is it?” I nod. “Then, Tanner, my dear man, it’s you we should all be praying for—not that I know what good it would do. But men who fall fast and hard need all the help they can get.” He gives me a sage nod as he pats me on the shoulder and tells me he'll meet me back at the table.
As I step toward the bar to order, another much bulkier body slides in beside me. “My turn,” Theo says.
“I'd question your commitment as her brother if it wasn’t.”
“You made her feel like shit for a long time, you know.”
“It wasn’t my intention, and it's no excuse, but I felt like shit without her too.”
“Was it true what you said to Darren just now? You're in love with her?”
I nod once. “I am. As far as I'm concerned, she's it for me. I’ve never met anyone like her.”
“She’s one of a kind, all right. And it goes without saying that—”
“You’ll make me pay if I do anything to hurt her?” I finish for him, having heard this line a couple of times already tonight.
He pats me on the back and smiles. “Oh, I’ll do a hell of a lot more than that. You hurt my sister, I’ll fucking bury you.” He gives my back two solid slaps, then tells me he’ll take a beer before returning to the table with the others. I follow shortly after, drinks in hand.
“Were they awful to you?” Ruby asks when we’ve said our goodbyes and we’re walking back to the car, blissfully alone.
“No more than I expected. I’m the new guy in the group and you’re very obviously important to them. It’s good that they care about you enough to threaten my life.”
Ruby laughs. “Oh, no. They did not threaten to kill you!”
“I tell no lies,” I say, chuckling along with her. “But I can’t say I blame them. If anyone did anything to you, I think I’d become murderous too. The feelings I have for you, Ruby, they’re overwhelming.”
She stops walking and places a hand against my chest to stop me as well. “Mine too,” she says, lifting up on her toes and pressing her lips to mine, kissing me in the middle of the street, the sweet taste of the glass of wine she had mixing with the lime soda I had.
