Chapter 12 Grant
Some weeks were more packed than others, but this one was the worst. By the time Thursday evening rolled around, I was spent—and I didn’t admit that easily.
Two of our low-risk events had turned out to be high risk. And Ruby thought nothing could happen here, huh?
Speaking of which, I was of two minds to send someone to her house to set up cameras because I hadn’t gotten the chance to yet. But even I knew that was insane. I needed to talk to her about it first.
Ruby, Ruby, Ruby. I was thinking about her more often than not.
“Dude, you spaced out,” Heath said. I was in his office along with Cameron so we could dissect the passing week.
“I did.”
“We’re fucking tired,” Cameron said. “Why don’t we all take tomorrow off?”
Heath immediately nodded. “Good idea. I’ll cancel all the meetings scheduled for tomorrow morning. I need to catch up on sleep and spend some time with my daughter.”
They both looked at me .
“I assume you’re going to tell us that’s lousy work ethic and that you’ll be here tomorrow,” Heath berated me.
That would be my standard reply, but now I was starting to get ideas.
I shrugged. “I can’t tell you what to do.”
They both stared at me. A dangerous idea percolated in my mind.
“Finally! Though it took you some time to catch on to the fact that you can’t impose your workaholic ways on us,” Heath joked.
I cocked a brow. “You only leave the office because you’ve got a kid at home. Might I remind you how things were before?”
“That was in the early days,” he replied.
My dangerous idea was taking shape. I told Ruby that we could catch up Saturday morning. But why not tomorrow morning? We kept missing each other this week, but that could make up for it. Then I could come into the office after she went to the restaurant.
“Time to call it a night,” I said. We were the last ones here.
Cameron stood up from his desk and yawned, stretching one arm up. “Fuck me, it’s been a very long week.”
I cleared my throat. “I appreciate both of you for stepping in to help out.”
Cameron blinked. “Dude, that’s what we do. You step in, too, when one of us has emergencies.”
“It’s a good thing that we all know every part of the business,” I said as we headed down the hallway.
“Remember when people gave us crap in the early days, saying we should delegate more?” Cameron said, making me laugh. “Jokes aside, it was good that we were always involved in everything. It’s why we can easily jump on things and get them done now.”
“Exactly,” I replied.
“Besides, since we worked so much back then, life feels like a vacation most of the time now—except when we’ve got weeks like this, obviously,” Heath added.
“I’ll see you when I see you,” Cameron said as we stepped out of the building. “Which means Monday morning. I don’t want to hear from you bozos until then.”
“You know what? I’ll do the same,” Heath said. “No one contact me unless there’s something literally burning.”
“You won’t hear from me,” I assured them. My brothers definitely needed the downtime.
As I got into my car, it dawned on me that so did I. Why the fuck wasn’t I taking the whole day off tomorrow as well? I was the damn CEO of a multimillion-dollar business, for God’s sake.
On the way to my house, I toyed with an idea. As soon as I got inside, I sat on the green couch in front of my huge windows, my best thinking spot. I could always swim to relax, but I wanted something different. A few moments later, I started to Google cabins in the Pacific Northwest.
I usually never did stuff like this. Hell, I hadn’t booked a hotel for myself in at least ten years—my assistant always took care of it. But I didn’t want to delegate this. It was too important.
I looked up a few cabins and immediately recalled Ruby’s words: Jacuzzi, trees. Quite a few fulfilled those criteria, but I wanted something luxurious. And I found it easily enough. She was going to like this, I was sure of it.
I checked the time. It was eleven forty-five. She would probably be leaving the restaurant soon, so I texted her.
Grant: I’ve had a long fucking week. Did your appliance get delivered?
She answered at midnight on the dot.
Ruby: Yes, and everything is back to normal.
Grant: Let’s do something reckless and take off tomorrow .
Ruby: Really? The whole day?
Grant: The whole weekend. Spend it with me.
I moved to the edge of my couch, keeping my eyes trained on my phone. Then, when she answered, a strange tension left my body in a huge wave.
Ruby: YES!
Ruby: What are we doing?
I didn’t want to keep it a secret from her because she’d need to pack appropriately for our getaway.
I knew she would be ecstatic. I could just imagine her gorgeous green eyes lighting up and her full lips spreading into one of those huge smiles of hers.
I liked how expressive she was—it was impossible to misread her cues.
I especially liked when she ran a hand through her hair and it fell down in waves over her shoulders.
I took a screenshot of the cabin, cropping the picture so she wouldn’t see the price, and sent it to her.
Ruby: Grant, oh my God, this looks incredible.
I called her right away. She might have agreed to spending time with me, but I figured it could take some convincing to get her to leave the area entirely.
“What did you have in mind exactly?” she asked.
“Let’s leave tomorrow morning and return Sunday evening.”
“Oh my goodness. Three full days off, huh?”
“I know what you’re thinking,” I told her.
“Really? Enlighten me.”
I looked out the window. “You’re thinking you’ve never been away from the restaurant for that long, that another emergency might pop up while you’re not in the area, and you’re not sure if your team can handle everything. ”
“All right, I’ll give it to you. That is pretty accurate. And you’re going to tell me I’m blowing everything out of proportion, right?”
“No, not at all. But you have to learn to let go. The process will get easier with time. And Sherry is more than capable and willing.” I remembered how she practically pushed Ruby out the door so she could take the lead for the evening crowd.
“How often do you ‘let go’?” she countered.
I laughed. “You caught me there. Not too often, but I do like to talk a big game.” I paused, then said, “Come with me, Ruby. It’s going to be good for both of us.”
“Mr. Sweet Talker, you’ve got a good chance of getting laid on that third date.”
“I want to spend the weekend with you, Ruby.”
“Sold.” Then she groaned. “Oh God. Don’t let me change my mind tomorrow morning, okay? It sounds like such a good idea now.”
“I’ll be on your doorstep at nine in the morning. I’ll throw you over my shoulder and carry you to the car in case you change your mind.”
“How far away is the cabin from Portland?”
“Four hours.”
“Oh, that’s quite a trip.”
I was sure she was rethinking the practicality of this, so I had to encourage her.
“I found some cabins closer, but this one was by far the best choice.”
“How much is it? I couldn’t see the price anywhere.”
“That was on purpose.”
“Well, we’ll split the cost and—”
“No, we fucking won’t.”
“Gr a nt,” Ruby said, drawing out the a .
“Ruby,” I replied, “I’m inviting you. Anything else is simply unthinkable.”
“But this looks expensive. ”
“I am inviting you,” I repeated emphatically.
“Not sure how I feel about it.”
“Well, you can tell me all about it tomorrow during our four-hour drive.”
She sighed. “Okay. Let’s do this. And thanks, Grant. I’ll make it up to you.”
“You don’t have to. I don’t expect anything in return.”
“Really? No sexy time?” she teased.
“Ruby,” I said on a groan. “Fucking hell.”
“Ah, sorry. Again, it’s late, I’m tired, which equals zero filter. You get the idea.”
“I know. I’ll let you go. See you in the morning.”
“See you then. Good night, Grant,” she said, then hung up.
I hadn’t felt so excited about something other than work in years. It was a completely new sensation—one I could definitely get used to.
* * *
The next morning, I was still full of energy even though I’d only had six hours of sleep. I was running high on adrenaline.
I arrived at Ruby’s ten minutes before nine. Instead of waiting in the car, I went up to the house and rang the bell.
“I’m coming right out,” she yelled. Two seconds later, she opened the door. She looked in complete disarray. Her hair was wild, and she was still wearing pajamas—shorts and a tank top.
“Good morning. Bad moment?”
“Yes, I...” She winced. “Packing is not really my strong suit.”
I looked around the room and schooled my features. A huge suitcase was open on the floor with piles of clothes on top of it.
“Not sure how I’ll fit all that in,” she said.
“Ruby, why would you? It’s just a weekend trip.”
She blinked. “Right. See, here’s the problem. I usually pack more clothes than I actually need.”
“Just bring a few comfortable outfits and some hiking gear. ”
“Of course. Hiking gear. Yes.”
She looked bewildered, as if that thought hadn’t even crossed her mind. Damn, she was cute.
“Have you had any coffee?” I asked.
“No.” She groaned, and I almost laughed out loud.
“Would you like one?”
“Yes, please. Oh God, I should be the one offering you coffee.”
She quickly went to her kitchen, and I followed.
After she made the two coffees, I stepped behind her and put an arm around her waist.
“Ruby. Am I making you nervous?”
She laughed, but it sounded a bit forced. I had my answer.
“Why?” I asked.
“I don’t know.” Dropping my arm, I took a step back, and she turned around to face me. “Isn’t this a bit crazy, us going away for a weekend? We don’t really know each other.”
“We don’t have to go if you’re uncomfortable.”
“Didn’t you already book it?”
“I’ll take care of it.” I’d lose the deposit, but it didn’t matter. “I told you last night that I wouldn’t let you change your mind, but I didn’t mean it. I wouldn’t do anything you’re not totally on board with.”