20. Twenty
20
TWENTY
W ooing.
That’s what I was doing with Ruby. I was wooing her. That’s what all the articles I read said I was doing anyway. Ruby might have liked her books, but I preferred reading online articles. They were quicker and the bullet points made my life easier.
According to what I was reading, wooing involved gifts and being charming. Both of those were easy for me. It was Vegas for crying out loud, there were gifts at every turn. Not buying the same gifts was where I ran into trouble.
“Um … I’m not sure.” I shook my head as I regarded the garish fake roses. The edges were painted with glitter and they looked tacky. It wasn’t about how much it cost. It was about the emotion it elicited. At least that’s what the online articles said. “My girl is classier.”
Cherise, the woman behind the counter, narrowed her eyes. She was in her seventies—although she’d been nipped and tucked so many times it was obvious she was trying to look forty—and her face barely moved. Even when she frowned there wasn’t a single line on her face. “Are you saying my stuff isn’t classy?” She planted her hands on her hips.
I angled my head and took in her sequined shorts. She wore them over nylons. Not the fashion ones the showgirls wore either. These looked to be the nylons that women used to buy in eggs and wear for a day before they ripped. “I would never say your stuff isn’t classy,” I lied. “It’s just … this is for the woman I’m trying to get to date me. She isn’t a glitter person.”
Cherise glanced at the fake roses, then turned her head toward the coolers behind her. “You want the real thing, they’re going to be expensive and die in a week.”
I shrugged. “It’s not about how long they live. It’s just … I need something beautiful.”
“Fine.” Cherise still wasn’t happy. She headed toward the coolers anyway. “What color do you want?”
Hmm. That was an interesting question. “What do the colors mean?”
“Red means love,” she started automatically.
“I think it’s too soon for that.”
“They also mean passion and romance.”
I stilled. “Well, I do like the passion and romance part.”
“Yellow means friendship.”
I immediately started shaking my head. “That is not the message I want to send.”
“Pink means gratitude, grace, and happiness.”
The pink roses were pretty, but that also wasn’t the message I wanted to send. “No.”
“Green means renewal.”
“Like … fertility?”
She nodded. “Is that what you’re interested in? Do you want to fertilize the girl?” She sent me a knowing look.
“I already have.”
Her nose wrinkled. “What now?”
“She’s pregnant with my baby.”
“And you’re trying to date her now?”
“It’s a long story. I’m not ruling out the green ones, though. Maybe you could mix them with the red ones.”
“Yes, and a Merry Christmas to you too.”
Whoops. “Right. Okay, no red and green together. What do the lavender ones mean?”
“Love at first sight.”
“Interesting.” I waited for her to continue.
On a heavy sigh, as if I was ruining her day even though I was her only customer, she started rattling them off. “Blue means mystery. Like … the unattainable. Orange means desire. Black means mourning. Purple means elegance. You could go with multiple colors and create your own meaning, though.”
I liked that idea. “Okay. Let’s do that.”
“What colors do you want?” Cherise looked bored now.
“Let’s go with purple because my girl is elegant, blue because she’s unattainable, which is why I’m doing this, and green for fertility because she’ll find that funny.”
Cherise nodded. “Okay, well, I can do that. You should really have a light color in there for contrast too.”
“Like…white? What does that mean?”
“White means innocence and purity. I think that ship has sailed.” She pointed toward some cream-colored blooms. “Cream supposedly means perfection.”
I immediately started bobbing my head. “Sold.” I reached for my wallet. “You guys deliver, right?”
“We do.” I pulled out my black credit card and Cherise’s eyes immediately lit up. “Where will I be delivering to?”
“The Stone. I also want some balloons. Like … a lot of them. We’re talking at least ten balloons.”
Cherise’s eyes went wide. “That’s a bit of overkill don’t you think?”
I shrugged. “That’s the point. I’m wooing my woman.”
“You did not just use the word ‘woo.’” She looked appalled.
“I did, and I stand by it.”
“Fine. It’s your money.” She shook her head. “Which balloons do you want?”
I wandered over to the wall to take a look. The flowers were going to be impossible to ignore. I had every intention of having them delivered when she was at the ice cream shop, so everybody would know what I was doing.
It had been weeks of me giving her daily gifts at this point. We’re talking candy, spa visits, scrubs, lotions, perfumes, another Charlie Bear, a tiara to signify she was my princess, and a pretty locket so she could put a picture of the baby inside when Rexanne was born. So far, all of those gifts had been delivered to her suite.
I hadn’t asked her out again, but it was coming. At thirty-one weeks, Ruby was coming in on the last two months of her pregnancy. I wanted her firmly in love with me—or at least in solid like territory—when the baby arrived. The weeks after that would be chaos. That meant I had to create the foundation of our relationship now. Even though Ruby was a person, this gift was going to be public, because I had every intention of asking her out in front of other people.
And what if she turns you down? I wasn’t an insecure guy, but I recognized that was a real possibility. I had to take the risk. Sitting around and waiting for her to give in without prodding was no longer an option. I had to push her.
“Give me three of the hearts.” I pointed toward the huge red hearts. “Give me two of those smaller pink hearts.” I cocked my head. “Throw one of the storks in there for a joke. Give me two four-leaf clovers.” That left three. “Give me two of the diamond ones and one of the ‘just say yes’ balloons, please.” I beamed at her.
Her eyes went wide. “You’re not proposing.”
“I am in a way. It will be fine.”
“Okay. How many roses do you want?”
I considered it. “Three dozen.”
“Holy crap. Do you want them long-stemmed?”
“Yup, and in a crystal vase.”
“Jesus.” She started punching in numbers on her calculator. “That’s about four-hundred and fifty bucks.” She waited for me to cut the order in half.
“That’s good.” I handed her my credit card. “The delivery is going to be precise. You can’t drop it off at the front desk. I want it delivered to her in the ice cream shop at three o’clock specifically. Actually, five minutes after three o’clock.”
Cherise shook her head. “You’re going all out. Do you think she’s worth it?”
“Yup.” There was no hesitation when I bobbed my head. “I know she’s worth it. She’s always been worth it.”
Cherise’s lips curved. “You have it bad, don’t you?”
“I really do.”
“Do you think she has it bad?”
“Yeah, but I don’t think she trusts herself to allow herself to act on the feelings. I need to push her a little bit.”
“And what if you push her too far?”
I didn’t want to think on it too long because then I would second-guess myself. “I have faith that she’s going to say yes.”
“To dating you?”
“Yup.”
“Why not just ask her to marry you? I mean … you are having a kid together.”
“Because she’s not there yet.” I smiled when I said it. She said I wasn’t ready for a relationship. She was wrong. I was ready. I had been ready for a long time now. I just hadn’t realized it. She was the one who was relationship adverse. Her father had put ideas in her head that were wrong. Very wrong. She wasn’t just a pawn in a business deal. She was so much more than that.
“You guys are obviously a weird couple.”
“And I hope we stay that way.” I tapped my credit card on the counter. “Five minutes after three o’clock in the ice cream shop. It’s important.”
“I’ve got it,” Cherise assured me. “Weirdly, I’m invested in this now. If you get shot down, I’m going to take it personally.”
“You and me both.”
I WAS IN MY USUAL SPOT NEXT TO THE cashier cage when the elevator opened for Ruby on the main floor at three o’clock. She smiled at Cal in greeting. He was near the archway by design. Since he’d lost out on the pool, he was helping through the sheer goodness of his heart. Well, that and the fact I was his boss and could give him terrible shifts. I was grateful regardless.
“All alone today?” Cal asked Ruby as she passed.
She shrugged. “Olivia was going to come with me, but she got held up in the boardroom. She’ll be down in a few minutes.”
“Well, have something sweet for me.” Cal winked at her. When he looked up at me, amused, his smile disappeared in an instant. “Or for yourself,” he added.
Ruby was in her own little world so she didn’t answer. She looked directly at me as she passed. “Are you watching again today?” She sounded exasperated. “You know I can get to and from the ice cream shop on my own safely, right?”
I shrugged. “Maybe I’m here to watch my baby. Have you ever considered that?”
“You’re just so weird.” Despite her words, she smiled. Deep down, she liked it that I was always here to make sure she was safe for her afternoon ice cream fix. She never came out and said it. I could tell, though. “Just so, so weird.”
“Good thing you like weird, huh?”
Her tone was taunting. “I never said that.”
I forced myself to stay where I was even though my natural instinct was to chase her. “Have some real ice cream,” I ordered her back as she rounded the corner.
“Yeah, I think I’ll refrain from bouncing off the walls this afternoon.”
I sighed as I watched her go. She was so much work. She was worth it, though. When had I realized that? Maybe before our drunken night. When I looked back at what had happened, I recognized things that hadn’t been apparent at the time.
The first was that I’d been attracted to Ruby for a really long time. Sure, it started when we were teenagers and I was too young to do anything about it. Teenage lust had given way to adult flirting, and through the years we’d built a solid foundation. It wasn’t just friendship either. It was more than that. A lot more.
When Ryder had been in command, I didn’t dare ask Ruby out. I probably wouldn’t have anyway even if he wasn’t such a formidable figure. At the time, I needed to sow my wild oats. I had specific ideas in my head for how my life was going to go. If I didn’t engage in at least some of it, I always would’ve wondered.
That didn’t mean I wasn’t angry at myself for wasting time where Ruby was concerned. It shouldn’t have taken me this long to realize she owned a significant piece of my heart. Was some of that the baby? She was convinced of it. I wasn’t, though.
I mean … I was going to love my baby. I felt that to my very marrow. I was going to be a good father. I had a great role model for that. More than that, though, I was going to be good to Ruby. I wanted to dote on her, fall all over myself to be a goofy romantic. I wanted to go to the movies with her and have quiet dinners in her suite.
I wanted to do it all.
The realization had come slowly, but there was no doubt what I felt when I looked at her. I was falling in love. Heck, maybe I was already there. I couldn’t drop the L-bomb just yet, though. I had to get Ruby where I was. This was the first step.
I remained in my spot until Cherise marched into the casino. The flowers were so heavy she had them on a rolling cart. The balloons spread so wide it looked as if she was about to set up for a party.
I grinned when I saw her.
Her eyes sought and found mine.
I pointed in the direction of the ice cream shop, and she nodded. I’d showed her a photo of Ruby before I left her shop, so she knew who she was looking for.
My pace was deliberately slow as I followed. I needed to give Cherise time to deliver my gift to Ruby. When I finally arrived at the ice cream shop, I secreted myself behind the big fake ice cream cone and watched as Cherise approached Ruby.
As usual, Ruby was in her regular booth. She had a small bowl of plain frozen yogurt in front of her and was scrolling her phone. I had no idea what she looked at when she was lost like she was now, but it took Cherise clearing her throat twice to draw Ruby’s attention.
“Ruby Stone?” she asked, even though she knew who she was looking at.
“Yes.” Ruby’s forehead creased in confusion as Cherise hefted the vase onto the table in front of her. “What’s this?”
“The grandest gesture I’ve ever seen that doesn’t involve a flash mob,” Cherise replied. “You’d better say yes to the poor boy. He has it bad.”
“I don’t…” Ruby was about to say that she didn’t understand, but then her eyes flicked to me. “Really?” She sounded exasperated as she took in the flowers and balloons. “This is so over the top.”
I emerged from behind the giant ice cream cone. “I think it’s just enough.”
She blinked, then pressed her lips together, her frozen yogurt forgotten. “Rex, are you sure?”
“Yup. I just need you to be sure.”
She looked at the roses to buy herself time. “Why did you pick these colors?”
I ran down the meanings for her. When I got to the part about fertility, she laughed and looked up at the stork balloon. “I’m not sure I’m going to be a very good date,” she hedged. “I mean … I’m two months away from giving birth. I can’t drink. I have zero energy.”
“None of that makes you a good or bad date, Ruby. I don’t need any of that. I just want you to be open to the process.”
She tilted her head as she regarded me. “And what process is that?”
“I’m wooing you.” I was guileless when announcing it.
Her eyes practically bulged out of her head. “You’re wooing me?”
“That’s what I said. I’m wooing you.”
“Nice,” Cherise said on a head bob. She hadn’t left yet, which was weird because I’d already tipped her for the delivery. Perhaps she was invested in the process.
“I just … I’m afraid we’re going to ruin what we have going,” she said. “What if we utterly screw things up?” She looked so vulnerable, my heart went out to her.
“And what if we make things even better?” I walked closer. “What if I promise that, no matter what, we’ll always be friends? If this doesn’t work, we can go right back where we are now.”
“You can’t promise that. We both know that.”
“I can promise it. I’ll always want to be your friend. I want to be more, though, too.”
She pursed her lips and sighed. She was resigned for what was to come. I wanted her to be excited, but I would take resignation. I could work on the excitement factor. “Fine. You can woo me.”
Everybody in the ice cream shop burst into applause at her reaction, making me realize that everybody—guests and workers alike—had been watching us. Apparently, we were the most exciting thing in Vegas right now. I believed it. I hadn’t ever been this excited in my life.
“So, you’ll let me take you to dinner?”
She nodded. “Yeah.”
“I’m talking about a real date. This isn’t friends getting a meal. This is me picking you up at a specific time and going all out for food.”
“I agree to your terms … as long as there’s steak wherever we go. I’m craving red meat like you wouldn’t believe.”
The old Rex would’ve made a joke about her craving meat. The new Rex wasn’t interested in sex. Or, well, just sex. He wanted the whole package.
“I can make that happen.”
“Fine.” Ruby let loose an airy sigh and leaned in to sniff the roses. “When did you want to have this date?”
“Tonight.” I wasn’t letting her wiggle out of it. “I already have a reservation at the Eiffel Tower.”
“Seriously?” She burst out laughing. “You’re taking me to the Eiffel Tower?”
“Yup.”
“Well, I guess I can’t say no to that.”
“You can’t,” I agreed. “The rules of wooing don’t allow it.”
“You have to stop saying ‘wooing.’ You’re freaking me out.”
“I’ll see what I can manage.”
“Then I guess I’ll see you tonight.”
“Yup. You won’t regret it. I promise you that.”