30. Jace
“You guys don’t have to take me shopping. I can just wear whatever my mother sends me,” Ruby whined.
They were parked in front of one of the fanciest dress shops in downtown Seattle to find a dress for her to wear to her parents’ anniversary party. The thought of her going to the party without them made Jace feel sick to his stomach.
He understood that bringing both of them would draw questions from her parents and likely be problematic, but the men had talked about just Jace going since he was the more social one. Unfortunately, Ruby still thought it was a bad idea. And they wouldn’t force it on her. She was already stressed enough about it.
“Baby girl, you are a grown woman. You get to decide what you wear. Well, unless you’re in Little Space and then your Daddies get to decide. But still, you need to wear something you feel beautiful in,” Zane said.
Jace looked back at her sitting in the booster seat in the back of his Jeep, nibbling on her fingernails. He didn’t like it.
“Hands away from your mouth, baby. If you need a pacifier, we have one you can suck on, but keep your fingers out of your mouth,” Jace said gently, reaching for her hand.
She obeyed and he squeezed her hand. “This is meant to be fun for you. You get to go play dress up and show off all the dresses to your Daddies. Your mom will be fine with whatever dress you pick out.”
She looked at him like she didn’t quite believe him and if he were honest about it, he didn’t know if he believed it, either. Her mom sounded like a real piece of work.
But she nodded and offered him a smile. “Okay. I guess I am excited to go shopping. I love shopping but I haven’t been in a long time.”
He and Zane would need to rectify that for her. They’d take her shopping as much as she wanted. Their girl had missed out on so much during her life that Jace wanted to make it their mission to give her everything she’d missed.
“That’s our girl,” Jace said before climbing out of the SUV.
Opening the back door, he unbuckled her straps and lifted her out, setting her on her feet. Zane grabbed her hand and led her toward the entrance as Jace walked behind, clicking the FOB to set the alarm.
“Hello, what can I help you find?” a blonde woman asked as she approached.
“We need to find her a dress for an anniversary party,” Zane told her.
The woman eyed Ruby and with a tight smile, she nodded. “Great. We have a ton of cocktail dresses. Why don’t you have a look around and if you see something you like, I can grab it in her size.”
Zane nodded and led her to a display of fancy-looking dresses while Jace looked at another rack of dresses. He smiled as he heard Ruby express her displeasure for a dress Zane must have shown her, telling him that it looked like a dress that her grandma used to wear.
The saleswoman walked up next to Jace and smiled so wide, he was surprised her face didn’t split in half.
“How’s your day going?” she asked with so much sugar in her voice that it made him sick.
Looking back at the rack of dresses he was standing at, he answered. “Great. Thanks.”
The woman laughed. “It’s such a beautiful day out, isn’t it?”
Jace nodded. “Yeah. It’s a really nice day.”
When the woman reached out and touched his arm, he quickly moved away to another rack of dresses, feeling a spike of irritation when she followed him.
“I’m sorry to be nosy, I just, I noticed you don’t have a wedding ring on, and I was wondering if-”
“What do you think of this dress?” Ruby asked, walking up to him with an uncertain expression as she eyed the woman.
Reaching out, Jace wrapped his arm around Ruby’s shoulders and pulled her into his chest, pressing a kiss to her temple.
“I think that dress would look beautiful on you, baby. Why don’t you try it on and show us?”
Ruby smiled up at him and when he leaned down to kiss her gently on the lips, he felt her suck in a breath. Pulling away from her, he smiled and winked.
“Can she get a fitting room?” Jace asked, turning toward the woman who was now frowning and looking confused.
“Oh, um, of course,” she said, fumbling with the keys she had around her wrist.
“Thank you,” Ruby said politely.
The woman cleared her throat. “I didn’t realize you two were together. I thought she was with him.”
“Oh, I’m with both of them,” Ruby said matter-of-factly.
“Both of them?” the woman asked in confusion.
“Yep. Like, they are both my boyfriends. And they are best friends. Did you have a room available?”
Jace felt like grinning from ear to ear. Not only was their girl laying her claim on them, but he felt a surge of happiness that she wasn’t afraid to call both of them her men. He knew there would be times when they would need to keep their relationship hidden, like from her parents, but he loved that she was proud to belong to both of them.
The woman walked toward the dressing room with Ruby following. She turned back to look at Jace and grinned. He winked at her and sent her a thumbs up. Their sweet girl was constantly surprising him.
Jace and Zane looked through several racks just outside the dressing room area while they waited for Ruby to come out and model the dress for them.
“I thought she was going to scratch the woman’s eyes out when she noticed her flirting with you,” Zane said.
His friend looked totally amused, making Jace roll his eyes.
“Yeah, well, I’m proud of Ruby for asserting her claim. Besides, someone needed to put the woman in her place. It wasn’t like she was picking up on my disinterest.”
Zane grunted. “That woman is a blood thirsty vampire just looking for a man to chew up and spit out.”
This time Jace grunted. Pulling a dress from the rack, Jace held it up to show Zane.
“This would look gorgeous on her. Should we have her try it on?”
Zane nodded and took the dress from him before heading to the dressing rooms. The saleswoman cut him off with that terrifying smile.
“I can take that to her,” she said sweetly.
Zane looked at her for a long second before he nodded and handed her the dress. Walking back to where Jace was standing, his friend gave him an irritated look but sat down in one of the available chairs.
“I’m going to go check on Ruby and see if she wants more dresses to try on,” Jace said.
Walking into the dressing room area, he heard the saleswoman talking.
“I don’t know why two of the hottest men I’ve ever seen would want a frumpy woman like you. And to share you, I can’t even believe either of them would want someone like you.”
His blood ran cold as he strode around the corner to find the woman standing in front of an open dressing room door looking in with a scowl on her face.
“What the fuck did you just say?” Jace roared.
The woman looked over at him with wide eyes as he stomped toward her. Looking in the dressing room, Ruby was standing in her bra and underwear looking horrified as she used her arms to try to cover herself.
Zane came around the corner, a look of fury on his face.
“Get the fuck out of this dressing room, now,” Jace ground out.
The woman’s mouth dropped open as she looked from Jace to Zane.
“Out!” Zane thundered.
Scurrying past them, the woman disappeared as Ruby let out a sob.
“What the fuck happened?” Zane asked.
“I’ll tell you later. Let’s get her dressed and out of here.”
Ruby’s entire body shook as they quickly worked to get her dressed. Zane picked her up and carried her toward the exit while Jace walked over to where the woman was standing with another salesperson.
“You have some fucking nerve talking to her like that. She has more class, more heart, and more beauty than you could ever have in your shriveled-up cold heart. The reason we want her is because she’s fucking amazing and beautiful inside and out and the reason we would never want someone like you is because you’re so fake it makes me sick. Your fake smile, fake voice, overly Botoxed forehead, and layers of so much makeup, who the fuck knows what you really look like under it all. Probably a blood sucking vampire for all we know.”
“You might want to take a look in the mirror and figure out what real beauty is. I’ll be calling the owner of this shop tomorrow and filling them in on how their employees treated one of their wealthiest customers.”
Jace stormed out of the store, following Zane who was still carrying Ruby. When they got to the Jeep, he pulled his arm back and punched the hood of the car.
“Daddy,” Ruby said quietly.
All the rage he was feeling melted away at that one word and when he looked at Ruby, he felt as though he could breathe again. Walking over to her, he caught her as she lunged at him, clinging to him like a monkey.
“I’m so sorry she said those horrible things to you, baby girl. Fuck, she was such a bitch,” he said as he stroked her back.
She nodded her head but didn’t say anything and he hoped what the woman had said wasn’t making Ruby doubt their feelings for her.
Zane opened the passenger door to the Jeep, motioning for him to sit down with her. When he was settled, Jace pulled her away from his chest so he could look her in the eye. He hated the uncertainty and pain he saw in her expression.
“That lady was just saying things to make you feel bad because she was trying to make herself feel better. You are beautiful and sweet and kind. You’re not frumpy and she is just a bitch,” Jace said.
“She called her frumpy?” Zane barked.
As Zane turned and started to storm toward the door, Ruby spoke.
“Zaddy,” she said.
He froze and turned to look at her with pain in his eyes.
“She’s not worth it,” Ruby said softly.
Jace nodded. “You’re right, baby. She’s not worth it.”
“Besides, Daddy already chewed her a new asshole,” she added.
Jace felt his eyes go wide at the same time Zane’s did and both of them burst out laughing. Walking back toward the Jeep, Zane leaned in the passenger door and pressed a kiss to Ruby’s lips.
“Yeah, Daddy did a pretty good job of that. Though you shouldn’t curse, baby girl. You’re too Little for naughty words like that,” Zane said gently.
Ruby smiled up at him and then back at Jace, who squeezed her against his chest.
“Thank you for sticking up for me,” she said.
“Nobody gets to hurt our girl and get away with it,” Jace told her.
He was glad she wasn’t horribly upset, though he also knew they would need to keep a close eye on her for a while to make sure she didn’t let thoughts of that woman fill her mind with doubt.
“I don’t know why we didn’t think of it before. Let’s go to Style Envy. It’s only a few blocks over and our friend’s Little owns it and makes a lot of the dresses there. She even makes some Little clothes. She’ll absolutely love you,” Jace said.