Chapter 7
Heaven-sent it’s like the universe is finally on my side.
She offers an awkward wave. She’s wearing a bright smile, with that familiar dimple, and my heart does that weird little flip it does every time she’s around.
“Goldie,” I say. “What are you doing here?”
She’s in a pair of cutoff jeans with her worn cowboy boots and a cropped Shania Twain tee that shows off a sliver of skin at her midriff. Her hair is up in some sort of messy knot with a few strands effortlessly falling around her face.
This is the version of Ruby the rest of the world doesn’t get to see—the stripped-down country girl without the glitter and sequins. This is the girl that caught my attention all those years ago and has held it every damn day since, no matter how hard I tried to forget.
“Rylin sent me. She found Aiden’s dinosaur.” She holds out the plush T. rex that’s seen better days, the one Aiden clung to the first day we met.
He had a minor meltdown last night because it was missing.
Our fingers brush as I take the toy, and an electric spark shoots through me like it always does. Maybe I should see a doctor about that. Diagnosis: simp for Ruby Lynn Hayes.
“Do you want to come in? I have coffee.”
“Say less.” She strides through the door.
My eyes linger on her ass as she passes me in the entry, sauntering into the kitchen like she owns the place—like she owns me.
Because she does.
“Ok, Grumpy. Caffeinate me.”
On a long list of demands I’ve been dying to hear from those lips, that one is dead last, but who am I to deny Ruby her vices?
I take a deliberate step into her space, and her ample breasts brush against my chest with each ragged inhale. I lean in, my lips barely a breath away from her ear. Her scent wraps around me. I almost forget what I was about to say when I lower my voice to a gravelly tone. “Say please.”
She bites down on her bottom lip, slow and sensual, glancing up at me through her thick lashes. Responding to my challenge with a silent one of her own, she brings her mouth within an inch of mine. “Make me,” she whispers.
My cock hardens, and I have to clench my fists to stop myself from throwing her over my shoulder and dragging her to my bedroom like a goddamn caveman.
“You’re playing with fire,” I murmur.
“Then it’s a good thing you know how to put them out.”
Fucking hell.
I clear my throat and take a long step back, turning my attention to the pot of coffee. “Sit.”
“Sir, yes, sir,” she says with a salute.
I pull out one of my Oak Ridge Fire Department mugs and doctor up Ruby’s sickly sweet coffee, sliding it across the island.
“A little birdie told me you got a full-time position at the department.” She brings my mug to her sassy fucking mouth to blow on the hot liquid. The sight does nothing to douse the fire still coursing through my veins. “Congrats.”
“Thanks. But if I can’t find a nanny for Aiden in the next couple of days, I’m screwed.”
“I’ll do it.” There’s not a single shred of reluctance in her voice. That probably shouldn't surprise me; Ruby’s always had an impulsive streak.
“What?”
“I’ll do it. It’s not like I’m busy. How hard can it be to hang out with the coolest kid in the world?”
“Harder than you’d think. I’m doing twenty-four-hour shifts with a forty-eight-hour turnaround, so you’d have to stay here. In the meantime, you’d have to manage school drop-off and pickup. Meals and bedtime…”
“I’m failing to see the problem here.”
I raise a single brow and pin her with a hard stare. “You learn how to cook sometime in the last ten years?”
“I get by. I was a struggling artist for a while, remember?”
“I remember pictures of takeout boxes and fast food. You’re a Hayes. You weren’t exactly slumming it with ramen noodles and peanut butter sandwiches.”
“That’s beside the point. You need help, and I have the meager skillset to handle it.”
I search for any sign of regret, but there’s only sincerity reflected at me. She’s offering to be my savior, and there’s no way I can turn her down. I wouldn’t even if I could. Having Ruby in my home? Yeah, I’ll take that offer any goddamn day. “Alright. Pack your shit. You’re moving in.”
She giggles. “Funny.”
“I’m not joking.”
“I thought I just needed to spend the night every few days.”
“I’d feel better if you lived with us. Just in case there’s a last-minute shift change or overtime.”
“But—”
“Unless, of course, you’re attached to doing farm chores every morning.”
She scrunches up her nose.
“I’ll pay you, of course. And there are… other perks.”
She splutters into her drink, a drop of coffee landing on her chin.
I swipe it away with my thumb and take her mug from her, placing it on the island. “Come with me.”
She hops off the stool and takes my hand, her small palm fitting perfectly into mine. It’s a simple touch, but it feels significant. I don’t want to let her go.
I guide her up the industrial staircase with the black metal railing and turn down a narrow hallway, stopping in front of two small steps leading up to a door. I tug her in front of me and wait.
She glances over her shoulder with one hand on the doorknob. I nod, silently urging her to step inside.
When the door swings open, Ruby gasps.
The room is bathed in the soft glow of sunlight, from the distressed wood floors to the cathedral ceiling with the exposed beams, but the architecture probably isn’t what has her stunned. It’s the purpose of the room itself.
Two acoustic guitars sit on their stands next to the spinet piano. One belongs to me, and the other… was Ruby’s. Does she recognize it? She left it on my tailgate nearly ten years ago, and it’s been mine ever since.
There’s a brown leather sofa on one wall, and a large area rug taking up the center of the room.
The far wall is covered in a display of vintage vinyl records with a Victrola perched on a mid-century table underneath.
If she decides to look through the records lined up inside the table, she’d see every version of her albums from her very first EP to the deluxe edition of her latest release.
“Liam. This is amazing.” She walks over to the antique piano, her fingers sliding over the keys. A singular note rings out, reverberating through the space.
“The acoustics in here are decent, and you’re more than welcome to use it whenever you want.”
Her eyes widen. “Seriously?”
“Of course. I like to hide up here sometimes. It’s my sanctuary.
It… could be yours, too.” I clear my throat.
“For as long as you’re here. There’s a bedroom at the other end of the hall with an attached bathroom.
You can move your stuff in there. Mine and Aiden’s rooms are downstairs, so you’ll have your privacy up here. ”
She plays a few more notes, and a heart-stopping smile breaks over her gorgeous face as the small window casts a spotlight around her. I lose my ability to speak—to breathe. Whether it's from the soft lighting making her look like an angel or seeing her in my space like this, I can’t be sure.
“Ok. I’ll move in, but you aren’t paying me, and I have one condition.”
“Name it.”
“You keep the kitchen stocked with Froot Loops and pumpkin spice coffee creamer.”
“You drive a hard bargain.”
“Take it or leave it.”
“I’ll take it.”
I’ll take all of it every goddamn day for as long as I can have you.
Ruby
Wilder waggles his eyebrows. “So… moving in with Liam, huh?” He loads my suitcase into the back of my truck.
I sigh. “It’s not like that. Liam needs help with Aiden when he’s working, and it’s just easier for me to live there. Besides, when’s the last time you had to live with Mom and Dad?”
He chuckles. “Fair enough. Call me if you need anything—and I mean anything, Ruby. I’ll come running.”
“I know you will.” I wrap him in a hug, giving him an extra-long squeeze.
With a backward wave in the rearview, I pull away from the ranch and head toward my new home—the one with a six foot five tattooed firefighter waiting for me.