33
“T his is like the most perfectly shaped apple,” Ruby announces as I slam through the front door, wiping sweat from my brow. She sits at the kitchen island, barefoot, wearing a white sundress, laptop open in front of her.
I kiss her first, then toss the stack of bills nabbed from the Bullshit Box onto the countertop. As she bites into the red apple with a satisfied moan, I pour myself a cup of coffee and chuckle.
“Sunflower status?” I drawl, leaning back against the cupboards to watch her. I love how the tiniest things in life light her up.
“Oh, most definitely,” she deadpans, licking juice off the corner of her wrist.
My gaze lands on her plump lips, and my cock jumps to life. “Are you trying to turn me on?”
She laughs, her bare feet swinging on the stool. “I’m trying to eat an apple, Cowboy.” Never wanted to be an apple so bad in my life.
“Taste,” she orders. She holds the apple out to me, a flirty smile on her face. “Taste how good it is, Charlie.”
Arching an amused brow, I close the distance between us. “Rather taste you,” I growl, running my palms over her smooth, bare thighs.
“Taste,” she commands again, looking at me earnestly.
With a chuckle, I comply, willing my cock to play dead as I take a bite of the apple. Sweet. Crisp. It makes me think of Ruby and has my dick aching even more.
“Good?” she asks, looking at me from beneath long lashes.
“Good.” I dip my head, drawing her closer. “But this is better.”
And then my lips hit hers. Ruby’s breasts crush against my chest as she winds her slender arms around my neck. I inhale, feeling closer to heaven every time I breathe her in. My blood simmers as need, fierce and desperate, threads its way into my veins.
When we finally tear away, we’re both panting.
Face dazed, a sexy little gasp pops out of her mouth. “Better,” she echoes, her eyes glassy.
I press a kiss to her brow. “You feeling okay today?” I ask, scanning her pretty face. She’s pale and has dark circles under her eyes. The last few nights, I’ve woken up to find her downstairs, curled up on the couch in a blanket.
“Just fine,” she says in a silvery little breath, but her attention drifts to the window. “How was your day?”
“Sprayed some weeds up on the north side of the ranch. Bastards are making our cattle sick.” I pull the stack of bills toward me. “Now paperwork.”
“You like paperwork or ranch work more?”
I bust out a laugh. These days, I’m getting used to them.
“Darlin’ I’d rather haul manure any day of the week than deal with paperwork.”
She leans in and sniffs my chest. “Well, you smell good to me.” Her fingers curl into the neck of my T-shirt as she tugs me down for a kiss. “Maybe this is my sunflower of the day. Your shirt still warm from the sun.”
I pull her into my arms to remind myself what a lucky man I am.
There’s something about a long, hard day on the ranch and coming home to Ruby. The angel kiss she lays on me the second I walk in the door. Sharing a cold beer on the porch after the hard work’s done. How much light, warmth, and energy she’s brought into my life.
The doors and windows of the cabin are open, and a soft breeze blows in off the mountains.
Her flower pots take up all the available real estate.
Three small pots of violets on the counter, and two cascading ferns on top of the fridge.
She put the sunflowers I gave her in the kitchen so they can eat up the sunlight from the front window. I’ve never seen my place so cheerful.
The last two weeks, we’ve fallen in to our own little groove.
I fucking love it.
There’s no chance in hell she’s moving back into her cottage.
Even though we know DVL is behind the attack, and what they’re doing, I’m not taking any chances.
We’ve beefed up security, alerted our neighbors and the sheriff.
If they come again, we’re ready for them.
And Ruby’s safe with me. Her being here takes away the guilt over her getting hurt in the first place.
I’ll never be able to do enough to protect her.
“How about you?” I nod at her open laptop. “What have you been up to?”
“Oh, I’ve been up to a lot.” She stands, bouncing into me. With flourish, she slides a paper folder my way. “Here. More paperwork.”
I band an arm around her waist. “What’s this?”
“Your social media calendar planned out through the end of the year.”
I flip through the calendar she’s put together. It’s impressive. No bullshit marketing blather. Ruby’s telling our story in the most authentic way she can. Our local vendors. Our employees. That we’re family, and this ranch means something.
Suddenly, there’s a knot in my throat I can’t unstick.
This intelligent woman worked her ass off to understand Runaway Ranch, and it shows. She gave a voice to our ranch, our employees, our town. She’s not some stranger in another city on a computer blowing smoke. She’s in the shit with us. I’ve never been more proud.
“This is a printout, but I’ll send you a digital file for whoever you get to take it over,” Ruby chirps, dragging me from my thoughts.
“Take it over?” The air’s sucked out of me.
“When I leave, you’ll need someone to post.” She giggles.
“I don’t think it’s going to be Wyatt.” Her fingers fly over her keyboard.
“Now I know you’re a tech-challenged cowboy, but I made a Dropbox account and uploaded a ton of photos for you to use.
I think you have enough for the next two years . ..”
She goes on, chattering in her sunny lilt, but the only phrase that makes sense is she’s leaving .
A knife to the heart.
I want a drink, mind-numbing liquid to bring me back down to earth.
Summer ends in four weeks.
Another knife. Another realization.
How different my life will be without Ruby.
She fits here. Her creamer in my fridge. Her strawberry-scented shampoo in my bathroom. Her laughter in my kitchen. Her beautiful body in my bed.
She’s the heartbeat of the ranch. My heartbeat. It’s like my pulse kicked in the second I met her. I’m alive because of her.
And that’s when I realize my mistake.
I’ve claimed her as mine, but not out loud.
Not in a way that means anything.
She’s moving on soon. She’ll find someone else, whisper another man’s name at night.
Her blue eyes will light up when she finally sees her California sunset, getting that last check off her to-do list without me around to make sure she’s satisfied.
She’ll have babies with someone else, a family, a forever.
Another man will get her sunshine and her kind heart and her smiles and it sure as hell won’t be me.
The thought nearly strangles me alive.
“Charlie? Are you okay?” Ruby’s soft voice upturns my thoughts. A pretty frown creases her brow. “Do you not like the calendar?”
“The calendar’s great.” Wrapping my hands around her waist, I lift her onto the counter. Move between her legs so she can’t get away. “Listen, baby ...”
My mouth goes dry, words fail me.
And it’s here, in my sunlit kitchen, Ruby’s bright blue eyes on mine, a sunshine smile on her face, that it hits me—I’ve never loved anyone so much in my entire life.
She giggles and tilts her head, almost in wonder. “Cowboy, you look nervous.”
Stay . Ask her to stay. Tell her you love her. And never let her go.
If I don’t tell her how I feel, she’s gone. Never seeing her again, never holding her again at night, it’s a bullet to the heart. No way will I let that happen.
Ruby’s as much a piece of me as the land I live on.
I hang my head, a ragged breath shaking out of me. “Sunflower.”
Playful smile falling from her face, she sobers. Her small hands palm my bearded cheek. “What? What is it?”
Say it. Tell her.
When I lift my face, we lock eyes, and it’s like she’s heard every word I’ve left unspoken.
She sucks in a breath, and her eyes get as big as saucers. She puts a palm out as if she can stop me. “Charlie.”
My hands slide up her hips to grip her by the waist. Heart slamming against my ribs, I clear my throat. “Ruby, baby, I—”
The screen door clatters open.
Wyatt stomps inside, his faced flushed. Keena skitters beside him. “Charlie, we got cows flying, man!”
“What?” I bark over my shoulder before turning my gaze back to Ruby. She searches my eyes, her lips parted, an expression of confusion on her pretty face.
“Those cows from the meadow got over onto the ridge. One fell into the ravine.”
“Fuck.” This isn’t what I need today.
I tear a hand through my hair, hating to leave it like this, but I won’t keep a cow in pain. “I gotta go.”
Her fingers tighten on mine. “I know.”
“Charlie,” Wyatt blasts, and I growl at him. “Say your goodbyes, kiss your girl, and let’s go save some fucking cows.”
I hustle out after my brother, leaving Ruby staring after me, feeling like I’ve missed my chance to say something important.