Chapter 48
Sebastian
THE ROOM WAS QUIET except for our breathing.
Ruby lay sprawled beside me, spent and beautiful, sweat still drying on her skin, her hair wild across the pillow.
The light coming from the living room and the windows was scarce, shadows dancing across her skin.
I half-lifted myself and leaned on my elbow, tracing my hand over her, slowly, lazily, memorizing.
From her neck down to the valley between her breasts, and further down over her stomach and across her hip.
That’s when I saw it.
In the dim light, something dark curved just below her left breast. I narrowed my eyes, shifted, and flicked on the bedside lamp.
The light washed over her, and there it was—small, inked into her skin. A Superman emblem.
You’re her Superman. My throat tightened. “Ruby ...”
She stirred, eyes fluttering open, hazy with exhaustion.
My fingers traced the ink. “When did you get this?” I knew she’d never have chosen this one just for herself.
Her lips lifted into something I rarely saw on her—a shy smile.
“When I thought this was all I’d ever have of you,” she said.
“I couldn’t imagine ever being brave enough to reach out.
All I could see were the worst-case scenarios.
I kept telling myself that if I controlled my feelings, my heart, I couldn’t get hurt.
Ever.” Her voice dipped, almost breaking.
“But all I really did was block out the good, the things fear never let me picture for more than a second.”
I brushed my thumb over the mark, my chest tight. She gave a breathy laugh. “I know, I sound like I’m parroting a self-help book.”
I cupped her face with one hand. “Only because you’re still learning it. And you don’t have to learn it alone.”
I bent and kissed her lips. I then shifted and pressed my mouth to the tattoo, a vow made in the contact. Something inside me broke and rebuilt all at once at the thought of her getting it done, thinking she’d never have the courage to love me.
I dragged my mouth up from her rib cage to her breast, kissing, tasting.
Ruby shifted, pushing me to lie on my back with her on top of me. She kissed me, then sat up, her hair falling into her face, her body warm and bare above mine. My hand slid across her torso, back to the mark as if I could brand myself with it too.
Ruby eased me into her again. Not for hunger this time. Not for release. For forever.
THE SMELL OF COFFEE, warm pastries, and the light salty ocean air filled the small cottage. The sky outside was overcast, but inside was bright and soft.
Ruby sat with her bare legs tucked beneath her, her curls still damp from the morning shower.
Waking up beside her felt different now. It felt like belonging. Like home.
“Circus starts next week,” she said, tugging her hoodie tighter around her. “The main house is fully booked, and almost all the cabins. This is my last chance to sit quietly like this.”
“It’s a good circus,” I said, reaching for her hand across the table.
She intertwined her fingers with mine. “The best.” Then, lowering her eyes to our joined hands, she added, “What happens now? Your job’s in Houston. Your life’s there.”
I squeezed her hand, then guided her up with it. Ruby rose, circling the table as I pivoted in my chair, keeping hold of her hand until she sank into my lap.
“I’ll split my time between here and there for a while,” I said. “My projects are flexible if I manage them right. And I’ll ask for a transfer. Ames and Armstrong both have positions I’m interested in, and they want me. So ... it shouldn’t be a problem.”
She draped one arm around my shoulders and met my eyes. Sitting on my lap, we were level, face to face.
“Are you sure you want to uproot your whole life?”
“My whole life is right here, Ruby. Over there is just my job. And jobs can change.”
She huffed a small breath, somewhere between relief and disbelief, like she was still trying to wrap her head around my words.
“What?” I asked, wanting her to say it out loud, to confide in me.
She averted her gaze. “Evangeline said I was heartache-phobic. And she’s right. I am. Was. Am. So to know you’d already thought about moving and all, it ... helps.”
“The only thing surprising here is that you’re surprised I did. But I’m warning you—you’ll need to barricade yourself when my mom unleashes her flood of thanks about me moving back to California.”
Ruby chuckled. “If I can handle mine, I can handle yours.”
I brushed my thumb over her cheek. “I’m not going anywhere, Ruby. Even when I’m in Houston for the time being, I’m yours. Forever. Can’t get rid of me.”
She brought her gaze back to me. A glint shone in those blue eyes of hers. “I’m counting on it. Because I’m yours, Sebastian. For as long as you’ll want me.”
“Forever, then,” I said, my heart wrenching at the thought that confident Ruby carried this ache in her. I swore silently to spend my life healing it.
I wrapped her tightly in my arms and kissed her, my lips an oath to her.
“I MADE RESERVATIONS for Marlowe.”
“What for?” Ruby turned from the open door of her closet to look at me.
“What for? I’m taking you out on our first date.”
She burst out in laughter. “First date? We’ve been fuc—dating each other for ten years.”
“No, go on, say it. We’ve been fucking for ten years, and even when we did go out, it didn’t count as a date. So, first date, tonight. Actually, in an hour, so wear something first-datey.”
“I’ll wear nothing,” she said, sauntering toward me. I was sitting in bed, my back against the headboard.
“That’ll be later.”
She stopped halfway across the room, thoughtful. “Come to think of it, I don’t go on first dates. Like, date-dates. The way Eve does, for example.”
I knew she hadn’t. Ruby wasn’t looking to date anyone all these years. “How many?” I said with a smirk, knowing she’d get my meaning.
“Not as many as you might think,” she shot back. Then, biting down on her bottom lip, her bravado seemed to falter just a little before she added, softer: “Was it really just coffee with Julie?”
“Yes. My dad pressed me into it. Hers did the same. Neither of us wanted it, so we sat there pretending for our fathers’ sake and left as soon as we could.”
She nodded slowly.
“Now get dressed,” I said. “I don’t want to miss our table.”
“Marlowe is like a ten-minute drive from here,” she said, taking a few more steps until she hovered over me. “I think we have time.”
We made time, and later it felt almost primal to sit across from her in the fancy restaurant in Coral Bay, knowing that under that curve-hugging red dress, Ruby carried my scent and so much more on her.
Talking over dinner about our future felt unreal, like we were scripting something I’d only ever let myself dream about.
We talked timelines and important dates—Rio’s wedding, Christmas, moving, she even hinted at children when she said, “And we can always extend the cottage to add more room and space. Or move into town.” Then she caught herself, her guard snapping back in place as she rushed to add, “If and when. If.”
“When,” I corrected.
She gave me a small smile—half busted, half grateful—like she knew I was reminding her it was safe to trust the future. That I was counting on our future.
Later that night, her head rested on my chest, my hand trailing idle patterns on her back.
“So Julie was just coffee. And Sandra?”
I tilted my head to look at her. “Sandra?”
Ruby shrugged, embarrassed. Another rare thing for her.
“She’s a good kid. Just needs someone to listen to her woes. Were you actually worried?”
“No. Just ... that’s when I realized I was getting ...”
“Jealous? Possessive?” I suggested with a side grin.
Her lips twitched. “Were you ever?” Looked like she couldn’t bring herself to say the word ‘jealous.’
“Yes. But it doesn’t matter now. Oh, and Brandon sent his regards. From Ellie, too.”
“When did you see him?” Ruby rose, leaning her elbow across my chest.
“That night you were away. Where were you that night?”
“Not with anyone else, if that’s what you think.”
“I didn’t think that. You know why? Because I could feel you couldn’t be with anyone else. Same as me.”
Her throat bobbed. “I was at Evangeline’s. I had to clear my head. It was all too much.” She hesitated, then gave a crooked smile.
“Just in case we run into them—you should hear it from me. Ellie’s friends with Heather, remember her?
From school? She hasn’t changed. Still .
.. ugh. Anyway, I bumped into her in a shop in Blueshore.
She didn’t recognize me, then tried to come on to me, and later asked Ellie about me.
I couldn’t give a rat’s ass about her. Even a rat’s ass would be overspending. ”
Ruby huffed a scoff. “That bitch.”
I weaved my fingers into her curls. “There’s only you, Ruby. Even before you wanted to hear me say that.”
“You know that phrase—‘ruined me for everyone else’? That’s what you did, Sebastian. Without either of us realizing it.”
“Come here,” I rasped, hauling her closer, my mouth a centimeter from hers. “Let me ruin you some more.”