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After showering and throwing on some sweats, I headed downstairs to make dinner before I left for work. My arms and legs were both heavy from exhaustion. I’d barely slept today. Every time I closed my eyes, all I could see was Ruby. Her eyes. Her smile. Her hair. Her body. The dip of her waist. The flare of her hips. The swell of her breasts. The curve of her neck. And those were just the visuals. I also smelled her intoxicating scent. I heard her sweet symphony of laughter. I felt the smoothness of her soft skin. She had imprinted herself on all of my senses. She was part of my DNA. I’d had a difficult time thinking of anything else when she first moved in. But now that I’d crossed the line and been with her again, I was totally fucked.
When I got to the bottom of the steps, I found Grandad seated in his recliner; his head was tilted back, and his mouth was open as he snored quietly. Harp and Ruby were in the kitchen having a karaoke-dance party as they prepared dinner.
My heart swelled at the sight. Grandad ‘resting his eyes.’ My girls happily spinning around the kitchen and singing into spoons while they chopped and rinsed vegetables.
Except they weren’t my girls.
I’d never made it a secret that I was looking for a real commitment. I wanted a family and didn’t waste time casually dating. I knew that this wasn’t real. We weren’t a family. Ruby was going to leave at the end of summer. But it felt like a family. It felt like my family.
I knew Sam had been teasing me, saying that I was playing house, but he was right. That’s exactly what I was doing. But it wasn’t real.
“What can I help with?” I asked.
“Daddy!” Harper raced toward me when she saw I was awake.
She leapt into my arms, and I cuddled her close to me. I closed my eyes and treasured this moment. I knew that there was an expiration date for this level of enthusiasm when she saw me. Soon, she would be a pre-teen, then a teenager.
Not for the first time in my life, I wished I could freeze time, or at least slow it down. Harper was growing up too fast, and this summer was going by too fast.
“How was your day?” I asked Harp as I set her down.
“I had a banana split!”
“You did?”
“Yep, we went to the Spoon, and I met Ruby’s mama.”
I’d noticed that Ruby had been avoiding seeing her mom, and it meant a lot to me that she’d made an exception so that Harper could have her favorite dessert.
I looked at Ruby. “How did that go?”
“Good.” She grinned as she rinsed off a bundle of broccoli and then began to cut it up.
Tonight, her hair was up in a ponytail, and she was wearing jean cutoff shorts and a white V-neck t-shirt. It was basically lingerie to a Southern boy. My eyes automatically drifted to the slope of her neck, and my mouth watered like I was Dracula. I knew how sensitive the spot was right below her ear, and I had the most inappropriate impulse to walk up behind her, wrap my arms around her waist, pull her close to me, and nibble on her neck.
Obviously, I wasn’t going to do that, but I had to admit the temptation was greater than any I’d ever felt. It had been difficult enough to keep my hands and mouth to myself when Ruby first moved in here. But after we’d spent the night together for a second time, it was damn near impossible.
Being this close to her and not being able to touch her was fucking torture.
She turned around, and her eyes widened slightly as her cheeks flushed.
“Sorry,” I reached past her and grabbed the plates from the cabinet.
It might have just been in my head, but I thought I saw disappointment flash in her baby blues. I ignored it. I had to.
We sat down to eat, sans Grandad, who opted to eat in the front room on a TV tray to watch the game, and Harp filled me in on her day at summer camp. They’d had a sports day and had done relay races, played dodgeball, and had water balloon fights.
I always tried to be present when I spent time with Harper. But tonight, all I could think about was Ruby. She’d been quiet tonight at dinner, and I wanted—no needed—to know that she was okay.
Harper talked more about their time at the Spoon and meeting Miss Celeste. Ruby barely said five words the entire night. I wondered if her withdrawn demeanor had anything to do with seeing her mom today. Or maybe she was having regrets over the night we’d shared together.
After dinner, Ruby went straight up to her room and stayed there.
I went through my normal routine with Harp. Bath time. Hair braid. And books.
I wasn’t sure if she was worn out from the sports day or maybe crashing from her afternoon sugar rush, but she was sound asleep before I got to the end of the first book. After giving Harper a quick kiss on the forehead, giving Bandit some scratches while he slept on the edge of Harper's bed, and turning on her galaxy night light, I discreetly closed the door and made my way down the hallway past Ruby's door to my room so I could get ready for work.
As I stood in front of my mirror, buttoning up my shirt, I noticed Wyatt’s wedding invitation. I knew that Ruby was invited, but I wasn’t sure if she was going or not. If she did, the single men in this town would pounce on her. Men like Sam and Brady treated weddings like a sport. It was a fertile hunting ground.
