Page 38 of Royal Desire

Ruby clears her throat and straightens her spine. “Yes. So great. Thank you.”

I slide my hands into my pockets. “No, thank you.”

Felicity sighs.

“Everyone is so bloody polite.” Devon narrows his eyes on me before turning back to Ruby. “One thing to know about me, I do not mince words or bullshit. If I have to be the one to address the elephant in the room, so be it. Are you okay with this?”

“I’m fine,” Ruby answers with zero emotion. “We will perform Friday no matter who it’s for. We only want to do what’s best for you and the manor.”

Devon doesn’t look like he believes her, but I don’t know who would under the circumstances. He goes on. “If you’re sure... We’d like to go over the demographics. I have another meeting I need to attend, but if you have a few minutes, I thought you two could talk to Felicity and Payne about the details.”

Ruby plasters a fake smile on her face. “Great.”

My smile is wolfish. “Great.”

“Oh my,” Felicity squeaks.

I barely hear it, but Devon mutters under his breath. “Fuck me.”

Blake whips out a tablet of paper. “This is so great. I’ll take notes.”

“I guess I’ll leave you to it. Good luck.” And with that, Devon leaves as fast as he can.

I pull out a chair, take a seat at the cocktail table in the front row, and realize how much I like the view. I won’t have to sneak in on Friday since I’m funding the damn event. Felicity sits next to me, and Blake even pulls up a chair. Ruby is the only one still standing. She needs to get with the program. My new goal is to inject myself into every part of her life.

I lean back in my seat and look up at her. “Eighty percent of my clients are middle aged to ancient. What have you got for me, Rubes?”

CHAPTER TWELVE

RUBE-A-LICIOUS

Ruby

Rubes.

I thought I was going to bust out of my skin or melt into a puddle of tears when he called me that.

Rubes was one of many nicknames Payne pegged me with throughout the years. In addition to that, there were others...

Ruby Tuesday.

Ruby Doobie

Rueben Sandwich.

Rubik’s Cube.

Ruby Lu.

Rubybelle. That’s when I was going through my Beast-inspired romance fascination our freshman year of high school.

Red.

Sparky.

Miss “I know everything” Ruby.

Ruber-diculous, when he thought I was being ridiculous.