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I called Gus on the way to the school to see if we could pick up Alex and take him out with us. Gus gave us the okay, so we headed out. The boys sat, delighted at the change in routine, in the back seat chatting.
Ruby sat beside me, smiling out the window, perfectly at ease. When she saw the turn-off we were taking, she turned to me.
“Are we-”
I shushed her quietly, and she grinned. “I’m not getting a cookie this time, am I?”
“You’ll get a treat. Don’t worry about that,” I promised. I glanced at her sideways in time to see her telltale blush. I chuckled. I’d never get used to that.
Pulling into a parking spot, the boys stopped talking and looked around.
“Are we going go-karting? With Thia?” Alex yelled.
Ruby twisted around in her seat, jerking her thumb at me. “I beat him, and I’ll beat you, too.”
“Oh, it’s on, Thia!” He cackled delightedly.
“You guys really went go-karting?” Jace asked.
“Yeah,” I said.
“And she beat you?” Jace’s voice went up with incredulity.
I smirked. “She cheated.”
Alex laughed. “Yup! That sounds like Thia!”
Ruby laughed and didn’t stop laughing until we were finished at the track. She won again, the same way she won the first time.
Ruby did what she could to revive her curly mop from helmet head before we grabbed burgers at The Works. Afterwards we dropped Alex home, and she got a chance to visit with Yiayia and Gus. It wasn’t until we got back home that the tension returned to her frame.
Jace set himself up in the dining room to do his homework while Ruby puttered around the kitchen making us a coffee.
“Uh…”
“Oh, please don’t tell me you’re going to start calling me ‘uh’ now!”
She spun around with a laugh and threw an oven mitt at my head. I caught it midair and grinned back at her. “What were you going to say?”
“Well, today, I had fun. Lots of it,” she reiterated. “It was exactly what I needed but what if I can’t go to work tomorrow?”
I shook my head. “I took the rest of the week off. I’m going in with you.”
Her mouth dropped open. “What?” She whispered.
I couldn’t read her reaction. This could go in any direction, with my track record, it would probably be south.
Ah, hell. There was no turning back now.
“I’m going in with you. Consider it research for your franchising prospects.”
Ruby carefully turned off the ring under the Greek coffee and walked over to me. Holding my face between her palms she whispered fervently, “I am so in love with you!”
I blew out a breath in relief and chuckled. Cupping her face in my palms, I pulled her forehead to mine.
“I love you, too, Ruby-mine.”
