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“It’s been a few years now. Car accident. A truck driver ran a red light.”
Ruby sucked in a sharp breath as her heart physically ached. Her biggest strength—or weakness, depending on the situation—was empathy. She had no problem putting herself in other people’s shoes and feeling their pain, but everything Heath had been through hit impossibly close to home. “I am so incredibly sorry. I understand everything you’re feeling.” She reached out and touched his shoulder, trying to ignore the electricity that zipped through her fingertips and up her arm.
“Because of your mom?”
She hesitated for a moment, unsure if she wanted to talk about Lucas. But the pain of losing her mom was decades old. It wasn’t as raw as the pain of having lost her fiancé. And she wanted Heath to know she’d struggled greatly with this, too. “My fiancé, Lucas, died. Nearly three years ago. It was an aortic aneurysm. We had no warning. It was like a light switch was turned off and he was gone.”
Heath turned to the bar cabinet, then back to Ruby. “That’s where the bourbon came from?”
She nodded eagerly, smiling at her good memories of Lucas. “Yes. He was the collector. Absolutely loved it. It keeps me company, even if I don’t drink it.”
He looked down at his glass. “And you shared it with me? We hardly know each other. I feel terrible now.”
She shook her head and dared to touch him again. “Oh, no. Don’t. He would want you to have it. He would have wanted someone to appreciate it.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m positive. Absolutely.” Before she could say more, the lights overhead flickered. She caught a glimpse of the weather outside. “I didn’t think it was possible, but it looks even worse out there. I really hope we don’t lose power.”
“Yeah. That would not be fun.”
“Although, there’s plenty of bourbon. And firewood. And I have a gas stove, so we could still eat. It wouldn’t be entirely bad.”Cooped up all alone. Just the two of us.
Their gazes connected, and for the first time, one corner of his mouth turned up in an off-kilter smile. “I know I don’t know you that well, Ruby, but I have to say that you are a remarkable human being.”
Heat flooded her cheeks. Her heart started pounding. She didn’t deserve such praise, but it felt good. “Remarkableis a pretty strong word.”
“It absolutely applies. You’re strong. You’re smart and you seem to have great intuition. And if it’s not too forward of me, you’re so beautiful.”
It wouldn’t be a stretch to kiss him. In some ways, it would be the easiest thing in the world. But also the scariest. Who was she kidding? Any guy was a leap for her, even after three years. But a man like Heath? He was too much—too handsome, too rich and definitely too complicated. She could see her way past the first two, but that last one? If she was going to get involved with someone, she wasn’t ready for serious, and she was certain that “serious” was Heath’s middle name. “That’s sweet of you to say, but I’m just being me. I don’t know another way to be.”
The lights flickered again, and they both looked up at the ceiling. A second later, the room fell into darkness. Outside, the wind howled. Inside, Ruby was painfully aware of her proximity to Heath and the way her heart was fluttering.
“I’m sure it’ll come back on soon,” Ruby said. “I’m on the same grid with the public works department and the animal shelter. They don’t usually let them go too long without power.”
Heath nodded in the direction of the fireplace. “You’ve already got a good amount of firewood inside, but we should grab some more, just in case the power company isn’t able to get a team out here quickly. The roads can’t be in good condition.”
“Right. That’s smart.” Ruby got up from the sofa. “I’m on it.”
Heath grabbed her arm. “No. I’ll do it.”
They both stared at the vision of his hand on her arm. She’d touched him several times in the last hour or so, but this was the first time he’d returned the favor. He didn’t let go and she didn’t budge an inch. Between them, there was a distinct charge in the air. It was more than electricity. It was attraction...and sex. And for the first time in what felt like a lifetime, Ruby was seriously thinking of hopping on board.
Three
Heath trudged through the snow and battled the wind until he reached the woodpile at the side of Ruby’s house. He was all for equality between the sexes, but he also believed in being a gentleman, and that meant he wasn’t about to let her go outside in a blizzard for firewood. That seemed like his job.
Plus, he needed to cool off and collect his thoughts. It’d felt so good to drop his guard and tell Ruby his story. He hadn’t realized how much he’d needed a sympathetic ear until he had one, and she was nothing short of that. It was hard to wrap his head around such a generous nature. After months of battling with the Grandins and the Lattimores, and having everyone in town think he was an asshole, it was a revelation to have someone simply listen and sympathize. And damn if she wasn’t more gorgeous and sexy than any woman he’d been in the company of in recent history. He hadn’t dated in more than a year. The only woman he’d kissed during that time was Caitlyn Lattimore, but he preferred not to think about that. She’d used him to make her boyfriend Dev jealous.
The curious thing about Ruby’s brand of beauty was that the more he talked to her, the more potent it became. Her generous interior matched her pretty exterior. As far as Heath was concerned, there was too little of that in the world. Most people cared about superfluous things like money and power. Appearances. That was what had driven the Grandin and Lattimore families to deceive his mother and deny his sister her birthright. Heath cared about right and wrong. And Ruby seemed to be cut from the same cloth.
He finished stacking firewood in the canvas log tote Ruby had given to him, loading it up until there was simply no more room. There was no telling how long the power would be out and he didn’t want either of them to be cold. Granted, there was a fair amount of heat between him and Ruby—at least, as far as he was reading it. But he was so far out of practice when it came to sex and romance, mostly because he’d shut himself off from the world when his mom and Ashley died. Grief did that to a person.
He made his way back around to the front door, following the path he’d made on his way to the woodpile. He was quick to close the front door when he stepped inside, not wanting to let out any trapped heat. Immediately he noticed a faint glow coming from the living room and kitchen that hadn’t been there before. He worked his way out of his jacket and tugged off his boots, then toted the firewood down the hall. When he stepped into the great room, Ruby was busy in the kitchen.
“How was it out there?” she asked with her back to him as she used a flashlight to check the contents of a kitchen cabinet. She’d lit candles, which were everywhere. It was romantic. Dangerously so.
“Cold. And windy. It’s a whole lot nicer in here.” That was an understatement. Ruby’s cottage was a cozy retreat. It might be small and quaint, but it felt like a real home. He carried the firewood to the hearth and first grabbed some of the older, dry logs from a metal rack and carefully placed them atop the fire. Then he unloaded the cold, wet wood he’d brought in from outside so it could dry out.
