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Fuck me.
He considered moving Ruby to her bed, or even slipping out and leaving her to sleep. But he didn’t want to wake her, so he pulled the blanket off the back of the couch instead and covered her with it, tucking her bare feet inside.
Then he settled deeper into the couch, sinking into the warmth of the small apartment, the gentle weight of Ruby’s feet in his lap, the soft exhale of her breath.
26
RUBY
She woke with a start, disoriented to find herself on the couch. It was early, pale weak sunlight filtering into the apartment through the sheer draperies.
She blinked and the room came into focus, Roman sitting upright at the other end of the couch, sound asleep with her feet in his lap.
Shit. They’d fallen asleep and Olivia was in the house.
She started to get up, then took a breath. There was no need to panic. Roman was fully dressed in the living room. It was no different than when Olivia had seen him the night before at the hospital, when he’d given them a ride home.
Brooke was right: in this context, he was just a friend, and Ruby was allowed to have friends.
She would be careful, not let Olivia grow too attached, not put too much significance on Roman this early on.
She eased out from under the blanket, sat up, and turned to look at him. He was still gorgeous in that brutal, savage way she was growing used to, but he also looked shockingly endearing, his giant frame dwarfing her small sofa, his face (always a bit battered) peaceful in repose.
He’d obviously covered her with the blanket, and she wondered if he’d stayed because he wanted to or because he was too much of a gentleman to wake her by leaving.
She smiled at the thought of him, massive and imposing and deciding to sleep sitting up on a too-small sofa just so he wouldn’t wake her.
She reached for her phone and sent a text to Adam explaining about Olivia’s reaction to the vaccine.
His reply came less than a minute later.
But she’s okay?
She’s not up yet but the doctor said to watch her fever this weekend and she should be fine.
I’ll come by to check on her tomorrow.
Ruby sighed. She wasn’t up for another confrontation with Adam.It’s okay. I’ll keep you posted.
I have something to talk to you about anyway.
Ruby’s stomach knotted. She wanted to refuse to talk about the fact that Roman had been in the apartment when Adam brought Olivia home Thursday morning, but she knew that wasn’t fair.
She and Adam had agreed not to introduce significant others to Olivia unless it was serious, and even then, they’d agreed to talk to each other first.
It wasn’t Ruby’s fault Adam had brought Olivia home early, but they still had to have the conversation about where to go from here.
Okay.
My shift ends at three,he texted.I’ll come by after.
See you then.
She set down her phone and ran a hand through her hair.
“Everything okay?”
She looked over to find Roman awake and staring at her. “You’re awake.”
