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“So do you have a list?” Ruby questions. “Or are we just going in willy nilly grabbing whatever looks good?” Tanks grins at her. She must assume since he’s a guy he’s not used to grocery shopping.
“I have a list,” Tank informs her. “But I didn’t know what you might like, want, or need, so it’s a list in progress.” Ruby laughs, her face breaking into a wide smile, making her eyes sparkle.
“I’m impressed,” she counters. “The beast can grocery shop.”
“Hell, yeah I can,” Tank assures her. “I’ll admit I don’t do as much as I did before Abigail moved in with us, but Straw and I were bachelors a long time. We can both cook, shop, and keep a clean house.” Ruby widens her eyes. Her eyebrows shooting up.
“Well, well, youarea man of many talents,” Ruby counters. Wicked thoughts run through Tank’s dirty mind at her words. His mouth between her thin thighs, on her breasts, and his cock burying deep into her warmth. He swallows hard as he feels his cock straining against his jeans.
“You have no idea”– his voice is husky, full of desire and promise– “at least not yet, but someday, hopefully soon, you’ll let me show you just how talented I am.” Ruby’s face flushes a deep shade of red as she sucks in a breath. Then she swallows before licking her lips. His eyes are drawn to those luscious lips, which a few hours ago, he’d kissed so thoroughly.
“So, grocery list?” Ruby questions obviously eager to change the subject. Tank smiles to himself. She might act like she doesn’t want there to be anything between them, but her body tells a different story. Her pupils are dilated with desire. He can see her pulse in her neck, has increased its rate and her breathing has become short and shallow. She might not want to let him take care of her, but she desires him, and that is something he can work with over time.
Tank whips out his phone and pulls up the Notes app on his phone. He hands it over to her, revealing his list of essential items he thought they might need this weekend. She looks over his list, her gaze intent as she reads through the mundane list: bacon, eggs, biscuits, milk, bread, lunch meat, cheese, disposable salt and pepper shakers, fresh fruit, vegetables, beer, and beef jerky. A smile breaks out over her face as she comes to the next few items on the list: whatever Ruby likes to eat, women’s shit, and bikini for the hot tub.
“You want to see me in a bikini?” Her eyes meet his in amusement.
“Yeah, babe.” Tank grins at her, knowing he’s about to make her blush again. “I want to see you in nothing at all, but the bikini will have to do…for now.” He winks at her as her face flushes with redness, just as he’d predicted. “Come on, let’s get to shopping.” She follows him through the store. He guides her to the health and beauty section first.
As they start down an aisle with shampoos, he glances at her. He is trying to figure out a way to get her to get the things she needs without making it awkward. He knows she works at the diner, but has no idea what her financial status is like, not that he’ll let her pay for anything she gets anyway. He stops in front of shampoo display.
“What kind of shampoo do you want?” he asks her. She looks over at him. She looks over the display before choosing the smallest bottle of the store brand shampoo. He watches as she looks longingly at the conditioner next to it. “Babe.” Her gaze jerks to his. “Get whatever kind you want. Don’t worry about the cost.” Her lips pinch into a hard line. He can feel her unease radiating off her. He braces for her prickly attitude. The one she gives him every time he tries to buy her something to eat.
“Tucker, I don’t see the point in paying more for a brand name,” Ruby says. “This is fine.” Tank grits his teeth. It might be fine, and he can see how being smart with how you spend your money is wise, but damn it, he wants her to get what she wants not what’s cheap.
“It might be fine, babe, but I know if you had the choice, it’s not what you would get.” Tank’s voice is just as hard and determined as Ruby’s. “Now do you want to stand here and argue half the night or just get the brand, scent, and all the stuff you would get if you had endless means and space to keep it?” Her jaw is tight, and her lips are pursed. She stares him down, but he’s not going to budge. They can stand right here until they have to get back on the road for him to report for duty on time Monday morning. Finally, with a huff, she puts the generic shampoo back on the shelf. She looks over the various brand names before choosing a shampoo for color treated hair. She also gets the matching conditioner. Once she’s placed them in the cart, he continues down the aisle. He stops along the way and gets her to choose hair spray, a new hair brush, body wash, razors, and shaving cream. He grabs a few things for himself as well.
Then they move on through the store. He glances at her. She’s been very quiet since she relented to getting the shampoo. He worries he’s pushed too hard, but his need to provide for her is driving him hard. He can’t seem to keep from doing his very best to make sure she has what she wants and needs. He knows the next items he wants to get her won’t go over any better than the shampoo, probably even worse. Still he presses on; he’s too far in to stop now. He leads her to the women’s clothing section of the store. He’d much rather buy her clothes from a nice shopping mall, but she’d definitely freak out on him if he tried to buy her expensive brand name clothes. Instead, he’ll settle for getting her some good practical clothes.
When he stops to look over the racks of womens’ shirts, she looks at him in confusion. He can see the wheels turning in her mind. He can see the moment understanding dawns on her. She’s pissed. He starts to try and placate her, but she’s not having it.
“Look Tucker, I’m not some charity case,” Ruby says angrily. “I don’t have lots of clothes, because it isn’t practical not because I can’t afford them.” Tank sighs. This is so not going how he’d played it out in his mind.
“Ruby, I don’t see you as a charity case,” Tank replies, doing his best to remain calm. “I know why you don’t have loads of clothes, but there’s no reason we can’t get you a few things to have while we are here.” She glares back at him and blows out a frustrated breath.
“What am I supposed to do with them when we get back, hmm?” Ruby is really not happy with him. “It’s wasteful to spend money on something I’m only going to wear once. I haven’t done that in more than six years.” She suddenly clamps her mouth shut and pales a little. She just let out a little of her past. He’s suspected she hadn’t been raised on the streets. She’s too well-mannered and seems to be refined in ways he can’t imagine. He’s even more curious now than ever why she’s on the street. She seems stunned she’s told him so much. She turns away from him and feigning to take interest in the nearest shirt. He ponders how he can remedy this disaster of a beginning to their weekend. He needs to touch her. His hands are itching to reach out to her. He decides to go on his instincts, which have never let him down. He walks over to her, putting his hands on her shoulders. She tenses under his touch.
“Ruby, I’m sorry if I’ve upset you,” Tank tells her. “It wasn’t my intention. I just wanted you to have everything you need.” He kneads her shoulders. He leans down to press a kiss to her temple. “Forgive me?” Ruby relaxes under his touch. She turns to face him. She’s biting her lower lip. He’d love to be the one biting her lip.
“You’re forgiven.” She looks up at him shyly. “I know you mean well. I’m sorry to be sensitive about this. It’s just you scramble my brain when I’m around you. I shouldn’t have agreed to this trip, but I couldn’t say no.” He pulls her into his arms and lowers his lips to hers. His need to hold her, touch her consumes him. He kisses her long and deep in the women’s clothing section of a Walmart at one o’clock in the morning. She moans and presses into him. She feels so damn good in his arms.
Giggling brings him back to reality. He pulls back and looks up to see a couple of teenage girls coming around the clothing rack. They are pointing at him and Ruby. He realizes this isn’t the time or place to be devouring his woman. He steps away from her. She turns back to the clothes. She looks through the various choices. She surprises him when she chooses a couple of shirts, pants, and some sleepwear. They make their way to the swimsuits. The selection is small as fall is rapidly approaching, but as this is a tourist town with plenty of hotels and the beach nearby, they manage to find her a swimsuit she’s comfortable getting. It isn’t the bikini he wanted, but he knows it’s going to look wonderful on her. It’s a bright blue one-piece.
They head to the food section and gather the things on his list. She seems to have gotten over being put out with him. They chat easily as they shop, and before long, they have everything on his list in addition to several other things Ruby picked out. She has an assortment of chocolate items: creamer for their coffee, candy bars, ice cream, and brownies. The woman loves her chocolate. They head to the check out. She unloads the cart while he scans their items at the self-check out station. Soon they’ve loaded everything back into the cart and are on their way to his truck.
When they’ve loaded their purchases into the back seat of his truck, he helps her into the passenger seat. He takes their empty cart to the shopping cart return station and strolls back to get into the driver’s seat. He’s feeling confident, despite the rocky start to their weekend. It’s going to be a good one. They make the short drive to the house he’s rented and carry everything inside. Once the cold groceries are stored in the fridge, he encourages her to head on up to bed. He puts her new clothes into the washing machine while he finishes putting the other things away. Once the clothes have ran through a quick wash cycle, he puts them into the dryer and heads up the steps to the bedrooms.
Fatigue weighing heavily on him, Tank passes the closed bedroom door where he assumes Ruby has selected as her room for the weekend. Placing his bag on the bed in the other bedroom, he pulls out a pair of sleep pants and fresh boxers before heading into the bathroom to shower. He’s pushing being awake twenty-four hours. He’s used to being awake long hours on missions, but coupled with the emotional rollercoaster he’s had today, he’s more than ready for some sleep.
He showers quickly, stepping out of the shower he dries off and dresses quickly in a pair of sleep pants. It’s warm in the house so he doesn’t bother getting a t-shirt. He opens the door of the bathroom and heads to the king bed. Flipping back the cover he falls into bed and is asleep in mere seconds. His body well trained to sleep when the opportunity arises.
25
RUBY
Ruby showers after helping Tucker put away the cold groceries they purchased before coming to the rental house. She dresses in a t-shirt and shorts. She sighs as she sinks into the soft bed. It’s been so long since she’s slept on a comfortable bed. It feels like heaven, but she can’t really enjoy the wonderful sensations. The memories that have surfaced in her mind today are still swirling around in her head. She doubts she’ll be able to sleep at all. However, sleep overtakes her within minutes.
* * *
