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“But you don’t know who’s after me,” Ruby confesses. Tucker looks shocked she’s shared this much. “Please, Tucker if you care for me at all, don’t push me to talk about this anymore. At least not now.” Tucker just stands there, watching her. His jaw ticking in anger. Ruby is certain he’s going to demand she tell him more, to but her dismay, he looks away for a moment before taking a few deep breaths.
“All right, beautiful.” Tucker looks back at her with a sad smile on his face. “No more questioning for the rest of the weekend.” Ruby lets out the breath she’s been holding. As she stood there waiting for his response, her worst fear is him realizing she’s not worth all the aggravation. He still could come to that conclusion, but for now, he’s still willing to invest his time and energy into her. This makes her love him all the more. Tucker takes her hand, once more, leading her to his truck.
The drive back to their rented home for the weekend passes in a strained silence. Both Ruby and Tucker seemingly lost in their own thoughts. Once they arrive, however, Tucker is back to his usual self, acting as if their brief argument on the sidewalk never happened.
“You want to watch some television?” Tucker asks when they’re back in the rental home.
“Sure,” Ruby complies, thankful he doesn’t seem upset with her any longer. He gets the remote and turns on the large flat screen television in the living room. He flips through the channels.
“If you see something that catches your interest, let me know.” Tucker continues to click through the multitude of channels. “I don’t watch a lot of television and lately most of what I do watch is cartoons.” Ruby giggles as she imagines Tucker watching cartoons. He grins at her reaction to his confession. “Don’t laugh at me.P.J.Masks is pretty cool.” Ruby frowns at his statement. She has no idea what show he’s referring to. It’s been a very long time since Ruby has actually watched anything on a television.The Sound of Musicflashes on the screen as he’s scrolling through.
“Oh!” Ruby exclaims before she realizes she’s spoken. Tucker turns to look at her with a grin.
“I should have known you’d want to watch a musical,” Tucker says as he lays the remote down after turning up the volume so they can hear Julie Andrews sing the famous opening song. Tucker reaches over pulling Ruby to his side of the couch. She snuggles into his embrace, resting her head on his chest while they watch the classic movie.
29
TANK
Tank settles on the couch with Ruby tucked into his side. He’s never been a big fan of musicals, but for the woman in his arms, he’d do anything to make her happy. He knows he’s pushed her hard this weekend, but she’s opened up more than he ever expected. His need to know who’s after her and why is clawing at him, but he told her no more questions for the rest of the weekend, and he’s a man of his word. He won’t push her any further this weekend, but he hopes with a little more time, she’ll open up even more.
Tank wakes when he feels Ruby sit up. He runs his hand down his face, scrubbing the sleep from his eyes. He must have dozed off. He looks at the television seeing the credits are running. He’s missed the ending of the movie. Ruby is grinning at him, and he briefly wonders if he was snoring.
“Did you sleep well?” she asks. Tank shrugs his shoulders before replying.
“Pretty good, actually,” he tells her. “I seem to sleep really well when I’m holding you.” Ruby blushes a little. Tank looks at his watch. It’s nearly mid-night. He intended to check in with Hawk to make sure Straw and Abigail are still okay, before it got this late, but he knows Hawk is most likely still awake. He shoots off a quick text to him. Tank stands and stretches out his arm muscles. “You ready to head up to bed?” His question has Ruby’s face a bright red once more, but she nods her agreement. Damn, she’s cute. He holds out his hand to her. They walk upstairs. Tank stops outside her door. She turns to face him.
“Thank you for this amazing day,” Ruby says to him. “I’ve had such a good time, and thank you for sort of watching the movie with me.” She grins up at him briefly, but then her face gets a serious look. “I’m sorry about earlier on the sidewalk, Tucker. I’m just trying to protect you.” She bites her lower lip as if she’s expecting Tank to be angry with her again.
“Thank you for wanting to protect me, beautiful.” Tank takes her in his arms. “I don’t need protecting, but I love that you want to keep me safe. I’d love it even more if you’d allow me to keepyousafe, but I’ll try to be patient until you’re ready to let me.” He leans down pressing a gentle kiss to her lips. “Good night sweetheart. If you need me, I’m just down the hall.” Ruby looks up at him with an expression on her face he can’t quite read. It looks an awful lot like the look Abigail gives Straw when he says something really sweet to her, but Tank decides he’s just wishful thinking.
“Good night, Tucker.” Ruby turns away entering her room. Tank strolls on down the hall to his room for the night. He wishes Ruby would have invited him to sleep next to her again. It had been amazing to wake up with her in his arms this morning. He wants more mornings with her in his arms. He changes out of his jeans and into his sleep pants. He climbs into bed, but sleep eludes him as he thinks of the beautiful red head just down the hall. He thinks over the tidbits of information she’s given him in the last couple of days. She’s basically confirmed she’s running from someone. She’s indicated she left home shortly after her mother died. While she hasn’t said how or why her mother died, Tank’s gotten the impression her death was unexpected. His fist pounds the mattress next him. It’s just not enough information for him piece it all together. A ding from his phone pulls him from his thoughts. He grabs it from the nightstand where it’s charging. He opens the message app to see Hawk has replied to his text.
Hawk: Everything remains quiet. Ellie is back at home with Straw and Abigail. Keeping eyes on the ex. Will update you if things change.
Tank: Glad things are good. I’ll be back tomorrow evening late.
Hawk: Drive safe, see you then.
Tank place his phone back on the night stand. A soft knock at his door draws his attention. Before he can get out of bed the door eases open. Ruby peeks around the door. When she sees him sitting up in bed, she opens the door wider and walks inside.
“Is something wrong?” Tank asks immediately, swinging his legs over the side of the bed ready to go to her. She shakes her head.
“No, nothing is wrong.” Ruby pauses. Her eyes darting around nervously. “I…I was just wondering if you’d mind…mind me sleeping in here with you? Like we did last night in my room?” Tank relaxes his tense posture. He throws the cover back has he holds out he arm, beckoning her to join him. Ruby hurries across the room, scrambling over his legs on all fours as she climbs into the bed, settling down next to him, snuggling into his side. Tank lays back on the pillow with his left arm around Ruby’s upper back. She rests her head on his chest with a sigh. He notices she’s careful not to let their lower bodies touch. He places his right hand over her arm which is draped across his abdomen. Neither one of them says a word. In minutes, Ruby’s breathing has evened out in sleep. Tank tightens his hold on her for a moment relishing the feel of her in his arms. He’s asleep a few minutes later.
The next morning Tank wakes to the warm feeling of Ruby plastered into his side. She’s thrown one of her legs over his in her sleep and he’s turned more toward her so they are touching from chin to toes. He blinks a couple of times getting his eyes to adjust to the light streaming in the window. He looks down to see Ruby’s still fast asleep. He rests his head back on the pillow closing his eyes as he memorizes the feeling of her in his arms. He dips his head to inhale the coconut scent of her shampoo as he places a kiss on the top of her head. He can’t ever remember feeling this good.
Ruby stirs from sleep. Her eyes flutter before flying open. She pulls back, blushing as she seems to realize her limbs are tangled with Tank’s. He doesn’t let her get too far away, though.
“Good morning, beautiful,” Tank murmurs. “Did you sleep okay?” She smiles up a him.
“Good morning, Tucker. I did sleep really well. Not one nightmare.” He squeezes her shoulders in silent support. “I was afraid I would have another one after our conversations yesterday. That’s why I came in here last night. Thank you for letting me sleep next to you.”
“You don’t have to thank me, beautiful,” Tank tells her. “I love having you in my bed, in my arms. I’ve slept better in the last two nights than I have in a long, long time.” Ruby beams up at him. It bolsters his courage to broach something he’s been wanting to propose to her since he first met her. “I want you to think about something for me.” Ruby looks at him her curiosity plain to see. “I’d like for you to consider staying with me when we get back to Jacksonville.” Ruby’s sharp intake of breath has him reconsidering his decision to bring it up at this point in time. He hurries to clarify his statement. “Straw and I have a large house with four bedrooms. So you’d have your own room, your own space, but you’d be in my home. If you need me, I’d be right there, just one door away.” Ruby turns away from him and lets her go. He won’t force her to do anything she doesn’t want to do. “I’m not expecting you to answer right away. You need to time to think it over. I get that. I just want you to know it’s an option if you’re interested.” Ruby glances back at him and nods but gets out of the bed.
“I’m going to get dressed” –she bites her lower lip before continuing– “what did you have planned for today? I wasn’t sure what I should wear.” Tank is surprised. She’s acting as if he hasn’t just asked her to move in with him after only knowing him for a couple of weeks.
“I thought we could go to the beach for a few hours if you’d like?” Tank sits up on the side of the bed.
