Page 100 of Can't Win 'Em All
“Then you’d better prepare yourself, because tonight is going to be amazing.”
Finally. I was no longer going to get in my own way.
26
TWENTY-SIX
I’d been sleeping in the same bed with Ruby for weeks at this point. It was a calculated move on my part. Not a “I’m going to burn down Gotham with my death ray” move but more of a “see, I belong here” shift. I wanted Ruby to get used to me. More than that, I wanted her to realize that she would miss me if I was gone.
She wasn’t an easy woman. The trauma she’d gone through with her father had marked her. I wanted to shake Ryder—or worse—for all the harm he’d done to his children. Opal, Ruby, and Pearl would be dealing with the fallout for a long time. Zach would have an easier go of it as the only son, but he was marked by Ryder’s machinations in a different way.
Thankfully, they had strong family bonds and were getting better. Ryder was still a worry, but we would be handling him sooner rather than later. Then Ruby and I could coast to our happily ever after.
At least that’s what I was hoping for. As I propped my head and looked down at her, her back pressed to my chest and her bare shoulder visible above the covers, I briefly worried she would pull back when remembering what we’d done the previous evening. It wasn’t that it wasn’t good—it was freaking amazing—but Ruby was plagued by self-doubt. Her father was the biggest reason. I wanted to erase that self-doubt. I couldn’t do it in one night, though. I had to keep being there for her until she no longer questioned the fact that I was going to show up.
It wouldn’t be easy. I was up for the task.
She made a murmuring noise as she stirred, and I smiled down at her. I wanted the first thing she saw to be my face. Would she realize that my smile was only for her? That I’d never been happier? I wanted to tell her, but she got red-faced and defensive when I was mushy. That was another thing I had to take slowly.
“Hey.” She stretched like a cat when she saw me.
“Hey.” I kissed her forehead and braced myself.Please don’t pull away.That was the only thing that kept going through my head over and over again.Please don’t pull away.
She shifted to face me. Had she realized she was naked yet? I couldn’t tell. Her hand moved to my bare chest. “You’re still here.” She sounded as if she was surprised by that development.
“I’m not going anywhere, Ruby.” It was time to balance my mushiness with facts. “I’m always going to be here, one way or another.”
“What do you mean?”
“I just told you.”
“No.” She shook her head. Her dark hair was snarled from all the sex and snuggling the previous evening. “The one way or another part.”
“Oh.” I smirked. “I just meant that even if you get tired of me and decide you don’t want to be with me, I’ll always be here for you and Rexanne.”
“I am going to kill you if you don’t drop that name.”
Her vehemence made me laugh. “I’m not giving up. Not on any of it.”
“But?” she prodded, her expression guileless. She needed to hear my response.
“But if you decide you can’t love me, then I’ll still be your friend. I’ll still be the father of your baby. We’ll still raise this child together. I’m never leaving you.”
Her expression twisted into one of concentration. It was obvious she was having trouble wrapping her head around what I was saying.
“Your father did you zero favors.” I ran my hands over her back and tried to find a tension point to loosen with my fingers. “He made you feel as if you were less than because you were a woman. That was not fair.”
“My father is a putz.”
“He is. The thing is, I need you to realize not all fathers are like that. My father never made Livvie feel as if she was less than me because she had boobs.”
“You have a great father,” Ruby agreed. “I wish I would’ve had him instead of Ryder.” Her nose wrinkled. “How different would my life have been?”
“Well, I think we would’ve been in trouble procreating if we had the same father. That’s just a guess, though.”
Ruby’s mouth dropped open. “That was so gross. I can’t believe you just said it.”
I laughed. “You’re the one who brought it up.”
