“Which just proves that he’s even more out of touch than any of us realized.” I pushed myself to a standing position. Mom, Pearl, and Opal were gone. “I’m sorry I fell asleep. Were they mad?”
Zach shook his head. “I would say that ‘concerned’ is the better word for what they were feeling,” he replied. “You look tired, Ruby. You shouldn’t force yourself to come to these meetings if you need rest.”
“That’s not it.” I waved off his worry. “Your buddy Rex filled me full of ice cream and hot fudge an hour before the meeting. I don’t include a lot of sugar in my normal diet, so I flew high right away and then crashed hard.”
“Why is he my buddy?” Zach laughed. “Last time I checked, he was your buddy.”
“Just because we’re having a baby doesn’t mean that we’re buddies.” That was laughable. “I mean … come on.”
“No, you come on,” Zach fired back. “He and I barely spend any time together. We’ve been to the sports bar once in the last month. He’s always getting food for you, shopping for the baby, or rubbing your feet.” He made a disgusted face. “He’s totally forgotten about me.”
“Not that Zach is bitter about it or anything,” Olivia said dryly. She honestly looked amused.
“Sorry.” Sarcasm practically dripped from my tongue because I wasn’t sorry. “I didn’t mean to steal your drinking buddy. I’m just creating human life here.”
“Oh, I can’t wait until you can’t use that as an excuse,” Zach muttered.
Before he could say something else, Rex appeared—as if he’d heard us talking about him—and scanned the boardroom. “Where is your father?” he asked after several seconds.
“Probably crying into his drink at whatever venue he wanted to throw his divorce party,” I replied. “Nobody would go so he’s pouting.”
“But he’s not up here causing trouble?” Rex pressed.
I shook my head. “Why would you assume that?”
“Because he’s your father. I just wanted to make sure everybody was okay.” When he said the last part, Rex’s eyes moved to me.
“We’re fine,” I assured him. “You don’t have to worry about us.”
“Yes, well, that’s my job.” He stepped closer, and to my surprise, he brushed my hair off my forehead without warning or invitation. “You look tired.”
“She crashed from the sugar because she’s not used to it and slept through the meeting,” Olivia volunteered.
“She snored like a freight train too,” Zach added.
I split my glare between them. “Well, thanks for that.”
“No problem.” Zach’s smile was sunny. “We’re heading out. You’ll get my sister to her suite safely, right?” he asked Rex.
“I think I can walk myself back,” I groused.
“No, I want to,” Rex countered. “There’s something I want to talk to you about anyway.”
That sounded bad. “Uh-oh.”
“No, it’s not an ‘uh-oh’ situation,” he assured me as he put his hand to the small of my back.
“What sort of situation is it?”
He waited until we were in front of the elevator to drop the bomb. “I’ve thought about it, and I still have feelings for you.” He was matter of fact. “I want to date.”
My mouth fell open. “Just like that?”
“Yup.”
“But … I don’t think you’re ready to date.”
“I’m going to prove I am.”
