by Tessa Bailey
“You’re supposed to be on my side!” Ruby hollers.
“We’re on your side, sweetheart,” her mother says. “But we know how you feel about him. Don’t let pride keep you from the man you love.”
I leap to my feet. She loves me! That’s all I need to know. I follow the sounds down the short hallway to Ruby’s bedroom.
“Hello, I’m Ruby’s father, Edward.” Her father, a tall thin man with a receding blond hairline, offers his hand.
I give him a firm handshake. “Nice to meet you, Edward. If you could just give us a few moments of privacy, I’d really like to talk to Ruby.”
“Of course!” her mother exclaims, grabbing her husband by the arm and pulling him with her. “We’ll be in the kitchen.”
Ruby’s door opens a moment later. Her hair is up in a messy ponytail, her eyes bleary, her lips drawn into a flat line. She’s dressed more casually than I’ve seen her before in a pink T-shirt with denim shorts, barefoot. She’s beautiful, sexy, and seriously pissed off.
I hand her the roses. “I’m sorry.”
She takes them and steps back, letting me into her room and shutting the door behind me. The room is vintage teen Ruby and extremely girly—white frilly canopy bed, white dresser and nightstand with flower decals, pink walls, pink carpet. There’s a few posters of shirtless rock stars from a decade or so ago arranged on a diagonal on one wall. Even her lusty crushes are arranged in a design. Her parents have left her room here waiting for her if she should need it. I like that she comes from a good family.
She sits on her bed and stares at the roses in her hands.
I remain standing since she hasn’t invited me to join her. “Your parents are nice.”
She lifts her head. “They’re impressed with your royal bloodlines, as is the world. You’re a celebrity.” She doesn’t sound very impressed.
I clear my throat. “I’m sorry for hurting your feelings. I didn’t mean to sound so self-righteous. I know your work is important to you, which makes it important to me too. You’re great at it.”
“But you don’t think it’s as important as your work.”
“It’s not a fair comparison. I’m sure once basic needs are met, anyone would appreciate the beauty you bring to the world.” My voice catches as the truth of that hits me. “You had it right. Each of us should contribute in the way that’s most meaningful to us.”
She’s quiet, her gaze downcast. I’m losing her, and I can’t bear it.
I drop to my knees in front of her, so we’re eye to eye, and speak urgently, from the heart. “Ruby, I’ve had a lot of time to think about it, and I realized I went about this whole thing the wrong way. What I should’ve said before, what I should’ve started with is this—I love you.” I hold my breath, desperately hoping she’ll say it back. If we have love, everything else will work itself out.
She stares at me for a long tense moment.
I still, my heartbeat roaring in my ears, my chest tight.
And then her eyes fill. “Okay,” she says quietly.
I can breathe again. She blinks rapidly and tears spill down her cheeks. The sight fills me with hope, my own eyes stinging.
I sit next to her on the bed and wipe her tears with the pad of my thumb. “And I know you love me too.”
She laughs a little. “Oh, you do, huh?”
“Your mother was pretty loud when she told you not to let your pride keep you from the man you love. I assumed she meant me, unless you and Rafe…”
She shoves my arm and smiles through her tears. “Stop.”
“I’ve missed you.”
She sniffles. “I’ve missed you too.” She meets my eyes. “I do love you.”
The tension that’s built over the past several days leaves my body in a rush. I pull her into my arms and hug her. “I love hearing you say it.”
A moment later, she pulls away. “I was able to secure several clients from Anna’s friends when I got back. Actually, three of them are eager for their homes to be done before the New Year and are paying me double to make it happen. I have enough work for six months. I can get my own place with the advance deposits.”
“That’s great. I’m happy for you. I know that’s what you wanted.”
She purses her lips. “Only you ruined it. I couldn’t enjoy any of it, couldn’t even start to apartment shop because I’ve been miserable without you.”
I stroke her hair back from her face. “I’ve been miserable too.”
She exhales sharply. “That doesn’t make me feel as good as I thought it would.”
“You hoped for my misery?”
“Oh, yeah. I wanted you to be an empty shell of a man cursing the day you lost the best thing to ever happen to you. I hoped you’d become impotent in your grief and never be able to enjoy another woman for the rest of your miserable life.”
“Damn, remind me never to get on your bad side again.”
She laughs. “I know. I just wanted you to be as miserable as I was. Phillip, you really hurt my feelings. It’s like you thought you were so much better than me, that I was being greedy and small-minded while you were taking the higher path. I’d felt so close to you, closer than I’ve ever felt with anyone, and then it seemed like the gap between us was too great to ever bridge. We do come from different worlds.”
“It works for Gabriel and Anna.”
“Anna has always longed for a stable foundation and family. Gabriel gave her that. But Phillip, that’s not me. I have everything I need right here, except you. I just don’t know how we fit.”
“I’ll move to Tampa.” I surprise myself with the impulsive decision, but it’s the only way I can think of to keep her happy.
Her jaw drops. “What? You can’t move to Tampa. You have to continue your good work. It’s important to you and the world.”
We stare at each other at an impasse. She wants me to do what I most want to do; she just doesn’t want to do that with me. And I don’t really belong here. We both know that.
She turns away, and my heart leaps in my throat.
“Ruby.”
“Maybe you were right before,” she says quietly. “We’re on two diverging paths.”
“Marry me.”
Her head whips toward mine, her green eyes wide. She looks as surprised as I am, but now that I’ve said it, I want to. I love her. That’s everything. The only thing.
I take both her hands. “I need you in my life, Ruby. Permanently. You are my stable foundation, the heart of it, the center of everything I do. I know it’s sudden. I don’t even have a ring, but there’s nothing I want more than you by my side for life.”
She looks happy for a moment, but then she frowns. “How does that solve anything?”
“We were asking the wrong question. It’s not which job takes precedence. The right question is, how does everything else in our lives fit around us as a couple? We start with love.” I give her a quick kiss. “We’ll be a unified front, and we’ll decide everything together. Where we live, how we live.” I frame her beautiful face with my hands. “There’s just nothing more important to me than you. None of this means anything without you in my life.”
Her brows draw together as her gaze searches mine.
I drop my hands and wait, barely breathing, hoping for the answer I most want to hear.
Her lips purse as she mulls it over. Finally, she says, “I like that a lot. We could set aside blocks of time. Six months here for my career, six months traveling as ambassadors for clean water. You have the pull to get people to work with your schedule, and you could take the occasional trip without me.”
I can breathe again, joy spearing through me, making everything feel light and bright. She’s on board. “And you’ll marry me?”
She smiles cheekily. “When I hear a proposal worthy of Prince Phillip Rourke.”
I drop to one knee in front of her and gallantly take her hand. “Ruby Evans, will you do me the great honor of becoming my wife?”
“Yes!”
She throws herself at me, and I catch her, holding her close for a long moment. She kisses me, and it’s the sweetest welcome. Suddenly we’re ravenous for each other and tumble to the floor. She’s on top of me, and I run my hands all over her petite soft curves.
She lifts her head suddenly. “We should go somewhere more private.”
“Yes, and quickly.”
She giggles and rushes to the bedroom door, pulling it open. Her parents jump back, looking guilty. “Mom! Dad!”
“Congratulations, sweetheart!” her mother exclaims.
Her father pumps my hand. “Welcome to the family! Do we get to visit the palace?”
Chapter Fourteen
Ruby
Phillip and I are hot for each other, but first things first. We’re an engaged couple and my parents are ecstatic. We join them in the kitchen to toast with some chardonnay. Mom, of course, sticks to water.
“Congratulations!” my mother exclaims, clinking glasses with each of us in turn.
“Congratulations,” my father says.
Phillip clinks glasses with me last, his eyes never leaving mine as he takes a sip. I do too.
“Well, we should go,” I say. “Phillip needs me to drive him back to his hotel, where he can work with his press secretary to get the official royal announcement out.”
Phillip sets his glass on the counter, picking up my cue. “Yes, very important that it be done face-to-face, so the news doesn’t leak ahead of time.”
“Oh, wow!” my mother exclaims. “An official royal announcement! Will you get married here or at the palace?”
“Ruby?” Phillip asks.
I love that he’s leaving it up to me, even though I’m sure all royal weddings take place in the chapel at Amalie Palace. That’s where Anna and Gabriel got married. My parents recorded it, and we watched it later on TV.
I turn to my parents. “Would it be okay with you if we married at the palace chapel? We’d wait until it was a good time for you to travel with the baby.” They still haven’t picked a name.
My mom’s face lights up with a beaming smile. “We’d love that! Phillip, we saw Anna’s wedding on TV. That chapel is so beautiful. Will you have the horse-drawn carriage too?”
Phillip pipes up. “Ruby will have anything she wants.”
“He’s a keeper,” my mom says.
“Yup!” I hug her and then my dad. “I’ll call you. We’ve got so much planning to do.”
Phillip shakes both their hands, but my mom insists on hugging him and then kisses his cheek. It didn’t take them long to warm to him, considering I called him holier-than-thou, demanding, and arrogant. As a longtime royal hottie follower, my mom always said she thought he must be a sweetheart in real life. She based this solely on his warm smile. Turned out she was right.
We finally make our escape, and I lead him and the guards to the street where my Toyota hatchback has been baking in the Florida sun. I unlock it and fold up the sun visor from the dashboard.
I turn to Rafe and Henry, both over six feet tall, who I know are going to be squished in the backseat. “Sorry. I know it’s not the roomy Mercedes you’re used to.”
“No problem, ma’am,” Henry says. Rafe looks grim.
They squish their long muscular frames into the backseat, I hop in the driver’s seat, and Phillip slides in the passenger side.
I turn the car on, blast the air conditioner, and turn to Phillip. “Where to?”
“I actually didn’t plan that far ahead. I was so focused on fixing things with you that was all I could think about. Anna and Gabriel are staying at the Epicurean Hotel. We could go there.”
It’s a luxury hotel. This is my life now, tempered with the unusual combination of working in the trenches of the most impoverished communities. A future I never could’ve imagined for myself, but I know ultimately will be extremely fulfilling. Plus I still have my life back home for half of the year.
“Or wherever you think is good,” he adds.
“My, aren’t you accommodating now,” I tease.
He laughs. “It probably won’t last. I’m just so thrilled things went well between us. Better take advantage while you can. I’d pretty much give you anything right now.”
There’s a loud throat clearing from the backseat.
Phillip turns. “Relationship advice, Rafe?”
“You have a room at the Epicurean, as do we.”
“Ah.”
Rafe rattles off the address, but I already know it. I grew up here. I drive over to the hotel and hand the keys of my decidedly nonluxury car over to the valet.
Phillip grabs my hand and practically runs to the front desk. Within minutes, we’re on our way to the room. His luggage is already there. The guards file into their room next door.
It’s a suite, and I barely register the elegant living room before Phillip scoops me up, cradled in his arms, and carries me to the bedroom. Swoon!
“Music,” I tell him. “We need some sound so the guards can’t hear.”
“Oh, Ruby, they don’t care. Trust me.”
“I care!”
He sets me on my feet by the bed and presses the radio clock on the nightstand. It’s top 40 pop and it’s loud.
I smile. “Perfect!”
He slides open the nightstand drawer, and a box of condoms is in there. He grunts in approval.
“Eww! We are not using leftovers from the last person who stayed here.”
He laughs. “These are mine. My valet left them. It’s my preferred brand, and see?” He lifts the box to show me a small gold sticker with his initials on the bottom.
My eyes widen. “You have personalized stickers? Like monogrammed condoms?” I laugh.
He grins. “It’s his little touch when he leaves me something unanticipated, so I know it’s okay. Clearly, he was hoping for our reconciliation.”
I stare at him, speechless. Having a public life is going to take some getting used to.
“Would you rather I didn’t have them, and then I had to request condoms from the concierge?”
I wrap my arms around his middle. “So you really didn’t expect this?”
He wraps his arms around me and gazes down at me. “I wasn’t sure if you’d even see me.”
“Didn’t you know I love you?”
“No. I hoped, but I didn’t know. I thought I ruined it.”
“Well, I do.”
He cradles my face with his hands. “I never thought I’d love again, and then you gallivanted into my life and turned me inside out. I’ve been walking around with my heart outside my chest, in your hands, since the very first time you were in my arms.”
I smile at the memory of our time in the yacht’s cabin, my heart filled to bursting. “I am quite the gallivanter.”
He speaks against my lips. “Thankfully.” And then we’re kissing, and there’s no more talk. He rips my shirt off, unhooks the bra, and tosses it, openly admiring my breasts as he works the button on my shorts.
A small niggling worry makes me ask, “You don’t think I’m too small?” He made a comment about my size during our fight, and I’m a little sensitive about that. “Small body, small-minded.”
He closes his eyes for a moment and pulls me tight against him. “You are petite, but I shouldn’t have commented on your size. And you’re not small-minded either. I so regret saying those things.” He pulls back and runs his hands down my sides. “I love your petite curves. You’re so beautiful, so sexy, and you fit so perfectly with me.”
I lift my chin, still a little miffed. “Maybe the problem is you. Maybe you’re too big.”
He smirks but says nothing. Instead he undoes my denim shorts and pulls them down along with my panties. Then he pulls back the covers, lifts me by the waist, and tosses me on the bed.
“Ah! Phillip! You can’t just toss me around like a doll.”
“I like how easy it is to lift you.” He grins. “I’ll try to restrain myself. Or you could do the same to me.” He starts unbut
toning his shirt, looking smug. He knows I could barely move him. He’s bigger with at least fifty pounds of muscle on me. There are other ways…
I sit up and undo his pants, quickly freeing him. Then I take his thick erection in hand. “I can bring you to your knees with one suck.”
He grips my hair in one hand, tilting my face up to his. “You could bring me to my knees with one word. I love you so damn much, Ruby. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you.”
My jaw drops at the words uttered so sincerely I can’t help but believe him. No man has ever felt so strongly about me that they’d do absolutely anything. Most guys did the bare minimum.
He smiles as he pushes me onto my back. “So you see, the power dynamic here is decidedly in your favor.” He rolls a condom on and rises over me, nudging my legs apart, fitting himself between them.
“Phillip.”
He entwines his fingers with mine and raises my hands above my head, pinning them to the mattress. “Yes, love?”
“No one has ever said anything like that to me in my life.”
“Glad to be the first.” He slides smoothly inside me, bringing a delicious ache. “Wrap your ankles high on my waist.”
The moment I do, he pumps into me, deep and hard and fast. It’s exactly what I need. His gaze is locked on mine, the intensity building with every stroke. He slips a hand under me, angling my hips up, taking me deeper. My breath is ragged as I draw closer and closer to the edge. His mouth closes over mine, his body shifting inside me, triggering an intense pleasure. Everything in me coils tight. My head arches back as I break in a rush of pleasure. He keeps pumping, bringing more pleasure. My soft moans turn to a harsh cry as I go over again, and then he lets go, pumping deep, and then finally stilling.
I beam, euphoric, as he gives me his weight. I wrap my arms around him and hug him tight. “I love you, I love you, I love you.”
He lifts his head and smiles, kissing me tenderly. “I love you too. Hmm…three I love yous for two orgasms. I think I owe you another orgasm soon.” He rolls to his back on the mattress next to me.