“Yeah, just like old times. Ruby and I go back a ways. Don’t know if she told you about us, but I’m back in town now.” He gave Brooks a smile. Was he warning Brooks off or simply making conversation? Trace had no reason to suspect anything, not that it mattered anyway. He didn’t have a claim on her anymore. “So, how are you liking Cool Springs so far?” he asked.
“I’m liking it just fine.” Brooks said the words slowly, giving nothing away by his tone. Yet his gaze shifted to her every so often as if puzzling out what was happening. “I’m beginning to feel right at home here at Look Away.”
Ruby edged away from Trace. If he put his arm around her to haul her closer, she’d cringe.
“Must be, if you’re out taking a walk this time of night in the cool air.”
“I’m used to cold weather. Chicago winters can be brutal. Actually, I wasn’t out walking for the sake of walking. I came to ask Ruby a favor. Is all,” he added.
Ruby kept her lips buttoned. Brooks playing the country bumpkin was enough to make her laugh. But she didn’t dare.
“That so?” Trace asked.
“Yeah.”
“Ruby and I were in the middle of a conversation,” Trace announced, as if that wasn’t obvious.
“Was I interrupting?” A choir boy couldn’t have appeared more innocent.
“You were, actually,” Trace replied, his chest expanding as he stood a bit taller.
This was not going well, and it was clear Brooks wasn’t going to back down.
“Don’t let me stop you,” Trace said, gesturing with a royal sweep of his arm. “Go ahead and ask Ruby your favor.”
“Actually Trace, I’m not up for this conversation tonight,” Ruby said. “It’s been a long day, and I’m tired. Brooks, can your question wait until tomorrow?”
He glanced at Trace, eyeing him for a second before nodding. “Sure thing. It can wait.”
“Okay, then. We’ll talk tomorrow. And Trace, thanks again for the lift.”
“You’re welcome. I enjoyed our date, honey.”
It wouldn’t do any good denying it was date. Trace had it in his head it was.
Both men stood like statues, refusing to move.
“Well, good night, then.” She made her way past Trace and rolled her eyes at Brooks as she brushed by him. His lips twitched in amusement, and for that split second, devilish images of tossing him over her shoulder played out in her head.
She left them both standing there and walked to her door. Curiosity had her turning around briefly to see Trace waiting until Brooks was well on his way before getting into his truck and starting the engine.
Men.
* * *
“So what’s with your ex showing up?” Brooks wasted no time with pleasantries, yet his tone coming through her cell phone was more curious than accusatory.
“Where are you?” It hadn’t been but ten minutes since he’d left her. Cozy in her pajamas and tucked into bed already, she really was unusually tired tonight and...confused. She hadn’t expected the man she’d banked all her dreams on once to show up with apologies and promises.
Promises that she’d waited so long to hear.
“I’m at my place. Sitting here wondering what’s going on with you. Are you okay?”
“I’m okay. It wasn’t really a date, Brooks. Trace wanted to talk to me and apologize, I guess. I agreed to meet him at the Christmas carnival.”
“So, are you forgiving him?”
“I don’t know what I am at the moment, Brooks.”
The line went silent. A moment ticked by, and then a sigh came through. “Is it none of my business?”
Now, that also was unexpected. Brooks had a way of getting to the heart of the matter. “It may be your business, a little, since we’ve been seeing each other.”
She hadn’t had to deal with the reality of their relationship until now. But it was evident Brooks had made her no promises and he was bound to leave for Chicago after the holidays, while Trace was offering her something that she’d always wanted. “I want to continue seeing you, Ruby.”
“I, uh, I just don’t know, Brooks.” Could she be blunt and tell him she couldn’t afford to get her heart broken again if she gave in to her feelings for him and he left town? Could she tell him that he hadn’t offered her the sun, the moon and the stars the way Trace once had? It was silly to think Brooks would. They’d known each other only a couple of weeks. Though things had been humming along very smoothly until Trace showed up. “I can’t be pressured right now.”
“I don’t want to pressure you, Ruby. But this guy’s hurt you once, and I wouldn’t want to see that happen again. I care about you.”
“I care about you, too, Brooks. But we both know...” She hesitated, biting her lip, searching for a way to put it that wouldn’t seem callous or crude. The truth was, they were hot for each other. They’d had a chance meeting in a bar—the cliché hook-up—and it would’ve ended there if Brooks hadn’t turned out to be a Preston. Now they couldn’t seem to keep their hands off each other.
“What do we know?” he asked.
“We’ve been thrown together under strange circumstances, wouldn’t you say?”
“I suppose. When I first met you, I never once thought you’d be a part of the Preston family. Shoot, it blew my mind when you walked into the barn that day. But I’m not sorry you did. Are you?”
The truth was, no. She wasn’t sorry she’d met Brooks. She liked him, and maybe her feelings went much deeper than that, but she wouldn’t face them. She couldn’t. It wasn’t just because he was Beau’s son. Or because of all of the secrecy and guilt involved in seeing Brooks. No, she couldn’t face deeper feelings because her heart wasn’t healed enough to let another man inside. So even though she’d slept with Brooks, readily giving him her body, she’d held a small part of herself back. She couldn’t give herself wholly to him, and at this point, he hadn’t asked that of her, either. “No, I’m not sorry.” Enough said for now on the subject. And because her curiosity was tapped, she asked, “Did you really come by to ask me a favor, or was that a little fib?”
“No fib. Although I’ll admit, I wanted to see you tonight.” His voice turned husky, and whenever it deepened like that, she melted a little inside.
“Did you want to go out for another ride tomorrow or something?”
“I’d love to. But that’s not the favor. The truth is, I’ve been thinking about my grandfather. I need to make my peace about him, and I’ve been putting off a visit to his nursing home. I’m not sure I’m ready to go it alone and face him. That man caused my family a lot of grief, and I don’t know how I’m going to react. But I need to put it behind me so
