Page 66 of Heart of the West

May I pick you up for dinner at seven?”

Effrem

With a huge smile on my face. I sent him a quick text and accept his dinner invitation.

Effrem

Ruby sent me a text to accept the dinner invitation. I sent her one back to let her know where we’re going. I didn’t want to beresponsible for a wrong outfit choice. That happened once with Evie. Once was enough.

The day passes quickly. I have just enough time to get home, shower, and change before heading to the Broken B to pick up Ruby. I park at the B and B with five minutes to spare. Hurrying out of the truck, I take the steps two at time going through the front door then to Ruby’s room.

I knocked on the door. When she opens it, my breath catches in my throat. She’s wearing a deep blue velvet dress that makes her eyes pop and her porcelain skin glow.

I whistle. “Damn, you look fine, Ruby Cline.”

She laughs. “Nice rhyme.”

“You look good enough to eat.” I say, pulling her to me and devouring her mouth.

I kiss her until we’re both breathing heavy. She’s leaning against me, one hand on my chest, the other wrapped around the back of my neck.

“I missed you.”

She blushes. “I missed you too.”

“Ready for dinner?”

She pats her stomach. “We’re starving,”

We held hands on the way to the parking lot. I open the door and help her up into the truck. I even lean in and fasten her seatbelt before getting into the driver’s side.

Ruby

That kiss was hot. So freaking hot. My panties are damp. The man has no clue he’s sex on a stick. I don’t know how the women in town kept their hands off him all these years. I blow into town and don’t last a week before I’m pregnant.

The thought still blows my mind. All these years Roger lied to me, but why? He wanted children. His father was always pressuring him to continue the family line.

Willem was insistent the child had to be of his blood. We couldn’t adopt and please him. I wanted to adopt anyway or use a surrogate. Roger shot down those options and told his father we wouldn’t be going to fertility specialist after fertility specialist. Now I know why he refused. All this time, I thought he was sticking up for me. I should have known better.

“I found an OB. I’ll go next month to get an ultrasound. Do you want to go with me?”

Effrem reaches for my hand, entwining it in his.

“I’d go to all the appointments with you if you’d let me.”

“Really?”

“Really, I know we talked about taking things slow and the baby changes that, but there’s no need for us to speed up so much that either of us feel uncomfortable.”

This man never ceases to give me a lot to think about. He takes time to explain the why of things to me instead of saying no and that’s it. Being in a relationship like this is going to take some getting used to.

Chapter 40

Ruby

We came to a stop at a place called Arnault’s. They have valet parking. I didn’t think Wolf Creek had anything this fancy. Not that I need it, but it’s nice. The outside design is surprisingly Spanish, with a French name like Arnault’s. It’s stucco with clay tile roofing. The lobby has stone floors and white walls with what I’d call rustic French Country decor done in blues and greens.

When the Maître d' seats us. I note the large butcher block tables and wooden chairs. The tables covered in fine white linen while the chairs boated changed covered seating and drapery. An efficient team changed out the linens on a far table while we were escorted to our cozy corner booth.

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