Page 66 of Stuck With the Best Man

“Ben?”

I halt so fast that my momentum almost sends me tumbling forward into an overflowing recycling bin.

When I spin around, there she is.There she is. Tall, beautiful, and painfully intimidating. Her hair is pinned in a ballerina bun, her face flushed from the June heat. She’s yanked on a pair of track pants over her blue leotard and, despite the fact that it’s summer, is wearing a pair of Uggs. The strap of her athletic bag digs into her bare shoulder as she stands there, keys in hand, and stares at me.

“Hi,” I say.

“What are you doing here?”

She doesn’t look angry or freaked out. So that has to mean something good, right?

“You didn’t answer my calls,” I answer.

Ruby snorts softly. “So, you came to my building?”

Her eyes land on the lilacs. I watch her brow furrow with confusion.

I hold out the flowers for her. “I left the company.”

She stares at the heavy purple flowers, so dense that the stems bend under the weight of the petals.

When she accepts them, I breathe a sigh of relief.

“I heard,” she answers.

“And Katia is retiring,” I add.

Ruby nods. “Yes.”

“You’re going to be promoted to principal.”

“It’s hasn’t been decided yet, but—”

“But you will be promoted, Ruby. I know it.”

She presses her lips together. “Why did you leave? I thought the position on the board was important to you.”

I shake my head. “No. It was important to my family. And I don’t think that’s a good enough reason to keep doing something. Especially if it keeps me away from the girl I’m falling for.”

Ruby glances down at the flowers in her arms. A strand of hair has escaped her bun, curling in the humid air. Without thinking, I reach out and touch it. She lets me.

“Ben…”

I take her hand. “Go on a date with me, Ruby. Let me at least try to convince you to like me as much as I like you.”

She squeezes my hand. A spark comes to life in her eyes. It fills me with delirious hope.

“That won’t take much convincing,” she whispers.

“Is that a yes?”

“Yes, Ben. I’ll go on a date with you.”

“We—”

“Justone,” she clarifies. “For now. And it has to fit into my schedule. Also, ballet will always be the priority. If I’m really going to be promoted, I can’t afford any distractions. I really shouldn’t… well, I won’t be the easiest person to be in a relationship with, Ben.”

“I don’t want easy,” I tell her. “I just want you.”

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