Page 66 of Forbidden Dark Vows

“Why don’t you jump in the shower?” Ruby nudges me in the direction of the bathroom. “I’ll order room service.”

I’d planned on dining out with Ruby, our first date, which seems utterly crazy since we’ve flown to the UK and back again together and she’s wearing the heart-shaped diamond on her finger. But now that I’m not in a moving vehicle with the hum of an engine beneath me, the tiredness feels like trying to battle my way, blindfolded, out of a giant spider web.

In the bathroom, I step into the walk-in shower and stand under the hot water with my eyes closed, waiting for it to cleanse the disappointment of my trip to Washington State from me. I lose track of time, my brain sliding back and forth between constantly being one step behind my sister and trying to figure out who is having me followed. During the flight, I’d made up mymind not to mention this to Ruby, but now that I’m here, I don’t want to go any further with secrets between us.

Clean, I blast cold water over me, trying to shake the fug from my brain. It helps a little. When I emerge from the bathroom in a cloud of steam, Ruby has created a picnic on the rug in front of the floor-to-ceiling window and is waiting for me, cross-legged, a robe wrapped around her, and her hair loose over her shoulders.

“Something smells good.” I fasten my fluffy white robe around my waist and sit opposite her, eying up the food. “Pizza?” I can’t help smiling at Ruby’s menu choice.

“Comfort food.” She picks up a slice of pepperoni pizza, strands of melted mozzarella sticking to her chin and trailing down her neck as she tilts her head back to catch them on her tongue and misses.

There are sticky chicken wings, spicy fries, sweet chili and garlic mayo dips, apple pie and cream, all to be washed down with a couple of cold beers. I help myself to a slice of pizza, realizing that it’s exactly what I needed. “Heaven on a plate.”

“Or a takeout box.” Ruby pops open her can of beer and taps it against mine. “Thought we’d do Chicago my way.”

“I’m glad we did.”

“You’re not disappointed I didn’t order champagne?”

I dip my pizza in mayo and take a huge bite, the spicy meat and fragrant tomato sauce exploding on my tongue. “It’s an acquired taste.”

“Like oysters.”

I can’t help grinning at her. “Never could get to grips with oysters.”

She chooses a chicken wing and licks sauce from her fingers and wrist. “Have you noticed how sauce gets literally everywhere even though you only move your hand from the plate directly to your mouth?”

“The manufacturers are in cahoots with the laundry detergent companies.”

She laughs. “Favorite pizza? And please don’t say Hawaiian.”

“What happens if I say Hawaiian?” I swallow a mouthful of beer. The pizza and shower combined have reenergized me, the blood pumping around my body and reminding me how good it will feel to be inside Ruby Jackson.

She peers at me mischievously over the top of a chicken wing and licks her lips. “I might have to think of a suitable punishment. Pineapple on pizza is just wrong.”

I get up, stroll casually to the bedside table, and pick up the phone. “Hello?” I pretend to call room service. “Can I get a large Hawaiian pizza with extra pineapple?”

Laughing, Ruby waits for me to sit down before she tosses a pizza crust at me. It bounces off my nose and lands inside the mayo dip like it was a trick shot she perfected while I was showering.

“You are not the man I thought you were, Mr. Weiss. I might just have to call the whole wedding thing off.”

“Shucks. And here I was hoping we could set the date.”

Ruby stuffs some fries into her mouth and chews, still watching me with that playful glint in her eye. “What date did you have in mind, Mr. Weiss?”

Now that I’ve sowed the seed, what the hell have I got to lose? This has nothing to do with anyone else apart from me and Ruby, and I want to marry her now more than ever.

“Six weeks’ time.”

She almost chokes on a mouthful of beer, liquid spluttering from her mouth, her eyes watering. She swallows. “For a moment there, I thought you said six weeks’ time.”

“I did.”

“Why? I mean, why six weeks?”

“Why not?”

She licks her fingers and wipes her hands on a napkin. She’s stalling, and my gut churns with the awful premonition that she has changed her mind. I’ve gotten caught up in the moment, the swanky hotel room, the Chicago skyline, the pizza, and pushed her too far.

---