Page 105 of Bet On Me, Daddy

“Get out.” There was no anger behind the words now, because she was too empty to feel much of anything. “Please just… go, Beckett.”

“No. No, I’m not leaving you here alone. Not in this state.”

“Red,” she whispered, soft but firm as she met his shocked gaze headlong. “I’m saying red, Beckett, because I am done. With this conversation, with you, with all of it.Red.”

Dropping his hands, he gave a single wooden nod. “All right. But I’m not done with you, Ruby Red. I’ll go and I’ll give you however much time you need to be pissed at me. But this isn’t over.”

With that, he turned on his heel and strode from her bedroom. And as the door slammed behind him, hard enough to rattle the walls, she slid to the floor.

And wept.

CHAPTER 35

RUBY

She let herself cry it out, and then she took another shower, mostly to let the steam clear her head a bit. Feeling somewhat human again, she dressed for the day and picked up her phone from the nightstand.

No messages. Which was a good thing. It meant he was respecting her decision and keeping his distance, just like she’d asked.

There was no reason whatsoever for her heart to break all over again. None.

Pushing thoughts of Beckett and her empty notifications aside, she took a deep breath and pressed the button to call Jacqueline.

“Ruby! I was literally just about to call you. Palmetto Enterprises emailed me this morning to say you quit. What happened, girl?”

“I didn’t quit. It was all a huge misunderstanding.” She gave Jacqueline a brief rundown of how sick she’d been yesterday, sleeping through the phone call, and Beckett’s conversation with Nancy. “So, yeah. I had no idea until about thirty minutes ago that any of this had even gone down. Is there any chance you can get me that job back? I could really use the money.”

“Of course. The owner and I are good friends. I’ll ask her if she’s available for a lunch date and see if I can’t work something out.”

Relief flooded her, nearly making her knees weak. “Thank you so much. I owe you one.”

“Nonsense. You just get some rest and worry about getting better. Oh, and don’t be too hard on your man. Sounds like he was just looking out for you.”

You mean trying to control me.“I guess. Thanks again, Jacqueline. I really appreciate you.”

“Any time.”

Feeling much lighter, at least where her job and finances were considered, Ruby tucked her phone in her pocket and headed to her kitchen to make something to eat.

Her fully stocked kitchen, courtesy of one Beckett Stone.

Never mind. Maybe she wasn’t hungry, after all.

Just as she’d decided to go back to bed, her intercom buzzed. Riding high on her righteous fury, she stomped over and jabbed the button. “If you’re here to apologize, you can fuck right off, Beckett.”

Deep, throaty laughter floated through the speaker, followed by the absolute last voice Ruby had ever expected to hear. “I’m not here to apologize, though now I feel like perhaps I should.”

“Oh my god. Silver. I’m so sorry. That wasn’t—I wasn’t expecting you.”

“I figured as much. Can I come up anyway?”

“Yes. Yes, of course.” Fingers trembling, Ruby pushed the button on her intercom. “The door should be unlocked now.”

“Perfect! I’ll be right up.”

Holy shit. Holyshit. Silver,theSilver, was on her way up to Ruby’s apartment right this second.

She needed to clean. Or something.

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