Page 50 of Love Thy Brother
He was still messing with paperwork and tapping keys on the ten-year-old laptop that took twenty minutes to do anything. I flipped the top down and pushed the papers off the desk. “Where’s your bike?”
Rubi slowly turned his head, the couple of inches he had on me forcing him to look down. “Why?”
“I just wondered where you’d parked it.”
“Where I always park it, between Saint and Mateo on the strip.”
“It’s not here?”
“Didn’t feel like riding. I left Cam’s car at Morrisons. Probably been towed by now.”
I computed the logistics. “You’ve been here the whole time? You haven’t been home?”
Rubi’s gaze slid to the invoices I’d chucked on the floor, fingers twitching like he wanted to scoop them up. “Aw, shucks, Riv. I didn’t think you cared.”
“Where are you sleeping?”
“Safehouse.”
“What?”
He squatted and rescued the invoices. “We have spots all over the place. You know this.”
“I didn’t know you had themhere.”
“Then you’re an idiot. Even without you to worry about, we’ve had business in Porth Luck for years. Businessyouhelped run when you rode with the club.”
“Cam told me you gave it all up.”
“When?”
“Ten minutes ago. He was convincing and I want to believe him. Was he lying?”
Rubi put the invoices back on the table. He scrubbed a hand through his golden beard, a small smile playing on his lips. A beautiful smile I craved to my fucking core. “He’s not lying. Neither was I when I told you the family business is timber and trucks these days.”
“Lorries and logs, eh?”
“Something like that. It ain’t perfect, but we’ve got a council with a lot to lose.”
“Our parents had that, and they didn’t give a shit.”
“And they lost it all, Riv. Don’t think we ever forget that.”
Rubi held my gaze a moment, then it drifted back to the organised oasis he’d made of my desk.
I wasn’t ready to let him go, but I was scared of what I’d see if I forced him to look at me again.
His shoulder had always been the perfect height for me to loll my head on. Lots had changed, but not that.
It was so easy to tip my cheek against his solid flesh and close my eyes.
After a second, he rubbed his scruffy chin against my temple, a slow sigh breaching his lips. “All right?”
Nope. Neither was he. I ignored the question and found his hand instead, slotting our fingers together. “Will you wait for me after work?”
“Is that a real question?”
I rubbed my thumb over his knuckles. “Is that your answer?”
