Page 67 of Grumpy Boss in Love

“What do you think I should do?”

She craned her neck to look at me with a frown. “Me?”

“You’re better at the emotional stuff than I am.”

“True, Mr. Emotionally repressed.”

I hit her with one of my annoyed scowls… that had lessened since I started spending time with her.

Her smirk disappeared and her expression became somber. “I think you should talk to Jane. Forgive her. If she’s trying to connect with you, give her a chance. You’re lucky to have one parent who cares.”

Sadness was clear in her voice. I looked down to see her staring straight ahead. There was no mistaking the wistfulness on her face. Ruby constantly talked about her sisters but never once had she mentioned her parents.

“Why don’t you ever talk about your parents?” I ask.

Her heavy sigh fluttered around the room. “Too painful.”

“Are they still…?”

“My mom is no longer with us, and my dad abandoned the family when I was barely one. I don’t know him.”

I searched for something to say other thanI’m sorry. What could I possibly say to erase the pain from her voice?

Before I could respond, she added. “My sister found our father not too long ago. He changed his name and started a new family. I guess we weren’t good enough for him.”

My eyebrows elevated. The man sounded like a bigger asshole than my father.

“Sometimes, I kind of hate him for what he did to us, to Mom.” She shuffled in my arms to rest her cheek on my forearm. “She went crazy after he left, and I mean that literally. It was my sisters who raised me.”

“I’m… sorry,” I said lamely.

“I’ve lied to my sisters this entire time.”

I glanced down at her. “What do you mean?”

“I’ve always given them the impression that Dad leaving didn’t affect me because I don’t remember him. I didn’t want them to worry about me, but it did have an impact on me.”

“How so?”

“One of my biggest fears is giving someone my heart, too much of myself, only to be destroyed when the person bails. My sisters think that I’m the only one who escaped that emotional scar, and I let them think that. I pretend that I don’t date or have serious relationships because I’m too young, and I want to focus on building my career. But it’s really because I’m terrified of getting hurt the way my dad hurt our family.”

Something wet slid down my hand. I looked down and realized she was in tears. My horror mounted. I wasn’t the best at comforting people. However, in typical Ruby fashion, she switched from sad to sassy within a second. Lifting her head, she turned to glower at me. “I swear, Elliot, if you tell anyone you witness me crying about my dad…”

I snorted, a tad amused by her threatening stare. “Who am I going to tell? You and Ben are my only friends.”

She sniffed and then softened. Reaching up to palm my face, she said, “Oh, Elliot… We’ll get you more friends.”

“We?”

“Stick with me and I’ll take you places, kid,” she quipped.

I threw my head back and laughed. This was why I would indeed stick with her. Ruby made my life… enjoyable. “You’re insane.”

She grinned. “Kiss me, you reformed grump.”

Chuckling, I obliged. The longer our kiss went on, the tenderness turned to consuming passion. Our mouths moved voraciously and with new desperation. Soon, I had her on her back, hungry and ready to indulge. Before I started, I couldn’t help thinking that I wanted more of this. Me and Ruby together.

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