Page 54

She pressed her tortoiseshell glasses more firmly against her face with a wide-eyed look. “What are you going to do? Tie me to a chair?”

My lips twitched. “Or the bed.”

Ruth’s neck suddenly glowed pink. “That’s not very practical.”

“No, but it would be fun.”

She leveled a down-tilted look my way. “I’m going.”

“I can see that,” I sighed. I reached over to the kitchen counter and picked up her leather knapsack. “I’ll drive you, then.”

She glanced away. “I guess that’s okay.”

“You bet your cute ass it is,” I muttered, reaching over to her front door and opening it for her. “You’re not driving with stitches in your knee and pain meds in your system.”

“Youmade me take those,” she reminded me. She limped past me, and the scent of her apple shampoo and all the random products she’d put in her curly hair wafted around me in a delicious swirl. It took a massive effort on my end not to drag her back in and bury my face in the curve of her neck.

As I followed her out, Ruth paused just beyond her threshold, and her head swiveled left, and then right. I followed her gaze, taking in the quiet apartment complex with the sidewalk that ran between the two buildings, and the thick trees that lined each side. She hesitated, her body tensing, and then she turned to me with a stiff expression. “What’s wrong?” I asked.

She shook her head. “Just… don’t know where your car is.”

I cinched my eyelids together in suspicion. “You sure?”

She nodded in a jerky motion. “I’m sure.”

I wasn’t sure. Not at all. There were little pieces of Ruth I hadn’t gathered together yet, and they surfaced on her expressive features from time to time. It was all part of getting to know someone new, but I wished she would trust me. I thought back to what I’d blithely said to her boss last Friday.“It just makes it all the sweeter when you earn them.”I’d had a sense of that even then, but it was even more true now. The problem was, I wasn’t gathering anything. I was wrenching them slowly from Ruth’s ironclad defenses one millimeter at a time.

I led her to my car after remote starting it and getting the A/C going. At eight in the morning, heat hung heavy and humid in the air, and the rain the last two days hadn’t done much to cool it down. I handed Ruth her bag after she awkwardly wiggled into the passenger seat with her leg stiff and stretched out in front of her. I hadn’t wanted to say anything in case I caused her to overthink our night, but sex had likely been a bit hard on her.

She sighed in relief as she sat back, and I gave her a suspicious glance. She met it with a side-bounce of her eyes. “Don’t look at me like that.”

“Like what? I’m super glad you’re putting life and limb on the line to help the single folks of Eugene, Oregon,” I muttered testily.

Ruth snorted. “‘Lifeand limb’ is a little dramatic.” She paused, as if unsure about herself, but then she blurted, “Plus, you need me tomorrow, don’t you?” She zipped and unzippedher bag nervously. “For your award thing.”

I tried to temper my smile, but it curved up in a steady arc anyway. “Are you asking me on a date, Dr. Coldwell?”

“No,” she mumbled, sitting up straighter. “It’s just that I already agreed and everything.”

I leaned my elbow against the window and tapped my lips. “So, you still want to go on afakedate with me tomorrow?”

Ruth cleared her throat. “Sure.”

I sighed loudly. “I don’t know. The last time I fake-dated you, you ditched me.”

Ruth brought her bag up to her face and pressed it against her features. “I already regret this.” But as she lowered her bag, she fought a smile of her own, and my heart gave a happy clench at the thought that I had put it there. “I promise I won’t ditch you.”

“Ruth,” I chuckled, “I’d be honored to have you with me tomorrow. As long as you’re feeling up to it.”

“I’ll be fine,” she said with quiet confidence.

Fifteen minutes later, I pulled up to Ruth’s building first, parking along the curb in front of a meter and putting the car into park. She gave me a confused frown. “You’re parking here?”

“I can walk a few blocks to work,” I shrugged. With a devious glint, I added, “Plus, I’m your husband. Ishouldwalk you up to your office.”

“You are way too enthusiastic about that,” she replied with a soft huff.

I kind of was. Disconcertingly, in fact. I got Ruth’s door for her, and then we went into the historical downtown building where the blast of A/C sent a chill down my neck. Ruth went for the elevator, and I glanced around the lobby. My eyes landed on the black and white sign that listed business names, suite numbers, and floors. My brows drew together as I read the only doctor on the list. “Dr. Rook, Floor 2, Suite 2A.”