Page 14 of Deception and New Direction (Ranger Shield Security #3)
She paused and gave me a stern look then continued. “ I believe you told me you can’t help when the timing is right. You said I should just take it slow and see where things go—and if it works out, then great.”
I did remember having that conversation, and now I regretted it.
“I told you I was worried that if it didn’t work out, it would be awkward, both because my brother worked with him and because he would be my boss,” Ellie continued.
Ellie worked as a bartender and server here at the Watering Hole while she was taking college courses, and Wade was her manager and sometimes even worked alongside her at the bar.
“I believe your exact response to me was, ‘ Ellie , I get that, but you also shouldn’t hold back from something you want just in the off chance something might go bad—and in the short term, at least you get to have some amazing sex.’ Though just saying, if you and Jack do have sex, I don’t necessarily want the nitty gritty details,” Ellie added.
“You can tell me instead, since I’m the only one here not having sex,” Val commented. “ I can live vicariously through you all.”
I had no problem being with a man. I’d had one-night stands before.
In fact, that was usually what I preferred, but Jack was different.
If it didn’t work out, I didn’t want it to get uncomfortable with Jack and me at work.
I know I’d told Ellie not to worry about that very fact, but she and Wade were different.
Wade only rarely worked a shift at the pub—usually when multiple people called in sick.
Ellie also didn’t plan to work there after she graduated college.
For me, I saw Jack every single day at work, and I had no intention of leaving this job.
Not wanting to explain that to my friends, I opted to change the topic instead.
“Okay, enough about me. How’s wedding planning going?” I looked to her, hoping she would take the hint and move on.
She stared at me and gave me a small smirk before answering. “ I know you’re deflecting, so I’ll just say this, and then I’ll move on. I like you for Jack , and I like him for you even more.”
Her soft smile grew bigger before turning to the rest of the ladies. “ It’s just a small wedding, and we’re having it in Wade’s parents’ backyard garden. Speaking of which, I want you all to be my bridesmaids.”
“Oh my gosh I’m so excited!” Val screeched. “ I’ve never been in anyone’s wedding before!”
“You’ve never even been to a wedding period,” Cat replied. “ Neither of us have. Well , unless you count our aunt’s wedding when I was five and you were one, but I don’t remember that.”
Cat and Val had been in Witness Protection for most of their adult lives, which meant they hadn’t gotten to experience many things that other people usually did.
I hadn’t been to many either. One for my mom’s friends when I was younger, and one for a co-worker at the salon I worked at in Vegas , but that was it. I had never been a bridesmaid either and was honored.
“I’m honored, Ellie ,” I told her. “ But I’ve also never been a bridesmaid before, so I’m not sure what to do.”
“You all don’t really need to do anything,” she replied. “ It’s mostly a formality. Wade’s mom and sisters have essentially decided to take over the planning and get a caterer and tents and such. It will be a small wedding with just our friends and a few family members of Wade’s .”
“Google says we have to throw you a bachelorette party, and I am so nominating myself for this job,” Val said excitedly.
“You don’t have to do that,” Ellie said, smiling.
“Hell yes I do! Oh my God , look at these,” Val said, holding up her phone for us to see. “ I am so buying these penis necklaces for all of us to wear. Ooooh , and matching T -shirts!”
We all laughed at Val’s excitement, and I realized I loved these ladies so much.
“I asked Tammy to also be a bridesmaid, but she told me she was too old for that,” Ellie added. “ But she offered to show up for the bachelorette party and be our designated driver if we needed one.”
Tammy was a hoot, and I was thrilled she would be joining us.
“I have to pee. Would you let me out?” Cat said to Ellie so she could slide out of the booth.
“I’ll come with you so we can talk more options for the bachelorette party,” Val announced, following her out.
Once they were several steps away from the booth, Ellie turned to me and spoke. “ Not to throw a curveball at you, but I was actually wondering if you’d be my maid of honor. Would you, Ruthie ?”
I was speechless. The smile that had been on my face from Val’s comments was now gone. In its place was a slightly open mouth as I stared at her.
“You were the first friend I made when I moved here, and we’ve only grown closer since, and I’d love to have you by my side when I marry Wade .”
Tears filled my eyes as I nodded, unable to say any words at that moment. She smiled back at me as I coughed and tried to muster the ability to answer her.
“Yes,” I replied hoarsely.
“Great,” she said softly and smiled at me.
She acted like I had just given her the moon, when in reality she’d given me something I had never truly had—a deep, loyal friendship.
The girls returned, and we discussed everything from what we would wear to taking Ellie dress shopping. Tammy also stopped by briefly to discuss the bachelorette party.
An hour later, we were all finally ready to head home. For Val and Ellie , that meant going upstairs to their apartments. For Cat and me, that meant heading to Vince’s car, since he was our designated driver for the evening.
Vince had just walked in and made his way to the table when we all slid out of the booth. The first thing he did was pull Cat in for a hug and kissed her senseless.
“Ewww,” Val said, sticking her tongue out. “ I think I just got strep throat watching that.”
“What was that for?” Cat asked him with a smile on her face.
“To let every man in here who is staring at you that you are taken,” Vince growled back. “ Did you ladies all have fun?”
We all nodded and made our way to the door. Tammy yelled goodbye from the bar, and we waved back to her as we left. Vince made sure Ellie and Val made it to the elevator lobby for their apartments, and then guided Cat and me to his car.
The car ride wasn’t very long, and it was filled mostly with Cat telling him about the wedding plans.
When we arrived at Jack’s house, both Cat and Vince offered to come inside with me to make sure Dash didn’t knock me over in his excitement. After I was greeted with copious amounts of Dash love, I said goodbye to Vince and Cat and made my way to my room to get ready for bed.
It wasn’t exactly late, but it also wasn’t early, and I didn’t want to dwell on the fact that Jack wasn’t home.
I took a shower—which I had learned was much easier to do at night with my cast instead of in the morning so I didn’t have to rush.
It took time covering the cast up with a bag, and time was not something I had a lot of in the morning since I preferred using it to sleep in.
After finishing up my nighttime routine, I went to go let Dash out one last time before bed.
As I let him back in, instead of coming to me for a treat, he made a beeline for the garage door, which, seconds later, Jack came walking through.
It wasn’t even nine o’clock yet, which I found made me a little gleeful that his date night had ended so early.
Even with that positive note, I clearly still had some residual jealousy in me—which I hated—because I spoke before I thought better of it.
“You’re home kinda early. Date night not go as well as you thought?”
There was definite snark in my voice, and I regretted asking. Mostly because it made me sound like a bitch—a jealous one.
“Date night?” he asked, his brow furrowed as if confused by my comment.
“You said you were meeting up with someone after work. I just made the assumption it didn’t go well if you’re already home, but it’s none of my business.”
Instead of responding, he just stared at me, a small grin tugging at the side of his mouth.
That haughty grin was more than I could take. It was one thing to know that he went out with someone. It was another for him to be smug about it. Deciding it was best to head back to my room before I said something else stupid, I turned away from him and hollered for Dash to follow.