rush—a warm, strong rush of water. She gave a silly giggle and said, “Sounds good. I won’t be long.”
She gathered up the bags and went inside to find the situation exactly as she’d predicted. The men barely acknowledged her presence except to ask if she’d bring them more beer. Kayla was in her room, and she was so thrilled with the tasty dinner she gave Ruth a hug.
“I can’t stay long,” Ruth said. “Carter came with me. He’s waiting in the car.”
“Oh my God! He likes you! I’m so excited!”
Ruth might have been excited too, but she knew better. Carter wasn’t going to fall for her. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t help him out and enjoy being friends with him.
She could use more of those. Friends.
“I don’t think there’s anything to be excited about, but he’s a really nice guy. Maybe we can do something tomorrow. Go shopping or something. I’ll call you.”
“Have fun tonight. Tell me all about it.” Kayla was grinning as Ruth left.
Ruth was smiling too, and as she hurried back to the car, she saw through the windshield that Carter was smiling back at her.
A few more flutters awoke in her chest at his expression, but she gave them a firm mental lecture until they behaved themselves and went away.
Two
TWO WEEKS LATER, RUTH was on a cozy love seat in a Green Valley coffee shop. It was her fifth date with Carter. In addition to the evening they’d first met, they’d had lunch together twice and gone to the annual symphony in the park together last weekend.
Tonight they’d had a romantic dinner at an upscale restaurant overlooking the lake. Afterward, they’d held hands as they walked around town—making sure they were widely observed by the curious residents of town—and ended up at Roasted, where they’d split a cupcake and tried to act like one of those obnoxiously sappy couples Ruth had always rolled her eyes about.
If this were a real relationship, Ruth would be over the moon about how well it was going. Even recognizing it was fake, she was enjoying herself more than she would have imagined. It felt like she and Carter were mischievous children, knowing they were being a little bit naughty and relishing it all the more because of it.
She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had so much fun.
“You want another one?” Carter asked, licking the last of the cream cheese icing off his fingertips. He had very good fingers. Long and agile and strong. He also had a really good mouth.
She couldn’t help but watch with visceral interest as he sucked one of his fingers in a brief, casual move. There had never been anything overtly sexual in his interaction with Ruth for the past two weeks. He wasn’t that kind of guy. He was thoughtful. Careful. Decent. Always buttoned-up and holding tight to whatever he was feeling. Which made the thoughtless gesture with the icing all the more distracting since it hit her out of the blue with a wave of physical attraction.
She ignored it. Of course she did. Carter was a handsome man, and noticing that fact from time to time was inevitable. But she had no real interest in someone who was still hung up on his brother’s wife. A man who’d never fall for a woman like her even if he were emotionally available.
She might still be fairly young, but she’d lived most of her twenty-six years knowing daydreams and fairy tales didn’t come true. After all, when her dad had walked out when she was six, she’d spent the following year hoping and dreaming and praying he’d come back and make them a family again.
He never had.
More often than not, people let you down. Especially when you expected them to change.
Or expected them to fall in love with you.
She wasn’t going to go down that road, no matter how hot Carter was, sucking his finger.
“Is something wrong?” he asked, his dark eyebrows pulling together with that questioning concern that she’d learned was typical for him.
“No. Of course not.” Ruth had to hand it to Carter. Despite his innate consideration of other people, he was adorably clueless about what she was actually thinking. He had no idea she was lusting after him right now. “I was just trying to decide about another cupcake. But I’m pretty full, and if I eat any more, I might feel sick.”
“Okay.” They’d been sitting quite close together in the interest of acting their parts, but now Carter eased back