the gun, clicking through a few screens until I could see everything we’d scanned. “As of now, if everything on this registry is purchased, you’ll have two-hundred-and-seventy-three of them. And I’m pretty sure you don’t plan on hosting any parties that big.”
Her face screwed up like she was certain I couldn’t possibly be right. She snagged the gun out of my hand, studying the screen before she let out a long sigh, pressing one of her delicate hands to her forehead. She held it there for a moment before dragging it over her face on a groan.
“Okay. You win.”
I smiled. “My favorite words to hear.”
Ruby Grace shoved my gun back into my chest. “The problem is when are we going to go anywhere or do anything when I have so much to get done?”
“That’s easy. We go now.”
“Now?!” She gaped. “We still have so much to register. We have two more floors to cover.”
“So?” I shrugged. “We’ll get it done. We have time.”
“My bridal shower is next Saturday. And the wedding is in less than four weeks.”
I huffed, dropping my gun on an empty part of the table next to us before I grabbed her upper arms in my hands. “Ruby Grace, there is nothing that needs to be done in this moment. Everything will be okay. Everything will get done — and in time. I promise.”
“But I can’t go anywhere right now. I’m not dressed for anything, unless we’re registering for wedding gifts at a department store or going to church,” she pointed out, gesturing to her knee-length sun dress and wedges.
“That’s half the fun. We’ll figure out what we want to do and then buy the clothes we need to do it.”
“But—”
“You are spreading yourself so thin, you’re going to disappear completely by the time your wedding day gets here if you don’t take a moment to just live a little.”
Her little bottom lip poked out at that, and I had to fight against the urge to pull her into me, frame that beautiful face, suck that lip between my teeth…
“You’re tired. You need a break. We both do.” I paused, searching her worried gaze. “Trust me?”
“No.”
I laughed. “Liar.”
She smiled a little at that, and then let out another long breath, her little shoulders giving way with it. “Okay. I trust you.”
My heart did a little flip at that victory. “Good.”
“But… Noah?”
“Yeah?”
“Before we go, we have to at least eliminate these plates down to less than one hundred.”
She held up her gun, cringing at the screen.
I chuckled, swiping my gun off the table and spinning it in my hand a few times before tucking it in the band of my jeans like a cowboy. “Lead the way, Bonnie.”
“Does that make you Clyde?”
“Of course.”
“You know that story didn’t end very well, right?”
I smirked, stepping into her space and lowering my voice so only she could hear. “I guess we’ll have to re-write an ending of our own.”
I stood there a little too close, a little too long, eyes falling to her lips for the tiniest second before I caught her gaze again. And she didn’t say a word, didn’t swallow or step back. She just stood there, staring back at me, letting those words linger in the space between.
She still hadn’t taken a breath when I finally walked away.
Ruby Grace
“No.”
I crossed my arms, covering the new bathing suit top Noah had purchased me at the lake shop for our spontaneous “friend date.” It was all I wore — that new swim suit — but Noah was sitting on a beast of a machine, holding up a lifejacket he wanted me to put on over it.
“Come on,” he said on a laugh, holding up the bright pink jacket again. “You’re wasting daylight, and I have more planned for this friend date.”
“I’m not getting on that thing.”
“It’s a jet ski,” he reminded me.
“I know what it is, and I’m not getting on it.” I crossed my arms harder.
“It’s just like riding a horse.”
“No,” I argued, eyeing the beast. “On Tank, I knew you wouldn’t purposefully throw me off or do donuts or go sixty miles per hour.”
“It tops out at forty-five.”
I gave him a flat stare.
“Fine,” he said on another laugh. “I’ll keep it under twenty until you’re comfortable. And trust me, by the end of the day, you’ll be begging me to let you drive. It’s fun. And it’s safe. Wear the life jacket and pay attention to other vessels on the water. It’s that simple.”
I blew out a breath