night and not reported it? It would have made sense, but there was something so personal about his message, like he meant it for me and me only. I started getting a headache from thinking on an empty stomach, so I let it go and planned to bring it up with Cooper when I saw him.
The bells jingled when I pushed the door open, startling Jay and Peyta both. It was a good thing I wasn't the Rev, being that neither seemed at all clued in to their surroundings and hadn't even bothered to lock the door. Not that it would have done much to deter him. They smiled when they saw me, though both looked somewhat bashful, moving away from each other enough to look more like acquaintances than friends.
“What are you two doing here today?” I asked, making my way into the showroom.
“We couldn't deal with Mom anymore,” Peyta replied with a sigh. “We needed to go somewhere.”
“Interesting choice of places to go.”
“I didn't think she would look here.” Peyta's cheeks blushed slightly as if her admission of wanting privacy told me more than it should have.
I decided to leave it be.
“I brought goodies,” I said, placing the grub down on the counter. “It's a ‘thank you for covering for me lately.’ I really appreciate it, P.”
“Thanks,” she said, rifling the éclair out of the bag, “but I'd love a raise more.” She shot me a smile with her eyes as she took a monstrous bite of her pastry. Jay laughed, ripping a chunk off of his quiche before tossing it into his mouth.
“Have either of you heard of utensils? They're all the rage these days,” I said, feigning disgust with their lack of table manners. I was going to go on an entire rant about it, but was cut short by the buzzing of my cell phone. I dug it out and flipped it over to see who it was.
Sean . I hadn't responded to his last text, which had really been an answer in and of itself. Out of sheer stubbornness or indignation, he'd upgraded to actually calling , so I knew I couldn't blow him off; he'd call until I answered.
“Yeah,” I grunted, the phone tucked against my shoulder as I walked to the back work area with my coffee. I didn't want to talk in front of the other two.
“So now we're talking?” he asked, voice playful.
“Did I have a choice?” I asked, contempt in my voice. I wasn't sure I was up for another interaction filled with a montage of emotions and mood swings.
“You always have a choice, Ruby,” he said, playfulness gone. “That's never changed.”
“Whatever,” I said, hoping to move things along. “You in a better mood today?”
“Yes.”
“I haven't spoken to Alan yet,” I said, beating him to what I assumed was the punch.
“I'm not calling about that. I know you haven't,” he said, sounding incredibly certain of himself.
“And how do you know that exactly?”
“You said you'd let me know. I haven't heard from you, therefore you haven't spoken to him.”
“And this isn't a friendly reminder call?”
“No,” he said, “it's an asking you out for dinner call.”
I hadn't expected him to say that, and I almost launched into my prepared response that I'd been working up quickly in my mind. I stumbled over my words for a minute trying to collect them.
“Oh...you're...you're asking me out?” I said, before muttering to myself. “Didn't see that coming.”
He laughed. Really laughed.
“You're relatively easy to derail, Ruby. It's quite endearing,” he said, collecting himself. “So what do you say?”
“Um...yeah. Sounds good,” I said, hesitating slightly. “But no bullshit, Sean. You pull any stunts like the other night and I'm bolting, understand?”
“No bullshit,” he repeated. “Got it.”
“Are you mocking me?” I asked, voice rising.
“Only a little,” he replied, no apology in his voice. “It's so hard not to sometimes.” He broke into another laugh. Two in one phone call was beyond uncharacteristic. “I'll pick you up at six then?”
“You're picking me up?” I
The bells jingled when I pushed the door open, startling Jay and Peyta both. It was a good thing I wasn't the Rev, being that neither seemed at all clued in to their surroundings and hadn't even bothered to lock the door. Not that it would have done much to deter him. They smiled when they saw me, though both looked somewhat bashful, moving away from each other enough to look more like acquaintances than friends.
“What are you two doing here today?” I asked, making my way into the showroom.
“We couldn't deal with Mom anymore,” Peyta replied with a sigh. “We needed to go somewhere.”
“Interesting choice of places to go.”
“I didn't think she would look here.” Peyta's cheeks blushed slightly as if her admission of wanting privacy told me more than it should have.
I decided to leave it be.
“I brought goodies,” I said, placing the grub down on the counter. “It's a ‘thank you for covering for me lately.’ I really appreciate it, P.”
“Thanks,” she said, rifling the éclair out of the bag, “but I'd love a raise more.” She shot me a smile with her eyes as she took a monstrous bite of her pastry. Jay laughed, ripping a chunk off of his quiche before tossing it into his mouth.
“Have either of you heard of utensils? They're all the rage these days,” I said, feigning disgust with their lack of table manners. I was going to go on an entire rant about it, but was cut short by the buzzing of my cell phone. I dug it out and flipped it over to see who it was.
Sean . I hadn't responded to his last text, which had really been an answer in and of itself. Out of sheer stubbornness or indignation, he'd upgraded to actually calling , so I knew I couldn't blow him off; he'd call until I answered.
“Yeah,” I grunted, the phone tucked against my shoulder as I walked to the back work area with my coffee. I didn't want to talk in front of the other two.
“So now we're talking?” he asked, voice playful.
“Did I have a choice?” I asked, contempt in my voice. I wasn't sure I was up for another interaction filled with a montage of emotions and mood swings.
“You always have a choice, Ruby,” he said, playfulness gone. “That's never changed.”
“Whatever,” I said, hoping to move things along. “You in a better mood today?”
“Yes.”
“I haven't spoken to Alan yet,” I said, beating him to what I assumed was the punch.
“I'm not calling about that. I know you haven't,” he said, sounding incredibly certain of himself.
“And how do you know that exactly?”
“You said you'd let me know. I haven't heard from you, therefore you haven't spoken to him.”
“And this isn't a friendly reminder call?”
“No,” he said, “it's an asking you out for dinner call.”
I hadn't expected him to say that, and I almost launched into my prepared response that I'd been working up quickly in my mind. I stumbled over my words for a minute trying to collect them.
“Oh...you're...you're asking me out?” I said, before muttering to myself. “Didn't see that coming.”
He laughed. Really laughed.
“You're relatively easy to derail, Ruby. It's quite endearing,” he said, collecting himself. “So what do you say?”
“Um...yeah. Sounds good,” I said, hesitating slightly. “But no bullshit, Sean. You pull any stunts like the other night and I'm bolting, understand?”
“No bullshit,” he repeated. “Got it.”
“Are you mocking me?” I asked, voice rising.
“Only a little,” he replied, no apology in his voice. “It's so hard not to sometimes.” He broke into another laugh. Two in one phone call was beyond uncharacteristic. “I'll pick you up at six then?”
“You're picking me up?” I
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