The Way You Are by Carly Fall Page A

been just short of magnificent, and he needed to let his belt out a notch. Ruby had turned out to be not only a sweet, caring woman, but one hell of a cook. If she kept serving them meals during her stay, he’d have to lose a good five to seven pounds by the end of the week.
    “Out of those, I’d like to play Sorry ,” she stated.
    “I’ll watch,” Zach quipped.
    Garrett rolled his eyes. “Fine. Sorr y , it is.”
    He stood and brought the game over to the dining table. The temperature had dropped, and the heat from the fireplace in the living room warmed the kitchen. “What color, Ruby? Red?”
    “Oh, please,” she huffed. “No. Give me green.”
    “Green, it is.” He chuckled, took red for himself, and shuffled the cards.
    They played as Zach stroked Savannah.
    Ten minutes later, no one could ever accuse him of stacking the deck as Ruby kicked his ass. She had every pawn out of Home , while he only had one.
    He drew his next card, smiled, and set it down on the stack.
    “Dammit!” she exclaimed as she read the Sorry card that would send one of her pawns back to her home spot on the board.
    She drew her card and moved one of her pawns.
    Garrett’s next card also read Sorr y .
    “No-o!” Ruby wailed as she threw her head back and laughed.
    He chuckled at her competitive streak, sending another one of her pieces back to the starting square.
    “The competition is getting thick in here,” Zach commented while taking a swig of beer.
    Garrett now had three pawns out, while Ruby had two.
    He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. She smiled, obviously enjoying herself as she sipped her wine, her cheeks pink as she ran her fingers through her hair.
    They each drew a couple more times, and then it became Ruby’s turn again. She flipped over the card, squealed, and set it down. “Yes!” she yelled, standing so fast, the table wobbled, sending the game pieces all over the floor.
    Gasping, she placed her hands over her mouth, a look of horror coming over her face. “Oh, no!”
    He burst out laughing. Ruby looked as if she’d just committed a horrible crime instead of messing up a silly game. “Relax, Ruby. It’s okay.”
    Zach chuckled. “I guess the game’s over?”
    She plopped down in her chair and put her head in her hands.
    Garrett bent down and picked up the board and set it down on the table. He then placed his hand on her forearm. “Ruby, it’s okay. It’s just a game.”
    She sighed and smiled, setting her hands on the table. “I know that, Garrett, but I was going to win . I never win at Sorry , and there I was kicking the big, bad Marine’s butt.”
    He laughed again as they both got on their hands and knees and cleaned up the cards and pawns.
    “We’ll play again, Ruby. But I’ll tell you this—I don’t go down without a fight.”
    She grinned, and he couldn’t help but check out her cleavage as she crawled around on the floor toward him.
    “Game on, Marine. Game on.”

Chapter 21
    Ruby poured herself a cup of coffee and gazed out the kitchen window at the white winter wonderland.
    Zach came in the kitchen and she smiled. “Good morning, Zach.”
    “Hey, Ruby. I smell coffee.”
    “Yes, I just made some. Can I pour you a cup?”
    “That would be lovely, thank you.”
    She turned and grabbed a cup from the cabinet and poured. “Do you take cream or sugar?”
    “No. Just black, please.”
    He sat down at the table and she placed the cup in front of him.
    “There you go. Can you believe it snowed last night?” she asked while taking the chair across from him and then sipped her coffee.
    “Really? Imagine that.”
    “I know. It seems so crazy because yesterday was such a nice spring day. I’m sure it will melt off, though.”
    “How much is there?”
    “Probably about four or five inches.”
    “Savannah will want to play in it.”
    Ruby smiled. Growing up in Dallas, she rarely saw snow. Frankly, she couldn’t wait to get out and play in it, too. “I’ll be happy to