She stared at him, amazed at how much of a child he actually was. “Are you having
a little temper tantrum?” she asked.
“Nope.”
Ruby looked toward the clock, and saw it was nearly morning. “I really need to get home.”
“You’re going home?” he asked.
She glanced at him, frowning. “Anyone told you how weird you are?”
“You keep telling me that. You don’t have to leave.”
“Oliver, this is not my place, and I would think to sleep easier, you’d want me far away from you.”
“What about you?” he asked.
“What do you mean, what about me? Make sense.”
“Ugh, fine. What if you’ve been spotted?”
“By who?”
“By the men who killed your family.”
She tensed up. “They didn’t even care if I was there or not. I doubt they’d care. Besides, I doubt you displayed me for all to see. I’ll be fine.” She was a light sleeper. Sipping her beer, she got to her feet. “I really need to go. Did your family demand that I stay here with you?”
Oliver glared, gritted his teeth, and shook his head. “Yes.”
“Why are you saying one thing, but your head doing another?”
“Ugh, this curse sucks.”
“Curse.”
“You’re free to go, but my family wouldn’t want you out there alone.”
Tucking her hair behind her ears, she smiled. “I’ve been on my own for a long time. This is nothing.”
Oliver got to his feet. “Sleep here tonight. I’ll take you home, and you’ll be fine.”
Ruby thought about the bed waiting for her at her own apartment. It was so bare that the springs dug into her back, and it smelled.
“Can I tempt you?” he asked. “I’ll take you out for breakfast. Shit, no, Landon is coming home. We can go to my parents’ for breakfast. I’ll take you home afterward.”
The fluffy, dreamy, mattress in the room was calling to her.
“No handcuffs?” she asked.
“Nope. No handcuffs.”
Biting her lip, she nodded. “Yes, I’ll stay. Against my better judgment, I’ll stay.”
“Come on.”
She followed him past the room that she had woken up in. “Why not that room? I was in there, and it was comfortable.”
“You thought that was comfortable?” he asked. “Damn, what kind of place do you live in?”