Chapter4
Tate
Jeremiah’s angry glare lasers his sister and it takes Harvey’s gentle arm on his sleeve to keep him in line. He grits his teeth and his jaw clenches until I can hear grinding.
“I’m sorry, Jeremiah. I know I should have told you what was going on. But you were dealing with Harvey and your own issues. I didn’t want to dump it all in your lap.”
He glares at her and his hands fist at his sides. “You think I wouldn’t want to know that your ass of an ex felt like it was okay to hit you? That he stalked you and made you lose your job and that you had to leave town to get away from him? You think none of that was that important?”
Ruth hangs her head and I have to grit my teeth to keep from yelling at him. I wanted him to make her listen to reason. But I don’t like seeing her so deflated under attack. I’m used to watching her fight back. Hard.
I don’t know this woman and I don’t like it.
Before I can open my mouth Harvey glares at him. “I’m sorry, Ruth. You’re the victim in all of this and these two idiots are making you feel like you did something wrong when you did the best you could. It’s none of their business what you do with your personal life,” she growls, hugging Ruth.
I see tears in her cinnamon eyes and my fists clench.
“But…” Jeremiah starts but Harvey cuts across him.
“I’m sorry. Did you want to sleep on the couch tonight? Because if you keep going with this that’s where you’re going to be.”
His mouth hangs open and he turns to me. I hold my hands up. “I think this is a family thing. I don’t think I should weigh in anymore.”
My friend glares at me. “Chickenshit!”
I shrug my shoulders. I’m not scared but I don’t like the way this argument is going. Harvey’s right. “We shouldn’t be jumping all over Ruth. I’m sure she did what she thought was best.”
He lifts a dark brow at me. “Do you think she did what she should have?”
Oh hell no, my friend! You’re not taking me down with you.I grunt and shake my head. “I think every person needs to look at the person they’re up against and use their best judgement. Ruth knows him better than we do. Reporting the issues and pushing for him to be punished could have made things worse.”
Ruth’s pretty pink mouth falls open, her golden-brown eyes wide with surprise.
“Good,” Harvey says. “Now…I think we all need to get some sleep tonight.”
“In the morning I’ll run back to your store with you, Ruth. I’d like to take a look at the security on it.”
Ruth flushes and shuffles her feet. “Ummm. I don’t really have any security.”
“None at all?” I growl.
“I didn’t think I needed it.”
“I’ll hook something simple up in the morning. Even some cameras and an alarm are better than nothing.”
She nods, her satiny hair slipping on her shoulder. I feel that itch to touch it again.
My fingers thrum at the leg of my jeans. “I better get going. I’ll see you in the morning, Ruth. Harvey. Jeremiah. Nice seeing you again.”
Then I walk out and draw in a deep, unsteady breath. I can still smell Ruth’s floral scent on my hands where I touched her. It clings to my clothes and my dick jumps in my pants.
“You need to get your shit together, dude. That is so not going to happen. She’s your best friend’s little sister.” Sure, she’s not a child but she’s still off-limits. Bro code and all that.
I hear footsteps behind me and whirl around to find Ruth running up to me. She stops and raises her arms, hands outstretched. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”
I chuckle. “You didn’t scare me, Ruth. What’s up?”
“Do you think you can run me back to my car so I can go back to my apartment?”