She realized then that she didn’t want to either. Owen moved slowly as he closed the rest of the distance between them. She knew he was going to kiss her, and she had no intention of stopping it. He was honest with her, and now it was up to her to decide what happened next.
She wanted to kiss him. So, she tilted her head back and closed her eyes. This kiss wasn’t like any of the others they’d shared. It was sweet and tender. He didn’t linger for long, and when he pulled back, he placed his forehead against hers and brought his hand to her cheek.
Her heart was full, and she knew that she was going to accept Owen for who he was, flaws and all.
“Do you want to meet my brother?” he asked.
“Is that the bleeding guy downstairs?”
Owen chuckled. “Yeah.”
“Okay.”
He took her hand and led her back downstairs. She didn’t feel nervous with Owen at her side, but it was still shocking to see Owen’s brother stitching up his own arm. She couldn’t imagine doing that to herself, but he didn’t even flinch as he worked to close up his wound. In fact, he smiled at her.
“I didn’t realize you had a guest,” he said, winking at her.
Owen placed an arm around her waist and glared at his brother. “Don’t flirt, Declan.”
Declan chuckled. “Look at you, all defensive. Aren’t you going to introduce us?”
“This is my girl,” Owen said.
“Also known as Ruby,” Ruby added with a chuckle.
She didn’t hate this possessive side of Owen one bit.
11
OWEN
It had been two weeks since Ruby discovered the truth about who he was. He didn’t realize how scared he was for her to find out until he saw how anxious she was to be around him. It was exactly what he didn’t want. Ruby should never fear him.
But after they talked, things were shockingly good between them. Ruby took it better than he ever expected.
Still, he tried not to share the darker side of his life with her. He didn’t want her to worry or be afraid. The only thing that he thought she needed to know was that he was feuding with the Italians. He didn’t know how much intel they had on him, but if they knew about Ruby, it put a target on her back.
That was the last thing he wanted. It was the reason that he tried to keep his distance from her, the reason that he felt like he was too dangerous for her.
But there was no turning back now. Ruby washis,and he’d just have to do whatever was necessary to keep her safe. That included telling her to stay out of the Italian’s part of town. Luckily, it was a small slice of the city.
“Are you sure this is okay?” Ruby asked as he drove them to a music festival in the southeastern area of the city. “Didn’t you say the Italians were a problem on the east side?”
“They are, but there’s a small neutral territory where this festival happens to be taking place.”
A music festival wasn’t usually his thing, but he found that Ruby was able to talk him into doing things that he wouldn’t normally do. She liked to have fun, and she tended to bring him along for the ride.
He didn’t mind. Ruby made him feel happy for the first time in forever. That loneliness he’d been living with for so long was gone. He was busier than ever, splitting his time between running the organization and Ruby, but he didn’t mind it.
When they arrived at the festival, he started to have reservations. The city had closed down a two block area where various bands were set up on temporary stages. There was a beer garden and food vendors on the street. It was crowded and noisy, and he immediately wanted to return to the peace and quiet of his office back at the restaurant.
But when he looked at Ruby’s happy face, he kept his mouth shut. Her eyes were lit up with excitement, and he knew that she wanted to share this experience with him. He paid their way in, and she intertwined their fingers as they walked along.
There were four bands spread throughout the two block area, and Ruby wanted to see them all. Apparently, he’d underestimated just how much she loved music because the cover bands represented different styles of music, from pop to rock to classics. They even had country. But ruby stopped to listen to them all, and she sang along to the songs, seeming to know every word. He told himself that he’d have to play piano for her sometime. It was a skill that he didn’t share with many people, but his mom had taught him how to play when he was a boy.
“Come on,” Ruby said, a smile splitting her face as she pulled him out in the crowd in front of the stage to dance to the band playing classic rock.
“I’m not much of a dancer,” he said, going along with it anyway.
