8
“Avirgin?” Megan’s wine sloshed over the side of the glass as she raised it to her lips and gulped. “That’s ridiculous. No way.”
“It’s not ridiculous at all,” Ruby said, “given his situation.”
“That poor man,” Elle said quietly.
“Oh God.” Megan took another gulp from her wine, remembering the awed look on Jake’s face when he’d held her last night. Was it possible he’d never held a woman before? Surely, he and Alana had at least fooled around.
“It’s not a bad thing,” Ruby said. “I mean, if anything, it’s honorable.”
“Should I feel weird about this?” Megan speared a bite of chicken. “I mean, I’m pretty much the opposite of a virgin. And I’ve never had sex with one before either.”
“Not at all,” Ruby said. “It’s really not a big deal. It’s just a rumor I heard, and it felt weird for me not to tell you.”
“How do you have all this town gossip that we don’t?” Elle asked her. “You never go out without us. In fact, I can’t remember the last time you went out at all.”
Ruby was suddenly very interested in her dinner, cutting her chicken with meticulous precision, eyes narrowed behind her glasses.
“Elle’s right,” Megan said. “What’s the deal?”
Ruby glanced guiltily toward her laptop, which sat on the table beside her bed.
“Have you been checking up on Jake on the internet?” Megan asked.
“Like you did with Theo?” Elle added.
“Not exactly.” Ruby looked up at them and sighed. “Okay, I’ve been hanging out in this online group of local gamers.”
“That sounds like you,” Elle said with a grin.
“We play online together,” Ruby said with a shrug. “They get together once a week to play in person, but I haven’t gone yet. I’ve usually been too busy here at the castle.”
“You should totally go,” Megan told her. “I’ll cover for you if anything needs covering. You need to get out more, Ruby, and these sound like your people.”
“Okay, okay,” Ruby said, “but anyway, a couple of the women in the group have crushes on Jake. One of them was a good friend of Alana’s in high school, so she told us the rumors about his virginity.”
“So, nerds are gossips,” Elle said with a smile. “Who knew?”
“We can be huge gossips,” Ruby said. “And everyone would know that if you bothered to pay attention.”
“What are you going to do, Megan?” Elle asked.
“I don’t know,” she answered honestly. This was exactly why she’d decided not to date this year. She needed to sort herself out before she got involved with anyone else. But could she really walk away from Jake without exploring the chemistry between them?
“I think you should do whatever feels right,” Ruby said.
“That’s one of those things that sounds so simple,” Megan said, sipping from her wine. “But how do I know I’m not just letting my hormones cloud my better judgment?”
“Well, what’s the worst that can happen?” Elle asked.
Megan contemplated this for a minute. “Jake realizes he’s not ready, or the sex is terrible and we still have to see each other around the castle every day, or we have great sex but things get awkward between us somehow, and again…we’re stuck working on the same property.”
“I don’t think the sex will be terrible,” Ruby said, grinning into her wine. “And there’s no reason you have to go down to the barn if things get awkward between you two. The rescue horses will be gone soon enough, and then Jake’s on his own from us, more or less.”
“Plus, you’ve always been good at staying civil with your exes in the past,” Elle added.
But this is different, Megan wanted to say. Jake was already more to her than a random man she’d picked up in a bar, and she was still in an emotionally vulnerable place after the accident. But maybe a few passionate nights with Jake could help her heal. “I guess I’ll just see what happens when we have dinner tomorrow night.”
