She shook her head. “I already lost one father. Don’t want to lose another.”
Brooks flinched, and she wished she could take her words back. Brooks hadn’t meant anything by his comment. He was teasing; it was what he did, and she shouldn’t have lashed out. But the man made her a little jumpy and whole lot of crazy.
“I’m sorry. It’s just that my father worked himself into the ground, and I was too young to know enough to stop him. Losing him as a teen was hard. I had no other family, and when Beau took me in and treated me as his own, well...it meant a lot to me. So I’m protective.”
Brooks moved a stray hair from her cheek and tucked it back behind her ear. “I get that. I was only teasing.”
“I know.” She lifted her chin and cracked a small smile.
“Ruby,” he said quietly. His eyes softened to a blue glow, his hand moving to the back of her neck to hold her head in place.
There was silent communication between them. She sensed that he understood, and in the silence of the shed, her heart pounded as she stared at him, wishing that he was someone else. Not Beau’s son. Not a man who would eventually leave Cool Springs. And her.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” he said as if reading her mind. As if he realized the pain she’d experienced losing her mother, her father and a lover who had abandoned her. Her heart was guarded. She’d built up an impenetrable wall of defense against further hurt and pain.
“I can’t let you, Brooks.”
“I won’t. I promise,” he said, his gaze dipping to her mouth. She parted her lips and he took her then, in a kiss that was simple and brief and sweet. Moments ticked by as she stared at him, sad regret pulling at her heart. And their fate was sealed. They had come to terms with their attraction and would put a halt to anything leading them astray.
It was quiet in the shed, and cool and dark. Ruby trembled, and that brought her out of her haze. “We should get these boxes into the house. We’ve got a full day of decorating ahead. Have you seen the tree yet?”
“No, not yet. We should get to it, then.”
Brooks got right on it, pulling down two big boxes and loading up his arms while she grabbed one, too. “You know, I haven’t decorated for Christmas since I was a kid,” he said as they made their way toward the house. “My mom would get this small three-foot tree and put it up on Grandma Gerty’s round coffee table. That made it look just as big and tall as the ones we’d see around town. Then Graham and I would put the ornaments on the taller branches, and my little brother, Carson, would decorate the bottom half.”
“Did you use tinsel?” she asked, her mood lighter now as she pictured Brooks as a boy.
“My mom always made a popcorn garland. And my grandmother would give us candy canes to stick on the tree.”
“My dad and I always used silver tinsel,” Ruby said. “It wasn’t Christmas until we had the tree covered in it.”
“Sounds nice,” Brooks said. “I’m sorry Beau isn’t going to be decorating with us today. Seems silly now that I’m a grown man, doesn’t it?”
“Not at all. You missed out on a lot with Beau. But you know what? I bet before we finish the tree, Beau will come down.”
As they entered the massive living room, Brooks took one look at the tree and the ladder beside it and halted his steps, inclining his head. “Wow. Now, that’s a tree. Must be a fifteen-footer.”
“At least. Every year Beau has the biggest and best Douglas fir delivered to the house. Tanya loved filling up the entire corner of the room with the tree.”
They set their boxes down. Brooks scanned the room again and sighed. “It’s weird, you know. Having a family here I didn’t know about. I’m not complaining. I had a good life. My mother made sure of it. But to think while I was decorating our Christmas tree at home, my father and his family were setting their own Christmas traditions.”
“Just think, Brooks. Now you’ll have both—a Chicago and a Cool Springs Christmas.”
He chuckled. “You’re right, Ruby. I guess that’s not half-bad.”
“No, it’s not. Now, here,” she said, digging into a box and coming up with a string of large, colorful lights. “Before we can hang any ornaments, we need to make this tree shine. Start at the top and work your way down, Mr. Six-Foot-Two. You’ve got a lot of catching up to do.”
Hours later, Brooks put his arm around Ruby’s shoulders as they stepped back from the tree to admire their handiwork. The tree was stunning, the lights in holiday hues casting a soft glimmer over the large formal living room. “It’s beautiful,” Ruby said quietly.
“It is. We went through six boxes on the tree alone.”
“It looks almost perfect,” Ruby said, noticing a flaw.
“Almost?”
“Yeah, I see a spot we missed.”
“Where?”
She pointed to a bare space toward the top of the tree that had been neglected. “Right there. I’ll get it,” she said, breaking away from Brooks to grab a beautiful horse ornament, a palomino with a golden mane. “We’ll just get this guy up on that branch.”
She hugged the side rails of the ladder and began climbing. Making it to the highest rung, she thought was safe and reached out to a branch just as the ladder wobbled beneath her. “Oh!”
“I’ve got you,” Brooks said, steadying the ladder first and then fitting her butt cheeks into his hands from his stance on the floor.
“Brooks.” She swatted at his hands. “Stop that.”
“What?” He put innocence in his voice. “I’m only keeping you from falling.”
“Shh,” she said, her entire body reacting to the grip he had on her. They’d worked together all day long in close quarters, and it was hard enough to keep from touching him, from brushing her body against his, from breathing in his intoxicating scent while trying to focus on the task. “Lupe might hear you. Or Beau might come down.”
“Lupe went shopping for groceries, remember? And I heard Beau snoring just a second ago. Doesn’t seem like he’s going to come down anytime soon.”
“Smart aleck. You’re got it all figured out, don’t you?”
“Hell, I wish I did, Ruby.”
She ignored the earnest regret she heard in his voice. “I’m coming down. That means you can take your hands off my ass now.”
He grinned and then released her. “I’ll be right here, waiting.”
“Why does that worry me?” she said as she lowered herself slowly down.
He stood at the base of the ladder, and when she turned around, he was there, crowding her with his body, his scent, his blue beautiful eyes. “I think I have a shelf life around you, Ruby,” he said in explanation. “A few hours without touching you is all I can manage.”
The compliment seared through her system and warmed all the cold spots. “I know what you mean,” she said softly. She felt the same way, and it was useless to deny the attraction.
He gave her a bone-melting smile. “Now, that’s honest.”
“I’m always honest. Or at least, I try to be.”
He held her trapped against the ladder, his arms roped around the sides, blocking her in. When he lowered his head, her eyes closed naturally, and she welcomed his kiss.
“Mmm,” she hummed against lips that fit perfectly with hers. Lips that gave so much and demanded even more. The connection she had with Brooks was sharp and swift and powerful. They