Page 17 of Royal Desire

I slam the glass in front of him. I’m proud of myself for not throwing it in his face. “Shall I bring you a bowl of limp lettuce since you’re getting ready for swimsuit season? You know Carl hates it when anyone orders a salad.”

Carl proves that every soul in the building is listening to the drama and yells from where his head is poked around the corner. “I hate making salads!”

I turn back to Payne. “I told you. Are you really going to force him to do something that doesn’t bring him joy?”

Payne doesn’t place an order for anything. He twists on his stool, stands, and pulls his wallet from the breast pocket of his fancy-ass sport jacket that’s probably worth more than my entire wardrobe. He flips it open, pulls out a fifty, and tosses it on the counter in front of me. “Thanks for the impeccable service, but I’ve got a meeting. This isn’t for you—that’s for Carl and Winnie since I took up a spot and didn’t order.”

I grab the fifty and wave it in his face. “I wouldn’t take a penny from you if it were the last cent on earth.”

Payne slaps Dean in the shoulder so hard, I wonder if he wishes it were my face. “See you at softball practice.”

Dean throws back the last swallow of his coffee. “I can’t wait.”

I watch Payne strut out of the Combover, taking his empty stomach and bad attitude with him. As the bell rings more violently than necessary, I point to Dean with the fifty-dollar bill. “You’re dead to me.”

Dean might have been the risk-taker, shit-stirrer, and troublemaker, but he wasn’t the intense one. That was all Payne.

It was also what I loved most about him. He did nothing half-ass.

Just like now.

The wounds are as raw as ever, and it shows.

Dean smirks. “Whatever you say Ruby-doo. I’ll give you until my burger is ready—I want to know everything you’ve been up to since you ran away from home. That lover’s spat made me hungry. Get me a burger, and we’ll catch up.”

I sigh and hand the fifty to Winnie. “I’m really sorry.”

She shakes her head and bites back a grin. “Honey, do not apologize. The minute news gets out that Ruby and Payne had a tiff in the Combover, they’ll come flocking for supper. This will be good for business. Keep the fifty. You earned it.”

I press the bill into her hand. “No way. Treat yourself. I still feel bad. That won’t happen again. I got it out of my system. From here on out, Payne Deacon is like any other resident of Winslet. I’ll control myself. I promise.”

She tucks the fifty in her shirt pocket. “I’ll believe that when I see it.”

CHAPTER SIX

OBSESSED, OBSESSED, AND OBSESSED

Payne

Ishould’ve flown across the country to go to Sam’s wedding, dammit. Ruby would still be here next week when I got home, but I would’ve had one more week of peace, even though my peace before now was meager at best.

Now I’m in hell.

She’s back, she’s pissed—even though I have no fucking idea what she has to be pissed about—and she’s clearly not going anywhere fast. If there was one thing Ruby was always passionate about, it was her family. She adores her grandmother, and her brother is the most happy-go-lucky kid in town.

It's not like I have a big family. I’m an only child, and if it can be believed, my extended family is more toxic than my immediate one. And since my father is rotting away in prison, that’s a statement for the ages. But I remember when it wasn’t just Ruby, Blake, and Grandma Alice. Ruby’s mom was in the picture until right after Blake was born.

Before Dean Moretti became my ride or die, there was Ruby. I don’t remember a time when she wasn’t in my life.

Until she wasn’t.

I was five years old when my parents hired Bess Sinclair to clean our house five days a week. Finding someone in Winslet to commit to that wasn’t easy. Bess agreed to take the job only if she could bring her kid with her since she had no childcare. And since a housekeeper was more important than a nanny to my dear old mom, they made an agreement that Bess would make sure I was alive at the end of the day if her kid kept me busy and out of my parents’ hair.

And the Mother Of The Year Award goes to Tallie Deacon, who found a way to have a fulltime housekeeper with a built-in five-year-old babysitter for her son since she’d rather drive to the next largest city for martini lunches and shopping than raise her son.

I was ecstatic. I had a built-in friend, even if it was a girl. Little did I know, she had no choice but to like me since her mom worked for my family.

Mom was too good to befriend the other women in Winslet. So, not only was Ruby my friend, she was my only friend if you didn’t count Sadie. When we were old enough to start school, Ruby and I were inseparable. At least that’s what our teacher told my parents at conferences, because my father had an epic come apart that my only friend was the maid’s kid and a girl. He tasked my mom to find me friends who would toughen me up, teach me how to take a hit to the gut in dodgeball, and make me a man, since he sure wasn’t doing the job then or any time after.