~RUBY I didn't think about Ash for too long. I already came to a decision that he was not worth it. Although I'm super grateful for his presence and contribution to my dad's dilemma, and for witnessing me relive the most embarrassing moment of my life, I still wanted to maintain boundaries. We may be civil now, but that didn't make us friends. Ethan didn't leave my hand all through the drive, and few minutes later, I had relaxed. I felt safe with him. He saved my dad. He stood by my side and wasn't freaked out by my stillness. I loved him so much. I thought back the the past few days and how crazy it had been. Even when I pushed his brother into the pool, he didn't hate me. He was not even mad at me. When we got back to the Riverstone mansion, we got off and he immediately came over to my side to help me in. His hands cocooned mine as we walked in, hand in hand, muttering sweet words to help me relax. Ash walked with us to the door before muttering something abo

~RUBY I woke up to a silent, serene morning. There was no loud ringtone distributing my sleep which made me wonder for a moment if something was wrong with Ella. She hadn't called me for a while now. And her number was not reachable. Knowing my impulsive, erratic baby, she was probably too busy with work. Yeah. That must be it. I yawned and was about to roll to the other side of the bed when I noticed a warm body beside me. I whirled around, surprise making my jaw drop when I saw Ethan, snoring slightly. Ethan. On the bed with me. I remembered last night, and how our lovemaking had been so different from what I was used to. And now, he was on the bed with me, when I was expecting to wake up alone as usual. I snuggled close to my husband. He snaked his arm around my waist and pulled me closer, breathing my hair in deeply. This was new. Strange. Unexpected. But I liked it. I decided to stop comparing how different it was, how the contrast was so sharp, s

~ETHAN The drive to the company took less than two hours, and I was in work way before my formal resumption time. Not that I care about that though. All I'm after is the growth of my company. As I walked through the doors, I noted satisfactorily, the delight of the customers, wives of filthy rich men who had nothing to do but spend extravagant amounts on jewelry. Our jewelry, especially. We knew our audience, and we were known to provide excellent work for them. I nodded to myself as I made my way to the elevator. All the buyers seemed happy. Satisfied. Except for... a frown creased my forehead as I noticed a young, stunning beautiful lady staring at an emerald necklace with a scowl. Taking sharp strides, I got to the spot and the attendant that was seeing to the woman cowered slightly. "Is there a problem, ma'am?" I smoothly stepped in front of her, blocking her view of that dumbass assistant. "Oh," her voice fluttered for a moment as she stared up at me, and

~ASH I stared at the painting, longer than I should have. What came over me? Why did I end up drawing Ruby instead of Xena? The plan was to paint Xena. I made a vow to never draw anything else. Anyone else. Anyone except Xena. And I had failed at that. I felt so disgusted and angry at myself for being such a fool. For allowing myself to get so distracted enough by the she devil my brother married that I drew her instead. I took a deep breathe. It's okay. It's fine. I could just draw another one and pretend this one never happened. I closed my eyes and tried to conjure image of Xena, the shape of her eyes, the slope of her jaw. I gasped softly as I opened my eyes. I was beginning to forget what she looked like. The images that came into my head was grainy and unclear, as if I was looking at her through a badly fractured camera lenses. 'I'm sorry, Xena. I...I don't know what you look like anymore,' I whispered painfully. I felt the need to apologise. I jus

~RUBY But nothing happened! I opened my eyes and was about to start whining when Ethan suddenly gripped my waist, lifted me up and threw me on the bed. I gasped at the swift action as my body bounced on the bed. But I didn't get the chance to protest when he started tickling me. "Ethan! Stop! Stop tickling me," I squealed as laughter bubbled out of me. His eyes were shining with mischief and he didn't stop. "You cheater. I told you to kiss me," I was screaming now, laughing uncontrollably. "At least you're laughing now. Which is a very welcomed contrast to the look on your face when I walked in," he replied, as his hands assaulted my neck, my armpits, underneath my knees. He knew all my ticklish spots, and took unfair advantage of them. I squirmed as I laughing, trying to block his hands when— due to the way I was moving around— his hands landed on my breasts. The air in the room changed immediately. His blue eyes burned into mine, and the room felt hot. The