“Okay,” Ruby wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. “You can move now,” she
told him after she had a detailed sketch.
“Can I see?” Zac asked leaning his guitar on the floor against the bed.
“Sure,” she said mixing a few colors to match Zac’s skin tone.
“Wow,” he breathed bending over behind her. “That’s awesome.”
“Thanks,” she smiled brushing color onto the canvas. “You’re a good subject.”
He leaned down and kissed the top of her shoulder. She leaned her head back and looked
up at him. “I can finish later.”
He smiled down at her. “You sure?”
“Mm hmm,” she nodded. “I’m gonna wash my hands, and then will you teach me
how to play the guitar?”
“Sure,” he laughed.
***********************************************************************
“No, not that one,” Zac instructed sitting beside Ruby on the floor of her bedroom.
“Third fret.”
“What’s a fret?” She asked.
“This thing,” he laughed sliding her left hand down. “Okay, put this finger here,”
he placed her middle on one of the strings. “And this here, and that one there.”
“Okay,” she said holding her fingers in their position.
“Now that’s G. Strum it,” he told her.
She strummed the strings and what came out sounded nothing like a chord. She
looked at him and raised one eyebrow. Zac laughed and rested his forehead on her
shoulder.
“What was that?” She laughed.
“This finger goes here,” he explained moving her ring finger up one string. “Now
do it.”
“Ah,” she smiled strumming the right chord.
“There ya go,” he said laying on his back. “Now play me a song.”
“With one chord?” She laughed.
“Hey, some bands do it,” he said.
“Teach me another one,” she said excitedly. “I’ve got this one really good, see?”
She played it for him again.
“Okay,” he laughed and sat up. He adjusted her fingers in a new position.
“Alright, that’s C. Got for it.”
She strummed again. “Hey,” she smiled. “Look at that.”
“Now go from G to C,” he told her.
“Okay, I don’t know about that, rockstar,” she said trying to find the strings to the
original chord. “How’d you teach yourself this?”
“Much patience,” he answered.
“Well you’re a good teacher,” she looked up at him.
*************************************************************************
Zac’s eyes blinked open as the 10 a.m. sun crept through the blinds in Ruby’s
room. He ran his hands over his face and stretched his arms out in front of him. She
shifted beside him and Zac rolled over on his side wrapping his arm around her waist.
Ruby opened her eyes. “Good morning,” she greeted sleepily.
Zac placed a kiss on the back of her shoulder. “Morning.”
“How’d you sleep?” She asked rolling back against him.
“Perfectly,” he murmered into her neck. “You?”
“Me too. You don’t snore,” she smiled looking back at him.
“I know. Neither do you.”
“We should do this more often,” she said placing her hand over the one grazing her
stomach.
“Definitely,” he said sitting up. “Hey, it quit raining,” he leaned forward looking
out the window.
Ruby scooted over and sat up behind him wrapping her arms around his waist
situating her legs on either side of him. “You wanna go somewhere?” She asked resting
her cheek on his back.
“Getting out of bed might actually be good for us,” Zac smiled leaning his head
back.
“Maybe,” she smiled back meeting his lips with hers.
“In about 30 minutes,” he said turning around so he could lay in top of her.
“30 minutes?” She smiled laying back.
“Okay, 15,” he said placing his lips on her neck. She giggled and looked up at the
ceiling at she ran her fingers through his hair.
********************************************************************
“Oh, you know who I met?” Ruby asked before popping another grape in her
mouth. Zac had pulled his 4-Runner up by the lake and they were sitting with the back
open listening to The Allman Brothers from his car stereo while they ate breakfast.
“Who?” Zac asked before taking a sip from his bottle of apple juice.
“John Cusack,” she told him.
“Really?” he raised his eyebrows. “Where?”
“He came into the coffee shop I worked at in New York,” she said hanging her leg
off the side.
“What’d you say?” He smiled.
“I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t want to sound like a dork and be like, ‘Hey,
you were really funny in the 80’s, remember?’ Ya know?”
“Exactly,” Zac laughed picking up a strawberry.
“So I was like, ‘I don’t mean to bother you cause I know you’re just trying to get
coffee, but I’ve loved every movie you’ve done and I think you’re really great.’ I still felt
like a dork but I had to say something,” she explained.
“Of course. I don’t think that was too dorky,” Zac assured her. “So what’d he
say?”
“He was just like, ‘Oh thanks, that’s so nice.’ But he was really nice, and he shook
my hand.”
“Cool. I bet you meet a lot of famous people in New York,” Zac said holding out
a piece of pineapple for her.
She took it from his fingers with her mouth and briefly closed her lips over his
finger. “Thank you,” she smiled. “I’ve only seen a few. Like the people from Saturday
Night Live and stuff. They’re really nice.”
“I guess big celebrities get people to get coffee for them,” Zac said finishing off his
juice.
“I guess so. I’d rather get my own coffee though.”
“So speaking of New York,” Zac raised one eyebrow at her.
“No, no. Don’t even bring it up,” Ruby said putting the lid back on the empty
tupperware.
“When are you going back?” He asked.
“Not until the end of August. So let’s not even think about it. It’s what, not even
July yet?”
“Okay,” he grinned. “I’m not thinking about it. But you know what I am thinking
about?”
“What?”
Zac looked down at his hands popping the center of the apple juice cap. “What if I
told you that I might be falling in love with you?”
Ruby’s eyes widened. “Zachary,” she breathed out a small laugh. “That’s... that’s
not true,” she said taking the bottle cap from him.
“I didn’t say that I was. I was just posing a hypothetical question. Like, what if?”
He smiled at her.
She smiled back. “Well *if* you told me you were falling in love with me, I’d say
that you’ve only known me like, a few weeks. And that would be crazy.”
“Well I’d say that this whole relationship has been kinda crazy. And I know that
I’ve never felt any of the things I feel with you ever. You’re so wonderful and I really,
truely enjoy spending time with you,” he confessed. “Whatever it is we’re doing.”
“I think we should think about,” she said setting all the breakfast stuff on the
backseat and kneeling in between his legs, “how we get to spend the whole rest of the day
together.”
“I wish,” Zac said taking her hands in his. “But Isaac’s back in town and we’re
spending some quality time together.”
“Aww, now?” She pouted.
“Well sometime soon. I should probably get you home,” he said squeezing her
hands.
“Yeah,” she sighed. “I suppose.”
Chapter 20
