Page 117 of Redemption Ridge Vol II

Seth shifted into Drive and headed home. They’d figure out what to eat once he got there, and maybe finish what they’d started in the great room when Rueben came to him wearing nothing but Seth’s shirt. He let those images multiply until they became a mixture of reality and fantasy. Seth was primed and ready to act each of them out until he got within view shot of his home and saw the number of vehicles in the driveway. Rueben’s truck was among them, so someone had driven it to him. Both Kerry and Shawna’s vehicles were there, so he suspected one of them had delivered it to his house.

Seth ran through a few strategies on how he could encourage them to leave and decided on the direct route of telling them to get out. He even practiced a few different tones as he traveled the short distance from his driveway to the front door. But once inside, the smell of delicious food and the sound of cheerful chatter changed his mind. Or maybe it was seeing the man he loved standing at the kitchen island, holding court like the king of the castle and the keeper of Seth’s heart. Kerry, Shawna, Keegan, and Sven held on to his every word as he wowed them with something he assembled and put in a baking dish. None of them noticed Seth had entered, which gave him a moment to take it all in. He’d built this house after his breakup with Oliver because the home they’d once shared felt like a box of memories that never let him heal. Everywhere he turned was a reminder of what Seth had viewed as Oliver’s rejection. He knew better now and recognized that they were just too different to make it work, but back then, Seth needed a fresh start. Building the house had helped, but the structure had never felt like his home until this very moment. Seth dropped his keys in the little dish on the foyer table his mother picked out on one of her many antique hunts. Boy, would his parents get the surprise of their lives when they returned from their cruise and met Rueben. They were going to love him.

Rueben must’ve sensed his regard because their gazes collided over the expanse of the house. His man lit up brighter than fireworks on the Fourth as he reached for a towel to wipe his hands. They started moving toward each other at the same time, meeting in the middle, where Seth caught Rueben in a tight hug.

“I hope you don’t mind the company.” Rueben’s voice was muffled against his chest, but Seth still heard him over his pounding heart.

“This is your home too,” Seth said. He wanted to tell Rueben about the epiphany he had when he walked through the door but would wait until they were alone and preferably naked.

Rueben looked up at him with emotions swirling in his eyes. “I’m so glad you said that because Keegan and Kerry showed up here with my truck and nearly all my possessions from the ranch after Cash verified my vehicle wasn’t part of the evidence in the investigation. I told them they were a bit presumptuous, and they laughed at me and invited the other two yahoos over.”

Seth was very curious about how Keegan and Kerry ended up as a dynamic duo, but those questions could wait. The oven timer went off, and a chorus of cheers sounded in the kitchen. Shawna slipped around the island, donned some mitts, and removed a dish of bubbling goodness from the oven. “What is that, and how did you pull it together with the ingredients I had on hand?”

Rueben’s condescending snort expressed his opinion of the state of Seth’s kitchen staples. “It’s the enchiladas I wanted to make for you last night. Since Keegan and Kerry wanted to be so helpful, I sent them to the store with a list of ingredients.”

“Smells amazing,” Seth said. “I’m not sure I want to share.”

“I have enough to make another pan, so there will be plenty to go around and have for leftovers.” Rueben would sing a different tune once he saw how much Kerry could put away. When his man turned to head back to the kitchen, Seth tugged him back. “What?”

“I love you.”

“You’re as cheesy as my enchiladas,” Rueben said. “I love you too.”

“I’m not waiting for you guys to suck face before I dig in,” Kerry said.

Seth rolled his eyes and tugged Rueben into the kitchen, where he insisted the chef get to serve himself first. No one dared to protest and risk getting tossed out before they sampled the food. Rueben placed an enchilada on a plate, then added beans and rice. He handed it to Seth instead of keeping it for himself.

“We’ve been snacking all afternoon, but I bet you’re starving.”

Seth took his first bite while standing up at the counter. He moaned his appreciation before Kerry shoved him out of the way. To his surprise, his cousin gestured for Keegan to go in front of him.

“We’ll need to keep our eye on those two,” Seth whispered to Rueben.

“We won’t have time because I plan to keep you so very busy,” Rueben whispered back. “So many rooms to leave a mark on, and I have a plan for every one of them.”

“You people need to eat and get the hell out,” Seth said.

Their guests laughed, thinking Seth was joking. But he wasn’t and proved it the second they set their forks down.

Rueben propped his chin on the arm he’d draped across Seth’s chest. “What happens next?”

The warm, pliant body beneath his rumbled with a chuckle. “You let me recover a little longer before you make additional sexual demands,” Seth replied. “Damn, baby.”

They’d left their mark on the kitchen and the great room in just a few hours after their company left, then sprawled on the plush rug in front of the fireplace. It was much too hot outside to take advantage of that amenity, but Rueben looked forward to the day they made love in front of a roaring fire.

“The sweat on my skin hasn’t even dried yet from the last round,” Seth continued in a mock whine.

Rueben placed a kiss on Seth’s damp chest, loving the way his heart still raced. “I wasn’t talking about sex,” he said. “I meant us. The cat’s out of the bag, and everyone knows I was at your cabin when Reggie Ulrich showed up. How are you going to handle it?”

Seth puffed up his cheeks and slowly released his next breath as his hand trailed lazily up and down Rueben’s back. He didn’t answer right away, and Rueben wasn’t sure if he should congratulate himself for sexing Seth into a stupor or worry about their future. The latter was a knee-jerk reaction Rueben wouldn’t allow. They’d come too far and put too much on the line for him to question Seth’s commitment to their future. Rueben was the keeper, after all, and he’d act like it.

So he waited patiently for Seth to process everything they’d lived through and all he’d learned from Reggie Ulrich. Rowdy bouts of sex weren’t the only form of communication they’d shared after everyone left, and Rueben had listened in horror as Seth repeated Reggie’s hospital-bed confession. Guilt gnawed at his insides for bringing the subject up again, but Rueben knew they couldn’t afford to bury their heads in the sand or burrow under the covers and pretend everything was fine. Seth would need to get in front of the story as best he could if he wanted to win his reelection, and Rueben knew Seth hadn’t changed his mind about protecting and serving his beloved community.

Finally, Seth shifted his gaze to Rueben and smiled sheepishly. “I will hold a press conference and humble myself before my constituents.”

Rueben couldn’t hold back the wince. While that sounded noble, the approach also felt too simplistic for the complicated situation they were in. “Oh, sweetheart,” he sighed. “I’m calling in the big guns.”

Rory showed up within the hour, looking fierce and ready to conquer the world for his newest client. He breezed through the door Rueben held open, paused in the foyer to take in the home’s beauty with an appreciative whistle before he headed straight for the oversized kitchen island. “Campaign central aka crisis control is now in business,” Rory said as he removed a laptop from his messenger bag.