Love Me Tomorrow (22 page)

“All right, I get that.” Levi didn’t really want him to go, but since he couldn’t offer the man the one thing he wanted, it didn’t seem fair to keep him there. “Thank you again, for understanding, for joining me for dinner, for being my fake boyfriend—all of it. You’re a damn fine friend, Angelo.”

“I really hate that about me,” he said, a cheeky half smile forming.

“I’ve never been very good at the ‘just sex’ thing anyway,” Levi said as Angelo headed for his coat.

“I seriously doubt that,” Angelo said, frowning. “No one who kisses the way you do is going to be bad in bed.”

With that he leaned in and planted one last soft peck on the lips, before groaning painfully and heading toward the door.

They said goodnight and Levi pulled the door closed, not kidding himself for one minute that Angelo wouldn’t walk into the first bar and find himself drowning in a multitude of other offers from guys who would happily worship at the Angelo altar.

He went back to the kitchen and poured out what was left of the beers, rinsing it down the sink before tossing the bottles in the recycling bin. He turned off all the lights and headed straight to bed—wishing he could stop thinking about Jake Freeman.

Chapter Ten

Levi slowed to a stop in front of Ruby’s bungalow, wondering who the car in her driveway belonged to. His mother maintained a steady rotation of gentleman friends whom she ‘dated’ whenever she felt well enough to entertain company. Ruby loved getting dolled up and going out to dinner or even dancing on the occasions she was up to it. She was never so alive as when she was dancing. The instant she began moving across the dance floor, it was as if someone switched on some sort of inner light that turned her into a beacon. Inevitably, any onlookers found themselves completely entranced by her.

Levi was also susceptible to the phenomena. No matter how angry or ashamed he ever found himself over her behavior, the fact that entire world would stop to watch his mother when she danced was a source of pride for him. It was the thing that made her special and justified much of her arrogant, often stubborn behavior.

The flip side of no longer being able to do the one thing that set Ruby apart from all other mere mortals were the bouts of depression that periodically took her over. Seeing his mother retreat within herself frightened Levi. It was as if something snuffed out that inner light for a while. She wasn’t suicidal, but watching Ruby stumbling through the day, just going through the motions broke Levi up inside.

Getting out of his car, he realized how long it had been since he’d taken Ruby out on the town and decided that needed to be corrected soon—assuming she could squeeze him in somewhere.

The next best thing to dancing for Ruby, was receiving the undivided attention of an attractive man. It was that type of focused attention that Levi had never been personally comfortable with, which is partially why being around Jake made him feel slightly off-kilter. Ruby fed off that kind of attention and he’d always envied her that. Levi feared having a guy look too closely would only reveal all the flaws that were hiding under the surface—as if all the unbecoming parts of who he was would rise to the surface and present themselves like tattoos across his skin. It made him feel vulnerable, like he had no control and frankly, he’d suffered enough wayward, fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants kind of behavior during his childhood.

Walking through the front door and entering Ruby’s house, Levi could hear the hysterical laughter. He froze, hearing Jake’s voice, along with another he didn’t recognize. Before he’d been able to react in time to stop it, the heavy wooden front door closed behind him, making a loud thud.

Dam—arn it.

The laughter stopped as Ruby called out, “Hello, who has dared entered my domain?”

Levi rolled his eyes, fully aware his mother had her inner-diva on, judging by the tone in her voice.

“It’s me, Momma!” Levi poked his head around the corner so he could be seen.

“Hey!” Jake sounded too happy to see him. “Wasn’t expecting to see you.”

He wanted to flee, but didn’t dare, fearing Ruby would instantly know that he was in love with Jake.

“Odd considering Ruby knew I was coming over this morning.” Walking through the kitchen, Levi spotted the owner of the third voice. He said his hellos to everyone, taking the two steps down into the living room.

“Like I can keep track of your crazy schedule,” Ruby said, looking at her new friend. “My son is a very busy boy.”

Jake stood up off the sofa and crossed the room, giving Levi a bear hug that he didn’t initially want yet admittedly also didn’t want to be released from. Having Jake’s arms around him was incredible—the warmth from his hard body radiated into Levi. It was heaven on Earth. Jake seemed to be aware of that fact considering he allowed Levi to hang on longer than what would typically be considered appropriate for friends.

Levi knew he needed to release Jake, but his body didn’t seem to agree with his brain. He closed his eyes for a fraction of a second, breathing in Jake’s spicy aftershave mixed with the naturally awesome scent of the man himself, attempting to commit it to memory before finally letting go.

He was immediately embarrassed as Ruby and the stranger exchanged a knowing glance, something Jake took note of as well, considering the awkward shuffling of arms that ended in his usual, cross-armed defensive stance.

“So what’s going on here?” Levi asked, attempting to draw the attention away from himself.

“Right, sorry,” Jake stammered, motioning toward the judgey interloper. “This is my good friend, Keith.”

Levi shook Keith’s hand, well sort of, considering Keith offered it to him in a ‘kiss the ring of the benevolent’ sort of way. Jake chuckled as he watched the exchange and Ruby looked at Levi like he’d lost his mind.

“Keith is a nurse—” Jake paused, watching as Keith’s head cocked to the side with a ‘no he didn’t’ expression on his face. “—an incredibly, fantastic, totally kick-ass, nurse…who is currently looking for a new client. As soon as I got wind of that information I immediately thought of Ruby.”

“Oh!” Levi was intensely interested after hearing that. He took a seat in the pink, velvet upholstered parlor chair across from the sofa where Jake and Ruby were perched and smiled sweetly at Keith, hoping his desperation wasn’t showing.

“Keith is also one of the legendary
Masquerade de Cabaret
Club female impersonators, DaVeena DaMore.” Ruby was using one of her overtly exaggerated femme fatale impersonations. “Absolutely fabulous, darling.”

Levi chuckled over the performance Ruby was putting on and stared up at the ceiling thinking the name sounded familiar. “You took me there for my eighteenth birthday?”

“I did, indeed.” Ruby winked at Keith and Levi glanced over at Jake, wondering if that fact made him a little sad, considering the relationship he had with his own mother. “Ms. DaMore was one of the entertainers we saw that evening.”

Levi’s eyes widened. “Not Diana Ross?”

“Exactly,” Ruby said, pointing at Levi.

Keith was visibly pleased that Levi remembered him.

“You were amazing,” Levi said, “everyone one was good mind you, but when you stepped out onto that stage—”

“We both thought you
were
Diana Ross!” Ruby said, cutting him off. “We nearly came out of our seats!”

Levi nodded as if Ms. DaMore might require him to confirm Ruby’s version of events.

“I was very good… in my day. I did a mean Donna Summer as well, but my Lady Ross was money. No one could touch me.”

“That was a good night,” Levi said, touched by a bout of nostalgia.

Ruby smiled at him. “The night you told me you were gay.”

“Which you’d already figured out, considering where you’d taken me to celebrate my birthday.”

“I wanted you to know it was okay—that I’d love you no matter what.”

“You were damn lucky to have a mom who was so accepting,” Jake said.

He and Ruby stared at one another for several seconds as Levi remembered how relieved he’d been once he’d finally come out to her. To the outside world, it might have seemed like a foregone conclusion that Ruby would be the type of free-spirited mother who’d be accepting of his homo-ness. From his teen-angst-perspective at that time, his mother had been anything but predictable and for that reason, he’d been nervous.

“Which is certainly something that makes working with Miss Ruby attractive for me,” Keith said.

Levi nodded, understanding how not having to hide who he was from an employer would be appealing. No one was going to appreciate ALL of who Keith was more than Ruby. Keith could show up each day dressed as DeVeena and Ruby would be ecstatic. On the surface it seemed like a match made in heaven and Levi could see that Ruby was actually excited by the prospect. It was the first time she’d ever looked at anyone with an RN after their name and didn’t think—
enemy
.

“Though I don’t entertain much these days,” Keith added, addressing Levi once again. “They bring me back for special events and I do several charity functions throughout the year, but I’ve otherwise been unceremoniously placed out to pasture, so to speak.”

“Something else we have in common,” Ruby said, begrudgingly.

Jake cleared his throat. “If I may, I feel like I should point out that Keith is in high demand, Levi. He came here to meet Ruby as a favor to me, but you should know that there’s a lengthy list of people who are clamoring for his services.”

Levi nodded, letting Jake know he understood the score and sat quietly, listening as Keith ran through his list of terms, including a pay rate that was considerably more than what Levi had been paying through the home-health service. Though having someone he could count on to be there for Ruby, that peace of mind would be worth the extra dough. Keith’s list of references were numerous and all glowing— having Jake vouch for him also carried a lot of weight. Keith was also completely candid about the fact much of his clientele in the past had been hospice or palliative care and that working with Ruby would be a welcome break from that.

“Please don’t misunderstand me.” Keith raised a hand and sat up a little straighter in his chair. “It is extremely rewarding, helping patients cross over between life and death with some semblance of dignity—as is knowing I’ve made a difference in the lives of the family members who are left behind, but it is equally a very emotional experience.”

Levi nodded, able to empathize to a degree. Though the occasions were certainly incomparable, Levi’s clients also allowed him into their lives during some of the most personal and private milestones. Levi derived a certain amount of pride from making those moments special and memorable.

“Working with Miss Ruby would be a respite from that for me,” Keith continued. “That being said, I will be completely honest with each of you.” Keith glanced between Ruby and Levi. “I am a very opinionated individual and I call a spade a spade. I do not temper those opinions for anyone. If you don’t like what I have to say, that is fine, just don’t expect me to apologize. End of the day, I will always act in the best interest of my patient.”

Levi glared at Ruby, as if to say,
you gonna be okay with that?

She was visibly displeased by the unspoken accusation.

“I’m sorry, but my mother can be… stubborn and likely, equally opinionated—”

“I tell the truth as I see it,” Keith said, cutting Levi off, “but I have no patience for hypocrisy, so the bright side is I won’t begrudge you or Miss Ruby the same.”

“Which seems completely fair to me,” Ruby clarified, for the record.

Levi sighed, nodding. “If this is what you want, Momma—”

“It is,” Ruby said, firmly.

“—then it’s what I want, too.”

Keith grinned, eyes glinting as he winked at Ruby who looked like a giddy school girl that just got asked to the prom. Levi relaxed a bit more, noting that Keith seemed equally excited by the prospect of working with his mother. He found himself getting slightly emotional, all that added tension he’d been carrying around for weeks beginning to ease.

With any luck, this would be the last time he’d ever need to hire a nurse for Ruby. As that realization sank in, Levi turned toward Jake, who was laughing as Ruby and Keith exchanged campy barbs back and forth. This was the man responsible for making his mother happier than Levi had seen her in a very long time.

“Levi, perhaps you could go make some coffee for everyone?” Ruby asked. “My apologies, to you all, had I been aware of all the lovely company I’d have this morning I would’ve been better prepared.”

“I’m afraid that’s my fault,” Jake said, apologetically. “I ran into Keith unexpectedly and things unfolded quickly.”

“It was so kind of you to think of me, Jake,” Ruby said, staring at Jake with so much admiration that it physically wounded Levi. He winced as he stood to go make the coffee. “Such a sweet boy this one is, Levi. Jake has come by to check on me several times, you know?”

Levi didn’t know that considering neither Jake nor Ruby had mentioned it before now.

“I’ll be right back.” Levi forced a smile as he headed for the safety and solitude of the kitchen.

He kept his back to the three of them as he went about making the coffee, trying but failing to maintain his composure. He tried to concentrate on the set of pink, tutu wearing, dancing piglet figurines that had reigned supreme—happily displayed on the white painted kitchen window sill since the day Ruby had unpacked them after relocating here from Vegas. They’d always made him feel better when he’d been sad or afraid as a child, but the silly, whimsical quality didn’t seem to be much help at the moment.