Pleasure Me (47 page)

The memory of her father ordering her mother and her out of his house. Then the day she’d steeled herself to go plead with the man to come visit her mother on the woman’s deathbed. The way he’d cruelly rejected her mother’s request. Could she forgive the man all that? It was a lot for Garrick to ask of her.

“Mama! Mama!”

Jack’s excited cry pierced her thoughts, and she turned toward the sound of her three-year-old son’s voice. The sight of him bounding out of the house and running toward them made Ruth’s heart expand with joy. He was the image of his father and had a mischievous streak in him that mimicked Garrick’s.

As Jack raced toward her, it was impossible not to wonder what it would have been like for her to race toward her parents on a warm sunny day such as this. The image created a bittersweet sensation inside her as she contemplated what it would have been like to grow up in a home where her parents had been together.

She would most likely have grown up like any other young woman. Married someone her parents had deemed suitable. She might never have met Garrick, or worse, they might have fallen in love and been unable to be together. She drew in a sharp breath. The thought of being married to someone else other than Garrick made her tremble with dismay. Beside her, Garrick brushed his fingertips across her cheek.

“Are you all right, sweetheart?”

The sound of his voice made her catch his hand in hers so she could kiss his palm. The what-ifs of the past would never be answered, and it was pointless to dwell on the possibilities of what might have been.

“I’m wonderful,” she whispered. “You’re right, I have everything I could ever want right here. I can afford to be charitable.”

An instant later, Jack was wrapping his small arms around her legs as Garrick entwined his fingers with hers. Just as quickly as he’d arrived, Jack was dashing off to where Clara and Thad were playing near the fountain. Slowly, she and Garrick followed him, and as the sound of laughter reached her ears, Ruth released a sigh of happiness. The future was bright with possibilities and all the love she’d ever longed for in her life. All of it was more than enough to forgive the past.

 

KISMET

PLEASURE ME

 

ASSASSIN’S HONOR

ASSASSIN’S HEART