The Light Between Us by Beth Morey Page A

of his shaming as possible.  Derek felt his lip curling in derision.  He couldn't believe he'd fallen for this woman, couldn't believe how he'd tied himself up in knots over her . . . and she'd gone out and fucked some other guy while he was in agony. 
     
    I knew this was a bad idea. Derek shook his head at himself, pounding the pavement, not seeing the city blocks slide by him.  I knew it.
     
    This was his fault, he knew.  He never should have let Ruth in, let the way she caught his eye catch at his heart, too.  He felt like an idiot letting himself being taken in like this. So amateur .  There was no way he'd make that mistake again.  Ever.
                 
    * * *
     
    Ruth wiped the water from her skin and wrapped her hair in a towel, then tiptoed back the bedroom, smelling something delicious wafting from the kitchen. 
     
    “ Mmm, whatever that is smells great,” Ruth called to Sam as she opened her closet.  “I'll be right there.” 
     
    As she scanned the clothes hanging in the closet, a moment of indecision gripped her.  What to wear to tantalize Sam?  Something cozy or sexy, or something else entirely?
     
    But then , she remembered, I've already tantalized and won him over, just by being myself haven't I?   So she threw on her faded and inordinately comfortable Star Wars t-shirt, a soft gray thing stamped with the image of Boba Fett, the bounty hunger, and then slid into her favorite pair of jeans. 
     
    Tying her tendrils into a damp bun on the top of her head, she walked into the kitchen to see Sam pushing eggs around a pan.  “Yum,” she said, coming up behind him and wrapping her arms around his waist.  “Did you add salsa?”
     
    He nodded.  “Yeah.” 
     
    Something in his voice caught at her, making her frown.  She stepped back, moving to his side so she could see his expression.  About to ask him what was up, the words died on her tongue when she saw a massive bouquet of white roses on the table, partially obscuring what looked like a bar of chocolate.
     
    “ Did you . . . ?” she began, mind calculating.  She didn't take that long of a shower.  Where could he have gotten the flowers and chocolate from?  “Did you . . . order me flowers?”  A smile played around her lips, loving the surprise even though she couldn't figure out the logistics of its possibility. 
     
    “ I didn't.”  That same something was in Sam's reply again, and this time she could see his brow furrowed in – what?  Anger? 
     
    “ Then how –?”
     
    “ They're from your boyfriend,” Sam spat out, throwing the spatula he was using down and moving the pan of cooked eggs off the hot burner.  “You know, the one you didn't tell me about.”
     
    “ My boyfriend?” Ruth asked, shaking her head.  What the hell was he talking about?  “I –”
     
    “ You made a cheater out of me, Ruth.”  Sam crossed his arms, turning to face her, his hazel eyes burning with hurt, his voice no less powerful for its lack of volume.
     
    “ No –”
     
    “ And maybe,” he continued, ignoring her protestations, “that doesn't matter to you.  But it matters to me.  I do not want to be a cheat, and you made me one without telling me.  That is seriously not okay.”
     
    He headed for the bedroom, shoulders slumped.  Ruth followed after him.  “Sam, please.  I'm really sorry . . . but I honestly have no idea what you're talking about.”
     
    He snorted.  “Well, the man who brought the chocolate and flowers seemed to know all about it.”
     
    “ Man?  What man?”
     
    “ I don't know, some guy who looked like he could model for a living.”  Sam pulled a shirt over his head.  “His name was, I don't know, Dylan or Derek or something.”
     
    Ruth froze.  “Derek?  Derek brought the roses and chocolate?”  She stared hard at Sam, trying to figure it out.  How could Derek have brought it, after he'd betrayed her yet again?             
     
    “ Yeah, I