Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
What the hell am I talking about? Chase thought. Things were very much not cleared up.
She’d found the box under his bed. He shouldn’t have said anything about it. Just pretended it hadn’t happened. But then she’d suggested he liked being tied up, and he hadn’t liked feeling mislabeled as something he wasn’t.
So he’d told her.
Which he probably shouldn’t have done.
But then she’d seemed…interested.
And now, he had no idea what Ruby was thinking.
They picked up Haley from Megan’s on the way home, and he and Ruby both sounded too cheerful. Totally overcompensating.
Haley babbled on the drive home, but Chase and Ruby were silent.
I should say something, he thought.
But what? How could he talk about this without seeming either way too eager, or too dismissive?
He’d never gotten so tongue-tied with other women. Probably because no one else had ever mattered this much.
I won’t risk it, he decided.
Because she was Devon’s sister.
Because Chase had feelings for her, and she was never going to feel that way back. She viewed him as nothing more than a friend.
He relaxed. It was decided, and that was that. He was fine now. He wasn’t going to obsess about what Ruby had said and whether or not she was up for trading orgasms.
Not. Thinking. About. It.
Chase focused on the road. It was a busy Sunday afternoon in West Oaks, and lots of other cars were out. But something bumped his instincts as they pulled into the parking lot for the apartment building.
He’d just driven past a blue Kia Rio. It had been idling at the curb right near the dumpsters, which had seemed like an odd place to wait. And the guy behind the wheel was almost comically oversized for the tiny sedan.
Then Chase got a better look at the guy.
Massive shoulders. A trunk-like neck. Shaved head.
Like the guy that Phyllis from Cakes ’N’ More had described. The one who’d run through the alley on the day of Mickey’s murder.
Chase drove through the lot and exited immediately on the other side.
He didn’t want to scare Ruby. Maybe he was just being paranoid. But he wasn’t taking any chances.
“What are you doing?” Ruby asked. “Why didn’t you park?”
“I forgot we’re out of milk.”
“No, we’re not.”
“I think we are.”
“Chase, I have nothing better to do every day than stare at the contents of my fridge. We have plenty of milk. What is going on?”
He glanced at the rearview mirror. The blue Kia had pulled out behind them.
The guy was following.
Shit.
Now, he was officially worried.
“We may have a problem,” he said. “I think someone was waiting for us outside the apartment. And now he’s following us.”
“What?”
“Don’t turn around. I don’t want him to realize we noticed.”
Ruby looked at the side mirror. “Who is he?”
“I think he’s our alternate suspect. The guy the witness saw behind the cake shop. Ever seen him before?”
“He’s wearing sunglasses, but he seems familiar. Like…”
“Like?”
“Like one of the fighters from the circuit.” She turned to him, eyes widening. “Haley’s in the car. What are we going to do?”
“I’m already heading for the police station.” He had to get Ruby and Haley somewhere safe. If the guy got aggressive, Chase would have to think fast.
He accelerated through a stale yellow light. The guy behind him blew past the red.
Chase turned at the next right, and the Kia did too.
“Call 911,” he said.
Ruby’s hands were shaking as she took out her phone. He heard her speaking into it. At the same time, Haley kept talking in a sing-song voice in her car seat.
He was almost to the station.
Chase’s entire body was a knot of tension. He was holding his breath.
He ran a stop sign, and other cars blared their horns. Ruby screamed. Chase’s foot pressed the accelerator. They raced forward, going way too fast, and the tires squealed as he pulled into the West Oaks PD parking lot and zoomed up to the gate.
Chase turned around in his seat, looking behind them.
The blue Kia wasn’t there. He didn’t see it anywhere.
Ruby was shaking in the passenger seat, and Haley had started to cry.
“I’m sorry I scared you,” Chase said.
They were sitting in the kitchen after eating leftovers for dinner. Haley was in her crib for the night.
“Don’t be sorry. I think you were right. The guy was following us.”
“Maybe. But I might have overreacted.”
The patrol officers who’d responded to Ruby’s 911 call had certainly thought so. Chase had seen the skepticism on his coworkers’ faces. And the recognition when Ruby had given her name.
Chase was trying to calm himself down after the stress of their afternoon. He’d been ready to do something drastic to protect Haley and Ruby, and now he wondered if the threat had been real at all.
To be safe, Chase had contacted Bennett Security to request that a car keep an eye outside. Just for the night. Of course, Noah had insisted that they’d watch the building around the clock for as long as needed. Devon would hear about it, but Chase could explain tomorrow. Tonight he was wiped.
“If that guy killed Mickey,” Ruby said, “he’d know who I am. I’m sure he’d be following the news, and it wouldn’t be too hard to figure out where I live or what car I drive. But why come here? Why follow us?”
“I don’t know.” Chase didn’t want to think about the reasons. It couldn’t possibly have been good.
He’d made an official report about the incident, for whatever that was worth. He’d given the Kia’s license plate. But unless the man was driving his own car around and they could find his name that way, Chase doubted West Oaks PD would identify him.
They’re going to think you’re a head case, Shelby had said.
Chase groaned and rubbed a hand over his face. “I’m pretty tired. I’m going to bed.”
“Already? We could watch TV.”
He would’ve preferred to put an end to this frustrating day, but instead he said, “All right. Sure.”
They sat on the couch and pulled up a show they’d been streaming. Chase struggled to concentrate.
At first, he was running through scenarios related to the suspect in the Kia Rio. What the guy might have wanted, how Chase could track the guy down.
But then, once that subject had exhausted itself, his mind started to wander…to what had happened earlier.
To Ruby finding the box under his bed. And their conversation in the car afterward.
Then he felt Ruby’s eyes on him.
“You’re glaring,” he said.
She turned back to face the screen. “I’m not glaring.”
But pretty soon, he felt it again. Ruby was watching him. Staring.
He’d noticed her looking at him a few times in the last week, too. But he’d assumed she was just getting used to his presence. It hadn’t been like this.
Like she was scrutinizing him. Trying to see into his head.
Finally, Chase asked, “What?”
The word had come out more sharply than he’d intended.
“What do you mean, what?”
“You’ve been staring at me. I thought you wanted to watch TV, not watch me.”
She switched off the screen and set down the remote. “I’m curious.”
“About what?”
He knew. Of course he knew.
“About the handcuffs and ropes.”
His pulse kicked. “Why?”
“Just because. What do you like about it? I want to know.”
He adjusted his weight on the couch. “It’s sex. People like different things.”
“Yes, but I’m asking about you.”
“Why?” he asked again.
Ruby’s eyes trailed over him, and he saw the same interest she’d shown in the car. So he hadn’t been imagining it. “I like knowing things about you.”
His heart rate immediately jumped into overdrive.
Did she want…?
Could she? Was that actually a possibility?
He knew he shouldn’t have this conversation. He’d already decided.
But then he thought of how he hadn’t gotten laid in a while. And she’d volunteered that she hadn’t either.
And he wanted her. More than any other woman in the world, Chase wanted her.
“I enjoy setting the pace,” he said. “Being the one in charge.”
She smiled coyly. “Being dominant?”
“Yeah.”
He could’ve sworn he saw a shiver run through her. A good shiver or a bad one, he didn’t know.
“I guess it’s not surprising,” she said. “That you like to be in charge.”
“Are we starting that fight again? About me being controlling?”
“No. But…Destiny called it.”
“Destiny?”
“The friend I met in jail. She said she could tell you liked to get freaky. And it does fit with the cop stereotype. A sadist who gets off on power?” Her eyes danced with amusement.
He smiled in spite of himself, shaking his head. “I’m not a sadist. I don’t like causing pain. I like being gentle.”
Ruby’s throat moved as she swallowed. “That doesn’t surprise me in the least.”
Damn, did that sexy little grin of hers get him going. His stomach swirled with arousal.
Was she flirting with him? Were they joking?
“Sometimes, going slow can be its own kind of torture,” he said. “Or so I’m told.”
“I had no clue you were hiding an inner sex fiend. I’m wondering what else I don’t know about you.”
“I’m hardly a sex fiend.”
“You tie women up and torture them.”
“Only if they want me to.”
“Maybe I want you to.”
His heart almost stopped.
Oh. Fuck.
Was this actually happening right now?
She blinked slowly at him. “Have you ever thought about me…like that?”
An image flashed into his mind: Ruby naked on her bed, wrists tied, legs spread.
“All the damn time.”
Had he said that out loud?
“What about you?” he heard himself ask. “What do you like?”
She bit into her lower lip, head tilting. A lock of hair fell across her cheek. “I like…adrenaline.”
He lifted his eyebrows.
“If I wanted you to tie me up, how would it go?”
Stay. Calm. He wasn’t exactly sure what she meant, and he was very sure he shouldn’t answer that. “I wouldn’t do it our first time. Maybe not even the second. I’d want to be careful with you. See how far you were willing to go.”
Ruby made a small whimper. Her hands fisted against the couch. His heart was throbbing, and his dick ached.
She glanced down at his lap. “You’re hard.”
There wasn’t much use trying to hide it. “Yep.”
“I make you hard?”
“I think that’s obvious.” His voice was low, coming from deep in his chest.
She was staring at his crotch. “When I was in your room today at your house, I started thinking about you in your bed, and I wondered what it would be like. Being naked with you. Watching you come. And when I opened that box? I wanted to find out even more.”
He hadn’t thought it was possible for his cock to get any stiffer. But all the blood had rushed out of his head and gone south. He was lightheaded.
“Fuck, Ruby. You’re killing me. I can’t believe you’re saying these things.”
“Neither can I. I’ve never thought of you this way before. But now, I can’t stop.”
His brain had disconnected. That had to explain what he did next.
Chase leaned over, crossing that invisible barrier between them.
And his lips brushed over hers.
“Chase.” She sounded breathless.
Mayday. Turn back.
She was his friend. Devon’s little sister.
Devon might be able to forgive him, but Chase had said nothing like this would ever happen. His word meant something.
And he was betraying his own heart, too. Because he loved her. And she didn’t love him.
“Please tell me to stop.” He was begging her. Begging himself.
“I don’t want to.”
Chase rubbed his cheek against hers. She closed her eyes like she was relishing the sensations.
“Do you like that?” he asked.
“Yes.” He was close enough that she breathed the word straight into his mouth.
Chase pulled back and looked at her. “Are you feeling it now? Adrenaline?”
She nodded. “My heart won’t slow down.”
“Mine won’t either.”
“My heart was beating hard in the car earlier, when I was scared, but this is different. Because I know I’m safe. Because it’s you. I know you’d take care of me.”
His fingers touched her chin. Different impulses warred in his mind. Desire and indecision. Need and hesitation.
Electricity arced between them. Pheromones filled the air.
“But I thought you didn’t like when I’m protective.”
“Right now it’s getting me hot,” she whispered. “That’s my dirty secret.”
Chase pulled her closer and crashed his mouth onto hers. His tongue licked the seam of her lips and swept inside. Tasting her.
She was everything he’d been craving. Sweetness and hunger and heat.
Ruby put her arms around his waist and gripped his T-shirt in her fists. Her tongue pushed back, battling with his. But he wanted to direct this moment. Wanted to show her exactly how this would go.
He lifted her into his lap and grabbed hold of her wrists, bending her arms so they’d cross behind her back. Ruby broke their kiss, eyes flaring with surprise.
“You okay with this?”
Ruby nodded.
Chase held her arms tightly at her lower back. He licked her throat, and Ruby tipped her head back, moaning. He felt the vibration against his mouth.
Chase did have a wild side. And he was so damn tired of holding it back.