Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
After putting Haley to bed, Ruby came out to the living room and sat beside Chase on the couch. “Thanks for giving me and Haley some alone time this afternoon. We needed that.”
“I like giving you what you need.” Chase took her hand, and his kindness floored her once again. What would she have done without him?
Tessa Waverley had left the apartment hours ago, but the visit hadn’t left Ruby’s mind for a second. During that hour of time, she’d sat upstairs in agony. But she’d known Chase was with Haley, and that knowledge had gotten her through.
After she’d come downstairs, Ruby hadn’t wanted to talk about the visit. She and her daughter had taken a nap together and played for hours in Haley’s room.
But now, Ruby was ready to hear the worst of it.
“How did she seem?” Ruby asked. “Mickey’s mother.”
“Upset. Angry. But she was kind to Haley.”
Thank goodness for that. “Do you think she might be reasonable? Could we convince her to wait until after my trial before pushing for custody?”
Chase was hesitating.
“Just tell me,” Ruby said.
“Tessa said she’ll do whatever’s necessary to get Haley. I don’t think she’ll wait a day longer than she has to.”
Ruby pressed her lips together and nodded. “Pretty much what we expected.” It was almost reassuring, knowing for sure what she was up against. “That means I need proof that I’m innocent now, not in six months at the trial. Every lead we find seems to go nowhere.”
“I know. I haven’t been much help lately. Detective Murphy knows I went with Shelby to investigate that witness tip, and I’m on her shit list.”
“It’s not your fault. You’ve done plenty.” What Ruby needed was a brilliant idea. An insight. “Do you want to make something?”
“Make something?”
She went to the hall closet and took out a box of craft supplies. “Paint or draw or make a collage. It could be anything.” She set the supplies on the kitchen table.
“Um…why?”
“When I’m trying to focus, I like to have my hands busy. Being creative accesses the unconscious mind. We see connections we didn’t realize before.” When she glanced at him, he was making a skeptical face.
“But I’m not artistic. At all.”
“That doesn’t matter. It’s about the process. Do this with me? Please?”
“Are you going to laugh when I suck?”
“I would never laugh! Not in a mean way.”
He nodded. “All right. I’ll give it a shot. But only because you asked so nicely.”
“Do you want to paint?”
Chase took a seat beside her. “I’ll do whatever you’re doing.”
Ruby spread out charcoal pencils, pots of water-based paints, brushes, and canvas paper. She liked to keep things simple and non-toxic, especially with a toddler around.
“Let’s brainstorm everything we know.” Ruby dipped her paintbrush into the yellow and dragged it across her paper. “We know that Mickey asked me to meet him to discuss Haley. I went to his apartment and found him wounded. There was someone else there.”
“Then the guy with the shaved head ran by the cake shop. Possibly the same guy who came here to your building in the Kia.”
“And followed us.”
“I’m guessing he recognized your car. He knew what to look for.”
“So, who could he be?”
“Aside from the real killer?” Chase fidgeted with his paintbrush. “You thought he could be a fighter, like Mickey was.”
“Which would make a lot of sense,” Ruby said, “especially if Mickey’s death has something to do with the fighting ring. Or Adrian Peele, the man behind it.”
Days ago, Ruby had told Chase everything she could about the fighting ring and her connection with it. He’d been understanding, of course, because he was more perfect than the average human. She should’ve known he wouldn’t judge her for being involved in something illegal.
“We need to talk to more people who know about the fighting ring,” Chase said. “Maybe they could ID this guy. Or tell us something else that’s useful.”
“Like Tag or Nora.” She switched from yellow to blue, adding water so the colors would bleed together.
Chase made abstract swirls of black on his paper. “We need to interview them. Find out what else they know.”
“But Jane hasn’t had any luck. She and Max have been to Bailor Fitness, and nobody would say a word to them.
Nora said she’d call me if she thought of anything useful, but she hasn’t.
” Ruby dabbed at the blue paint. “Tag was adamant to me that he had nothing to say. But maybe I could convince Nora if I spoke to her again in person. Unfortunately, the last time I went to Los Angeles, Mickey’s girlfriend attacked me. ”
“I could try.”
She looked over at him. “Try what?”
“Let me try talking to Nora.”
“But there’s no way she’ll talk to a cop. Look at you, Chase. You think she won’t know?”
“There you go again, underestimating me.”
“I’m not underestimating you. I’m just being realistic.”
“They don’t need to know who I really am. It’s a gym. I can blend in. A just-discharged Marine, new to town, looking for a place to train. That’ll get me in the door. I’ve already got the haircut.”
He turned his head like he was posing, and Ruby couldn’t help smiling. “What then?”
“I’ll find Nora, tell her you sent me, and see if she’ll talk. If she’s not there, I’ll listen to what other people are saying. See what I can find out.”
“Tag said most of his members are off the circuit.”
“But Nora’s still in it. Others could be, too.”
“I don’t know…”
“What’s the harm in me trying?”
That you’ll get hurt? she thought.
But Chase was tough and smart. He’d trained at that cop gym. And he wasn’t actually going to fight anybody. She certainly hoped not.
“I can go on my next day off,” he said.
“All right. We’ll try it.” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “But there’s something else you need to know…”
Chase leaned in.
She dipped her finger in blue paint and smeared it down his nose.
“Hey!”
“You totally fell for that.”
“You think I won’t retaliate?” Chase grabbed her and held her still while he painted a mustache above her lips. Then she was in his lap and paint was going everywhere. Smearing on their necks and arms and faces.
Ruby felt paint drying on her cheeks. “I hope you know I don’t underestimate you. I think you’re basically perfect.”
“Why does that sound like a criticism?”
“It’s not,” she said defensively. “I’m constantly impressed by you.”
“Don’t you mean annoyed?”
“That’s only sometimes.” Ruby kissed along his jaw, avoiding the paint, until she reached his mouth. She pressed soft kisses to his lips. Each one grew deeper. More heated.
“I’m nowhere near perfect,” he murmured. “And I’m not selfless, either.”
“No? That’s just your cover story?”
“I’m actually very bad.”
“Why don’t you show me?”
Chase picked her up by the hips and carried her to the bedroom.
“What are you in the mood for?” He knelt on the mattress and lay down with her, covering her body with his. His erection ground against her through their clothes. He grabbed each of her wrists and held them down.
“Can I suck you? Pretty please?”
Chase rolled onto his back. He’d changed out of his West Oaks PD polo and jeans from earlier. Now he had on shorts and a tee.
Ruby teased her fingers along his waistband. She loved this part, this anticipation. It turned her on like nothing else, seeing how hard he was and knowing she’d done that to him.
But he took over, lifting his hips to push his shorts and underwear down.
“Hey, I was doing that,” she complained.
“I wanted to get to the good part.”
“What happened to going slow?”
He propped a pillow under his head and grinned at her. She couldn’t be too annoyed when he had paint all over his face.
“Hold on, I’ll be right back.”
She grabbed a washcloth from the bathroom and wet it. “To wipe our faces. Otherwise I’m going to be laughing the whole time I suck you off.”
Chase took the towel and cleaned his face. Ruby did the same.
She tossed the towel on the floor and lifted his shirt to kiss his stomach. When she reached his erection, she licked a stripe along the underside of his shaft.
He groaned. “The view would be even better if you were naked.”
“Always so bossy.” Ruby stood to strip off her clothes.
She kneeled between his legs and went back to painting his cock with her tongue. Her mouth closed around his crown.
“Mmmm.” Chase’s fingers slid into her hair.
She could tell he wanted to take charge. But it was fun seeing how long he could last before stealing the control back from her.
It was not very long.
Chase sat up, gently pulling away. “You are very, very good at that, but you need to come before I do.”
“Because I’m the woman?”
“Because you deserve it.” He tugged his clothes off the rest of the way. Then he reached for her.
“Wait,” she said. “There’s something else I want.”
Ruby had been thinking more about that sex box of his. It didn’t seem like he’d brought it to the apartment yet, and she wasn’t sure why. Maybe he thought she wasn’t ready.
To be fair, she still wasn’t ready for him to fuck her. She’d ordered condoms online, but the thought of using them—and of risking getting pregnant—made her feel like she couldn’t breathe. It was confusing, wanting something so much yet being afraid to have it.
But tonight, she felt ready to take things a little further. If Chase was into it. Just to show him how much she trusted him, how grateful she was for everything he did.
More importantly, it would be fun. They both needed that.
“I want you to blindfold me,” she said.
A slow smile pulled at his lips. “I can do that.”
Ruby went to the closet and came back out with a sash from one of her dresses. She sat on the bed, and Chase knelt behind her, placing the fabric over her eyes and tying it behind her head.
“How’s that?”
A bit of light bled through the bottom, but not much. She closed her eyes. “Perfect.”
Chase rubbed her shoulders and kissed the back of her neck. “I’ve been wondering. Do you have a vibrator?”
She liked where this was going. “In my nightstand drawer.”
“Can I get it?”
“Yes.” Ruby felt for the pillows and lay down against them.