Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
Ruby followed Chase into his bungalow.
“I can’t believe I’ve never been to your place before,” she said.
He switched on the light in the living room. “I guess I’ve always gone to see you guys.” He’d spoken all of this in a monotone. Like he hadn’t wanted to respond, but felt obligated.
They hadn’t made up yet after their fight.
Today was Sunday, and Haley was spending the afternoon with Ruby’s mom.
Chase had needed to come to his house for a few belongings, and Ruby had volunteered to go.
Partly because she’d been eager for an excuse to get out of the apartment, and partly because she was sick of this awkwardness between them.
It had been days since their argument. But aside from pleasantries at meal times and talking about Haley, she and Chase had barely spoken.
All the while, she’d been waiting for something to happen in her case. But whenever she called Jane, all she heard was, Be patient.
Jane had been both furious and thrilled at the potential new suspect Chase had found.
When the lawyer demanded answers from the DA’s office, the prosecutor had claimed they were still investigating and would have turned the info over.
Apparently, they were examining the towel Chase and Shelby had found for DNA.
Anything that might tie it to Mickey’s murder. There had been no news yet.
Ruby had to keep being patient.
Her eyes followed Chase as he walked across the room. She’d been doing that a lot lately.
“You’re glaring at me. You didn’t have to come.”
“I’m not glaring.”
“Then what’re you doing?”
“Just wondering how much of this stuff you need. I don’t have room for all of it.”
“I’m going to pack up a lot of it and store it in the garage. In case my cousin wants to sublease the house while I’m gone. Then I can cover more of your rent.”
“That’s thoughtful. Thanks.”
He’d brought along some collapsed cardboard boxes. He popped them into shape and started taping the sides. “You know me, Mr. Selfless.”
And he had to go and ruin the moment. “Mr. Sarcasm is more like it.”
“I thought you loved sarcasm. It’s your primary form of expression.”
“I thought you hadn’t noticed. Because avoidance is your primary form of expression.”
“I’m not avoiding you. I just don’t want to get yelled at again.”
“I didn’t yell. I never yell.”
He tilted his head and arched his eyebrow at her, and for some reason, her next comeback got stuck in her throat. She was too busy noticing his Adam’s apple and the cords in his neck.
And now she was staring at him again.
What was with that?
It might’ve started out as glaring. The man was so stubborn. Almost as stubborn as she was. But then, sometime in the last few days, she’d forgotten to glare and had just been…watching.
He was nice looking. She’d always known that, but lately, those handsome features kept drawing her eye. Probably because she had so little else to look at.
Ruby spun and marched into the kitchen. “You have a pressure cooker? I’ve always wanted one of those.”
“It was a gift from an aunt or something. Don’t think I’ve ever used it, but you can have it if you want.”
“How generous. So your little wifey can make dinner before you get home?”
“Not so selfless now, am I?” He gave her a smirk. She rolled her eyes.
But this was better. They were talking.
“Didn’t Devon and Aurora hole up here when she was in danger last year?” Ruby asked.
“Yep. And they practically destroyed the place. The front windows were all shot up. Technically not their fault. In the bathroom, though, the curtain rod in the shower was pulled out of the wall. But there was no other sign of a fight in that part of the house.”
Ruby laughed. “Then how did they manage to mess up the bathroom?”
“I didn’t ask. Max Bennett paid for everything to get fixed. My cousin was thrilled about the new windows.”
Chase’s phone rang, and he groaned when he saw the name on the screen. “Fuck.”
“Hey, no grumpy allowed,” she said.
A smile flickered over his lips before vanishing. “It’s my dad. I need to take this.”
“Do you want some privacy?”
Chase nodded. “That would be good. Could you grab some more shirts and the rest of my shoes from my closet? I’ll go through the other stuff in my bedroom later and box it up for the garage.”
“No problem.” Ruby went into Chase’s room, and he answered the phone.
“Dad?”
Ruby closed the door most of the way, though she could hear the tension in his voice as he spoke to his father.
She remembered what he’d told her before—that his mom had left and his dad was an asshole. Except for the day he’d proposed, he’d rarely spoken about his family.
I should have asked, she thought. Because even if they were fighting, Chase mattered to her. They were friends.
She missed joking around with him. The fun, easy banter they’d used to have.
She’d been too hard on him. Chase had done nothing but help her.
You could just say you’re sorry.
Grumbling, she went into Chase’s closet. After searching his shelves, she found an empty duffle bag to hold his shoes. There were only a few pairs. Some sneakers, loafers. Beach sandals with sand still on the soles.
One shoebox held comic books instead of shoes, and Ruby snorted as she flipped through them.
Spiderman, X-Men, The Incredible Hulk. Chase was a closet nerd like Devon. She was going to give him so much shit later. Not because comic books weren’t cool, because anything could be cool if you owned it. But he’d hidden these away in here like a dirty secret.
Maybe it interfered with his perfect white-knight image, and he didn’t want his dates to know.
Ruby carried the box of comics and the duffle of shoes to his bed. She looked at the two pillows. The quilt and white sheets.
How many women had slept in this bed with him?
Her brain suddenly conjured an image of Chase with a pretty, giggly blond. Heat raced through her veins, but it was not a good feeling.
Wait.
Oh, hell no.
She was not getting jealous over Chase. That would just be…strange.
But the images kept coming. All the things she’d been noticing about Chase the last several days, now in a very different context.
His lips kissing someone else.
His heavy body pressing another woman into the mattress.
Someone’s tongue licking droplets of sweat from his neck.
His back muscles flexing as he fucked someone and oh god she was visualizing Chase having sex.
What was going on in her brain?
Ruby had had a few random sexual thoughts about Chase before. He was a man, and he’d been sleeping in her bed. It was only natural.
But this was his bed, and he’d definitely had sex here. Probably a lot. Lots of athletic, naked sex.
Ruby sat on the floor, holding her head in her hands. She had to stop this. Right now.
A deep breath.
Okay. The moment was gone. Thank goodness.
She was supposed to be packing up shoes, not having fantasies about his naked body. Or wondering how big he was or what he tasted like.
No.
“Stop being weird,” she whispered to herself.
When she opened her eyes, Ruby saw another shoebox tucked under his bed. Without stopping to think, Ruby grabbed the box and dragged it along the floor toward her. Lifted the lid.
There were no shoes inside.
At first, she thought this was just more cop stuff. Spare handcuffs. But these cuffs had a soft lining on the interior. And there were other things in this box, too.
Thick strips of black leather. Silky looking ropes.
She gasped as she realized what this was.
A sex box. Chase had a sex box under his bed, and she’d opened it.
Footsteps crossed the house, and the bedroom door pushed wide. “Hey, sorry about—Oh, fuck.”
“I’m, um—” Ruby stammered.
She tried to hold out the box, and Chase lunged for it at the same time. Their hands collided, and the thing tipped over, contents spilling out all over Ruby’s lap and the floor.
They both leaned forward and their heads bumped with a smack. “Ow!”
“Shit!” Chase rubbed his forehead. His voice was about an octave higher than normal. “Could you wait for me in the living room? Please?”
Ruby stood up. “Let’s just be adults about this.”
“Living room,” he said again, not looking at her.
She left his bedroom and paced until he came out. Chase was holding the duffle bag she’d packed full of shoes. The sex box was nowhere in sight.
And the tips of his ears were bright red.
He walked toward the door. “We’ve probably done enough for today. I’ll pack up the car.”
Ruby followed him outside. “I thought it was a pair of shoes.”
“Under my bed? I said to get stuff from the closet.”
“But it was a shoebox!”
The trunk popped open. He threw the duffle inside.
“Lots of people like to get tied up during sex,” she said. “I mean, if that’s what you’re into. With the ropes. And the handcuffs.”
Ruby heard a small intake of breath. An elderly woman with a cane was shuffling by on the sidewalk.
Chase raised his hand. “Hi, Mrs. Thompson.” He glared at Ruby and dropped his voice. “Can you stop telling all my neighbors my business?”
“Oops.”
“Just get in the car. I’ll deal with everything else later.”
“Then give me my keys.” They’d taken her car because she’d wanted to drive. Probably to annoy him, if she was being honest.
“No. I’m driving back.”
“But it’s my car.”
“But you did something you shouldn’t have, so I get to call dibs on driving.”
“You’re punishing me? That’s…slightly kinky.”
“Jesus, Ruby.” He went back to the house and locked up.
Then they were both in the front seat. Ruby clicked her seatbelt into place. He put the car into gear and reversed out of the driveway.
Cue the awkward silence, despite the road noise and the low hum of the radio.
She tapped her fingers against the passenger door.
Do I say something? Do I pretend it didn’t happen?
Do I admit that I’m really intrigued right now?
Should she confess something about herself? That she’d been fantasizing about him?
No. Not that. Not that.
“I’m sorry,” she blurted out.
“It’s fine.” His teeth were clenched.
“Not just about…the box under your bed. I’m sorry I got mad at you the other day. You were only trying to help.”
“It’s okay,” he said quietly. “I’m sorry too. I said stupid things.”
“We both did.”
Then, more silence. Which was still awkward. Cars and trees whooshed by as Chase drove.
Ruby jumped a little when he cleared his throat and spoke again. “For the record, I don’t like to get tied up.”
She glanced over. “What do you like?”
What the hell? Why had she just asked that? She’d joked about his sexual tastes before, but that had been different. That conversation hadn’t been turning up her internal temperature.
Was he going to answer?
She wanted him to answer.
Because thinking of Chase naked, of his dick getting hard and the noises he would make as he came, was really turning her on.
Chase had one hand clenched on the steering wheel, the other on his forehead. His tongue licked at his lower lip, and she followed the movement.
His tongue was pink. It was sexy.
Which was not a thing she’d ever realized before.
“I like to be the one doing the tying.”
“How tied up are we talking?” Ruby asked, her tone light.
“Depends.”
There was a heck of a lot of possibility in that word. Ruby had done the necktie thing with a guy in college. Wrists tied loosely above her head. But Chase’s sex box had held much more than that.
“And you do that a lot? Tie women up?”
Was there air-conditioning in this car? She was overheating.
“I haven’t done it in a while.” His voice was husky. “Haven’t been with anyone.”
“It’s been a while for me, too.” She swallowed. “I mean having sex. Or getting tied up. Either one.”
And now she was so aroused that the vibration of the car alone might be enough to set her off. Her skin tingled and ached to be touched. Ruby kept shifting against the seat, which felt really good against her clit. Like, deliriously good. She wasn’t thinking straight.
She kept on rambling. “I haven’t been with anyone since Mickey. I’ve wanted to, but it just, you know, I don’t have many opportunities.”
“That’s a long time. To not have opportunities.”
“No kidding.”
For a while, Chase’s eyes stayed glued to the road. They stopped at a red light. His thumb tapped the steering wheel. “I don’t plan to see anyone else while we’re married. I realize you and I didn’t talk about that, but…just in case you were wondering.”
“Me neither. Not like I’m going to bars or creeping around apps looking for hookups, anyway.” Ruby clamped her mouth shut before something else ridiculous could come out.
“Glad that’s cleared up,” Chase said.
“Me too.”
Even though it wasn’t clear in the slightest.