Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
S aturday nights in the bar were Ruby’s least favorite.
They meant everyone in town was here, even her sister who was seated in a booth with Callie.
Tom, Gil, and Kev were holding court at their usual table, taking bets on this weekend’s football games.
Sierra was busy flirting with Bert, assuring him he was still attractive even with only one good knee.
And Trina and Kurt were in a heated argument about something that probably happened over a decade ago.
A pretty rowdy night, but Ruby’s attention kept wandering over to her sister.
She wanted to keep an eye on her. The last thing she needed was Lena having one of her bizarre episodes in the middle of the bar for the whole town to see and confirm their craziest theories.
But so far everything seemed normal. Lena and Callie were giggling over their drinks, and it felt like old times.
Ruby glanced at the clock on the wall above the shelves of liquor bottles. It was past midnight. Last call on the weekend was at one. She was almost done.
Shouting and laughing from the back corner pulled her attention away from her sister.
A booth filled with out-of-towners had gotten sloppy and were getting louder by the minute. From what Ruby could gather, the guys were here for a camping trip, in town only for the weekend. They were young and stupid and overly confident in their ability to hold their liquor.
Ruby caught Macy’s eye from over the bar.
Time to cut them off or they wouldn’t be able to stumble their way back to their tents or cabins or wherever they were staying.
She put down a couple of waters in front of two particularly tipsy bros, and they gave her two sloppy smiles.
The other two had gotten up to play darts.
Rather unsuccessfully from what Ruby could tell.
“We didn’t order water.” The man looked like the villain from an 80s movie. Blonde hair, perfect teeth, polo shirt, far too much cologne. Ruby nearly gagged.
Instead, she smiled sweetly. “Drink up or you’ll feel even worse in the morning.”
“I’d feel better in the morning if you came home with me.” Blaine, she decided his name must be, or maybe Chad, grinned at his friend like he was being clever. His friend snickered.
Ruby wanted to say she doubted he’d be able to get it up in his current condition, but she worked for tips, so she didn’t.
Her face ached from smiling. “Cute,” she said. “But no thanks.”
Blaine narrowed his eyes, shifting in the booth closer to her.
But Ruby was only half paying attention to him.
Something else had shifted. The air in the bar.
Awareness prickled along the back of her neck.
She would bet her life that Rafe was here and watching her, but she didn’t turn around to check.
“Oh, come on, I think we could have fun together,” Blaine was saying. “You look like you like to have fun, Lena .”
Ruby’s eyes hurt so bad from the need to roll them that she had to squeeze them shut.
Wait, did he just call her Lena? How did he know her sister’s name?
And that was when that drunk fucker slid his hand up her skirt and grabbed a handful of her ass, leaving her no time to consider that little mystery.
Ruby didn’t smile. She didn’t think.
She scraped her boot along his shin and stomped so hard on his foot that he yelped like the man-child that he was.
“Shit! That hurt,” he growled. “I thought we could do this the easy way, but now you’ve made things hard.
” He was standing, hissing in her face, but Ruby didn’t back up.
She already knew what she would run into if she did.
She could feel him like a solid wall behind her, unmoving and radiating pure rage.
Blaine’s friend saw Rafe first and his eyes went wide. He cleared his throat, but Blaine didn’t pay any attention. He was too busy staring at Ruby to notice the man behind her.
“I was trying to be nice,” Blaine was saying. “I thought we could help each other out. And then you assault me?”
Ruby almost laughed. Help each other with what? She didn’t want anything from this guy.
He finally paused his tirade long enough to raise his gaze to the shadow looming behind Ruby. Whatever he saw there caused the color to drain from his face. Ruby was vaguely aware of the fact that the entire bar had gone eerily quiet.
“You have sixty seconds.” Rafe’s voice had never sounded less human. It was an animal growl. It sent shivers up Ruby’s arms.
“Sixty seconds for what?” Blaine asked, puffing up his chest, because some boys never learned.
Rafe leaned forward, his solid body pressing into Ruby’s back. “A sixty-second head start before I chase you down and tear you limb from fucking limb.”
Blaine’s eyes widened; a bead of sweat ran down his temple. “That’s how it’s going to be?”
“Clock’s ticking,” Rafe growled, his breath brushing against Ruby’s neck.
Blaine’s friend tossed some bills on the table. “Let’s go, man,” he said. “It’s not worth it right now. We’ll try another way.”
Try another way to get a woman in bed besides assaulting her? Good for them. What progress!
“Better be a good tip,” Rafe added, and the friend smirked and tossed on a couple more. Ruby bit down on her bottom lip. She would not laugh until they were gone.
The other men left their dart game and followed, giving Ruby a wide berth as they passed. The way they were eyeing Rafe, though, almost made Ruby think they all knew each other somehow.
But how would Rafe know these random tourists?
“And don’t bother coming back!” Macy yelled from behind the bar.
“Yeah!” Sal called.
“Oh, like you were doing so much to help,” Macy said.
“I was about to until the big fella showed up. He seems to be handling it just fine.”
Ruby let her laugh tumble out as she leaned back against Rafe’s solid chest. His breathing was ragged against her ear, and the rest of Macy and Sal’s conversation faded into the background. She turned to face Rafe, and his eyes were dark and dangerous.
He looked like he actually wanted to chase that man and follow through on his threats.
“You can’t really go after them.”
A muscle in his jaw ticked.
“I’m serious, Rafe. You can’t actually hurt them.” She grabbed his arms and squeezed, trying to bring him back to himself. “It’s not a big deal. Just let it go.”
He let out a long, unsteady breath. “He put his hands on you.”
“It’s not a big deal. That’s what the boots are for.” She gave him a smile, hoping to break the tension but it didn’t work. He?still looked very murder-y. “Here, have a seat. I’ll grab you a drink.”
He looked like he might protest, or rip the bar down around them, but he slid into the booth.
“Don’t go anywhere,” she said before hurrying off to pour him a beer and ask the cook to throw one last burger on the grill.
Callie grabbed her and yanked her into their booth before she could do either of those things.
“Who the hell is that?” she asked.
“Tourist, I guess.”
Callie rolled her eyes. “You know that’s not who I’m talking about.”
“Yeah,” Lena said with a laugh. “She’s obviously talking about the giant lumberjack that just rescued you from that dick.”
Ruby glanced back over her shoulder to where Rafe was sitting. He was currently glowering at his hands. They were curled up into fists on the table. She was a little afraid he was picturing them around Blaine’s neck.
Ruby turned back to the girls. “Would we call it rescuing? I had it under control.”
“You are focusing on the wrong thing here! Who is that big broody man and where the hell did he come from?” Lena asked, her cheeks rosy from drinking and laughing.
These were excellent questions of course and ones Ruby wished she had more answers to, but other than knowing that Rafe was from the County but newish to Maple Hollow and that he liked his hamburgers rare, Ruby didn’t know much about him at all.
Oh, and other than the fact that he made the little hairs on her arms stand up when he watched her and that she’d been having nonstop highly inappropriate daydreams about him since they met.
Her friend and sister were waiting expectantly, but she wasn’t going to tell them any of that.
“That is Rafe. He’s making new tables for the bar, so he’s been in a few times, and he is a raging feminist. That guy crossed the line, and Rafe just couldn’t stand for it.”
“So, it was his feminist principles that made him look like he wanted to murder that dude?” Callie asked incredulously.
“Exactly.”
Lena laughed so hard, she snorted. “How strange because I would have sworn it’s because he so clearly wants to get in your pants!”
Ruby’s face flushed hot, but she would not give in to these two and their teasing. Her sister was officially cut off.
She shook her head. “Nope. That wasn’t it at all.”
“Good to know you’re still a terrible liar,” Callie said, pointing a French fry at Ruby.
“You’re the one walking around in some dude’s flannel shirt,” Ruby countered. “What’s that all about?”
Callie popped the fry in her mouth. “I never lied about this shirt. You never asked.”
“You were being all cryptic!”
“I was not being cryptic.”
“I know whose shirt it is,” Lena whispered so loud half the bar could hear her.
Ruby glanced over her shoulder again. Rafe was still there, but she didn’t know how much longer he would stay.
“I don’t have time to discuss your secrets right now. Some of us are trying to work.”
The smile slipped from Lena’s face and Ruby regretted her words.
“I didn’t mean it like that, Lena.”
“I know. It’s fine.” She forced her lips into a weak smile, but Ruby knew it wasn’t fine.
Her sister was out tonight and that was great, but this was the first time in weeks she felt well enough to leave the house, or at least brave enough.
Since getting fired, she was constantly worried about having an episode in public.
Judging by the way Callie patted her hand on the table, Lena must have told her the story.
“You’ll be feeling better soon,” Callie said, and Ruby was so relieved to have her friend back, to have someone else who cared about Lena nearly as much as she did.
“And in the meantime, I have you to thank for this cozy hat.” Callie pulled the lopsided beanie that Lena had crocheted down over her ears.
She looked absurd and Ruby had never loved her friend more.
Lena smiled. “It does look good on you.”
“It looks great,” Ruby said, getting up. “And later you’re telling me who owns that shirt.”
“Gladly, and we can talk all about your new feminist friend Rafe.” Callie grinned before popping another fry in her mouth. Ruby stuck her tongue out at her before heading back to the kitchen.
Her friend’s laughter followed her out.
By the time she made it back to Rafe, he was hunched over, elbows on the table and his head in his hands. She slid the food and drink on the table and sat across from him. He flicked his gaze up to hers, and she felt it down to her toes.
“He touched you.”
“Just another drunk asshole.” She tried to brush it off again, but the rage was still simmering in Rafe’s eyes. “If you kill every drunk asshole, I’ll be out of a job.”
He huffed at that and leaned back in the booth, still watching her. She crossed her arms over her chest as though she could protect herself from his stare.
“You should have let me kill this one, as a message to the others.”
She was pretty sure there was a joking tone there. She hoped he was joking.
“I can’t have you murdering people for me. There are enough rumors about me as it is.” Again, she tried for humor, but his mouth tightened like he now wanted to murder anyone who’d ever spoken ill about her.
“Just eat,” she said. She always felt less like killing people after she ate, so maybe he would too. She watched him devour his burger in less than six bites and down the beer in just a few large gulps.
“You should stay away from that guy.”
Ruby scoffed. “Thanks for the advice. I hadn’t planned on tracking him down for a date anytime soon. So, there’s no need to worry.”
“I mean in general. If you see him around, just stay away from him.”
“Do you know him?”
Rafe shook his head. “Not specifically. But I know guys like him and they’re no good.”
“You seem to be under the impression that this is my first day out in the world, but I can actually tell a good guy from a bad one.”
Rafe’s dark brows rose. “What about me? What kind am I?”
That was a loaded question. Wasn’t that what she’d been trying to figure out since she met him? Rafe didn’t take his steady gaze off of her while she scrambled for an answer. He certainly wasn’t like the asshole that just groped her; she knew that much.
“You’re a good one.”
Rafe’s smile was grim. “That’s where you’re wrong.”
He stood up before she had a chance to argue.
“Stay out of trouble, Ruby,” he said and left her sitting alone in the booth.