Chapter Thirty-Eight
Xavier
I don’t take my hand off her back as we step from the hallway into the bar. Not when the noise swallows us whole. Not when Greg disappears into the crowd like he was never there.
My palm rests between her shoulder blades, light, steady. Enough to feel the tension still locked there. She doesn’t pull away. Doesn’t lean in either. Just lets it stay.
That’s enough.
Bella and Emily are already halfway out of the booth when we reach the table, both of them scanning Ruby like they’re checking for cracks.
“She okay?” Bella asks.
“I can answer for myself.” Ruby wrinkles her nose. “I’m fine.”
Emily’s eyes flick to me. “What happened?”
“Greg forgot what ‘excuse me’ means.”
Bella’s mouth flattens. “I knew he was off.”
Ruby slides into the booth. I drop down on the bench beside her, lowering my arm to my side.
Across the bar, a group of guys at the high-tops glance over. One nudges another, their attention sticking longer than it should. My shoulders tighten before I can stop it.
I look away first. I can’t look at every guy in the room and think they’re after Ruby, but it keeps happening.
Bella leans forward. “You’re staying with one of us tonight.”
Ruby shakes her head. “No.”
Emily folds her arms. “Ruby–”
“I have locks, lights, and cameras coming tomorrow,” she says. “I’m not moving in and turning your lives upside down.”
Bella opens her mouth. Closes it.
Emily exhales. “That was before your jerk of an ex-boss showed up on the same day that Sleeveless Guy popped up out of nowhere at your new job.”
“I’m not helpless.” Her voice holds. Steady. Stronger than yesterday, even with both our top suspects showing up within six hours of each other.
A server drops off appetizers and drinks, and the bar’s noise settles back around us. Then movement across the room pulls my attention again. Greg stands near the bar, angled toward the TV but not watching it.
Of course, he hasn’t left. Not ten feet from him is Lindsey. Her eyes travel over our booth and then dart away as she weaves her way toward Greg. Good. Maybe she can distract him from following Ruby around everywhere.
Ruby turns toward me. “You didn’t have to come.”
“You texted.”
She frowns. “What’re you talking about? I didn’t text you.”
I shrug. “Your friends did. I’d just walked in when Bella texted to say Greg had you cornered in the hallway.”
Bella lifts her chin. “We absolutely did.”
Ruby rolls her eyes, but there’s no heat behind it.
“Security cameras came in early.” I tap my fingertips on the wooden table.
Her head turns fast. “Already?”
“Shipment got bumped. I can install them tonight.”
Bella grins. “He means he will install them tonight.”
I ignore her.
Ruby studies me. “You don’t have to.”
“I know.”
Her fingers trace a line through the condensation on her glass. “Thank you.”
A laugh cuts across the bar again. Too loud. My attention shifts before I can stop it. The same group. Still watching. Greg and Lindsey are deep in a conversation at the bar. It’s the guys who were eyeing Ruby a moment ago.
Bella catches it. “Relax,” she mutters. “They’re just looking.”
“I noticed.”
Ruby glances between us. “You don’t have to hover.”
“I’m not.” I don’t blame them for staring at her. She’s stunning, with long auburn hair that skims her shoulders and back as she moves. Jesus. I’ve lost my mind.
Bella snorts. I don’t respond.
Ruby keeps watching me a second longer. Not irritated. Not amused. Just… taking it in.
Across the room, Greg shifts, glancing this way again. I meet his eyes once. Hold it. He looks away first. Good.
The conversation picks back up around the table. Emily talks about a shift, Bella interrupts with something half-finished and probably exaggerated, and Ruby watches them instead of scanning the room.
Noise fills the space again. Ruby’s shoulders ease a fraction. Not gone. Just lower.
One of the guys at the bar shifts like he’s about to get up and walk in our direction. My shoulder brushes Ruby’s. He sits back down as if he realizes she’s with me.
The corner of her mouth lifts just enough to say she noticed, but she doesn’t call me out on it. She turns her head, green eyes twinkling and making my chest constrict. “Tonight?”
“Tonight.”
She nods once and turns back to the table, but the space between us doesn’t increase when I leave my arm where it is. The shift back to the others feels almost invisible.
After last night, I’m not sure what that means. For her, I know she means installing security cameras, but for me? Spending another night with her and not touching her might take more willpower than I possess.
And then what? There’s not one casual part of Ruby, and I don’t do complicated. But for one night, maybe I can do this.