Page 56 of Theirs to Take

“Nice meeting you, Luke,” Millie said as she brushed a little too closely by the big guy. He nodded and gave her his best smile, but Ruby could see that it didn’t reach his eyes.

Ruby let Luke into her place and shut her front door. She didn’t even offer the poor guy something to drink before she crossed her arms over her chest and told him to, “Spill it.”

“I think I’m being watched,” he admitted, “and, I need a place to stay for a while. I had no one else to turn to,” he said.

“You have no other friends or family in the area?” she asked. Sure, she was prying, but she couldn’t help it.

“No,” he admitted. “Well, no friends that I want to be involved in this mess. Alex and Rod both have families and I’m worried that whoever is watching me is really trying to get to them.”

“To the McTavish’s?” she asked. “Why would someone want to hurt them?”

“I’m not sure, but I need time and space to figure that all out. That’s where you come in, Ruby.”

“Fine,” she said. “You can hang out here for as long as you’d like. But for the record, you don’t need to lie to me and tell me that I’m hot next time you want something from me.”

He dropped his duffel bag in the corner of her small family room and turned back to smile at her. “For the record, honey,” he said, giving her back her words, “it wasn’t a lie.”

Luke

Luke wasn’t sure that he’d say that Ruby looked happy to see him—hell, she looked downright pissed that he was standing in her apartment. The only time she looked pleased to see him was when he told her that he wasn’t lying about her being hot. He was still trying to figure out why in the hell he had shown up at her place, to begin with. Sure, she was the last person he saw at the office before running home, packing a bag full of his shit, and taking off for her condo. Maybe it was the fact that he had snooped into her personal file at work just before he left the office for the day or the fact that he had memorized her address, telling himself that he’d never look her up. Yeah, he was a big, fat liar and here he stood in her family room, trying to figure out what to say to her next.

“I’m sorry,” he breathed, “I shouldn’t have come here.” Luke walked to the corner of her family room and grabbed his duffel bag off of the floor. “This was a mistake.”

“Luke,” Ruby breathed, reaching out to put her hand on his arm. Just that one simple touch sent what felt like an electrical jolt up his body. “Don’t go. Let me help you figure this out beforeyou just take off. If someone is following you, then you can’t just keep running. Stay here, where it’s safe.”

“That’s just it,” he murmured. “I don’t know if it’s safe or not. I might have put you in danger by just knocking on your door, Ruby.” She leaned into his body when he said her name and for just a second, he thought about kissing her. Instead, he cleared his throat, and she took a step back from him.

“Has this ever happened to you before?” she asked. “I mean, do you usually have someone chasing after you?” she asked.

“It’s happened before,” he admitted. God, she was going to kick him out of her place so fast, it was going to make her head spin, and he wouldn’t blame her one bit for it. “When I was in the Navy. I was stationed in South Korea for almost a year.”

“You were stationed in South Korea?” she asked. “I think that we should sit down for this conversation.” Ruby pulled him to the small sofa that sat in the middle of her apartment, and he sat down next to her. Luke liked the way that he took up most of the sofa, forcing her to have to touch him. It actually gave him some strange comfort having her so close.

“I was in the Navy and well, I was stationed on a base over in South Korea for eleven months,” he said.

“And this happened to you while you were there?” she asked.

“Yes, well, kind of,” he said. “I was out enjoying some downtime at a local bar, and when I was on my way back to base, I realized that I was being followed. It felt a lot like this does. I can’t explain it. Jesus, I know this must all make me sound completely crazy, and maybe I am. Maybe I lost my damn mind and now, I’m paying the price.”

“Nonsense,” Ruby countered. “How about you tell me the rest of the story and let me judge whether or not you’re crazy,” she offered.

“Good luck with that,” he teased, causing her to giggle. “I overheard two men talking, saying that they were supposed tobring me in to talk to their ‘Boss,’ but then, my friend Ranger found me, and that never happened. They said that he wanted to talk to me because I’d be able to get their family back for him.”

“Were you able to get the guy’s family back to him?” she asked.

“No,” he admitted. “I never even met the guy. He sent the two guys after me, to bring me back to him, and that was about all that came of it. My buddy Ranger showed up and took me back to base. He went in with me to talk to our commander and well, I was sent back to the states shortly after reporting that I was being followed.”

“That’s kind of suspicious,” Ruby challenged. “I mean, you reported to your commanding officer that you were being followed, and then, they sent you home before you could figure out who had been following you?”

“That about sums it up,” he said. “I never found out who was following me or who their boss was. I really didn’t give it too much thought—until now.”

“Because you feel like someone is following you again,” Ruby said, following along.

“Yes,” he said.

“Do you have any proof that someone is watching or following you?” she asked.

“Um, not really,” he admitted. “It’s more of a gut feeling.” She looked him over and he held up his hands in defense. “I’m not crazy,” he insisted.

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