Page 18 of Risky Game

“She used more words, but that was basically it. I came home, excited to tell her about it, had already started looking at homes out here, planning schools for Amelia eventually, that kind of thing. She didn’t want to leave her family and friends out there.”

“That must have been hard for you. For Amelia.”

“It’s hard for me because of Amelia, yeah, and I hate coming home to an empty house. I miss the noise.”

Maybe that was why I’d wanted Ruby to move in tonight. One less night of being alone. Of the silence. That was the hardest thing about not having Amelia, and even Vanessa. The clatter of glasses on a counter, water being turned on and off, her banging around in our bathroom. I never realized how much noise people made living their lives until everything was completely silent.

Even hearing Ruby moving around in the room upstairs had made me smile. The distant echo of doors closing. Muted footsteps. She must have tried the faucet and showerhead and ensured the toilet worked because the water had turned on and off several times.

“You look like you need a subject change.”

“Please, for the love of God, yes.”

I was rewarded with another blindingly bright smile.

Stunning.

Ruby Moore wasn’t cute or adorable, she was stunning.

I was in serious trouble.

“Mmm. Oh my God. Amazing.”

Hell. World’s worst torture. Ruby and I were having opposite reactions to our burgers. Or, more to the point, I was having a reaction to hers. She moaned through every bite like an orgasm was on its way and every time she groaned, oh my God flashed in my mind of how she’d sound when I was the one making her do it instead of a burger.

While she had her eyes closed, biting down into, admittedly, the world’s most amazing burger, I reached down to my lap and adjusted myself. If she made these sounds every time she ate, I’d have to start giving her privacy.

“This is incredible.” She set down her burger long enough to pick up a napkin and wipe the edges of her mouth. “I could kiss you for knowing about this place.”

Could she? Those full lips on mine? I wasn’t sure I could say no.

Shit. It was the delicious moans that sounded more like pleasure from sex than food that had my head spinning.

“Sorry.” She blushed and took a sip of her water. “I didn’t mean that literally.”

“Obviously.” Shame. I finished my own burger and started on the fries. “I know you and Jassen both said you just recently moved here. How long has it been?”

Her blush was still staining her cheeks. It couldn’t be possible she was actually thinking about kissing me. Right? No way. She had to look at me and see some old guy with a kid.

I’d force myself to believe it for as long as it took.

“I moved out here in July. Hot as hell and totally different than Portland.”

“You were in Oregon? That’s a move as large and different as mine.”

“Yeah. Well, I didn’t have much left for me there.” She shrugged, lips pulled down, and the blush didn’t only fade away, she paled further.

“I thought you moved to pay off student loans.”

“I did. There were also some other factors…”

Her face scrunched up again, and she drained the rest of her water.

Clearly, not a topic she wanted to discuss. It wasn’t any of my business. She was here and helping with Amelia. It should have been all I cared about.

But I was determined to learn the real reason because clearly, her brother didn’t know either. And if they were as close as they’d both led me to believe, then something happened to Ruby to chase her across the country.

A guy probably, I guessed. And I wanted to figure out who he was and pummel him into the ground for hurting her. And then thank him for being an epic dick that caused whatever happened to land her in my path.

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