Page 52 of Ruby Mercy

She sighs. “I need to call Natalia. I need… a favor.”

“Right now?”

“Right now,” she insists. “Can I go get my phone now?”

“No.”

She huffs out a breath. “Kirill, a lot has changed since you last knew me. I can’t just drop off the face of the earth. I have stuff I need to do. I need to call Natalia and—”

I dig into my pocket and hold out my phone.

She stares down at it, blinking. “What are you doing?”

“This is a cell phone.” I place it in her hand. “Use it. Call Natalia. Her number is in there.”

Her eyebrows shoot up. “You have Natalia’s number.”

“She works for me.”

“Oh. Yeah. Right. I forgot.”

Rayne punches in Natalia’s number and shifts like she is going to slide off the counter, but I’m still standing between her legs. I could move, I know… but I don’t want to.

Rayne doesn’t put up much of a fight, so she must not mind, either.

The phone rings three times before Natalia answers. I can hear her voice, distant and tinny on the other end of the line.

“Is this a trick?” Natalia asks. “I’m not supposed to have my phone while working, but now you’re calling me as a test or something, right?”

“Hi,” Rayne says shyly.

There is a long pause before Natalia’s voice comes through, loud and clear. “Holy shit. What are you doing with Kirill’s phone?”

“It’s a long story. I just called because—”

“Oh my God. Are you calling me from bed?” Natalia asks. “Are you naked right now?”

Rayne’s face flushes a deep red. The warmth from her thighs is suddenly searing, soaking through my jeans.

“No! Why would I—I’m not naked. You’re gross.”

“Like it’s such a wild idea that the two of you would get together again? I mean, there’s history there. And chemistry. Biology, too, probably. Which branch of science is genetics?” Natalia asks, clearly rambling. “Biology, right? I don’t know. The point is, it isn’t that crazy of an idea. He is—”

“Standing right next to me,” Rayne says sharply, cutting Natalia off. “Kirill is standing right next to me. He can hear everything you’re saying.”

Rayne narrows her eyes at me and angles away. All it serves to do is wrap her legs even more tightly around my hips. I know she realizes that because the flush in her cheeks shifts down her neck to her chest.

“Oh, sorry,” Natalia says, lowering her voice an inconsequential amount. “I wasn’t thinking. That could have been bad. I could have said something off-limits or—”

“I need a favor,” Rayne interrupts again. Her eyes dart around the room, looking everywhere except at me.

“Anything. What is it?”

“I need you to… take care of things for me this afternoon.”

There is a brief pause. “Take care of things?”

“Yes,” Rayne says, rolling her lips between her teeth. “I had an accident. I’m fine, Kirill helped me out. But I don’t have my car, and I’m running late for… a package pick-up. It’s at four this afternoon. Could you pick that up for me and take it to my house?”

---