Page 10 of A Real Good Bad Thing

All of him.

Lust skyrocketed and I was ready to go somewhere, anywhere, and—

His phone rang.

A Taylor Swift song.

Instantly, he broke the kiss and sighed deeply as he grabbed his phone from his pocket. The name Kylie flashed on the screen.

Shit.

Was Kylie his girlfriend?

He swiped his thumb across the phone. “Kylie, give me five seconds,” he said into the phone, then covered the screen.

Jake quickly scanned the bar, on the hunt for something, it seemed. I wasn’t sure what he wanted, and I was still punch-drunk on that kiss, but also on guard at the same time. He shot out his arm, grabbed a napkin from the bar next to us, and handed it to me.

“Give me your number. So I can call you later,” he said.

But did I want to give him my number? Maybe this was best left at kissing.

A sob sounded from the phone. I didn’t know whether to believe him or not.

I pointed toward the bar. “I’ll leave it with Maris. I have somewhere I need to be now anyway. But you can reach me later, I guess.” The words tumbled out, like a car sputtering to turn on.

“I’ll be back,” he said, then he walked out in a rush.

I stared at the empty space where he’d been and replayed the last few minutes.

On the one hand, he’d asked for my number.

But on the other hand, he was…gone.

Was that an innocent phone call from a friend? Family? Perhaps a date Mayday call? Or a lie from someone who was cheating? Absently, I raised my fingers to my lips. They still tingled. I ran the pad of a finger over my bottom lip. I hoped his excuse was legit because…that kiss.Wow.

“Ruby!”

I swiveled around, spotting Maris behind the bar. “I thought you said you wanted to chat when I was free,” Maris said, then flashed me a naughty look. “Seems instead you’ve been getting to know Jake the Fisherman.”

At least Maris knew him. But pressing her for details on who he was felt…desperate. I’d have to ask him who Kylie was if I heard from him again. Because, dammit, I wanted another kiss like that. I wanted more. But I needed to get to the bottom of his situation first.

“Do me a favor, Maris?” I snagged a pen from the register and wrote a few words on a napkin. No number for him just yet. If Jake wanted to see me, he was going to have to follow my trail. And answer some questions.

“Of course.”

“Actually, two favors. Tell Kalila I can’t wait to see her.”

Maris nodded. “She’s camping. Should be back in a few days.”

“She’d better call me while I’m here. Then give this to the hot fisherman if he comes back in here. But don’t tell him my real name, okay?”

Maris rubbed her hands together and winked. “Ooh, lover games. And I get to be the messenger. Count me in.”

I handed Maris the note, then took off for my first stop on my self-appointed job—to visit an old friend.

5

MY FIRST CLUE

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