by Shania Tyler
“Seth left me.” Shauna began to sob then, and we came down to the real reason she stood at my door looking like a hooker first thing in the morning. She was frightened of being alone. It had nothing to do with me. At least I hoped it had nothing to do with me because I wanted nothing to do with it.
“Go home, Shauna, and forget that you ever met me,” I insisted and reached for the door of the hotel room. “I will do the same for you.”
“Major, wait! Please!” she begged and before I could do anything to stop her, she practically jumped at me, wrapping her arms around me so that she could clamp her mouth down on my own. Totally stunned, I struggled to comprehend what was happening for a moment. Then my senses came back to me and I quickly dragged her off me, grappling with her arms to pull them from around my neck.
“Shauna, I’ve had enough of this crap.” I shook my head and shoved her away from me. “If you don’t leave me alone, I will be forced to get the police involved and I’m sure that’s the last thing either of us wants or needs right now.”
“You don’t mean that.” Shauna shook her head and tears welled in her eyes. “You want me. I know you do. I see it in your eyes every time you look at me.”
“Like I said, you need to go and get your head tested,” I insisted, “Maybe your eyes, too, while you are at it.”
I knew that hurt her, but the truth was I didn’t care. I was well past the point of caring. Because of this loose woman, I had lost everything I ever cared about. I was just beginning to get my life back on track, and she was trying to derail it all over again. There was no way I was going to allow that to happen.
“Please leave or I am going to have to call security,” I warned her and turned to head back into the room. I entered just in time to see Ruby slip into the bathroom, and I was suddenly wary of what she might have heard. I could only imagine what kind of man she would think I was if she had heard all of that and the way that I’d spoken to Shauna, but the truth was, there was no other way to get her to listen.
I was just about to head over to the bathroom and knock on the door to check that she was all right when my phone suddenly began to ring in my pocket. The sound caused me to almost jump out of my skin, and I dug into my jeans to pull out the device. When I saw that it was Tommy, I answered and pressed the phone to my ear. “Hey, Tom, sorry I missed you.”
I’d looked for him at the bar when I’d arrived, but he hadn’t been around, and I was anxious to get back to Ruby and get her home for work.
“More like you are avoiding me.” Tommy didn’t sound pleased, and I was instantly on edge.
“What happened?” I asked as I dropped down onto the couch where I’d intended to sleep the night before. Nothing ever happened the way I planned it to anymore.
“I got your text about making sure your boss’s friend got home okay,” Tommy explained. “I obviously did as you asked because what man would leave a damsel in distress? And when I got home, Jean accused me of cheating on her and I had to sleep on the couch.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at that. I was the one who was supposed to sleep on the couch and yet it turned out to be my best friend, who was in a seemingly happy relationship.
“Did anything happen?” I asked, even though I already knew the answer. In all the years I’d been friends with Tommy, he had never once given the indication that he was the kind to be unfaithful. Even when he’d been in an unhappy relationship, he’d refuse to go there and that was something I’d always admired him for.
“Of course, it didn’t,” Tommy hissed. “You know me, Major, I simply took Tessa in a cab, practically carried her into her apartment she was so drunk, and left. Jean smelled her perfume on me and went apeshit.”
“I’m sorry, brother,” I sighed and closed my eyes for a moment as I thought of what I could do to rectify the situation. “I could give Jean a call and clear everything up for you if you like?”
“Thanks for the offer, but I think I’ll just let her simmer for a little while,” Tommy replied. “She’ll come around and realize she’s being ridiculous eventually and then I’ll have something to hang over her head when she decides she wants to argue again.”
“You know relationships don’t work on a point system, right?” I joked.
“Ours does, brother, you should try it some time.” Tommy laughed. “It might actually work for you and that hottie boss of yours.”
“We are not in a relationship,” I reminded him and pressed my thumb and forefinger against the bridge of my nose. The last thing I needed to be thinking about was being in a relationship with Ruby. If I allowed myself to daydream about it, then it would be even harder to resist than it already was. And I still smelled like sex with her, a seductive reminder that I could maybe rekindle another session before she had to go.
“But you want to be, right?” Tommy asked. “I saw the way you looked at her last night and you clearly took her home, otherwise, you wouldn’t have had me chasing her friend around to make sure she was all right.”
“Something happened but it’s all handled,” I assured him as I remembered finding Ruby in the alley and how the red mist had descended upon me when I’d seen how the guy had his hands all over her. “Somebody attacked her last night and I didn’t want her going home alone.”
Tommy gasped on the other end of the line, and my heart skipped a beat. It was exactly how I’d felt when I’d seen it happening the night before. “Is she all right? Did you kill the guy?”
“Believe me, I wanted to, but I don’t think she’d have ever looked at me the same if I had.” I thought of how she’d looked at me with fear and disgust when she’d seen how I pinned the guy to the wall and my stomach ached with what she thought of me. “She’s doing all right but she is the least of my problems right now. I just had Shauna at my door.”
There was another gasp then and I flinched at the sound of it.
“Man, that woman has got it bad for you.” Tommy clucked his tongue against his teeth, and I groaned. He was right. Shauna certainly had it bad for me, although I had no idea why. I’d never given her any indication whatsoever that I was interested in her. She’d been dating one of my quarterbacks and I simply wasn’t that kind of guy. When I went for a woman, I wanted one that was clean and single. I didn’t like sharing.
“I know she does, but I don’t want anything to do with that.” I shook my head and sighed all over again. The mess that was my life really was beginning to pile onto my shoulders. “Even if she hadn’t cost me my job, she’s a psycho.”
“I’m glad you can see that.” Tommy laughed as though he was trying to tell me, ‘I told you so’. He’d seen it coming from a mile off, even before Shauna had ever made a move toward me, and I should have listened to him when he told me to be more careful.
Just then, I heard the bathroom door click and I quickly whispered into the phone, “I’ve gotta go. I’ll call you back after work.”
I didn’t give Tommy the chance to say another word before I ended the call and turned to see Ruby stood in the doorway wearing last night’s dress with my own white t-shirt over the top to cover the rip that her attacker had made.
“Hey, how are you feeling?” I asked, and I could see from the look on her face that she was feeling awful. Even though she did look hungover, she was still drop-dead gorgeous, and I found it difficult not to take a step toward her.
“I feel rough as hell,” she admitted. “Do you have any painkillers? I normally carry some with me, but they wouldn’t fit in my handbag last night.”
“Sure, there’s some in the nightstand.” I gestured toward the bed and she wandered over to pull open the top drawer. “I’ll grab you a drink.”
I headed over to the mini-fridge to grab a bottle of water and when I turned back around to take it over to her, I realized my mistake. I should never have pointed her in the direction of the painkillers. I should have gotten them for her myself.
Ruby was standing beside the nightstand, holding up a strip of condoms, sev
eral more of which were hanging out of the opened drawer.
“These don’t look like painkillers.” She scowled at me, and I wasn’t sure why I felt guilty, but I did. Perhaps it was the fact that so many condoms meant that I must be prepared for a lot of sex and the fact that I wasn’t in a relationship showed that I was willing to have sex with just about anybody who walked into my hotel room. At least that was how a woman would see it. Especially a woman like her who seemed to only have sex in committed relationships, at least that was the type she seemed to be.
“You can never be too careful,” I shrugged trying to shake off the feeling of guilt that was roiling in my stomach. I had nothing to be guilty about. Ruby and I were not in a relationship and we never would be. She was my boss and that was it. Of course, I had never had a boss find my condom stash before, so this was new territory for me.
“Hey, it’s none of my business, I guess,” Ruby rifled in the drawer and pulled out the pack of painkillers she’d been looking for. I walked over and handed her the bottle of water I’d picked up before slamming the draw shut so that she couldn’t look into it anymore. She didn’t need to see the bottles of lube or the packs of tissues and she definitely didn’t need to see the adult magazines I’d stashed in there either. Ruby didn’t seem like the type to refrain from asking questions and that definitely was not a conversation I wanted to have with my boss.
You are right. It isn’t any of your business, I thought to myself and a little voice in the back of my head whispered, But I’d like to make it your business.
Instinctively I took a step backwards, trying to put some space between us as I watched her take the painkillers. I watched as she upended the water bottle and swigged. I watched the way her throat moved as she swallowed and how a small droplet of water dripped over her chin and down her neck. A part of me wanted to lean forward and lick that droplet from her skin but I barely managed to hold myself back.
“I should really get you home or we are both going to be late for work,” I told her as I turned away in the direction of the door. The quicker we got out of here, the less likely I was to do something I would regret.
* * *
18
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CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
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Ruby
The drive back to my place was far too quiet, and I found myself thinking of the conversation I’d overheard outside Major’s hotel room. Several questions buzzed through my mind until there was nothing left for me to do but ask them. “Major, what happened at the last Super Bowl?”
Major who had been driving with his eyes dead set on the road stiffened in his seat and I instantly felt as though I was on edge. I wasn’t at all sure I was going to like his answer but, as his boss, I felt it was my job to know everything about the man I had hired.
“You heard the stories,” he told me in the same evasive manner as when we’d spoken about it the last time.
“Yes, I’ve heard the stories, but I haven’t heard the truth,” I told him. “At least I don’t think I have.”
“You don’t believe the stories?” He glanced at me then with a look of surprise, and I found myself wishing I could reach out and touch his leg, to squeeze him gently to comfort him.
“After what I saw in the alley last night, I am perfectly sure that you could have punched a guy but there is something about you that tells me that wasn’t the whole story.” I shrugged. “Am I right in thinking that it has something to do with that Shauna girl? She was a real piece of work.”
“You are right,” he sighed and for a moment I was hopeful that I was going to get some answers from him but when he added the next sentence I knew it was going to be much harder than that, “She is a real piece of work.”
“So, she is the reason that you lost your job?” I asked. “What happened?”
Major tensed further, and I knew that I was pressing on a raw nerve. I knew I should stop and leave it. I shouldn’t have been listening to his conversation at the door, but I couldn’t help myself. I needed answers. Not just because I was his boss but because I was intrigued by him. I wanted to know more about him, and I wasn’t sure my intentions were strictly professional.
“Can we just drop it?” When he glanced at me again, I could see the pleading in his eyes. I knew that I wasn’t going to get anything out of him.
“You know, if you just told me the truth, I might be able to set everybody else right?” I told him. “I could do that for you. You wouldn’t need to be ashamed anymore.”
“Who says I am ashamed?” he growled, and I knew I’d hit another nerve. “Who says that I feel anything about that time in my life? I am trying to move on, and I am fed up with people dragging up the past again.”
“Maybe if people knew what had really happened in the past, you could move on a little faster.” Again, I felt the need to reach out and comfort him, but instead, I clasped my hands on my lap and stared straight ahead as he was. “Maybe people might be more likely to look at you kindly.”
“I never needed anyone to look kindly at me back then, and I don’t need it now,” he insisted. “I am getting on with my life as best I can under the circumstances.”
“What if the circumstances could change?” I persisted. I felt the need to help this man. I had no idea why, but I wanted to make his life better, make him feel better.
“Just leave it,” he snapped at me, pulling up onto the curb. I realized then that we had made it to my apartment and time had run out. There was no way I was going to get the truth out of him now. Major pushed opened his door and climbed out of the truck before I could ask any more questions. I remained where I was until he came around to pull open my door and when I still didn’t move, he unclipped my seatbelt for me.
“You know that you don’t have to live life with everybody hating you,” I told him, and I remembered the way I’d felt when all the rumors had begun flying about me and Scotty. I remembered how I had wanted to hide away from it all and pretend like it hadn’t happened. I’d tried it for weeks, but it always seemed to follow me around no matter where I went. Eventually, I had just had to deal with it head on and speak to the press myself. I had to put them right on the matter and show them that I was, in fact, the one who had ended things and not the other way around. It had been one of the hardest things I’d ever had to do but I was stronger for it now.
“I said leave it.” He stepped away from the truck to allow me room to get out. I hesitated for a moment before finally jumping down. “I’ll walk you to your door.”
“No need,” I replied, and I quickly pulled off the t-shirt he’d given me to wear. I gripped hold of the front of my dress to hold it shut and handed him the t-shirt.
“You don’t need to give it me back right now,” he protested and tried to hand it back to me.
“I can run inside, and nobody ever need know,” I told him. “I’ll see you at work?”
“Yeah, sure, I guess.” Major didn’t sound himself at all as he went around the truck and clambered back inside. My heart ached as I watched him leave and when I turned to apartment building I wanted to turn back and wave him back to me. I had no idea why I felt the need to leave him on better terms but there was something drawing me back to him. I had to fight it with all I had as I headed into the building and began to climb the stairs. As usual, the elevators were still out of order.
“Hey you….you look wrecked,” the guy from 4B just had to be walking down on his way to work as I went up. He had to be there didn’t he? He had to see me in all my morning after shame even though I really hadn’t been doing what he thought I’d been doing. If only I had. Then the stupid look on his face would have been founded.
“Thanks for making me feel even worse than I already do,” I told him with a shake of my head, “It isn’t at all what it looks like.”
“It looks like you were attacked,” he gaped at me as he looked at the front of
my dress, “Are you alright? Do you need me to call someone?”
Why did he have to be so nice when I was feeling so mean.
“Why don’t you mind your own business?” I told him as I stomped past and the look on his face almost made me turn around to apologize. Almost.
I was too riled up from my conversation with Major and there was no way on earth I was going to be apologizing to him on anything that I had said. As his boss I deserved the truth and unfortunately 4B guy was taking the brunt of that.
“I guess I’ll see you later then,” he called after me and I listened to his footsteps as he headed down the stairs to his car.
I headed to my apartment and tried to forget the events of the last twenty-four hours as I put my phone on the charger and changed into something a little more appropriate for work. My heart ached as I took a moment to put my ruined dress in the trash and said a little prayer that I might be able to find a similar one in the next sale. The thought crossed my mind that I might be able to get the same one online but then I began to think that it would feel like cheating and crossed the thought off my list of things to do.
I was just about to unplug my phone again when it began to ring, and my heart sank. Seeing Tessa’s name flash across my screen, I remembered the fact that I’d left her in the club alone last night.
“I’m sorry, Tessa, I’m so sorry,” I told her as soon as I answered the phone. I held my breath as I waited for her to begin yelling at me.
“What the hell? It’s a good job your friend’s friend isn’t a serial killer, or I’d be dead right now. I was far too drunk to be going home with some random man last night!”
“I’m sorry. Something happened, and I was in no state to go home on my own,” I told her.
“Then you should have come and gotten me, and we’d have gone home together,” she insisted. I should have thought of that but, at the time, I had simply been too traumatized to even consider going back into the club.
