Chapter 5

Ruby

"Yes." Tommy's voice was neutral, but his glower made her reconsider inviting him to the movie.

No, he must feel guilty for breaking into her house and getting a dose of her pepper spray. But what pissed her off more was that he thought she couldn't take care of herself with a shooter after her. Okay, it was sweet and all that, but she was a grown-ass woman who could look after herself.

"Just a sec." She strode to the kitchen table leaving Tommy on the couch and dug through her purse. Going on a date with her trainer? She needed time to think, and she needed to start the process of determining who had targeted her. Westridge should be visited and told accidents happened in jail too. Not that she'd order a hit on him... but if he hurt her sister, she might. Westridge and Paul both knew she and Crystal had brought them down. And Tommy had trained them from the beginning and was even there to incorporate the setting for each theft so there were no surprises. A date with Tommy? What would Crystal say...probably that he was just being nice and trying to distract her from the lunatic gunman after her.

Of course, Tommy and Crystal wanted to follow every lead which included creepy blind date guy she nearly filed a restraining order against. Then Tommy said he had other enemies?

She punched Uncle Gustin's number on her cell. It rang too many times. Strange. She dialed again. After the fourth ring, he answered.

"Hello?"

"Hi Gustin, it's me." Ruby flipped her hair over her shoulder as she walked into the living room and shut off the TV. Static answered her. "Uh, where are you?"

"George and I decided it was time for a much needed vacation."

"Vacation?" Someone was trying to kill her, and they were lounging at a beach somewhere? "We need you back here."

"Sorry, love. You can handle whatever's got you. Call us when it's after four a.m. over here."

Maybe they knew something about Westridge that she didn't. "I got shot at today. Think it could be Westridge?" She met Tommy's eyes and a shadow passed over his expression. Was he thinking it was someone else?

A long pause served as her first answer, and she bit her lip. It wasn't fair to interrupt their plans. Surely, she could hold off one gunman.

"Westridge and the members of his board are in protective custody. I'll call Tommy."

"No need, he's already here. And he was with me when they fired the shot, too." Saved my life once again. She flopped onto the couch next to him. "You and George might visit Westridge. Find out who he's hired and get them - "

"Ruby, we can't drop everything here." Gustin sounded like he was pacing since his breathing increased and there was the echo of shoes on a ceramic tile floor. "It'll take us at least until the end of the week to wrap things up."

"Wait, I thought you said you were on vacation." She leaned forward teetering on the edge of the couch. "What exactly are you two doing?"

To her left, Tommy frowned.

"The less you know, the better."

"I can have this call traced to find out." She never liked secrets. Too many in her life. First Tommy and now her uncles.

"Fine. We've had a new rich client want our expertise honing his security systems."

"So a mob boss or drug dealer?" Or both. "Don't you work for the government now?"

"Who says we aren't?"

She smiled. Leave it to her uncles to play both sides of the coin and have it pay off in their favor.

"Let me talk to Tommy. Love you, we'll see you next Friday." Uncle Gustin interrupted her thoughts.

She tossed Tommy the phone and took the stairs to her room. As much as she wanted to eavesdrop, she wouldn't. Gustin and George would hear the details from Tommy. Probably encourage Tommy to hang around her until they caught this guy and put the fear of two strong Cajun men into Westridge. Despite helping her and her sister gather the proof of Westridge's crimes, the uncles hadn't been directly involved. Even though Westridge wanted to know who was backing Ruby and her sister, he had never met either uncle.

George was like a huge black bear - and just as strong. Even though he'd survived New York prisons and a gang, he was a softy inside. When she was little, it was his hugs that chased away the nightmares. Gustin was sleek and light bronze. He reminded her of a posh college professor. One that girls, and a few guys, had a crush on.

In her room, she took off her sweat suit. God, she reeked. She really needed a shower. Today she'd gone from Tommy's practice, to chasing after a gunman, then home to burnt popcorn and ice cream. Drat! Had she left the ice cream on the floor beside the couch? Tying a robe around herself, she rushed down stairs. She'd eaten out of the container and by now it was probably making a puddle all over her wood floor.

She searched the living room. Where was it?

In the kitchen, Tommy stood facing her sink. When she entered, he spun and her breath caught. His eyes, unguarded, roved over her form before snapping back to her face. The white line around the edge of his mouth made her smile.

"Is that my ice cream?" She leaned across the kitchen island adding a sarcastic edge to her voice.

Tommy never ate junk food. Even the times he accepted a pan of brownies as a thank you from a client, he'd taken them to a local shelter or soup kitchen. Ruby knew that because she'd followed him a few times.

"What?" His eyebrow rose. "I put your melting ice cream in the freezer."

"No." She scooted closer to him until their toes touched. "Here. On your face." She wiped at the cream on the side of his mouth, then licked her finger. "Yup, ice cream."

When she glanced up at him, she froze. Liquid green eyes full of yearning and lust singed her. Heat spread from her chest. The intensity made her wet her lips, and when his gaze drew toward them, she felt as if they were too close and not close enough at the same time.

"I-I was going to shower." Was that breathy voice, hers?

"You look fine to me." His tone sent a shiver through her.

"Do we have time?" She tucked the towel closer when it slipped a fraction.

His eyes widened. "Time for what?"

Time for you to kiss me until my knees grow weak. "T-the movie. Did you still want to go?"

A smile spread across his face, but his hungry stare never left hers. "Well, since Gustin and George have ordered me to be your bodyguard and not let you out of my sight, it's a date."

No, it wasn't. She needed to stop thinking of Tommy romantically. He was her friend and business partner. Her trainer and protector, nothing more. "Great. I'll hop in the shower while you check show times."

Before he answered, she sprinted upstairs. Her heart raced as fast as it did when she had to run one of his extra training sessions he insisted on twice a year. Or more like a boot camp from the bowels of hell. He had them trudging through mud with a fifteen pound backpack, climbing ropes, swimming with both legs tied. Last year, he had two tennis ball machines simultaneously spewing, and the finish line involved wrestling him to get to it. Every year he tacked on a difficult task or two. As if hurling themselves through the same course would make them soft. His training could rival a Navy Seal's.

Ruby turned on the shower. Quickly, she washed her body and hair, pushing aside Tommy's kiss from this morning. When she turned off the water and moved the shower curtain out of the way to exit the bath, a shadow crept underneath the crack of the door. Enough! Now Tommy was being ridiculous and nearly a Peeping Tom, even if it was flattering. With her wet hair dripping, she snatched her towel as she marched to the bathroom door.

"Did you not get enough of a view before?" She flung the door open. A shadow dressed all in black and only inches taller than her dashed down the hallway. Her breath squeezed in her throat.

"What?" Tommy voice was muffled from downstairs.

Dread coiled in her stomach and her breath froze in her chest. Even with his skills, she'd have heard him on the stairs or leaping over the landing onto the wood floor. No. Whoever was in her house was much shorter than her trainer's six foot four frame. It wasn't Tommy.