The Way You Are (9 page)

She grinned and took off running for the house. Oh, hell. If she got to that phone first and Joe gave his permission to ride the horses …

He ran, surprised by how fast Ruby was. He barely made it to the house before her.

“I’m talking to him!” she yelled as she came into the kitchen just as Garrett picked up the phone.

Chapter 17

Ruby leaned against the counter and stared at Garrett as he talked on the phone. Well, actually, he seemed to be doing a lot of listening. He concentrated on the floor in front of him, stealing glances every now and then at her.

Somehow, at some point, they’d come to a sort of understanding. He didn’t talk to her like he hated her, which she appreciated. When he let his guard down, as he had late into the night, at the barn and on the walk back, she’d found herself really enjoying his company. When he’d flashed that huge grin, showing his straight, white teeth, she’d felt as if it lighted her up from the inside, and it seemed she had discovered another aspect of him—a military man who had a sweet side, as well.  And, she’d bet a hundred dollars he feared horses, but just couldn’t admit it to her, and probably to anyone else, either.

She really studied him as he ran the tip of his tongue over his full lips, his skin reminding her of dark chocolate. As he looked over at her and grinned, his white teeth gleamed and his honey gaze danced with excitement. What was Joe telling him?

“That’s good to know,” he said as he paced the tile.

His black t-shirt stretched across his broad shoulders, and his jeans hugged his thick legs. He wore some type of military boot to round off a picture of a true alpha male.

She smirked as she thought of the romance books she read while at work in the library, always imagining a man so hard and tough falling for her. Only she would be able to crack his hard demeanor and get to his heart. Although the trip to the barn had seemed to soften Garrett a little bit—at least, he didn’t speak to her so gruffly—she reminded herself Joe paid him to be nice to her. Keeping her safe was his job.

Her experience with men with men proved so limited, and why, she thought about it now, she didn’t understand. She’d given her virginity to a kid in her science class at seventeen, and he’d never spoken to her again. She’d had two boyfriends in college, and they’d just bored her as they were more interested in seeing how many kegs parties they could attend in a week’s time than anything else. She wondered what it would be like to sleep with Garrett. He actually reminded her of Tyrese Gibson, especially when he smiled.

Her cheeks heated at the thought, and as she glanced back up at his face, she could feel them flaming. They’d had a brief few minutes together where he hadn’t acted like a total asshole. It didn’t make sense.

He stared at her as if he knew exactly what had crossed her mind, his narrow gaze intense. She once again wished for a natural disaster to blow through to save her from this embarrassment. Good God, where were those thoughts coming from?
He can’t read your min
d
.

He sure stared at her like he could.

“Well, thanks, Joe. I appreciate all information. Okay, I’ll talk to you later.”

“Ask him!” she yelled, coming out of her reverie.

Garrett shut his eyes and let his head fall forward as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “Hey, Joe? One last thing. Ruby wants to know if she can ride the horses.”

Her heart thumped at the thought of being on a horse again, feeling the crisp mountain air in her hair and against her skin as the animal carried her over the earth.

“Okay. Yeah. What? Boesel and Richards?” He opened his eyes and looked over at her. “Really? I didn’t know that about you. Okay, I’ll talk to you later.”

“What did he say?” she asked, hoping Joe gave the okay for them to ride.

Garrett sighed as he set down the phone. “He said we can ride, as long as I’m with you at all times.”

She grinned, trying to contain her excitement, although she could tell the thought of getting on a horse didn’t appeal to Garrett.

“And, as long as the doctor gives his okay,” he continued.

She had forgotten about that, and her face must have given away her dislike at the idea of seeing the doctor.

Garrett laughed and took a step toward her, before placing his hand on her shoulder. “You need to get checked out, Ruby. It’s for your own good.”

Her skin burned where his hand lay, even through her shirt. “I’m tired of people telling me what to do for my own good.”

He nodded. “I get that. I don’t think most people like having their lives controlled by others. I know I don’t. But no horse until you see the doctor.”

She nodded. “What else did he say?”

His hand slipped from her shoulder and shrugged. “Just work stuff.”

“Who’s Boesel and Richards?”

“Richards is the white horse, Boesel the black one.”

“Those are strange names.”

“Yeah. They’re named after two guys he used to know.”

She heard Savannah bark outside, followed shortly by the crunch of tires over the gravel.

Garrett’s face hardened, and the friendly grin turned serious.

“Stay here,” he commanded, and he reached to his back, pulling out a gun from his waistband.

Fear crawled up her spine as her heart thumped in her chest. The doctor wasn’t supposed to arrive until later this afternoon.

She moved into the far corner of the kitchen, glancing around for a weapon. The front door slammed shut, and she realized she was alone in the house. She strained to hear what happened outside, but silence confronted her.

The block of knives sat on the kitchen counter, and she reached for one. As she gripped the hilt, she considered running back to her bedroom, but that would put her in direct sight if anyone were to come through the front door. She tried to calm her nerves, thinking the doctor had arrived early, but the fact she didn’t hear anything made her more and more suspicious.

Suddenly, the front door opened.

“Ruby!” Garrett called. “All clear! It’s the doctor!”

Relief swept through her, and she felt silly standing in the kitchen with the knife. Quickly, she set it back in the wooden block and took a deep breath.

The scare reminded her danger lurked around her until her kidnappers could be caught. The kidnapping attempt had been real—her life in danger. She ran her fingers through her hair and smoothed out her shirt.

Garrett rounded the corner and grinned, a man with grey hair and wire-rimmed glasses behind him, and Zach and Savannah bringing up the rear.

“Ruby, this is Doctor Vise. He decided to show up a little early. Doc, this is Ruby.”

She smiled, hoping to calm her heart before he took her blood pressure. “It’s nice to meet you,” she said, extending her hand.

Chapter 18

“Are you sure there’s nothing wrong with her?” Garrett asked as he walked the doctor to the car.

“I’m certain. She’s fine—just a little bump to the head.”

“Damn,” he whispered as he ran his hand over his head.

“So … er … you want her to be hurt?”

“No. No, of course not. I just don’t want to get on a damn horse.”

Doctor Vise set his bag in back of the rental car. “I’m not following you, Garrett.”

He sighed. Of course he didn’t want her hurt, but he had hoped the doctor would tell her to rest for a couple of days so he didn’t have to embarrass himself on a horse. Right now, he’d rather sit in the jungles of Guatemala, sweating and fighting the bugs, than get on the beast.

He hated admitting weakness. He’d never confessed to his Nana he was afraid to go to school because of the gangs; he’d never acknowledged his fear of the night in the jungle where his life, and the lives of his fellow Marines, had been so drastically altered. Hell, he even had a hard time acknowledging fear was a part of him, but maybe if he hadn’t been such a stubborn ass, he would have pulled the unit out of the area before the explosion. When he lay in bed staring at the ceiling thinking about the explosion, his heart pounded, sweat broke out over his brow, and his stomach clenched, just as it had that night. He’d been very afraid, but just like he had his whole life, he’d pushed past it.

Straight up, getting on the damn horse scared the crap out of him.

“She just hit her head pretty hard, Doc, so I was surprised you didn’t say she needed to rest a few days.”

The doctor nodded. “Well, it would be best if she stayed quiet the rest of the day, but tomorrow, she’s free to move around and do whatever she feels up to.”

Perfect! Just what he needed—a few more hours to get over his fear of horses. Maybe he’d get online and look at videos on how to get on the damn beasts so he didn’t make a complete ass of himself in front of Ruby. Not that he should care, but for some reason, he did.

“Sounds good. I’ll let her know. Thanks again for coming out, doc. We appreciate it.”

He shook the man’s hand and stood in the driveway as the doctor drove away, leaving a puff of dust in his wake.

He heard Savannah bound up behind him, and a few seconds later, Zach stood by his side.

“Everything okay with Ruby?” Zach asked.

Garrett nodded. “Yeah. He said she should take it easy today, but then she’s free to do whatever she wants.”

“That’s good. I have something I need to talk to you about, but I’m not really sure how to do it.”

He turned to his friend, the wrap-around sunglasses hiding the white orbs of Zach’s eyes. “What is it? Just say whatever you need to say, man.”

Zach took a deep breath. “Okay. I saw something in the mirror. It wasn’t good.”

A slight tingle of panic crawled up his spine. “What? What did you see?”

“I saw you and Ruby crouched down in the kitchen, your gun drawn. She looked terrified, and you seemed really pissed off.”

He waited for Zach to say something else, but he remained silent. “And?”

“And what?”

“What happened, then?”

Zach shrugged. “Nothing. I told you, I only see little snippets of stuff. That’s what I saw.”

“Seriously? That’s it?”

“That’s it.”

“How do I know you’re right, that it’s really going to happen?”

Zach shrugged. “Because I’ve never been wrong.”

He remembered his friend putting two holes in the man’s forehead.

Zach whistled for Savannah, who reached his side in seconds. He picked up the harness handle and walked her back toward the house. Suddenly, he turned. “Oh, one last thing. It’s going to snow.”

Garrett gazed up at the bright blue spring sky—not a cloud to be seen, and the temperature hovered in the mid-sixties. “I think you may be wrong about that one, man.”

“I’m never wrong,” Zach called over his shoulder as he walked around the side of the house.

Garrett stood in the driveway, considering the fact that danger might be on the way, if he were to believe Zach. He’d been in the kitchen with Ruby when the doctor had arrived early, and yes, he’d been nervous. Perhaps that was Zach’s vision, but then he remembered they definitely hadn’t been crouched down together.

As the sun warmed his face, he decided that he could believe the danger coming, but Zach had it all wrong about the snow.

He turned and went inside, heading for his room, but he met Ruby in the hallway.

She grinned at him, and he found himself smiling back. She reminded him of sunshine on a winter day—her smile warmed his soul and heated his skin.

“The doc gave you a clean bill of health, huh?”

“Yes, he did. Ready to go riding?”

He took a deep breath, slowly let it out, and shook his head. “I think it would be best if we waited until tomorrow, okay?”

He couldn’t imagine Ruby getting told no very often, and expected to see her true side. Somewhere behind this sweet girl façade lived a spoiled, rich brat.

Her face fell, her disappointment evident. “Okay,” she mumbled.

He waited for the argument.

“We can go for sure tomorrow?”

“Um … yeah, s-sure,” he stuttered. “I … um, just thought it would be best for you to take the rest of the day and kick back.”

She nodded. “I can understand that, but I’m fine. It’s okay, though. We can go tomorrow.”

As she stared at him, her emerald eyes seemed to bore into his very soul. What was it about this woman that affected him so much? Yes, he preferred a woman with curves, but he’d never really been one for redheads. Yet, Ruby could jack him up physically and scared the shit out of him emotionally with one simple look.

“You’re really not going to argue with me?” he blurted.

She shook her head. “No. Joe made it very clear you’re in charge, so what you say goes.”

“Okay. Good. But you know I’m just here to make sure you’re safe, right?”

“I know, Garrett. But if it’s all right with you, boss-man, I’d like to cook dinner tonight.”

“You like to cook?”

She shrugged and crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m not the best, but I can make a mean Swedish Meatball and some good fajitas, and I’d really like to do something to take my mind off everything. I really get antsy when I sit around.”

He could relate as he felt the same way. Where Zach seemed content to listen to the television or run his fingers over the braille books he’d brought with him, Garrett needed to be in motion. Ruby had recovered from her let down and grinned at him expectantly. descent

“I know what you mean. Have at it, Ruby. The kitchen is yours.”