Wraiths of Winter (The Haunting Ruby Series Book 3) (17 page)

“I can help you—what are you in the mood for?” Lucas
said suggestively, his eyes penetrating and seductive.

His
gaze was
so powerful, I had to look away.
Reluctantly and slowly but I still managed to break the spell.
“Well, chicken’s my favorite….”

“Chicken it is then,” he replied and motioned for the
server. Without any hint of hesitation, Lucas ordered for both
of us in fluent French.

Shocking. He didn’t seem the type to speak another
language, at least not so fluidly and effortlessly. “You speak
French? You don’t even
take
French!”

“Don’t look so shocked—there are good schools in
Pittsburgh, you know,” he said unfolding his napkin and
taking a sip of his water. “And I didn’t sign up for French this
year because it would have been boring. I think you can agree
that I’m a tad bit past verb conjugations.”

Just when I thought I knew him, Lucas always seemed
to find a way to flip me upside down and shake me like an
Etch-a-Sketch. French was such a romantic language and his
pronunciation was flawless.
There was nothing sexier than a
hot guy speaking French. I wanted to hear more.

“Say something else—I like how it sounds.”

 

He thought for a second and said, “Chérie, je veux vous
détruire.”

Again, I had not one single clue what he said. But it
didn’t matter—it was the most beautiful thing anyone had
ever said to me.

“Wow—what else do I not know about you?”

Lucas
smiled smugly
and
leaned across
the table
toward me. “I knew there would come a day when you would
want to know everything about me.”

Uncomfortable. I didn’t think I was flirting with him
but he seemed to take it that way. He looked exactly like Lee
but that was where the similarities ended.
How should I
respond to that?
Better yet, how did I
want
to respond to
that? Lucky for me, I didn’t have to.

When the server placed my meal in front of me, I
thought I’d died and gone to culinary heaven. After the first
bite, I knew for sure that I had. Between mouthfuls, I thanked
Lucas for picking out something so delicious for me.

“I’m glad you like it,” Lucas replied. “It’s one of my
favorites.” He laid his fork down on his empty plate. “Room
for dessert?”

“Oh no,” I said, “I’m good.” That was a lie. I always left
room for dessert but the meal was already so expensive and I
didn’t want him to have to spend any more money on me.

He waved to the server who cleared our empty plates
and took his dessert order. “Before we head back to
Charlotte’s Grove, would you mind making one other stop?
There’s a place here that I really miss and I promise we won’t
stay long. I’m sure
Zach
is anxious to get you back.”

Zach! I promised to check in with him regularly but I
hadn’t talked to him since shortly after we left.
He was
probably assembling the National Guard to look for me by
now. I pulled out my phone to answer his string of frantic text
messages.

I looked at my phone, shocked and confused to find
that I didn’t have one single message. That was weird—
normally I would have had at least one, if not several.
Andy
must be keeping him busy at the shelter—that was the only
plausible explanation. When Lucas’s dessert arrived, I forgot
all about Zach and wished I could take back my refusal to
order my own.

“Tira misu,” Lucas explained, taking a bite of the
chocolaty creation. He must have noticed the drool forming
in the corners of my mouth because he offered to share.

“No, I couldn’t,” I protested unenthusiastically.

 

“Yes, you can,” he said and scooted his chair around
the table until we were nearly touching. “Open up.”

Just one bite wouldn’t hurt, would it? I pressed my
lips together hesitantly but he coaxed them open with the tip
of his fork. Once it was inside my mouth, I couldn’t hold back.
So rich, so decadent, so seductive against my tongue. Lucas
removed the fork from my mouth and slid his tongue over it
to get the last taste of chocolate.

He took another bite and then offered me another one
too. “Do you want more?”

 

“I do,” I replied eagerly.
It was just dessert—there
wasn’t anything wrong with what I was doing. Was there?

Lucas
alternated between
feeding
me and
feeding
himself until the dessert plate was empty. He paid the bill, left
a very generous tip, and we walked back to his car. I left the
restaurant with an odd mixture of satisfaction and guilt. What
just happened in there? The way he fed me was so sensual, so
intimate. Was that what Zach had in mind when he bought
the strawberries and chocolate for our special day? It had to
be.
What never happened between
me
and
Zach just
happened between me and Lucas. I was the worst girlfriend
in the world.

One quick stop before heading home—that’s all it was
supposed to be. And when Lucas pulled into the parking lot of
the Diamond Blades ice skating rink, I didn’t see any reason
why it
wouldn’t
be.
As much as I wanted to learn how to
skate, I knew it wasn’t possible. My last date with Zach
proved that. I followed Lucas inside figuring he was just there
to talk to a friend.
Prepare for another hard shake on the
Etch-a-Sketch.

The entire rink was deserted except for a girl in her
early twenties working the skate rental booth. “Size?” she
asked me as I approached the counter with him.

“Who? Me? No, I don’t skate.”

 

“What do you mean, you don’t skate?” Lucas asked
with surprise. “Are you afraid or something?”

Afraid?
Me?
It took a lot more than ice skating to
frighten me these days. “Of course not—I just can’t skate. I
tried once and I couldn’t even walk on those blades let alone
skate on them.”

“Let me guess—your ankles buckled under you, right?
Well, I know how to fix that.”

“Right,” I replied with a hint of dry sarcasm. “I’ve
accepted the fact that I’ll never be an Olympic figure skater.
My
dreams
of
bringing
home
the
gold
are
long
past
shattered—it’s okay.”

“Humor me for a minute, Ru. What size do you wear?”

 

“Size eight,” I said with a sigh. At least there wasn’t a
crowd of people to watch me fail again this time.

The girl behind the counter reached for a pair of white
figure skates but Lucas shook his head no. “No—make it a
pair of those.” He pointed to a pair of sturdy, black hockey
skates.

Great.
Not only was I going to make a fool out of
myself—again—but I was going to look like Frankenstein
while doing it.
Whatever. All I had to do was put them on,
show him that I couldn’t even
manage to walk,
and
the
humiliation would be over.

I sat down on the bench, removed my boots and slid
the skates onto my feet.
Lucas knelt down on the floor and
laced them up tight for me.

“See—I told you this would happen.” I stood up to
prove my point but proved nothing. Once on my feet, I was
perfectly balanced on the silver blades. “Oh my God! I’m
standing! How’s that possible?” I started walking to the ice,
ready to conquer it once and for all.

“Hey—wait for me, Ru!” Lucas called from the bench
where
he
sat hurriedly changing
into
a
matching
pair of
skates.

I pranced in place, anxious to get out onto the surface
of the rink. “How did you know these would work?” I asked
curiously.

“You have weak ankles—so do I.
These are the only
kind I can wear so I figured they would work for you, too.”
Lucas finished tying his laces and slid out onto the ice as he
took my hand and pulled me with him.

The
lights
on the rink were low, dark except for
strings of red and white twinkling lights all around. One look
at it and I was rethinking my hatred of Christmas decorations.
It literally took my breath away.

At first, I started to slide but Lucas linked his arm
around my waist and steadied me. Then, we started to glide.
And I was transformed into an ice princess. Sure, I wasn’t
dressed like one but I could pretend.
Sparkling costume,
delicate frame of jewel encrusted silver perched upon my
head, handsome prince on my arm. Lucas twirled me around
like we were dancing. I wasn’t the most graceful princess but
at least I stayed on my feet.

Two hours
flew by
in
the span of what felt like
minutes. I knew we had to get home but I never wanted to
leave the ice. If only Misty could see me now. No, wait. If she
saw me like this
with
Lucas, she
would get
the wrong
impression. But what was the right impression? I loved Zach
but Lucas was starting to feel like more than just a friend.
That realization was enough to make me want to leave the ice.

“We need to head home now—it’s past six!” I
exclaimed, pulling Lucas off of the ice along with me. I had too
much fun today—I needed to put some distance between us.
Fast.

Sitting across from Lucas for the two hour ride home
wasn’t nearly enough distance.
I checked my phone before
leaving Pittsburgh and still found nothing from Zach.
There
was no way he was still at the shelter—not this late. Was he
ignoring me intentionally?
Maybe I should just give in and
call him.
But then again, maybe not.
If he wanted to play
games, I had to show him that I could play, too.
The minute I
put my phone away it felt like I kind of put Zach away, as well.
And I started to say things I never thought I would say.

As Lucas asked questions about my relationship with
Zach, private things spilled out. Before I knew it, I’d backed
myself into a corner. There was only one way out—I had to
explain the events of this past summer.
I decided to tell him
about Scarlet.

“What? Rosewood’s haunted?” Lucas nearly missed
our exit while trying to wrap his brain around what I’d told
him.

“It was but not anymore. We found a way to get rid of
Scarlet. I would have died that night if it weren’t for Zach. He
saved my life.”

“Oh, that explains a lot,” Lucas said with an “ah-ha”
look on his face.

 

“What do you mean by that?” I replied defensively. I
wasn’t going to like where this conversation was going, was I?

“Well, you and Zach don’t make sense together, you
know. If it hadn’t been for all of the drama, you probably
wouldn’t have stayed together this long. Zach does seem to
like to play the hero, doesn’t he?”

My
greatest fear now
verbalized by
an outside
observer—tears formed instantly in my eyes. Please, do
not
cry now! Was he right? If I’d never had that damned near
death experience, would Zach and I still be together?
Was
Zach drawn to
me
or my endless parade of tragedies?
The
worst part was that there was no way for me to ever get a
definitive answer.
A
road sign
flew by
declaring
that
Charlotte’s Grove was only thirty miles away but it might as
well have been thirty thousand.

I couldn’t hide the fact that he struck a nerve—I
couldn’t even try to defend Zach’s intentions. We both
remained silent the rest of the way home. But just as the old
saying goes, silence spoke louder than words.

12. Reconnaissance Mission

I liked to think of myself as a responsible guy but
when I woke up this morning, I knew exactly what I needed to
do. I needed to lie. It wasn’t something I was proud of but
there was no way I’d be able to work all day while Ruby was
in Pittsburgh alone with Lucas. So I left for work like usual
but called Andy to tell him I had the flu. He was sympathetic,
of course, which made me feel like a complete ass. But ass or
no ass, it was something I
had
to do.

The urge to follow Ruby came over me so suddenly
that I didn’t have time to come up with a plan—I just had to
go with my gut feeling and hope it would take me where I
needed to go.
Only one thing was clear—I had to make sure
she didn’t see me. If she saw me, it would all be for nothing.

Don’t get me wrong—I trusted her.
Completely.
It
was Lucas I didn’t trust. Not for a single second. There was
something about him—something, well, fake.
I know that
sounds stupid. It was obvious that he
had
to be Lee’s twin
brother. Still, there was something completely bogus about
that guy and I was going to figure out what it was.
It would
have been so much easier if she would have simply believed
that he wasn’t who she thought he was. Her judgment was
clouded—any idiot could see that. So until I had proof, the
only thing I could do was keep her safe.
Unlike most days,
today I had to figure out a way to do that from a distance.

I parked at the entrance to Silver Lake and waited for
them to drive past. They would never even notice me there
behind the trees but I would clearly see that beast he called a
car.
What a stupid car, anyway.
What kind of jerk would
drive around in a car that was twice as old as he was?
I
wouldn’t be caught dead in that monstrosity—my Neon was
way
cooler than his hunk of junk. Did he seriously think girls
were into that kind of car? Counting to twenty before pulling
out, I gave them enough of a lead that it wouldn’t look like I
was following them. Once we hit the interstate, I could easily
blend in with the traffic. Phase one of my unplanned plan was
successful.