Reaper's Legacy(92)

“No,” I told him. “You’re up to something. You can’t let me win, can you?”

Ruger grinned at me.

“Yeah, you’re right,” he said. “I’m up to something. And I’m never going to let you win, so you might as well give up now.”

With that his lips came down over mine in another of those kisses that destroyed my ability to think. He explored my mouth softly and I explored right back, wishing like hell that Noah was with a babysitter. Heroin. The man was pure heroin. Heroin kills people, my brain screamed. My body flipped off my brain and kept kissing Ruger. Finally he let my lips go and pulled back, smiling and looking smug as hell.

“Like I said, might as well give up, Soph,” he said. “Sooner or later I’m gonna win this little game of ours.”

I sat up slowly, shaking my head. How did he do that to me? I wanted him so bad I couldn’t see straight, and he turned it off, just like that. Noah ran up across the deck and looked at us through the window, pressing his mouth wide open against it and making a blowfish face. Then he started laughing wildly and ran off again.

Okay. That turned it off.

“You want to keep your own place for a while,” Ruger said, touching my cheek softly. “I’ll try to understand that. It’s all happening fast and that’s scary. But you’re still mine, Soph. Don’t think for one minute I’ve forgotten that or changed my mind.”

“You planning to keep your dick in your pants at the club?” I asked bluntly.

“I’m not planning not to keep it in my pants,” he said slowly. “But I’ve told you—I’m not a one-woman man. I won’t lie to you or make promises I’m not sure I can keep.”

“And there we have it,” I replied, shaking my head. “Fuck off, Ruger. I’m going home.”



RUGER: What time do you get off work?

ME: 5. Why

RUGER: Want to come over and check your place out for security

ME: No

RUGER: You haven’t figured this out yet? I’m going to do it. Rather do it when it’s convenient for you but happens either way. What time? I’ll bring pizza

ME: We get home around 6. Noah likes his pizza plain

RUGER: Plain? Like nothing?????

ME: Plain. Be happy. Used to be he wouldnt let them put sauce on it

RUGER: Plain it is. See you at 6

ME: He’s invading my space

KIMBER:?????

ME: Ruger. He’s invadng my space. Coming over tonight to check out security on new place. Bribing us with pizza

KIMBER: Control freak much? What’s security

ME: He likes my apartments to have alarms. Checks for bad windows and locks. Deadbolts.That kind of thing

KIMBER: thats sweet tho! He wants u safe

ME: He’s the biggest danger

KIMBER: Be happy. U have a hot guy coming over and he’s bringing dinner. Women have killed for less

ME: Whose side you on?

KIMBER: Mine. Haven’t u figured this out yet?

ME: Bitch

KIMBER: Ho

ME: At least I don’t drive a minivan

KIMBER: See if I make YOU margaritas again! LOW BLOW!!!!!!

ME: <3

“You don’t have to spend a lot of money to keep a place safe,” Ruger told Noah, his voice serious. They crouched together as Ruger installed a new deadbolt on our exterior door. We had two—one leading outside and the other leading into the rest of the barn, which was pretty cool in its own right. Among other things, it had a loft complete with mounds of old hay for Noah to jump in. Even better, there were stairs leading up to it and a railing, safety features I assumed they put in for Elle’s cousin.

“If you have empty pop cans, you can make an alarm by stacking them in front of your door,” Ruger said. “The goal is to make noise, so that you know if someone tries to come in. Most bad guys will run away if there’s noise. That’s why I put those little alarms on the windows. If you ever see a bad guy, don’t be quiet. Start screaming. And don’t yell help—yell ‘Call the cops!’ as loud as you can, okay?”

“You’re going to scare him,” I said from the couch, debating whether I should eat the last slice of pizza. Between Ruger and Noah, it’d disappeared pretty fast.

“You scared, Noah?” Ruger asked.

“Nope,” Noah said. “Ruger’s smart. He’s teaching me all kinds of safety stuff. He says you need to stop texting on your phone when you walk places, Mom, and pay attention to the people around you. He also says there’s this little stick you need to start carrying around. It’s called a cuburtron.”