Page 13 of Deception and New Direction

Just after he passed me, he spoke up. “HeyRuthie.Justso you know, my eye candy type is usually tiny blonde women with whiskey-colored eyes, a killer body, and feisty attitude.”

Oh.My.God.

Not wanting him to see me blush,Ikept walking as fast asIcould hustle in my crutches and closed the door onceImade it to my bedroom.

Stay strong,Ruthie.Thisman is just a temptation.Areally sexy, charming temptation.Iwas going to need all the resolveIcould muster ifIwas going to make it through these next several weeks of staying in his house.BecauseifIgave in toJack’stemptation,Iwasn’t sureIwould ever recover.

5

JACK

Ruthie had worn a tight red pencil skirt and a white dress shirt to work today.Shelooked like the sexiest librarianI’dever seen in my life, and it was driving me crazy.Infact, it was the third day this week she had worn a tight skirt.IfIdidn’t know any better,I’dswear she wore these outfits just to mess with me.Ifso, mission accomplished.

Her stature may have been on the smaller side, but her body wasn’t.Ruthieworked out, so she was fit, but she also had thick hips and a plump ass.Andthose tight skirts she wore only accentuated whatGodgave her in spades.Shehad what women called a pear-shaped body.Averageto maybe slightly smaller than average up top, butIwas definitely an ass man, so that didn’t bother me at all.

There was something about the way that red fabric hugged her curves, fused to her supple thighs and ass, that had my brain thinking all kinds ofX-rated thoughts.Thoughtsthat were completely inappropriate to be having in the middle of the office, in broad daylight, while surrounded by witnesses.Notthat it stopped me.

Those thoughts lingered long afterIdropped her off at work, even asWadeandIfinished up a quick recon job and made our way back to theRangerShieldSecurityoffice.Itold myselfIwasn’t going to swing by the front desk to seeRuthiebecause she’d claimIwas checking up on her—which was accurate.

But thenIwalked in and saw my sister andCatchatting with her, and just like that,Ihad the perfect excuse.

“I want to cut back on swearing soIdon’t accidentally swear at the office,”Ruthiesaid to them.

Ellie gave her a flat look. “Youwork with mostly retired military guys.Idon’t think this is the first time they’ve heard those words or care.”

Wade snorted at me. “Ican confirm that.”

“I’m not worried aboutyouguys hearing me.I’mworried about a client hearing me drop the f-bomb,”Ruthieexplained.

Cat perked up, waving her hands enthusiastically. “Ooooh…maybe you should do a swear jar.Idid that withValonce—though it didn’t really work.”

All of us smirked at that comment, knowing her sister did, in fact, have the vocabulary of a highly educated pirate.

“What are you guys talking about?”Wadeasked as he made his way over to my sister.

“NewYear’sresolutions,”Ellieresponded happily. “Ruthiehere is going to give up swearing—supposedly.”

Ruthie rolled her eyes as she turned to look atWadeand me. “Didyou guys need something?”

“Nah, we’re good,”Iresponded. “Gonnago up and get withArcherabout this next job.”

The women promptly ignored us, resuming their conversation asWadeandIwalked off, chuckling at how easily dismissed we were.

An hour laterIcame back to the front office to grab a file fromRuthie.Shewas on the phone, soIwaited, casually glancing at her desk—and that’s whenIsaw it: a framed photo of me, sitting in her open desk drawer.

Not just any photo, either.Onefrom my basic training graduation.

Well, well, well.

Curious as to why she had a picture of me at all—let alone one from years ago—Imade a mental note to immediately abuse this new information for maximum entertainment.

She hung up the phone, and before she could say a word,Ipounced.

“Ahhh, so you do like me,”Isaid, noticing her jump slightly at my question, obviously not having realizedIwas behind her.

“What?” she asked.

“You have a photo of me in your desk.Ifeel honored.”Ipointed at the photo since she looked confused by my comment.

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