Page 33 of Deception and New Direction

“I’m referring to the woman you went on your mystery date with the other night,”Iexplained, hating how jealousIfelt.

He smiled his stupid smug smile at me and my jealousy immediately turned to annoyance.

“I wasn’t on a date,Ruthie.Iwas meeting with a man to get background info.”

At that piece of information,Iinternally breathed a sigh of relief.Still, not one to ever give in too easily or show my cards,Idecided to take that piece of joyful information he gave me and just walk away.

“I think we should just stick with being game night partners,”Iinformed him.

He shook his head at me and mumbled something asIwalked away. “Iseem to be into beautiful, smart-ass, perpetually stubborn women who enjoy driving me up a wall.”

He may not have intended for me to hear them, butIdid, nonetheless.Muchto my chagrin, my heart gave a happy squeeze at his words.

13

RUTHIE

In my defense,Jackdrove me up a wall anytime he was near me.Itwas like he enjoyed getting on my nerves.Myannoyance fueled his happiness—and he annoyed me a lot.Well, there was only so much a person could take before they snapped.

I snapped.

Now, here we were in the kitchen, staring each other down.Jackwas all up in my space, andIhad just drenched him with dirty, soapy water.Ithad been two weeks sinceJack’smystery date, and he’d been acting so weird.Healso loved to tease me and annoy me as though he had nothing better to do.

Again, in my defense, there was only so much a person could take before they snapped, andIsnapped.

I really was a nice person.Ijust couldn’t stand overbearing men.Theones who thought they knew best.Theones who thought women should just be pretty things people looked at and should just go along with everything they said.

Because that wasn’t me.

It all started early in the daySaturday.Theweather was crummy, soJackdecided to go to some home improvement stores to get paint, some new hardware, and a few other things he needed to renovate his house.Itagged along becauseIloved going to those stores.Wehad lunch out since it was easier, and then we came back to his house.Despitemultiple protests fromJack,Ihelped him carry in some of the bags from the car.

I would never admit it to him, but clearly,Ihad overdone it a bit with all the walking.Iknew this because when we came home,Itook some pain pills, sat down on the couch for a bit withDash, and promptly fell asleep.Theproblem wasIhad a dream—a very detailed dream ofJack…naked…on top of me.So,Iwoke up half frustrated that it wasn’t real and half frustrated thatI’dhad those thoughts aboutJackat all.Theclock said it was already six in the evening, soIgot up and made dinner.

We had cheeseburger macaroni and cheese, and thankfully, we didn’t talk much during dinner becauseArcherhad called to talk to him about a new case.

I finished my meal and had been in the middle of hand-washing a few dishes whenJackwalked in.

“Sorry about that.Howwas your nap earlier, by the way?”

I knew he was just making casual conversation, but it immediately brought me back to my dream.Thedream withJack’sdelicious body over top of mine—Stop!Don’tgo there.Ididn’t want him to see my face likely turning red, soIangled my body away from him and began to focus on washing those dishes like my life depended on it.

“Fine,”Ireplied quickly, perhaps too quickly judging by his reaction.

“I know enough girl code from having a sister to know that word can have a double meaning.Iseverything okay?”

I decided to change the topic. “Yes, all good.Didyou like dinner?”

“Yes, though,Ruthie, we can get food delivered next time so you don’t always have to cook.”

“We already ate out for lunch,Jack, and you wouldn’t even let me pay,”Ireminded him because it bothered me that he chose the brief momentIwent to the bathroom to pay the bill.

“Ruthie, before you moved in here,Iate out most meals.I’mnot exactly a gourmet chef like you.”

“I know you’re not.Elliewarned me,”Isaid, intentionally trying to be cheeky, but that only caused him to grin even more and flash that sexy smile my way.

“Which is whyI’mtelling youIdon’t mind eating out for more than one meal a day.”

“Not everyone has a body like yours and can afford to eat out all the time,Jack.IfIeat too much fast food, it goes straight to my backside.”

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