Page 39 of Deception and New Direction

I opened my eyes to look over atRuthiesitting up from the bed.Shewas still naked, soItook in the sight of her gorgeous body, even though her back was to me.

“HeyJack,” she said.

“Yeah, babe?”

“Can you go get my crutches for me?Iwould do it, butIhonestly don’t remember whereIleft them, and don’t want to be hobbling all over the house.”

The way she asked,Iknew she struggled asking for this favor.Ifthere was one thingI’dlearned aboutRuthie, it was that she hated feeling helpless or needing favors from other people, soItried not to make a big deal out of it.

“No problem.Ineed to get up and hit the toilet anyway.I’llletDashout and grab your crutches.”

I walked to the back door, letDashout, and grabbedRuthie’scrutches.WhenIgot to the doorway of my bedroom it was to see her sitting on the edge with the sheet covering up her body.Ifound it slightly funny that she felt the need to cover up.

“No need to cover that incredible body, sweetheart.I’vealready seen every inch of it.”Iwinked at her, letting her knowInoticed she had covered up.

“It just felt weird sitting here like this waiting,” she responded. “Plus,Idon’t want to traipse through your house without clothes on.”

“Why?Ijust did.”

I never understood why women felt weird about walking around their own places naked.Myhouse was private, so it wasn’t like random people could see her.

“You’re such a guy,” she said, her lip twitching with a slight bit of humor.

“Yes, and last night you seemed to appreciate that fact,”Isaid, giving her my best grin, and watched her roll her eyes at me.Ialso noticed her pale skin turning slightly pink at my comment as well.

“CanIborrow aT-shirt or a towel or something?”

“Sure,”Itold her, grabbing a tee from my top drawer and handing it to her.

She was almost swallowed whole by it, but damn if some primal male satisfaction didn’t kick in at the sight of her in my shirt.

She slid the crutches under her arms and began to make her way out of the room.Iwatched her go the whole time, controlling my inner urge to grab her and throw her back on my bed and fuck her senseless with my shirt still on.

I opted to just take care of business in the shower instead.

AfterIcleaned up and made my way out into the kitchen for food,Dashsprinted in and landed at my feet, clearly hopingI’dthrow him some food.

“I just fed him, so don’t fall for his tricks,”Ruthiesaid as she came into the room. “Also, can you drop me off at my granddad’s today at two o’clock?Hisattorney friendRonaldis coming over.Ifigured you could just drop me off if you have more errands to run.”

“Not a problem,”Ireplied. “I’dlike to be there too if you don’t mind.I’vegot some questions of my own with regards to access for your dad.”

She paused a moment and then replied softly, “Okay.”

As much asIwanted to be there,Ialso didn’t want to intervene if it made her terribly uncomfortable. “Ican just drop you off if you don’t want me there.”

“Honestly, it would be nice to have you there,” she said. “Vinceis the best tracker,Axelis our tech guru, but your specialty is the finances, so it would be nice to have someone who understands numbers to be there ifIhave questions.”

I had always liked math and numbers and was quite good at it.Whenwe all talked about starting our own business,Iwas the one to run the numbers and figure out the best way to finance everything and keep our accounting in check.Hell,Wadeoften came to me with the accounting stuff for theWateringHoleas well when he couldn’t get stuff to line up.

Ruthie andIate breakfast, got a few things done around the house, and then made our way to her grandfather’s house withDashin tow.

Ruthie was quiet on the way over, andIknew it was because she was mulling everything over.Ilet her be in her thoughts.Sheliked to rationalize her way through most things, so hopefully once we talked with this guy, it would ease most of her concerns.

After we pulled up,Iwalked around to grab her crutches out of the back seat and helped her out of the car.Aswe walked up the stairs,Hankand another man walked out onto the porch.

“Good to see you, darlin’,”Hanksaid toRuthie, giving her a hug.

He turned and pointed to the man next to him. “Thisman here isRonaldO’Reilly, the attorneyItold ya about.”

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