Page 121 of Ruby Malice

“I didn’t know you had the guts for grand theft auto.”

“Yeah, well, I was provoked.” Rayne’s smile slips away, taking all of her warmth with it.

I’m learning something about myself, as I look at her crestfallen frown in the moonlight: I don’t like seeing that frown on her. It does something strange and powerful to the knot in my throat that has lodged itself there permanently. Makes it twitch with pain. Like her pain is my pain now.

“What did he do?” I growl.

Rayne looks up at me, eyes wide. “Nothing. Not like that. I mean, he called me a loser.” She chuckles humorlessly. “When I say it like that, it sounds so stupid. But… yeah, that’s what pushed me over to the dark side, I guess. Mitchell called me his ‘loser sister-in-law.’ And Dustan said that Alexis was afraid I’d come stay with her instead of Lana.”

I don’t know who any of these people are.

I do know that I’ll kill them all simply for putting that crease between Rayne’s brows.

But I swallow down the rage bubbling up inside of me. “If they knew how neatly you make the bed,” I drawl, “maybe they’d reconsider.”

“Thanks, asshole.” She chuckles and then glances over at me. I see the realization dawn across her face. “I should—I shouldn’t be here. I don’t know why I came here. I mean, I told you to treat me like any other maid. That was our deal. And now, here I am spilling my guts and—shit, I’m sorry. I’ll leave and—”

I reach for her and encircle her wrist. She stills under my touch, looking up at me with wide blue eyes. “You’re not my maid right now, Rayne. You’re not my anything. We’re just two people on a beach.”

She’s not totally convinced. “That’s a nice thought, but a pretty dangerous line to toe.”

“What’s the point to living life if you don’t do it dangerously?”

Her eyes rove over my face. There’s something wistful about the way she’s looking at me. Nostalgic, as if I’m not sitting right in front of her. “I tried living dangerously with you once, remember? It made things… complicated.”

“Sex does that,” I say darkly, thinking of Daria and feeling that familiar old twinge in my chest. “But this isn’t sex. This is sitting on a beach. Very clear line between the two.”

“And there’s no risk of crossing that line?”

When I look over, it’s impossible to tell if Rayne is more nervous or hopeful about the prospect of things between us becoming “complicated” once again. Her full lips are parted slightly. Her head is tilted just so, her cheeks catching the silvery moonlight like flat mirrors. She’s stretched her legs out in front of her, her hands wedged between her thighs to keep warm.

I can still taste her skin on my tongue. Feel her body heat in my fingertips.

“There’s no such thing as no risk.”

Her reply is immediate. “Then I should go.”

I set my glass down and drag my finger through the sand between us. She stills, watching my movement. “What is that?”

“You wanted a line in the sand. Here it is.” I knock back another sip of whiskey. “Don’t cross it and nothing will happen.”

“Oh, so I’m the responsible party? How noble of you.”

“You’re the one worried about controlling yourself,” I reply. “I have remarkable restraint.”

She rolls her eyes. “Well, that’s good. Because you’ll need all of that restraint once you learn about my delicious family drama. I hear men have a thing for women with daddy issues.” The sarcastic crackle in her voice fades. “We don’t have to talk about this, though. I know it’s pathetic. Actually, the most pathetic part is that I don’t really have anyone else I can talk to about this. That takes the cake.”

I raise my brows in mock surprise. “The rich asshole is your only confidante? My, how the mighty have fallen.”

“You know what they say about desperate times and all that,” she laughs bitterly. “I used to talk to my mom about everything, but, well… she died.”

“When? How?”

“A few months ago,” she says. “Cancer. She’d been sick for a long time, so I was prepared. But it’s still hard. I took care of her.”

“Full time?”

She nods. “That’s sort of the crux of the problem. While I was taking care of my dying mother, my sisters wanted me to be off at college, prowling for a husband.”

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