by Liz Long
“Clearly a mistake on your part.” She felt a zing of satisfaction at the hurt look on his face. He wasn’t supposed to make her rethink her past decisions. She began to walk away.
“You weren’t always so easy to deal with either, you know,” he called to her retreating back. It made her stop in her tracks; annoyance bubbled in her throat while a rude defense made her bite her tongue and instead use a gargled groan.
“And what about me was so difficult, huh?” Her dark hair swirled around her face as she spun around to face him, her arms raised in disbelief. “I did a lot for you and not just as your little housewife. I taught you plenty of spells too, remember that? You never wanted me to use my gift-”
“I didn’t want you to use it on other people because it’s dangerous. I never wanted you to use it on me, either. I didn’t really think you would, but sometimes I wondered if you thought about it. Besides, you have no idea how emasculating it is to be second best to your girlfriend and know she should be the head of your coven.”
Ruby blinked in surprise. He’d never told her that, not even in their worst shouting matches.
Michael sighed, continued on as though begging her to understand. “You were always better than me. But you know how hard you are to impress? I never knew if I was doing the right things or what you wanted. I gave you everything I could and you still seemed so unhappy.”
A heavy sigh left her as she accepted his statement. His gripe about her attitude wasn’t the first time she’d heard it, nor was it entirely invalid. “I loved you. At least I thought I did.”
“Don’t tell me some stupid lie about your dating me for my money. You’re not the type.”
“You’re right,” Ruby quickly said. “I dated you because you were good to me. But it was exhausting being your girlfriend, Michael. It always felt so…stifling.”
“I know I like things a certain way,” he began, but she cut him off.
“You like everything a certain way. It’s hard to keep up appearances so much. I felt uncomfortable in my own skin.”
“And I’m sorry I didn’t try harder to relax a little,” he cut her off, his face earnest. “I want to change, be the person you want to be with. Give me a second chance.”
“You say that now but I know it doesn’t mean anything. Rebecca only needs to offer a blowjob and you’ll be back to your old ways.”
Michael blinked in surprise, opened his mouth to protest and Ruby waved her hand at him. “I’m done here.”
He changed tactics, his voice low and suggestive. “You know, I kind of like this new Ruby you’ve become over the last few months.”
He rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet, purposely leaning in closer to Ruby with each movement. A wicked smile began to grow on his face, the old, charming Michael taking over to tease her. Her upper body turned to walk, but her legs didn’t follow through. Much as she wanted to slap that look off his face, part of her remembered her attraction to him. She shrugged at his words.
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“Old Ruby wasn’t quite so…quick to attack. You know I’ve always loved your wit, but it’s been razor sharp lately. You put on a good chase.” Ruby fought back a laugh at his arrogance. He’d broken his own spell and she shook herself sane again.
“Hate to break it to you, but it’s not playing hard to get if I flat out don’t want to date you anymore.”
“I broke up with Rebecca.” His chest puffed up with pride as said it, like he expected her to leap into his arms and declare their love forever.
Instead, she cocked her head at him with narrowed eyes. “Why?”
His brow furrowed at her response. “Isn’t it obvious? I want to be with you. I was an idiot to ever do that to you.”
“I’m going to go ahead and tell you that you can stop apologizing. You’ve done quite enough of that this year and it’s a moot point anyhow.”
“Ruby, we belong together.”
“Uh, no,” Ruby told him. “In case you don’t remember, you’re dating Rebecca-”
“Who I broke up with,” he interrupted, but Ruby continued as though he hadn’t spoken.
“Who you cheated on me with and then brought into our coven, leading me to get the hell out. What part of this don’t you get?”
“I’m sorry I did that to you; I was an idiot. I don’t know how many times I have to apologize, but I’ll do it for the rest of our lives if that’s what it takes.”
“You want too much, thinking you could have her and then get me back.” She turned to walk away and Michael caught her arm.
“Please look at me. Look at me and tell me you don’t love me anymore.” The plea in his voice was almost enough to make Ruby catch her breath. She’d never heard him sound so desperate.
Ruby looked up into his steel gray eyes, wiggled her arm out of his hand as she spoke. She hardened her gaze at him to prevent him seeing the unexpected tears that sprang to her eyes.
She shifted her weight from one foot to the other, considering her next words carefully. “Michael, it’s not that you’re a bad person, but…”
She trailed off, unsure whether to continue and he raised his eyebrows at her. “But what?”
“I can’t trust you anymore, not with me or my magic. I don’t want to be in your coven and I don’t want to date you anymore. It took me a while to get you out of my life and I’m going to keep it that way.”
He froze for a full two beats, her words sinking in. He straightened up to his full height, a dark mask of rage over his face. Lips pinched together, his eyes flickered over her shoulder, then back to her.
“Is this about Cooper?” he asked. His hands clenched and unclenched, making the muscles in his arms spasm.
“What? No, we’re talking about you and me right now. Don’t change the subject.” Ruby gave him a bewildered look, unwilling to bring Cooper into any part of the conversation.
Michael’s handsome face twisted into a sneer. “You’re sleeping with him, aren’t you?”
Color rose to her cheeks. Keeping her voice even, she said, “First of all, none of your business. And even if that were the case, you and I are not together. That’s what I’m trying to tell you. I’m not in the wrong.”
“Neither am I,” he shot back.
Ruby’s arms went up and she slapped them against her sides in frustration, the anger in her voice obvious. “How do you figure? Because you said you’re sorry? That doesn’t make us even or give me the warm fuzzies.”
In the moment she blinked, Michael’s entire demeanor turned. His hands went palm up in a truce and an apologetic look came over him. “You’re right. I have a lot to make up for, but you should know I’m willing to work for it. I want us to be together again and I’m going to do everything it takes to make that happen.”
“I wouldn’t hold your breath on it.”
“Ruby…”
Michael stepped forward and reached for her, his hands gentle on her face and hip. He dipped his mouth to hers and pulled her into a kiss that made all the feelings rush back, almost made Ruby dizzy with memories. Ruby gave in for a moment, until she got ahold of herself and pulled away. She lowered her face, shook her head as Michael continued to hold her close to him.
He pulled his head back a few inches, his low voice serious and intense. His gray eyes seared into hers and his warm, peppermint-scented breath danced across her face. “I still love you. I want you back in my life, my coven, my bed. I want you to be my wife. Think about it. Please.”
Ruby said nothing and he accepted that as a positive response. A tiny smile played around the corners of his mouth before a ringing sound broke the silence. Annoyed, Michael plunged his hand into his pocket to retrieve his cell phone.
“Blocked call?” he muttered at the screen. He swiped the button and placed it to his ear. “Hello?”
The caller spoke and Michael’s well-groomed eyebrows came together in a furrowed expression, his eyes narrowed at the call. “Who is this?”
> A moment later, he held up the phone to Ruby, looking confused. “It’s for you.”
Her stomach seemed to drop somewhere around her knees as she took the phone from him and answered the call. “Hello?”
“I’m disappointed in you. You’re much too good to go back to him,” a man’s voice whispered at her. She pulled the phone away to see “BLOCKED” on the screen and spoke again.
“Who is this?”
“You know me. I go by X,” he said, drawing the last word to a hiss. Ruby froze, every cell in her body screaming panic as he talked. “I suppose the Brit’s accent can be charming, but I’ll make you forget about him. In fact, maybe I’ll take care of him sooner than I planned.”
“Why are you doing this?”
“And what would Cooper think?” the voice ignored her question, teased her, making her blood run cold. “Actually, I won’t tell if you don’t. Don’t trace my call. Don’t tell the police either or I’ll make you regret it. Our conversations stay between us. I have a present for you. See you soon.”
The line went dead and Ruby felt her face go slack. Anxious at her expression, Michael leaned in and touched her shoulders, her face, to get her attention. She snapped out of it, brushing his hands away from her and stepping back.
“I need to go.”
“That wasn’t Cooper or the police. The killer somehow tracked you down.” His eyes went wide with realization. “That means he’s here! He can see us!”
He stepped in front of Ruby, looked through the glass windows of the first floor lobby. He shouted at the glass, at the killer hiding behind the shadows. “You think you can scare us? You can’t have her!”
No one replied and Ruby stepped around Michael to go to the door. “I need to go. Thanks for the spell since I seem to need it. Bye.”
Right before her hand touched the door handle, however, something popped against the glass window. They both jumped at the sound, turned to look at the spell that now formed a shape in midair. Before their eyes, red powder shimmered and formed into a large cartoonish heart. The name “Ruby” in curly letters sat in the center; three seconds later, the heart began to bleed as the spell fell to the ground. The red dust turned to dirt beside the broken vial.
Ruby’s hands curled into fists at X’s sick joke. “Yeah. Going home. Like warp factor five style. See you.”
Ruby flung the door open before Michael could stop her, ran to her car and locked the doors after getting in. She chastised herself the entire drive back to her apartment, going back and forth between Michael and X. She punched the steering wheel every other word.
“Idiot, what is the matter with you, kissing Michael back? Now he’s going to try even harder. What were you thinking? And this guy, this fucking guy watching me everywhere! Ugh!”
She had too many questions. No answers came to her, however, so she huffed and cursed until she reached her building. A honk made her turn and she saw Ben wave at her from his undercover vehicle.
“Hey Ben,” she said as she walked over to his window.
He smiled at her. “Doing okay today?”
“Uh, sure, I guess. How about you?”
“I’m good, thanks. Just checking in on you. Everything okay with Michael?”
“Ah, yeah, he asked me to pick up a protection spell the coven made for me. Everything’s fine.” Ruby shuffled her feet and hoped he couldn’t see the blush that rose to her cheeks with the lie.
“All right, you should get inside before it gets dark. I’m on duty tonight, but call me if you need anything.”
Ruby thanked him and went to the building entrance. Swiping her key fob, she turned back to see him patiently waiting. She gave him a little wave and he nodded at her. Running up the stairs, she stepped into her apartment and locked the door behind her.
“Hi you.” Cooper popped out from the kitchen to greet her. Her black apron was around his waist and the smell of overcooked something wafted to her nose. “You were gone longer than I expected. Get what you need?”
Guilt washed over her and she debated whether to tell him the truth. Even if the only problem was her ex’s kiss, she wasn’t sure what was between her and Cooper. Maybe they were only now acting on this because of their shared pain. After they caught the killer, what happened then?
She couldn’t tell him, she figured. If she told Cooper about X’s call, it would rile him up and she’d have to explain her whereabouts, why she was at Michael’s, and exactly why X called in a fit of jealousy. X could be pissy all he liked, but she didn’t want to tell Cooper she’d kissed her ex. It wasn’t like she was even considering getting back together with Michael. It was a stupid kiss that meant nothing and Michael would be single for a long time if he waited around for her to marry him. She decided to keep quiet, if only because she didn’t want X to make things worse for her.
“Yep, all good. Saw Officer Marshall outside and stopped to chat. What are you up to in here?” She headed to the kitchen and poked her head in to see Cooper’s work. Dirty dishes were piled up in the sink, but no plated creations waited on her table.
“That’s what I was about to tell you.” He took the apron off, stuck his hands in his pockets in a sheepish way. “I started dinner and then, uh, burned it. Care to pick out a place to eat tonight?”
Ruby giggled. “Sure. Thanks for trying anyway. How about Italian? There’s a great place a few blocks from here.”
They grabbed their coats, laughing at Cooper’s lack of kitchen skills all the way down to the parking lot. It was still early, only six o’clock, but darkness already overcame their city.
“I can make simple stuff, like spaghetti or burgers,” he said, opening the building door for her. “I usually ruin everything else though. It’s the bachelor in me.”
Not wanting to walk with the dipping temperature, they got in Ruby’s car and headed to the restaurant, parking in a small, almost empty garage off the back alley. After a long, lovely dinner that included a bottle of wine and conversation that didn’t include magic or killers or ex-boyfriends, Ruby called it quits.
“I’m stuffed.” She set her napkin on the table. “That’s my towel. I’m throwing it in.”
“There’s one bite of dessert left,” he protested. “It’s yours for the next five seconds.”
Ruby eyed the tiramisu on the plate. Cooper began a countdown, teasing her; when he reached for it, Ruby put her fork over his with a small clink. “Changed my mind.”
Cooper quickly scooped up the check the waitress brought them. After he paid, he and Ruby prepared to leave.
“I was thinking,” he whispered in her ear as he slid her jacket over her shoulders. “How about a second dessert back at your place?”
Ruby couldn’t help but smile at his suggestive tone and they shared a look. Without hesitation, Cooper grabbed her hand and they left the restaurant, hurried back to her car in the garage. Ruby noticed Cooper held on, interlocked his fingers with hers, and she found herself nearly floating at the close interaction.
Her car within sight, Cooper looped an arm around her waist, kissing the side of her head. He kept her close to him as they walked and Ruby felt that stir of excitement in her stomach.
“Hate to ruin an evening out for a good looking couple such as yourselves,” a deep voice called behind them. “But Coop, we got unfinished business to discuss.”
Cooper froze mid-step, jerked Ruby to a halt as they swiveled around to confront the speaker. Three men stood behind them, their hands in their pockets and hard lines around their faces.
“Gary.” Cooper’s flat greeting told Ruby everything she needed to know. These men were part of Cooper’s past and they were here to collect. Ruby took a look at Gary and froze - he was the same man who’d questioned Courtney about the hidden money. He’d killed Courtney.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
The five of them stood at a draw, Cooper and Ruby looking at Gary and his men. Cooper’s arm was still around her waist, gripping her tight against him. Cooper’s cold express
ion came over him as he narrowed his eyes at his old pals. Ruby glared at Gary, the man she’d seen question Courtney over the missing money. He looked even more like a rodent in person.
“It’s been too long,” Gary said. He rocked on the balls of his feet, kept his voice almost friendly and casual.
“Max, Alec,” Cooper said, nodding to the two standing behind Gary. They nodded once back at him, their expressionless faces giving no indication of what mood they were in.
“You’re a hard man to find, Coop,” Gary said, still keeping his voice light. “We heard you were back in town after your sister passed. Pity what happened to her.”
Cooper’s tense muscles tightened more and Ruby nudged him with her elbow. Cooper blinked and looked down at her as though realizing he might be hurting her and he let go, both arms dropping to his sides. Ruby stuck her hands in her back pockets to seem casual, but her right hand slowly went to her bag in case she needed to be prepared.
“What would you like to discuss? You made things pretty clear the last time we spoke.”
Gary laughed, a hollow sound that was anything but amused. “Glad you got the point then, but seems you’ve forgotten. We left you alive to bring us back the money. I hope you feel like sharing some good news.”
Cooper didn’t hesitate. “I don’t have it.”
Gary spit on the pavement. “You know where it is.”
“I really don’t. Someone hid it for me and I haven’t found it yet.”
“We know you had Courtney hide it. She didn’t want to tell us where she hid the money, either. Never did answer my note. Pretty rude of her, if you ask me.” Gary chortled and Ruby wondered if she could choke him with her mind.
“Darren paid us a visit,” Alec said from behind Gary.
Cooper froze, the insinuation clear behind Alec’s taunt. Ruby’s stomach knotted up - what if they’d killed Darren, too? Their only lead in the murder case, they’d lose any chance of gaining ground if he died.
“You mean you found him and made him talk,” Cooper shot back.
“Looks like Darren had every right to be paranoid,” Ruby muttered.