Heart of Rockies 03 - More Than a Feeling

by Sara Richardson

  He folded his hands and made himself look at each one of them. “First, I want you to know I’m not accusing anyone of anything.”

  No one moved. No one seemed to even breathe.

  He checked on Thomas. The man seemed to be visually evaluating Javon.

  Damn it. He should’ve waited. Ruby was better at putting the kids at ease than him. Now he just had to get it over with and hope he didn’t screw everything up. He cleared the cotton out of his throat. “About a week ago some money went missing from Bryce’s office. One of Avery’s bracelets was stolen, too.” He tried to keep his face relaxed and open, but it was hard to make eye contact with any of them. “Then a few days ago, more money went missing.”

  The room was silent. Painfully silent. The kind of silence that makes your ears ring.

  He couldn’t stand it. “Like I said, I’m not—”

  “Morning, everyone!” Ruby hurried across the room, her flowy white blouse hanging in a way that enhanced her sexy curves. Then there were those tight jeans…

  “Sorry I’m late.” Her smile was radiant, captivating. Maybe because now he knew what hid behind it. She’d been hurt to a degree he couldn’t even imagine, and yet she still smiled. She still loved these kids. That was apparent by the glow that took over her face whenever she saw them.

  “What’d I miss?” She set a basket of muffins on the table and targeted him with a not-so-sweet look.

  No one said a word. When her eyes met his Sawyer stared out the windows across the room.

  “What’s the matter? Why’s it so quiet?” she asked slowly, as if she was putting two and two together.

  Yeah. There was no way out of this. How was he supposed to know she’d traipse in two minutes after he told them? He would’ve waited if she would’ve called him back to tell him she’d be there.

  She posted her hands on her hips, her eyes glaring now.

  Sawyer sighed. “I was telling them about the thefts. So they can keep their eyes out,” he emphasized. Then he looked up and down the table. “Like I said, I’m not accusing anyone of anything, but if you’ve seen or heard anything, I need to know about it.”

  Ruby sat stiffly in the chair next to him, her face stony and unreadable.

  Silence continued to blanket the room, dense and overpowering. There was no chatting and laughing like there had been when he’d walked in earlier.

  “Come on, everyone,” Ruby said, smiling softly at the kids seated around the table. Definitely not at him.

  “Don’t let this ruin your week. We all feel badly for Bryce, but we’ll find out who’s responsible. You all just enjoy yourselves and don’t worry about this.”

  “Do we have to leave?” Brooklyn blurted, tears already streaming down her cheeks.

  The fear in her eyes submerged his heart in a pool of regret. “No.” He shook his head, wishing he could convince her that everything would be okay. This wasn’t the way he’d intended it to go.

  Ruby’s face reddened. “Of course you don’t have to leave, honey. No one has to leave. We know none of you had anything to do with this.”

  What? Sawyer shot her his own stony look. Didn’t she see that it had to be one of them? It had to be. What other explanation was there?

  Though Brooklyn nodded and picked up her fork, her lips sagged like her heart was broken.

  Damn it. He rifled a hand through his hair. He should’ve led with telling them they wouldn’t be in trouble if they fessed up.

  “Sawyer,” Ruby muttered through her locked jaw. “Can I have a word with you in the kitchen?”

  “Sure.” He stood and followed her, bracing himself for another argument. This time he wouldn’t touch her. He wouldn’t make her feel threatened at all.

  Once the kitchen door swung closed, Ruby spun. “I thought you would wait for me.”

  He leaned against the counter, forcing himself to give her space, even though he wanted to crush her body against his and make her see that he could love her. He could show her how it was supposed to be, how a man was supposed to love a woman. How he was supposed to protect her. How they were supposed to protect each other…

  “You should’ve waited.” Ruby’s body was stiff, unyielding. Her anger almost made him smile. It was that strength coming through. Whoever she’d been when she’d gotten herself stuck in that bad relationship, she had become a completely different person. One who stood up for others. One who stood up for herself. Everything in her posture right now told him she would fight back. She would fight anyone who threatened those kids.

  Damn he liked to see her fight. “I waited as long as I could, but you didn’t show up.”

  Color flared on her cheeks. “I had some things to finish.”

  “Well, I wanted to get it over with.” He checked every word before it came out to make sure it wouldn’t be too strong. “Before they go riding and I go to work.”

  “What makes you so sure it’s one of them?” she demanded, stalking over to him, hands pinned to her hips.

  Her stance was all fight, but he wouldn’t retaliate. Not this time. Ruby needed tenderness, not force. So he laid a hand on her arm, rubbing it up and down to remind her they were on the same side. “I’m open to other possibilities. But who else could it be?” The question was direct but also careful, because tenderness didn’t mean he had to agree with her on everything.

  “I wish I knew.” Defeat resounded in the words. Sighing, she leaned against the counter next to him, so close her shoulder brushed his. She didn’t want to fight him this time. And she didn’t want to run from him, either.

  Even with everything that had happened in the dining room, some of the weight slid off his shoulders because Ruby was standing next to him, touching him. She was letting him see her internal battle. Which meant…she wasn’t afraid of him. Even after last night.

  He shifted to face her.

  She stared at the floor.

  “Hey.” His fingers grazed the soft skin on the underside of her wrist.

  Some of the anger melted out of her eyes.

  “I didn’t mean to worry the kids. I’m only trying to help Bryce and Avery, Ruby.” He slid his fingers down her palm until they found hers. “They can’t keep taking hits like this. They do a lot for the community, but they won’t survive if they don’t have someone looking out for them.”

  “I know.” She peered up at him with a small smile. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll talk to them while you’re at work. Smooth things over. They’ll have a great day of riding and forget all about it.”

  “So you’re not mad at me?” He inched closer to her, hunger growing inside of him. “Even about last night? Because I’d never hurt you. I didn’t want you to walk away from me. That’s all.”

  A shadow of a smile crossed her face. God, those lips. Those beautiful lips. “I know,” she said again, her voice low.

  His eyes were lost in hers. That hunger grew. He suddenly felt empty, like she was the only thing that could fill him. “We’ll make sure the kids still have a great time. Trust me, now that this is out of the way, we can move on,” he murmured, this time tracing his finger down the delicate line of her jaw.

  “I trust you,” she whispered, leaning into him.

  And that did it. He couldn’t be apart from her anymore. He couldn’t behave…not with her chest against his, her lips so close…

  Sawyer covered her mouth with his and Ruby threaded her hands into his hair, pressing her body into his, her lips working him over with the same desperation that flowed through him.

  He moaned against her skin, powerless to keep his desire for her to himself. He’d had a taste of her, but it wasn’t enough. Every time he touched her, every time he kissed her, the intensity escalated, and now the need for more drove into him hard and fast, knocking him over the cliff of restraint. “I need to see you tonight,” he growled. “Away from everyone else.” Away from prying aunts and hyperactive kids, even though they were great and all.

  “Yes.” She panted against his
mouth, gripping his shirt in her fists and tugging him closer, as though she had been caught in the same current he was. It was swift and breathtaking, and he knew they were both going down.

  “My place or yours?” he managed to ask before her tongue slipped into his mouth and sent another hot rush of blood south.

  “Yours.” Ruby gasped, clawing at his back like she wanted to climb up his body and wrap her legs around him the way she had on the porch swing that night.

  Didn’t have to tell him twice. Lifting her into his arms, Sawyer kissed her as deep and hard as he’d wanted to for days, letting his lips and tongue and the way his hands held her ass say the things neither one of them had found the courage to say…

  “Damsels in distress take heart—holy shit.”

  Sawyer froze. Shooter? He blinked the world back into focus and sure enough, the Walker Mountain Ranch guide stood in the doorway.

  Ruby untangled herself from him, feet hitting the floor before she stumbled backward. Her face glowed as red as the stained-glass rose that hung in the kitchen window.

  “Did I interrupt something?” Shooter asked with a grin that said he knew exactly what he’d interrupted.

  “No,” Ruby muttered, smoothing her hair with one hand while she steadied the other against the counter.

  Sawyer begged to differ.

  His body really begged to differ. Even though she now stood a good ten feet away, certain parts of him were still smoldering.

  “The broken mixer is right over here,” she croaked, directing Shooter to the opposite side of the room.

  Watching her hips sway like that didn’t help to calm the blood flow. And now he had to go to work all day. Damn. He should’ve called in sick.

  Shooter lumbered behind her. “Now I get why you won’t go out with me. And to think, I actually thought you were just shy.”

  She was shy. In fact, right now she looked like she wanted to crawl into one of the cabinets and hide.

  “We were only talking,” Sawyer said in a way that challenged Shooter to argue.

  “Oh, that’s what the kids are calling it these days,” he mocked, fiddling with the mixer.

  A ding sounded from Aunt Elsie’s cuckoo clock. Great. He was late for work. “I’ve gotta go.” Shoving past Shooter, Sawyer caught Ruby’s hand in his and towed her out to the porch so they could have one more minute alone. Before tonight, that was.

  “I’ll make sure he doesn’t say anything to anyone.” God knew Sawyer had bailed that guy out of more misdemeanors than he cared to admit.

  Peering up at him with a smile, Ruby rested her palm against his chest as though confiding herself in him. “Thanks.” The passion still glowing on her face reeled him in for another kiss. This time he kept it slow, savoring her so he could get through the day.

  When he pulled back, Ruby’s eyes glistened.

  “Promise me we’ll finish this later,” he said, not caring if it sounded like he was begging. He had no problem admitting that she made him desperate.

  “Call me after you get off work,” she teased, but there was a promise in her smile.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Damn, he was gonna miss this place. Sawyer took his time walking up the sidewalk to the Aspen City Building. As far as buildings go, it was a cool place—a historic brick structure with long arched windows, pointed eaves, and a domed clock tower that always ticked a few minutes behind the actual time. The manicured lawns and gardens made it look like a grand old courthouse, and even with the defective air conditioner, it’d been a great place to work.

  Once upon a time he and Bryce used to pull pranks here. Once, after they’d been out drinking in high school, they’d gone and found a Porta-Potty a couple of blocks away. They’d carried the damn thing all the way here and set it right on the stone porch so it blocked the doors. To this day no one knew it was them. Though the police questioned a good number of the seniors, they’d never fessed up. It was one of a thousand memories he’d be walking away from.

  He paused on the step, stuck in that thought. Things in Denver would be different, there was no doubt about that. He’d most likely work in a more corporate environment. Wouldn’t be as laid-back as it was here, that was for damn sure. And he wouldn’t know a single soul. At the time that had been the most appealing thing about the new job, but what about Ruby? What about that kiss? That had felt more like a we’ll see where this thing is going kiss. It went deeper, carried weight. Especially after what Paige had told him about her past. He’d never kissed a woman without it meaning anything. And something told him, after what she’d been through, she wouldn’t have kissed him that way—frantic and passionate—if it didn’t mean anything to her.

  He wanted her. He wanted her like he never wanted anyone. But how could he fix things for her? How could he erase her past so she didn’t live in fear?

  Damn, his head was a mess. When Chief had asked him to pick up another shift, it’d been a no-brainer. He needed something to keep him busy, especially since the kids would be gone all day. All the thinking about Ruby and her sorry-excuse-for-a-man ex was making him crazy.

  He’d seen victims of domestic violence. Women who’d been battered. Those were always the toughest calls for him. Those were the only moments when police brutality felt like a good option. Having three women in his house growing up, respect had been engrained into who he was. Didn’t matter what she did, hitting a woman was out of the question.

  Once, when he was ten years old, he’d been so mad at his sister that he’d hit her in the face with his fist. Only happened once. She’d gone down like a deflating balloon, and Dad had taken him by the collar. Kneeling on one knee, he’d jerked Sawyer’s face right up to his.

  “Any man who hits a woman is weak, son. Do you understand me? You ever hit a woman again, I’ll hit you.”

  Calling Sam a woman was a stretch, he’d thought, but he didn’t dare say it out loud. Dad had never gotten in his face like that. He’d never grabbed him so rough. That’s how Sawyer knew he meant it.

  His gut roiled to imagine how bad it must’ve gotten for Ruby to run away. He couldn’t think about it anymore.

  Resting a hand on the wrought-iron banister, he trudged the rest of the way up the stone steps and pushed through the door, plowing down the hall toward the station with his head down. Maybe he should do some detective work…look the guy up. If she’d ever filed charges, there’d be records. Sawyer had a lot of resources. Maybe he wouldn’t be that hard to find.

  He moved faster, following his worn path to the station’s entrance, but before he push through the door, it flew open.

  “Surprise!”

  “Holy—” Sawyer staggered back right as about twenty of his friends and colleagues stampeded him.

  Steamers crisscrossed over his head. Colorful balloons dangled over the station’s reception area. A banner strung across the wall read GOOD LUCK, SAWYER!

  “Wow.” He took in the scene as people paraded past him, whacking him on the shoulder, holding up their frosted donuts in a toast.

  “We’re gonna miss you, man.” Clay Patterson, the school resource officer and police force clown, leaned in and gave him a bear hug, lifting Sawyer off his feet.

  Everyone standing around them laughed as Sawyer fought his way back to the ground.

  “Here.” Vicki Meeberg, the receptionist, shoved a chocolate donut into his hand. “You eat as many of these as Clay does, and he won’t be able to do that to you anymore.”

  The woman had a point. Sawyer accepted the chocolate-glazed offering and bit off a hearty chunk.

  “Thanks, Vicki,” he said, not caring that his mouth was full. Everyone knew she planned all the office celebrations. She’d been around forever and took it upon herself to make sure anyone who left got sent off properly.

  “Surprised?’ she asked hopefully.

  “Yeah. I had no idea.” He should have anticipated it when Chief called and asked him to come in early. But his mind had been occupied by Ruby. The woman seem
ed to pop into his brain all the time—when he was trying to sleep, when he was eating, when he was lying alone in that king-size bed in the cabin.

  Especially when he was alone in the king-size bed…

  “Oh, I almost forgot.” Vicki rummaged in her pocket and handed him a piece of paper. “Some old man has been calling for you. Says his dog was stolen. He said he’s talked to you before?”

  Sawyer studied the paper. Sure enough, the scrawled address said 4th Street. It had be to the same man who’d kicked his dog in front of Ruby. “Yeah. There was an incident a few days ago.” He didn’t expand. It hadn’t been official police business and yet somehow the man seemed to know who he was.

  “Well, I told him you’d check it out today.” Vicki rolled her eyes. “He called three times. I had to get him off my back.”

  “No problem.” He slipped the paper into his pocket. “I’ll head over there and check it out this afternoon.”

  It would actually work out perfectly. Instead of calling Ruby he could just swing by and pick her up. Maybe have her pack an overnight bag…

  He held back a groan. Thoughts like that were gonna make this day last forever. So instead of thinking about what sort of lacy items Ruby might pack in an overnight bag, he headed for the coffee bar.

  Mike Ferris, one of the new detectives, stood nearby sipping from a Starbucks cup. “So, Hawkins, steppin’ into the big time, huh?”

  “I guess.” Even though Denver was no New York or L.A., it definitely had a higher crime rate than Aspen. As long as he could remember, crime stats around here had been pretty low. Worst thing they dealt with were the drugs, assaults, an occasional accident on the highway, but mostly it was the black bears lumbering into town and helping themselves to the trash. There were minimal thefts, given the top-of-the-line security measures most people used to protect their mansions, and he’d never dealt with a murder during his time on the force.

  “I just came from Dallas,” Ferris said. “Worked on homicide. Happy to get outta the rat race, you know? Ready for something slower paced.”