Secret Obsession (romantic suspense) (Red Stone Security Series Book 12) (14 page)

She glanced up and down the sidewalk, annoyed that this jackass had kissed her without her permission, and embarrassed that Travis had seen it all. People were walking by in twos and threes, some talking on their cell phones and some carrying way too many shopping bags. No one was paying any attention to them at all, but he was right. “We’ll get in the SUV. I’m sorry—”

“Don’t be sorry, Raegan,” Travis murmured, holding the door open. “I’ll give you a couple minutes alone but I’m right here if you need me.” He patted his jacket pocket too and she realized he was making sure he still had the vehicle keys. Probably so Rhys couldn’t run off with her. Not that she was actually worried about
that
, but she’d come to realize that the security personnel of Red Stone didn’t think like civilians. To them, anyone was a threat.

She slid into the back seat of the SUV, moving over so Rhys could follow suit.

“I’m very sorry, Raegan. I thought…well, it doesn’t matter what I thought.”

Part of her wanted to let it go. The ‘polite’ girl she’d been taught to be would have let this go a couple years ago. But after moving to Miami, after being freaking kidnapped, she’d learned a lot about herself in the last year. “You’re right. It doesn’t matter what you thought. I told you we could be friends and I thought you were okay with that. I’ve never given you any indication I wanted more. If you thought you read my signals wrong, I don’t know what signals you’re talking about.
You
contacted Red Stone today, wanting to work with us on an event. And I know that you requested you work with me. Athena told me. I haven’t been pursuing you or sending any fucking signals.” She snapped out the last part, taking both of them off guard.

She rarely cursed and especially not in work mode. But after Friday and Saturday night she was feeling more than out of sorts and she was shaking with anger the longer she thought about the way he’d just kissed her without her permission. It was making her second-guess herself. Maybe she’d been ‘too’ friendly with him before, but…she didn’t think so. And it didn’t matter if she had been friendly. That was part of her damn job and, you know, just being a decent person. She shouldn’t have to worry about some guy kissing her because he thought she’d given some imaginary signal.

“You’re right. I’m incredibly sorry.” His accent was thicker now, the distress punching off him seemingly sincere. “I’ve…never had to chase after a woman. Ever. We’ve been spending time together and I obviously read things wrong. I’m embarrassed by the way I’ve acted. There’s no excuse for what I did.”

She softened a little, but not much. Nodding stiffly, she said, “Apology accepted, but I won’t be working with you on this project. You can work with Athena or someone else.” They’d hired two more full-time staff in the last five months in the event coordination department, so he could take his pick.

He looked as if he wanted to protest, but nodded. “Of course.”

Awkwardness settled in the interior until Travis opened the driver’s seat door. He slid behind the wheel, and looked at Raegan, not Rhys, something she really appreciated. “We staying or going, Raegan?”

“Let’s head back to the office.” She was pretty much at her limit for yearly bullshit and it was only the summer. Right now she wanted to put as much distance between her and Mr. Jackass sitting next to her.

She needed to tell Athena, of course. And unfortunately she’d have to tell Porter, otherwise he’d find out and just get annoyed with her for keeping him in the dark. And he was her first choice to tell because he had the most level head of all her cousins and uncle. She simply didn’t want to deal with anything else right now. It was like karma had decided to crap on her this week.

At least she’d get to see Ford soon. At that thought, she looked out the window and smiled to herself. Despite the insanity of the last few days, Ford was the silver lining in everything.

* * *

Once she was safe and alone in her condo, Raegan slipped off her high heels and stripped off her clothes as she made her way to her bedroom. She had enough time for a hot shower before Ford got here and she needed it. Though the idea of inviting him in to join her was more than appealing, she needed some downtime to herself.

When she heard her phone ding in her purse, she practically scrambled for it, hopeful that it was Ford telling her he was on his way. She saw his name on the screen before she swiped her code in.

Got caught up, won’t be able to make it tonight. Sorry.

She blinked at the shortness of his text. It was abrupt and unlike him, but it was hard to read tone in a text. Still, she frowned.
You can still come over
, she typed back.
I don’t care how late
.

There was a pause, then,
Don’t think I’ll be able to
.

She fought the disappointment that swelled inside her, but it was a fruitless effort. Her fingers swiped across the screen.
How about you cook for me tomorrow, then? I want to see if you’re as good as you say.

A longer pause this time before,
Not sure what my schedule looks like. I’ll let you know
.

Oooookay. She sat on the edge of her bed, not sure what to make of this conversation at all. Heck, she wasn’t even sure how to respond so she went with something generic.
Hope you have a good rest of the night, talk to you later
.

His response was just as generic and depressing.
Sure.

Tossing her phone onto the bed, she headed for her shower. “Screw you, Monday,” she muttered to herself.

* * *

“Would you mind grabbing takeout for us at the restaurant?” Jules asked Ruby as she stepped out from the back storeroom. “I’ve already called up there but I want to unload a couple of the new shipments.”

Ruby glanced up from the cash register where she was running reports. They would be closing in about fifteen minutes and her aching feet were grateful. “Sure, no problem. Want me to lock the door on the way out?”

“Yeah, since I’ll be in the storeroom.”

“Sweet. I’ll grab the food and be back in a bit.” They had a ton of new shipments in and she knew Jules wanted to unload at least half of them tonight so they could start stocking tomorrow. As soon as she was back with the food, she was taking off her heels and slipping into her comfy slippers.

The walk to Julieta’s parents’ restaurant was short, only a block away. The street was quiet tonight, with most of the shoppers long gone or already settled in at one of the restaurants in the area. In an older, established residential Miami neighborhood, their street was the only one with shops and places to eat. They saw some tourists, but it was mainly local foot traffic.

Ruby’s heart skipped a beat when she saw the sign for Montez’s Grill. It was named after Montez Sr., not the Montez she was trying to put out of her mind. She hadn’t seen him since Saturday morning, but that didn’t matter.

He’d been on her mind ever since their confrontation at the shop. She felt a little bad about calling him an asshole, but she certainly wasn’t going to reach out to him. Things were already awkward. They’d both said what they needed to say and she planned to do the mature thing—and just avoid him for the next couple months.

When she pushed the door open she was inundated with laughter, murmured voices, the sound of clinking plates and glasses and subtle Cuban music.

Jaidyn, one of Julieta’s cousins, smiled at her as she stepped out from behind the hostess stand. She had on the standard black pants and black T-shirt uniform of the restaurant. “Hey, Ruby.”

“Hey, Jules said she called in an order.”

“Ah…kitchen’s backed up but I’ve got an empty booth you can wait at.”

“Oh, that’s okay, I’ll just wait up here.” She didn’t want to take up any seating. Not when it was clear they were busy and could probably use all the space they could get tonight.

A big hand settled on the small of her back, making her jump until she realized it was Montez moving in next to her. He gave her a heated look that made her insides melt just a teeny bit. “I actually asked Julieta to send you down here. There’s no takeout waiting and she’s going to be headed home soon. Said she’d bring your purse down here once she closed up. Have dinner with me? I’d like to talk to you.”

Ruby blinked as she digested his words. “You set this up so we could talk?”

“I figured you’d probably ignore my calls and I wanted to make sure you came.”

There was something about the way he said the word ‘came’ that brought up an altogether
different
mental image. Just like that, her cheeks heated.

He didn’t miss the reaction either, if the low, muted groan he gave was any indication. “Say you’ll stay,” he murmured, his gaze dipping to her mouth.

Unable to find her voice, she simply nodded.

She was barely aware of their surroundings as he guided her to a corner booth with a decent amount of privacy. When she saw a bottle of red wine and two glasses already waiting she nearly stumbled. This was definitely unexpected and incredibly sweet, but she didn’t want to get her hopes up too much. She was pretty sure Montez would break her heart if this ended up being some sort of let-Ruby-down-easy type of thing where he told her again he just wanted sex and only sex. But…despite being a cynic, she was pretty sure that wasn’t what this was. Even if she was too afraid to hope it was what she’d been wishing for, for a year.

After she sat, he slid in across from her, his dark gaze full of way too many emotions for her to figure out. Lust was a definite one, but…he looked almost nervous too. “I know I apologized Saturday but I’m doing it again.”

“You don’t have to.” Nervously, she traced her finger up and down the stem of the delicate glass.

“I do. I never should have said those things to you. I’m not making excuses, but I want to explain…why I did.”

She nodded once, wanting him to continue. “Okay.”

“Adjusting to the civilian world was harder than I expected. Way harder. Probably because of this,” he said, motioning to the side of his face. She noticed he sat with the scarred side facing the wall. “But even dealing with people I know love and care about me and don’t give a crap about my face is still sometimes an adjustment. Cooking and my restaurant and even my crazy family have kept me sane. Then…I met you.”

There was a note in his voice she couldn’t read. “And that’s bad?”

He gave her a wry smile. “Hell no. I wanted you, still want you. But I thought there was never a chance between us. When I got back from Afghanistan…” He scrubbed a hand over his face, looked away for a long moment.

She wanted to reach out and touch him, to comfort him. “You don’t have to go on.”

“No, it’s not…” He pushed out a sigh. “My ex made it clear that I was good enough to fuck but not good enough to be on her arm in public. Ever. She ended things the first night I got home. So when you said all those things to me I wanted to give you an out—and to protect myself from getting burned by you.”

His words were raw, real, and broke her heart. And she wanted to punch his ex-girlfriend in the face for ever making him feel inferior. “Montez—”

He cut her off with a sharp shake of his head. “I just need to know if this is some weird…savior complex you have. Like, fuck the scarred guy out of pity. Even saying it out loud I know it sounds fucking stupid,” he muttered. “Trust me, I absolutely know it. I just… I don’t know why you want me. You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met. I’ve literally seen men trip over themselves trying to get a better look at you.”

She watched him for a long moment, digested everything he’d said and chose her words carefully. “You’re one of the nicest, most sincere men I’ve ever met. Ever. I see the way you treat your mom and sister and yes, even your brothers. God, they’re enough to drive anyone crazy. Your brothers, I mean. You’re like this solid pillar, the one everyone goes to for advice. And I know how much volunteer work you do down at the VA. Jesus, Montez, how could I not want you?”

For the first time since she’d met him, his cheeks turned crimson. He cleared his throat, embarrassed, but she didn’t care. He was such a good man and he needed to know it.

“Since I was fourteen, I looked like this.” She motioned down at herself. Yeah, she knew what she looked like. She had a freaking mirror and it would be stupid to deny it. “I had to learn early how to figure out who the assholes of the world are. And despite what I said Saturday, you’re not just another asshole. You just hurt me. You’re the sweetest man I know—and I wasn’t kidding about trying on those naughty nurse costumes.” She whispered the last part.

Pleasure hummed through her when his cheeks flushed again, but this time for a very different reason.

Before he could respond, his mother, a slightly older version of Julieta, appeared out of nowhere wearing a wraparound leopard print dress and subtle gold jewelry. She smiled at the two of them. “My favorite oldest son,” she murmured. She briefly cupped Ruby’s cheeks lightly. “And
mi futura nuera
.” Her gold bangles jangled as her hands dropped. “Don’t worry about a thing. Your appetizer and salads will be out soon.”

“Thanks, Mama,” Montez murmured as Ruby did the same.

Seleste Mederos simply patted his cheek and winked at Ruby before moving on to another table.

Ruby had seen the woman at work before and she always came out and greeted customers at least once a night. The restaurant was a staple in the neighborhood and it was clear that she and her husband thought of their regulars like family.