Rebel (Renegades #2)(63)
Author: Skye Jordan

Rachel’s interest dimmed and she rolled her eyes. “Adding another guy to this team? Just what we need, more testosterone. And this time, explosive testosterone.” As laughter passed through the space, she lifted a pleading look toward Jax. “Just a really small room…with a door?”

“Come on, Rach.” Troy sauntered over to her desk, sat on the edge, and leaned toward her, those sexy dark eyes teasingly flirtatious. “You know you love every last one of us.”

“Maybe,” she said, “but none of you ever let me get anything done.”

“Troy,” Wes said. “Lay off. She’s doing all the shit I used to have to do. If you scare her off while I’m gone, you’ll be doing risk assessment, supply inventory, and ordering.”

Troy winced and eased away from Rachel. “Oooo, ouch.”

Wes hefted a duffle over his shoulder and knocked fists with Jax, Troy, and Keaton, then lifted a hand to Rachel. “Call me if they misbehave.” To the men, he offered, “No major injuries.”

He slid his hand across Rubi’s shoulders and pulled her close, leading her out the door.

“Rubi,” Troy called, “if you get lonely while he’s gone-”

“Not if you like those perfect teeth, dude,” Wes cut him off.

“I need a few crowns anyway,” Keaton said. “You’ve got my number, Rubi.”

“Can’t play with sex-toy shit when you’re dead,” Wes said without looking back.

Rubi smiled down at the asphalt as they walked. Tried to absorb the feel of him next to her, as if they belonged together. Tried to settle her nerves when she wondered if they did belong together.

“How do you feel?” she asked, glancing at the bandages around the hand carrying his duffle.

“Sore.” The top was down on her Aston, and Wes tossed his duffle in the back as Rubi rounded the hood. He leaned both hands on the doorframe. “Baby?”

She paused before getting into the car and met his gaze.

“I was so out of line last night…” He lowered his head and shook it, as if he couldn’t bear to hold her gaze anymore. “I just… Your father… And I so don’t want to go home without you…” He glanced up with a look so sheepishly hopeful, it almost knocked her over. “We could leave the Aston here for Jax to take home. Drive my truck to the airport and put it in long-term parking. I’ll buy your ticket-”

“Wes…” If he only knew how close she was to tipping, he’d never give up.

“Never mind.” He shook his head and slid into the passenger’s seat. “Stupid idea.”

It was a stupid idea. Rubi continued to remind herself of that as she dropped behind the wheel and steered onto the 405.

“Last week,” he started, his hair ruffling in the wind, mirrored sunglasses hiding his beautiful eyes, “I was dying to get a break from these long days. Give my body some time to heal and refuel. Now, I’d rather spend sixteen hours in hand-to-hand, let a semi run over me, and have Troy push me off a Huey than be without you for two weeks.”

Rubi drew a breath, her throat suddenly tight. He rolled his head toward her. And grinned that Hollywood grin. “Did you go soft? Even for a second?”

“You ass.”

He laughed, but the sound was far from his usual buoyancy. He propped his elbow on the armrest and rubbed his fingers over his forehead.

“I know you’re going to hate this…but…” He hesitated as if trying to decide how or what to say. “I…need to know where we stand, Rubi.” With his forehead propped on two fingers, he tilted his gaze toward her. She couldn’t see his eyes through the mirrored lenses, but his mouth was tight, and she could easily imagine his serious dark gaze. “I don’t want to walk around for two weeks-or more-not knowing. It will eat at me.”

Rubi licked her lips. Anxiety bubbled up in her belly and imaginary walls pressed in on her. “I…don’t know how to answer that. Do we really need a label? After only a week?”

He waited, as if hoping more would come. When it didn’t, he turned his gaze back to his lap. “Fuck,” he murmured, barely audible in the wind from the open top. “I don’t know if I can do this.”

Panic streaked beneath her breastbone. Her mind filled with the jumbled thoughts from the night before-all her desires, all her fears. She took the off-ramp to LAX as if on autopilot and continued toward the departing flights.

“What does that mean?” she asked hesitantly. She was pretty sure she didn’t want to know.

He looked out the windshield with a shake of his head. “I just… You were right last night when you said I don’t look ahead. I didn’t think it through when I started this with you. I just…wanted you. Had been wanting you for months. In a way, I’d been wanting you even longer and didn’t realize it until I found you.” He shrugged. “I just thought…you know, it would all work out.”

Had wanted her longer? She swung to the curb in front of the United terminal and put the car in park, confused.

“Can you at least tell me where we stand before I get on a plane?” he asked.

Her stomach knotted. “Really, Wes, do we have to do this now?”

“We’ve been on a f**king roller coaster for the last week.” Frustration played in his voice. “It would be nice to know whether or not I’m going to come home to the up, the down, or the end of the ride.”

“Why don’t you just ask me what you really want to know?” Her stomach burned, even while knowing he had every right to ask. To know. To suspect. “Will I f**k someone else when you’re not around, right?”

His jaw tightened. Nostrils flared. “You know right now whether you will or won’t. It’s already in your heart, Rubi. Is it really unreasonable for me to ask which it is?”

“No,” she said softly. “It’s not.”

And she did know in her heart. But the fact that he needed to ask made the question too complicated to answer-especially in the airport drop-off line.

A traffic guard strolled by. “Keep it moving, people.”

Wes nodded affirmation toward the man, but when he turned back to her, a desperate, disillusioned look lay heavy in his eyes. He leaned over and pressed a soft kiss to her lips, lingering as if delaying the inevitable. She met the kiss, wrapping her hand around his head. And found herself hoping, praying, this wouldn’t be their last.