Ricochet (Renegades #3)(36)
Author: Skye Jordan

“Come on, Rach. Let’s pull out dessert.” Rubi stood and gathered plates. “Sweets always make these men purr.”

Grateful for the break, Rachel picked up as many bowls and platters as she could carry and followed Rubi inside. She blew out a breath once she reached the kitchen counter and set everything down.

Rubi turned Rachel to face her with a deliberate grip, startling her. Rachel looked up and into the other woman’s vibrant green eyes, even brighter now with excitement. “What in the hell is up with you and Ryker?”

Rachel’s body flooded with alarm. She glanced over her shoulder, toward the door, but Rubi pressed one hand to her cheek and brought her gaze back. “They can’t hear us. Tell.”

10

Rachel wished she was as excited about the tension between her and Ryker as Rubi was. Instead, she swore a time bomb ticked in her chest. “What do you mean?”

Rubi’s lids went heavy. “I am oh so too experienced for that. I’m insulted you’d even try.”

Rachel pulled from Rubi’s grip and rubbed both hands down her face. “Shit,” she whispered. How much had she shown out there? How many others had noticed—besides whatever vibes Troy had picked up early on? “I’m in deep, deep shit here.”

“Tell me,” Rubi said again, nearly bouncing.

“God, it’s a long story…”

“Just give me the highlights. Details can wait till we have more time.”

Rachel gripped the counter with one hand and fisted the other. She took a deep breath, blew it out, then dove in before the words knotted in her throat. “Ryker didn’t stay with a friend last night when he and I didn’t meet up at the airport like he said.”

Rachel gave Rubi the short, R-rated version of last night’s events all the way through the apologies tonight. By the time she finished, her fingers were numb from gripping the bar too hard, and her stomach was cannibalizing itself. “I need Xanax. Don’t you keep that handy?”

When she lifted her gaze to Rubi’s expecting an answer to her very serious question, Rubi’s full lips were parted, her big green eyes wide in shock. “The woman who has been talking the big-empty talk for six months about hooking up with someone…actually…did? And when you finally took the plunge, it was with…?” Humor filled her gaze “Hell, girl. When you go, you go big. He’s absolutely delicious. No wonder Troy is tweaked.”

“Troy doesn’t know. At least Nathan said he didn’t tell Troy.”

“Nathan,” she said in that silky voice of hers. “That is so sexy. I can so see you with him. But Troy knows something. I can’t remember the last time I saw him so twisted, and all after he couldn’t stop singing Ryker’s praises for weeks.”

Panic tripped in Rachel’s gaze. “I don’t understand what’s going on with Troy. Maybe he just, I don’t know, saw something between us. How’d you know?”

“Ryker looks at you like a starving jaguar stalking prey. Can’t imagine everyone here tonight hasn’t seen his attraction to you. Josh is out of sorts too.” She clapped her hands and tucked them under her chin, her eyes alight. “Oh, this is so fun. Sexy little Rachel is finally getting the attention she deserves. Didn’t I tell you? Glasses and hair, glasses and hair.”

Rachel groaned and rubbed at the stress in her forehead. She couldn’t control how he looked at her or how the others reacted to whatever vibes were floating. But she had more hope with Rubi.

“You can’t tell anyone,” she said. “Troy’s already on edge without knowing anything for sure. Josh could ruin everything for this last stunt if he got pissed off. I’ve been saying no to him for months.”

Rubi sucked a breath through her teeth. “Yeah, that might sting his ego.”

“I don’t want to screw up my relationships with the guys. Don’t want to mess up this contract for Renegades.”

“I think you’re overreacting. I worried about the same thing when Wes and I hooked up, but everyone was cool with it.”

“You didn’t work for Renegades. Weren’t negotiating the completion of a two-million-dollar contract.”

“There is that…” Her lips slid sideways. “Okay, I won’t say anything.” She put her hand on Rachel’s forearm, gaze going bright again. “But you’ve got to give me details, Rach. Is he as amazing in the sheets as he looks like he’d be?”

“You’re terrible.”

“I am, and I’m being really good right now. Don’t press your luck.”

Rachel leaned back against the counter, crossing her arms over her chest as she thought back over the night and closed her eyes on the decadent memories. “God, it was…” There were no words. “He’s…so…intense.”

She opened her eyes, turned to press her arms to the bar, and followed the edge of a square on the counter with her finger. “I’ve never really…fucked, you know? Guys in the past have always been serious. I thought there had been a few drunken nights that seemed more sexually motivated than others, but…” She shook her head and lowered her voice, her face filling with heat. “Jesus, that man really fucks. He’s focused, absorbed, almost…”

“Obsessed?” Rubi supplied in the same hushed tone.

“Totally. It’s enthralling. All encompassing. Like nothing else exists.” She sighed, letting the delicious memory wash through her. “Un-fucking-forgettable.”

“Oh…” Rubi drew out the word in deep appreciation. “Yum.”

Rachel allowed the small smile to come. Let herself indulge in the memories for just a moment.

“Okay,” Rubi said, pulling Rachel’s eyes open. “I get the whole secrecy thing, at least where the other guys are concerned, but if you two have called a truce, forgiven the whole ‘misunderstanding’”—she put the word in air quotes—“why not keep letting him fuck the stuffing from you until he leaves? ’Cause I can guarantee that’s what his expression has been screaming since he set eyes on you tonight.”

“Josh and Troy are already suspicious. You already figured it out. I could never keep my feelings from showing. Besides, it’s not what I want.” When Rubi smirked at her, Rachel reiterated, “It’s not. I slept with him because he was attractive, interested, and a total stranger. Someone I would never see again. I don’t want a relationship. And I sure as hell don’t want this shit.”