“What are you doing here?” he asked. She noticed that he had some kind of paperwork in his hands.
She held up her fist wrapped in the white rag with a little blood starting to seep through. “I cut my hand. I was just looking for a first aid kit.”
Owen strode forward, tossing the papers onto the desk carelessly as he came around to her. “What? How did you cut yourself?”
She relayed the incident as he yanked open a drawer in the cabinet, grabbing the first aid kit. By the time she was finished with the brief story, he was grinding his teeth together and shaking his head.
“Someone should have told me,” he said, radiating anger.
Ruby probably should have felt intimidated by that, but she was confused. “It just happened. Besides, why would you want to be involved in that? The bouncer took care of things.”
“He should’ve broken the guy’s hand for touching you.”
Ruby’s eyebrows popped up in surprise. “You can’t mean that.”
Owen didn’t confirm or deny that. He just took her wrist gently and tugged her out of the room with the first aid kit in his other hand.
“Come on, I’m going to take care of you.”
7
OWEN
Seeing Ruby hurt enraged him more than he’d ever felt before. It was hard to wrap his mind around his own shocking emotional reaction, but he simultaneously wanted to take care of her and use the security cameras to figure out who the guy was and track him down to avenge her. He’d do the first thing now.
The second one would come later. This man touched Owen’s woman, and that couldn’t go unpunished.
No, she’s not mine.
But that didn’t change the possessiveness gripping him. Opening the door to his office, he gestured to the couch against the wall. “Take a seat.”
He shrugged out of his suit jacket and tossed it onto the back of a chair. Rolling up his sleeves, he sat beside her and opened up the first aid kit. They didn’t talk as he took her hand in his, being as gentle as possible as he unwrapped the bar rag and tossed it aside.
“Open your hand,” he said.
Ruby winced as she did it, revealing a shallow slice along her palm. The bleeding had slowed down, and he carefully cleaned the blood away. His entire focus was on the wound, but he could feel her staring at his face while he worked.
It was strange that he felt so upset at seeing such a small cut. He’d dealt with much worse injuries, both his own and those of his men. But seeing Ruby hurt was so different. He never wanted that.
They were quiet while he worked, applying antibiotic ointment and wrapping a bandage around her hand. Once he was finished, he finally looked up, meeting her eyes. They were so close, and he immediately got lost in the depths of her gray orbs.
Sparks seemed to fly between them, and his mind went blank. He suddenly couldn’t remember why he was resisting this, how he’d talked himself out of claiming her as his. Right now, all he knew was that he was being pulled toward her, as if there was something in the center of his chest tugging at him. He couldn’t resist.
Slipping his hands to her hips and pulling her toward him, he leaned in and pressed a kiss to her lips. Fire raced through his veins and his erection pulsed with need. Ruby melted into him, parting her lips to allow his tongue to slip inside.
She was perfect. Sweet and responsive. Hot desire blasted through him, and he wanted more. He wanted to pull her into his lap and run his hand over every inch of her that he could reach.
But she broke the kiss before any of that could happen, pulling away with wide eyes.
They were both breathing hard, and his hands were still on her hips, his thumbs caressing her sides through her thin shirt. Seeming to realize this, Ruby stood, making his hands fall away.
“I-I better go,” she said, not looking directly at him. “Thanks for…um, thanks for bandaging me up.”
She scurried out of the room before he could respond, and he sat there, watching her go. The taste of her seemed to linger on his lips, and he knew he was in trouble now. Because he was right. One kiss was never going to be enough with this woman. He needed more.
* * *
It took Owen months of consideration before he finally pulled the trigger and put his mother in a retirement home. It was really an assisted living facility, with nurses and aids that could help her with anything she needed and made sure that she got her medications every day.
