A sharp intake of breath had my wandering mind going still and my gaze searched Ruby’s sporadic eye movements as they took in person after person watching us.
“Oh my God, you guys are busy.” She started taking steps back to retreat. “I’m so sorry. I forgot it was Valentine’s Day.”
Her not having anything going on for a holiday specially designed for couples was another indication that there wasn’t someone special in her life, but I still didn’t want to assume. If there was and they left this spectacular woman to spend the evening alone then they weren’t worth a grain of salt.
I didn’t want to scare her, but I slowly moved in the same direction as she was, keeping step with her so she couldn’t run. Her hand grabbed for the door, and she twisted her body slightly to open it, but she still looked at the group.
“Sweetheart.”Shit.I don’t know where the term of endearment came from but it just rolled off my tongue. Her eyes went wide, but I just kept talking. “You’re not interrupting. We were going to head out for dinner, but you came for a reason and the guys take that seriously.”
I didn’t have to say any more before Braxton walked up beside me and addressed Ruby. “You came to the right place it sounds like and we would like to help you. Please come in and we'll talk about it, okay?”
She shook her head. “No, I can’t mess up everyone’s night. I just can’t.”
It was easy to see she wasn’t going to relent and felt bad, but I didn’t want her to leave until someone knew what was going on.
“How about this,” I started. “They go out as planned while you and I go have a cup of coffee somewhere and talk?” She was still shaking her head and although I knew the words that were about to come from my mouth were a low blow, I needed to find out what was going on. “You came to protect your family. Let’s talk about it.”
Her eyes narrowed and her head stopped moving. She realized I used the words about her family so she couldn’t refuse and her eyes caught fire as she glared at me. The fight in her would serve her well if something was going on and it would be my undoing because it was a damn turn on.
“Fine.”
It was all she said so I took the reins and finished making plans. Turning and looking at the group of friends I had become so close to, I could see in every set of eyes that they understood. I then looked at Braxton.
“How about I do just as I said and then we meet here tomorrow or at a time that works for Ruby and go over what she needs from us together?”
I worked for the guys andNo Surrenderbut it was their business so it wasn’t my call; I was trying to help everyone.
“I’ll leave it up to Ruby,” he said to me.
Braxton turned to look at the woman herself. “If you’d rather have more of us stay, that’s what we’ll do,” he told her. “Or if you want to take Lyric up on his plan we can set up a time to reconvene and go through everything together at the next best time for you.”
Brinley walked up to Ruby and rubbed her arm. “You can trust all of these guys and if you need me to stay I will,” she told her new friend. I held my breath waiting to hear the answer.
A part of me was a tad worried that Ruby would be nervous when she found out I was a cop. When she’d seen me it was always with this group and this is where she had come to seek help, not the police station. But I wanted her to confide in me and take me up on the proposal to sit and talk.
The need for her to do that was strong and I didn’t have a clue why.
“Thank you, but you need to go out and celebrate with your guy. I appreciate the offer,” she said to Brinley and then glanced at Braxton. “Yours too.” She looked at me. “I'll take you up on coffee and then I have tomorrow off so I can meet here again whenever it works for everyone who needs to be here.”
Her voice trembled and I could tell that coming the first time was hard for her and now she had to not only talk with me but then come back. But it was the right thing and I knew she would be taken care of on all accounts.
Looked like Gemma and Capri were winging it together instead of the three of us since we were all single. I knew they’d be totally fine with it, especially after seeing Ruby.
I glanced over at Braxton. “I’ll text you later after we have a chance to talk a little bit and give you a time for tomorrow if that works for you?”
“Sounds like a plan.” He peered at Ruby one last time. “You good?”
Braxton was a stand-up guy and his business wasn’t just about training and working out, or even security cameras. He cared about people and so did the other guys. They were just like me when it came to protecting those that needed it. It was in his nature to check in with her one last time.
“I’m okay,” she whispered.
Brinley leaned in and hugged her, whispering something into Ruby’s ear. It must not have been about the news she had just revealed to all of us or Ruby might have run right out the door thinking she had barged in on something a lot more than just Valentine’s Day.
Not one of us there would’ve ever thought that her coming to ask for help was less important than what we had planned, but she didn’t understand that yet. I’d known then that she was about to find out quickly but didn’t know how she’d react. Something was telling me that Ruby was a woman who was used to taking care of herself and hated asking for help.
Turning and addressing everyone, I said goodbye and told them to have a great time. “Are you ready?” I then asked Ruby.
“Yes.” She scanned the group again. “Again, I’m so sorry to mess up your plans.”
