Rebel (Renegades 2)

“Tell me,” she said, her voice low and husky and purely sexual, “you’re wearing nothing else but those sexy, tight jeans, Just Ryker. ”

Rubi barely held the laughter back. God, she loved this chick.

Ryker’s laugh matched Rachel’s voice. “Now we’re talking. ”

Movement out the window caught Rubi’s eye. She made small circles with her hand, a wrap-it-up motion, and pointed to the window to signal the guys were coming.

“This has been fun,” Rachel said, her voice suddenly professional and curt again, “but I’ll have to call you back with details. ”

And she disconnected the call. “Oh, my God. If he’s only half as hot as his voice, he’s a fifteen on a scale of one to ten. ”

“Might need to refocus,” Rubi said, her humor gone. “They’re all coming in. And none of them looks any happier than Wes. ”

She groaned and glanced at her watch. “It’s too early for lunch, isn’t it?” She propped her elbows on the desk and ran her hands through her hair, holding it back. “I need an office. Really, I do. Just a small one. . . ”

The guys filed in, all looking like someone stole their favorite Penthouse edition. She crossed her arms and leaned against the extra desk.

Jax entered first, but Wes’s voice was the one Rubi heard. “That’s only going to mess up the schedule more. Whether you go through the city to find a bridge they’ll allow you to destroy or you build a replica, that will take weeks. Maybe months. ” He came through the door, still with his head down. “Have I mentioned how much I hate Bolton lately?”

Keaton entered behind him. “You haven’t stopped talking about how much you hate Bolton. ”

“And I, for one, am sick of it,” Troy said, coming in last but spotting Rubi first. “Tell your boyfriend to shut his trap, will you?”

Wes’s head swung toward Troy, a what-the-fuck look on his face. Then he followed Troy’s gaze, and his eyes paused on Rubi. His entire face lit up, and a smile spread his mouth. That one look pulled the lining from Rubi’s stomach and turned it inside out. Then quick flashes of thought lit off behind his eyes, each taking his grin down a notch with guilt or unease or disappointment.

“Hey,” he said and glanced at his wrist but found no watch. “What time is it?”

“You’ve got a few minutes,” she said.

Rubi’s own happiness ticked down in tandem with Wes’s. She hadn’t slept at all. She’d spent the night rolling around everything he’d said and done the night before. Then tossing around her own issues, searching for ways to overcome them. Had tried to rationalize going to Missouri with him until she’d been pacing the living room. But doing the whole family meet-and-greet after just experiencing so much turmoil with her own “family” was as black an idea as being without him.

Still… She wanted him. She cared about him. And, yes, Lexi had been right when she’d suspected Rubi had already been half in love with him when this had all started.

Which was just…way too much for her to handle.

“Let me worry about finding the bridge,” Jax said.

“I have a lead on one. ” Rachel leaned back in her chair. “And I have a call in to the City. But we still have the explosives-expert problem. I’ve called all seven firms specializing in controlled explosive work between here and San Diego, and they’re all booked on jobs through February. And,” she added with a wince, “none of them are cheap. ” She darted a look at Rubi, then to Troy. “I was just going to try your friend, Ryker. ”

“Why are you looking for an explosives expert?” Rubi asked.

“I’m going to change. ” Wes passed her, sliding a hand down her back. He kissed her temple with a whispered, “I was lonely last night. ” Then disappeared into the bathroom.

Rubi was still tingling, still enjoying Wes’s musky, spicy scent when Jax said, “Bolton’s going to be out a month. Maybe six weeks. He’s got drug problems on top of alcohol problems. We’ve got a look-alike lined up for a lot of the filming, but no one can deliver his lines. ”

“Oh shit,” Rubi said, her mind playing with the financial bottom line.

“If we blow up an old bridge-for real-instead of using CGI,” he said, referring to the computer graphic interface used to render many Hollywood special effects, “we could recoup the loss. ”

“Seriously?”

“Seriously,” Jax said. “CGI is freaking expensive. You damn computer geeks rape us. ”

“Get what you pay for,” Rubi teased.

“Then that crash app should be worth shit, since it was free,” Jax said, “and it’s amazing. We tried it out this morning. Really good stuff. ”

A thrill of accomplishment sizzled through her chest. “That’s awesome. ”