“Why?”
“I’ve already told you. I’m behind on my NSA deadline. And I have Rodie. And now I have to find another goddamned place to live. ”
“Rodie can come with us. My family loves animals. And you’re not going to get any peace with buyers coming in and out of your house at all hours. It would be good for you to get away from here. ”
“Listen to yourself,” she said. “You’re suggesting I stuff Rodie in the cargo hold? Not going to happen. And I need to work, Wes. I can’t write programming code without quiet. ”
He fell into step with her as she started walking again. “Exactly. Your house is on the market. You won’t have any peace. At least with me you could have a cozy room in some bed-and-breakfast. Then you’ll be there when I need updates to the rig. ”
“I’ll make them from here. On my server. All you have to do is make sure the rig is within range of any Wi-Fi, and it will sync up and update. ”
Wes’s mouth dropped open. “When did that happen?”
“I programmed it that way. ”
Her intelligence boggled him. “You should be the one looking to sell this thing. All I created was the frame. You’re giving it all the brains. Don’t you want to see how your programming makes a difference firsthand? Don’t you want control over the fine points of how we use it?”
They were at the steps to her house now. Rodie ran back to Wes and sat at his feet, the Frisbee in his mouth.
Rubi turned to Wes, the night lit by moonlight and the distant glow from her porch. “No, Wes. Thank you for asking, but no. And let me make this very clear—that rig is 100 percent yours. I don’t own any part of it. I don’t want to own any part of it. What you do with it is your choice. I did you a favor, just like I’ve done favors for Lexi and Jax and a couple of dozen other people. It’s good karma. Are we clear?”
“Sure, whatever. ”
She squeezed his forearm. “Good night. ”
“Baby…” He took her arm and stepped close again, discomfort ratcheting up in his chest. “I don’t want to leave like this. I don’t want to be a four-hour flight away with us at odds. ”
She searched his eyes, all those beautiful features softer in the moonlight. Her eyes narrowed. “Why? Worried I might end up at Stilettos?”
There was a challenging edge in her voice. One he recognized as the old Rubi. One he realized she hadn’t used with him for over a week.
Until that moment, no, he hadn’t considered Stilettos. Now it terrified him. “Rubi—”
She jogged toward her slider. Rodie glanced between them, his ears pulled back in distress.
“Go on,” Wes said to the dog.
Rodie followed Rubi and stepped inside.
“I’ll pick you up for your flight at the set,” Rubi said. “Ten o’clock. ” And she shut the door.
Eighteen
Rubi pulled into the designated parking area just as she had early that week—only so much had changed between then and now. Rubi had hoped for things she’d never believed she would. Her relationship with Wes had undergone a transformation she’d never believed possible. She’d finally cut the dysfunctional cord with her father. And her dream of buying the house she loved had been shot into the fiery pits of hell.
She shut down the car and picked up the note she’d found on her car that morning in Wes’s neat, all-cap, architect-type scrawl.
I MISS YOU ALREADY.
To say she was a little off-balance would be an understatement. Her inner landscape had turned into the aftermath of a hurricane.
She tucked the note into the ashtray with all the others and stood from the car, watching Wes half a mile away. He wore the neoprene, shucked off his shoulders and hanging at his hips again. A big part of her was deeply disappointed she’d refused to sleep with him last night. He might have believed they’d really sleep, but if she’d been in proximity to that body, sleeping would have been the last thing on her mind. And they were already treading tumultuous waters without adding more sex into the picture.
He was pacing between two muscle cars and one Ducati, arms crossed over his broad, tanned chest. His head was down as Jax talked to Wes, Keaton, and Troy.
Rubi climbed the stairs of the trailer, entered, and found Rachel at her desk. She had that gorgeous hair of hers up in a tight bun again, her tortoiseshell glasses perched on her tiny nose. “Hey, Rubi. ”
“I see you didn’t take my advice about the hair. ”