Saved by the Bad Boy

Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Ruby

“You know, this is the first time I’ve been to your new house, Chance.” It was no house. It was a spectacular beachside mansion. “And let me say, it is astounding.”

“Well, I call it home.” He leaned against the doorframe of the bedroom suite he’d told me I could use during our engagement ruse. “If we’re going to do this, then we’re going to do it right. I have a porter bringing over the new Range Rover I bought for you. It’s pearl white, and glistens just as brightly as a pearl, too. All leather interior, also pearl white, with polished oak accents. There’s a sunroof, of course, because this is a beach town and wasting fresh air is like a sin around here.”

“I have my little Ford Escape, Chance.” I began unpacking my things to put them away.

“My fiancé does not drive a ten-year-old car.” He reached into the pocket of his shorts, drawing out a credit card. “Here, take this.” He walked over to the bed where I was unpacking my things and handed the card to me. “This is an unlimited credit card. Use it for everything. I’ve made an appointment for you at Harry’s Beauty Salon too. I told them to give you the works.” He ran his hand through my hair. “Some golden highlights for your dark hair will make you look even prettier than you already are.”

“You don’t have to do all this. Just pretending to be my fiancé is more than enough, Chance. Really. Don’t go spending tons of money on me.”

“Too late.” He slipped the credit card into the pocket on the outside of my purse, which lay on the bed. “Just so you know, I think a coral color would look great on your fingernails and toenails. You know, in case you want to make your fiancé happy.”

“Chance.” I wasn’t liking him going overboard the way he was. “I don’t see a need for all this.”

“Well, I do.” He chuckled, sitting down on the bed. “Everyone has to think this is true, Ruby. The people you work with. Our friends and family too.”

“I’m not about to lie to my family.” That was taking it too far.

“I thought you said this guy was into bad things.”

“He is.”

“If he’s into bad things, then chances are he’s got eyes and ears everywhere. I just think it would be best to make everyone — and I do mean everyone — think that we’re going to get married. And that we’re hopelessly in love with each other, too. That part is key. I’m going to take you out, show you off, make sure everyone knows that we’re a thing. A great thing.”

“I’m keeping my job. I thought I should make sure you know that. Like I said before, Logan didn’t think anything of me missing work. And my boss came close to firing me for that. I’m not about to tempt him a second time. We can do whatever you want, only make sure it goes along with my work schedule.”

“Which is?” he asked, pulling out his cell phone. “I’ve gotta make a note of when you’ll be working.”

“Six to ten each morning, excluding Mondays and Thursdays. I’m off until three in the afternoon then I go back and work until seven. Most weekends, I work overtime hours, rarely getting even an hour off for lunch.”

His brows raised and his green eyes twinkled as he asked playfully, “And how did you do this gruesome schedule while you were dating the asshole?”

“I wasn’t doing it well at all. I worked mostly mornings and found someone to cover my shift most evenings. And weekends were a problem for me too. I lost tons of hours in the two years we were together. I’m not going to make that mistake again. Especially since I will be going back to my life once Logan moves on with another woman or moves out of Brownsville and forgets about me. Whichever comes first.”

Chance laid back on the bed, looking at me from under those thick lashes of his. “Who knows, Ruby? You might end up never going back. I’ve got a pretty sweet place here. Much bigger and better than that little apartment I just moved you out of.”

“That you do, Chance. But I’m keeping my car, and I will be moving somewhere once this ruse is over. I let the apartment go, so I can’t go back there. But I can get another place.”

“Don’t forget you sold all your furniture to the landlady too. So, you would have to buy a whole house of furniture and all the other stuff you let her have. I just want you to know that you’ve got a place to live for however long you want.”

Chance was the best friend anyone could ever have. “That’s why I love you so much. You’re the most generous person I know.”

“Aww, shucks.” He sat up and looked around the bedroom. “You can use that card I gave you to do anything you want in here. Make this your space. I mean that.”

The suite was decorated beautifully already. “I don’t think I’ll be making any additions or subtractions from this gorgeous bedroom suite. The decorator you hired to do this place has outdone herself. I love it just the way it is.”

“Well, if you do find anything that will make this room — or this home, for that matter — more like your own, don’t hesitate to buy it and bring it on home, baby.”

“Baby?” I asked as I arched one brow.

“Well, we’ve gotta make it look and sound real. Baby.”

“So, what should I call you?”

“Hot stuff? Handsome? Lover?” He wiggled his eyebrows as he grinned at me. “So, what are we going to say about our physical relationship?”

“I don’t think we should say anything about that.” I went to the closet and opened the door to find another room inside. “Holy cow!” I looked back at him. “You call this thing a closet? It’s bigger than my apartment.”

“Yeah, I know. And it has a washer-dryer combo in there too. If you leave your dirty clothes in the built-in hamper beside it, the maid will wash them and put them away for you. She comes on Fridays and Wednesdays.”

“The maid?” I had no idea Chance had spoiled himself so much.

“Yes, the maid. You don’t think I have time to clean and do laundry, do you? I mean, this place is over eight-thousand square feet. I had to hire someone. I think she brings a small crew with her. I’m not sure, though. I’m always at work when she cleans the house.”

Looking around the closet, I asked, “What else do I need to know about living here?”

“Only that I’ve hired people to do all the work around this place.” He came up behind me, gesturing to the padded bench that ran along one wall. “There’s even seating in here. I think it’s so you can sit there and look at all you have to wear before coming to a decision.”

I pointed at the front section of the empty closet. “All the things I own will fit right there. So, I will use this bench little, if at all.”

“You have that card. Fix that situation.” He sat on the bench, looking around. “Shoes go into those cubbies over there. And the larger cubbies are for boots.” He pointed at a line of hooks. “Those are for hats, I think. That’s what I use the ones in my closet for, anyway. You might use them to hang purses. I know you’re not into wearing hats.”

I headed out of the closet and grabbed an armful of clothes and went back in to hang them up. “Sweetie,” I said. “How do you like that little term of endearment?”

“Not much at all. Did you even hear the ones I suggested?” He got up and went to grab the rest of my clothes. “I want something sexy, manly, rugged. You know, I want it to sound like you think I’m super hot and super great in bed.”

“Ah, that’s why you brought up lover.” I wasn’t into saying things like that much at all. I had called Logan babe. But I didn’t want to call Chance the same thing I’d called Logan.

“Yes, that is exactly why I brought up that one.” He hung the clothes up as they were still on the hangers they’d been on back in my closet at the apartment I’d left behind.

“I don’t much care for lover.” A word sprang into my mind. “Oh, but I do like corazón.”

He looked at me with a grin. “Heart?”

Nodding, I knew I had my term of endearment for him. “Mi corazón. You like?”

“I like.” Laughing, he went back out to the bedroom, then over to the other door and opened it. “Come see your private bath, baby.”

“I don’t think we have to use our little love words when no one else is around, Chance.” I walked up to him, glancing into the bathroom. But then the grandeur of it took my full attention, and I walked inside. “Oh, my gosh!” Floor-to-ceiling windows looked out at the blue ocean. It felt like the seashore came right into the bathroom. The walls were the color of the water that moved in waves outside. The tiles were the color of seashells. “This shower is big enough to fit a whole party of people.”

“I know. Cool, right?” He walked over to the bathtub, pointing out the control panel. “So, this is a jacuzzi tub, and it’s got loads of things that it can do. The best one, in my opinion, is the endless hot water. You can heat it up to any temperature you want, and it will stay there.”

“It’s gonna be hard to leave this bathroom, Chance.” Scanning the large room, my eyes rested on the toilet that certainly looked as if it were made for a king. “It’s elevated.”

“They call it a throne for a reason. At least, the developers of this home thought that anyway. I know it’s over the top, but I call it home.”

I had to do something nice for Chance, since he was doing so much for me. “Since it’s my day off, I want to make you something great for dinner tonight. Do you still like barbeque ribs?”

He walked back to the bedroom and I followed as he said, “I want to take you out tonight. We need to start making appearances in public. This has to look real. I honestly don’t want that asshole even thinking about you, Ruby. What he did to you was really bad. I mean, really, really bad. I can’t promise you that I won’t rip his head off if I ever meet the prick.”

That worried me, so I grabbed his arm, turning him to face me. “Chance! You have to promise me that you will never, ever do anything like that to him. I can’t tell you much about what I saw when I was with him. But I can tell you that he’s part of a group that’s very dangerous. People go missing all the time. He and those he’s associated with are part of the reason behind it.”

“I can start carrying a gun.” He put his hands on my shoulders then pulled me closer and closer until he had me wrapped in his strong arms. His lips pressed against the top of my head, making my heart speed up. “I can protect myself and you.”

Can you protect me from actually falling in love with you?

I tried to push the thought aside, but it was stubborn.

The thing about Chance was that I’d had a crush on him all throughout our school years. He was way out of my league, even back then.

Chance was a cute little boy, and he just kept growing taller and getting cuter as the years went on. Meanwhile, I had been a chunky little girl who was on the plain side, and I’d stayed that way.

Chance had light blonde hair that had turned into a darker shade of blonde by the time he was in high school. With those blonde waves and green eyes, he stole all the girls’ hearts. He still did, as far as I knew.

My dark hair and eyes made me blend it, while his looks made him stand out. He was muscular, and I was still chunky. Basically, he was hot, and I was not.

He held me in his arms, not letting me go. “Do you know why I made that pact with you about getting married?”

“I really don’t have a clue.” I pulled my head off his shoulder and looked up at him. He was at least a foot taller than me.

His eyes turned soft as he spoke quietly, almost in a whisper, “You were sitting at the second desk in the second row of desks the first day I walked into our kindergarten classroom. I had butterflies swarming my stomach that day. I thought for sure that I was going to blow chunks right there in front of everyone. In the sea of faces that looked a lot like mine, nervous and shy, I found yours. Your smile was as bright as any beacon. Your eyes held mine, drawing me to come and sit right in front of you. To me, it had seemed that you had left that desk empty just so I could sit there.”

“I didn’t want to sit in the front row, that’s why I left that desk empty and sat in the second one instead. I was afraid the teacher would call on me often if I was right up front. And when I saw you, you were tall already, even though you were just five. I knew your body would hide me. So, I smiled and hoped you would come and sit in front of me. And when you did, I knew the teacher would always pick you to answer questions and leave me alone.”

He let me go, looking a little upset. “Are you serious?”

“Yeah.” I hadn’t meant to upset him with the truth of why I’d been smiling at him that first day of kindergarten. “My older sister had told me about the teacher asking kids in the front row most of the questions throughout the school year. And she told me to look for a kid that was bigger than me and to smile at them, and they would hopefully come to sit in front of me to hide me from the teacher’s view.”

“You only smiled at me because of my size?” He turned away from me and walked toward the door.

I didn’t know what else to say. “Chance. Don’t be mad.”

“I’m not mad.” He stopped and looked at me over his shoulder. “Disillusioned maybe, but not mad.” He turned to face me. “I thought you liked me. I thought that you had been the first girl to ever like me. And that’s why I asked you to make that pact with me.”

“I came to like you.” I thought that meant something too. “I really did. You know that I did. We sat next to each other every day at lunch that year. Don’t you remember that?”

“Because we lined up according to where we sat. That’s why we sat next to each other, Ruby. It wasn’t like either of us chose to do that.” He looked at the floor, and I knew I had screwed up what he’d considered a good memory.

I began to wonder about something and asked, “Chance, you thought I smiled at you because I liked you from the moment I saw you. But did you like me from the moment you saw me?”

He turned and walked away. “None of that matters anyway, Ruby. Welcome home. Let me know when you’re ready to go out to eat. We have to make this look real.”

And then he left me standing there, my mouth slightly ajar and my mind filling with questions that he wasn’t going to answer.

Did he really like me from the first moment he saw me?