Page 136 of Nash
"You fought him," she says.
Ruby takes my right hand and holds it under the water. The blood runs off my knuckles in pink streams, swirling down the drain. Her fingers are gentle, working between mine, cleaning the split skin across the second and third knuckles.
"He fought me. I finished it."
"You have blood on your hands." She turns my hand over, checking the palm, then shuts off the faucet. She pulls my hand from the sink and presses a clean towel against the knuckles. She reaches for the first aid kit on the shelf above the sink without letting go of my hand.
"It's his."
"You have blood on your hands because you fought a man who was stalking me." She opens the kit one-handed, pulls out antiseptic and gauze. The cap comes off the antiseptic with her teeth. She pours it over my knuckles, and the sting bites through the adrenaline. "Nash. Nashville Sutton. You physically fought a human man with your actual fists because he was watching me through a window."
"He swung first."
"I don't care who swung first." She wraps the gauze around my right hand, tucks the end, and takes my left hand. Back under the water. Same careful fingers working between mine. "You fought someone for me. You went across a street, confronted a man who has been terrorizing me for months, and you hit him with your hands."
She finishes my left hand. Wraps it. Sets it down on my thigh. Then she takes a fresh piece of gauze, wets it, and tilts my chin up with her fingertips. She dabs the graze on my cheekbone; her touch is so light I barely feel the pressure. Her eyes are an inch from the bruise, studying it, cataloging the damage the way she catalogs details in a design.
"Malachi killed someone for Candace," she says, still dabbing. "Knox killed someone for Sloane. I mean, those were theirfathers, and my father is actually decent, so I don't need you to do that. My father is alive and mostly functional, and I'd like to keep him that way. But the principle stands." She pulls the gauze away, checks it, folds it to a clean side, and presses it back against my cheekbone. "You fought a man for me. With your fists. And your knuckles are bleeding. Your cheekbone is already bruising. I am looking at you right now and I have never been more attracted to another human being in my entire life. Which is saying something because I was already at maximum capacity after the Greg operation and the desk and the posterior exploration conversation."
"Ruby."
"I'm not done." She sets the gauze down and cups my face in both hands. Her palms are warm against my jaw. "You fought for me. Nobody has ever fought for me. People have argued for me. People have negotiated for me. My mother once yelled at a PTA mom for implying I was a bad influence, which was accurate but beside the point. But nobody has ever used their actual physical body to protect mine. The fact that you did it, then walked back across the street with blood on your hands like you were coming back from getting coffee is the most—"
I wrap my arms around her waist and pull her between my legs. She comes easily, her hands still on my face, and I kiss her. She kisses me back, her mouth warm, her breath fast, her fingers trembling against my jaw.
She pulls back. Looks at me. "It's over?" she asks.
"It's over. The man who broke into your apartment is gone. The photographs stop. Surveillance stops. The shadow network that was watching you is dismantled."
Ruby reaches up, pulls the earpiece from her ear, then takes mine out too and sets both on the shelf beside the sink. Her eyes come back to mine.
"So technically, you're not my detail anymore."
"The obligation was never the reason."
"I know." She wraps her arms around my neck and leans into me, her breasts pressing firmly against my chest. "Nash."
"Yeah."
"It's after." Her voice drops. The grin builds slowly. It spreads from the corners of her mouth, pushing through the tears, the adrenaline, and the twelve inappropriate workplace emotions. "You said we celebrate after."
"I did."
"You said Vesper."
"I did."
"You said the posterior exploration department was open for business." She presses her forehead against mine. "Take me home. Get me ready. And take me to Vesper."
My phone buzzes. Knox:
All clear. Van is out of county. Phoenix confirms.
I tap the earpiece. "Copy."
Ruby puts her earpiece back in, grabs my hand, and pulls me out of the back room, through the hallway, onto the shop floor. Frankie glances up. Ruby taps her earpiece.
"Knox."
