“Yes, s…yes.” He wasn’t fond of her usual honorific. She tried to smile. “Could use a cup of coffee, though.”
Henry grunted. “Fine,” he said as if she’d asked a question. “I’m following you home tonight.”
He was? That put a picture in her head of what the two of them could do together at her house.
Nope, not going there. There was also no refusing him. He’d just badger her until he got what he wanted, so she swallowed the refusal.
“Okay.”
…
Henry studied Ruby’s face, certain she’d been about to argue with him, but she dropped her gaze and simply waited after her one-word agreement.
Her patience made him want to shake her a little. Or kiss her.
Then he saw her hands shaking. It hit him upside the head—she was holding it together, but she was scared. The last thing she needed was some asshole barking at her.
“Come on,” he managed to say in an even tone. “I don’t know about you, but I need more than coffee.”
The flash of relief that flickered across her face told him he’d read her correctly. For once. How many times had he looked for the wrong things? Disgust for his missing leg. Dread for the moment he walked into the room, because he was too grumpy or too distant or too something. Or disapproval for his sideways thinking, which he’d learned on the battlefield in self-defense. Find the unexpected move, attack, or tactic, or die.
He’d never seen any of those expressions on her face. Not once.
He glanced at her. Tense shoulders, eyes on the floor, rapid breathing. She was rattled more than she wanted to let on, but she was also toughing it out. That took balls. Sexy as hell, too.
He walked straight to the coffee shop on the main floor of the building. Between staff and visitors, it did a brisk business.
“Sit here,” he ordered, pointing at a small table away from the busy cash register.
“But—”
“I’ve got it,” he continued, not wanting to hear any kind of refusal from her.
Her eyes flickered up to his face and down again, and he realized he probably sounded like a hibernating grizzly bear who woke up too early. “Just…” Yup, asshole, she’s not the only one rattled. “…sit…” Then he said a word he didn’t use often, because it implied he needed something from someone else. “Please.”
Her gaze rose to meet his, and she nodded. No hesitation, no argument.
Huh. Who’d have thought one word could be so powerful?
He continued on into the shop, picked up two coffees and two muffins, then brought them back to the table.
He handed Ruby her coffee.
She stared at it for a moment then took a cautious sip. She looked at him in surprise. “You know how I take my coffee?”
“Why is that a shock?”
“Because I’m new.”
“You’ve been working here for two months already.”
“But there are a lot of new people.”
“I don’t ca—” Holy shit, he’d almost said the C word. “Work with them.”
“Yes, you do.”
He glared at her, and she burst out laughing.
Okay, he’d wanted to get that gut-punched look off her face, but this wasn’t how he’d expected to do it.
She met his gaze, still laughing, and her joy kicked him in the chest. Hard.
It lit up her eyes, her face, the whole fucking room. Other people turned to look at her, and there was a sudden outbreak of grins in every direction.
He had to fight to keep his from making an appearance.
She pointed at him and leaned forward. “Your eyes are smiling.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He took a sip of his coffee as if nothing had happened. As if she hadn’t brought sunshine into his life for the first time in what felt like years. “Eat your muffin.”
Still smiling, she took a bite, then washed it down with some coffee.
“You’re my responsibility,” he said. She needed to understand the situation.
“Responsibility?” Her echo held a note of confusion.
“I was assigned as your mentor the day you started here.”
“I know, but…” She tilted her head to one side. “Um, I still haven’t figured out what it is you do, exactly. You work for and with several departments, so it’s hard to know what your scope of work is.”
“I’m a microbiologist. Have been for ten years. A couple of years ago, I finished my degree in virology, and I transferred into the Outbreak Task Force. I coordinate lab work for all emerging outbreaks.”
“All?” Again that baffled edge to her voice.
He nodded. About this, she was right to question. “Yeah, it’s a lot of work, but I like the mental exercise and focus it takes to run down an unfamiliar pathogen.”
“I get that,” she said with another small smile. “It’s what I like about this job, too.”
He flashed his teeth, but it wasn’t a grin. “I don’t like it when assholes try to snatch, hurt, or kill my people. You are an asset to me and the organization.”
Her smile faded to nothing. “Why do I get the impression I’m not going to like what you’re going to say next?”
“You’ll be escorted to and from work until further notice.”
She paused for a moment. “What about going to the grocery store?”
“We’ll have to schedule it.”
“That’s a lot of extra work for someone.”
“Like I said, you’re my responsibility.”
She sat up straight. “You don’t have time to babysit me. There must be someone else, someone in law enforcement, maybe, you could ask—”
“No.” He cut her off and leaned forward again, lowering his voice. “The threat is real. The attempted suicide bombing yesterday and your attempted kidnapping today tells me they’re getting desperate.”
She froze in place, her mouth sagging open and her eyes wide. “They’re not going to stop, are they?” Her voice was small and shallow.
“Not unless we stop them or they succeed.”
Her hands were shaking again.
“Shit,” he muttered, halfway out of his chair. Instead of helping her find some calm, he’d made things worse.