Ruby's Fantasy Read Online Free Page A

charged nerve endings she tried to keep an eye on the intruder and find the light switch. Impossible. Taking her eyes off the intruder for an instant, she located the light switch on her right and slapped at the bank of lights. The shop flooded as the strip lights in the ceiling turned on. When she turned back the man was gone.
    Instead, she saw great shards of glass littering the front of the shop. The mannequin, adorned with a robe, corset and garters, which stood in the shop front window box, had toppled over like a corpse.
    â€˜Princess. Are you okay?’ Past the mannequin, Jake stood on the street looking in where the intruder had been. ‘Jake!’ Her voice came out husky with fear and she ran towards him.
    â€˜Stop! Don’t come any closer. There’s glass here.’ Jake climbed through the window, righted the mannequin and jumped from the window box onto the floor, his large boots crunching glass under his feet. Sweeping her into his arms, he carried her back to the stairs. ‘Stay there. I’ll check the back of the shop.’ In moments he returned. ‘All clear,’ he said.
    â€˜There was a… m…an,’ she stuttered aware.
    Jake gathered her into his arms. He smelled warm and safe. ‘Did he hurt you?’ ‘N…no.’
    â€˜What did he look like?’ He pulled back from her clearly studying her face.
    â€˜Dark figure. Spider tattoo here.’ She touched her cheek.
    He frowned and stroked her cheek. ‘Don’t worry. I’m here now. He can’t hurt you.’ He glanced at the baseball bat that she still clutched and prised it from her fingers.
    Her fingers felt stiff when she relinquished it.
    Passersby gathered at the smashed in window, talking and looking in. ‘Wait a minute,’ Jake said. Releasing her, he strode over to the window. ‘Did anyone see anything?’ he asked with authority.
    The night clubbers and tourists who frequented The Cross shook their heads and moved on.
    In the background, Ruby could hear the wail of a police siren coming closer.
    Jake returned and put his arms around her, pulling her in tight against his chest. ‘I can feel your heart beating.’
    â€˜He had a knife.’ She threaded her arms under his leather jacket and hugged him leaving no space between their torsos. She didn’t care that she had only met him late that afternoon, he felt wholesome and good to her. ‘I…thought he was coming to k…kill me.’ She was aware her teeth were chattering.
    â€˜That won’t happen. I won’t let it.’ He stroked her hair as if he were taming a frightened animal and Ruby knew from the way her body was trembling, she wasn’t far from it.
    What had her twin done to bring this on them? Sure, her sister flirted and often multiple dated which made some of her boyfriends jealous but she’d never done anything to make a man crazy enough to want to kill her.
    Until now!
    A sickening twisting sensation started in her stomach as she looked around in dismay. ‘What a mess.’
    â€˜Hush, Princess. Don’t worry. I’ll organise the window repair for first thing tomorrow and get you back in business.’
    â€˜Thanks…you’re kind…but I’ll manage. It’s just a shock. I wasn’t expecting this.’ She’d always looked after herself and her twin. It was kind of Jake to offer to do things for her, especially as he was a stranger. She shivered and he rubbed her back, his thumb tracing over the nodules of her spine so that she was suddenly aware of how little she was wearing and how damn good his touch felt on her bare skin.
    â€˜Do you have any idea of who would do this?’ he asked, studying her face.
    She shook her head.
    â€˜I’ll speak to the muscle doing protection on the strip, but this doesn’t seem like their handy work.’
    â€˜Does that still go on?’ Ruby had read about the level of