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She jerks back at my vehemence and winces. “Oh. I’m sorry. I just assumed…”
“Why…why…” I stutter. “Why would you assume?”
She shrugs, and the simplicity of the statement that follows catches me completely off guard. “The way you look at each other.”
How, I have to know. How do I look at him?
And maybe more importantly, how does he look at me?
I don’t have time to settle into a death spiral of wholly complicated thoughts, though, because Cap pops his head out of his office and calls my name.
I jerk my head up and around like I’ve been caught in the middle of a heist.
“Yes, sir, Caplin, sir?”
Oh my GOD, could I be any more awkward?
The narcissistic part of him smiles. The more I get to know him, though, the more I realize that it’s only a tiny sliver of who he is. It’s just the showiest of all his qualities.
“Can I see you in my office for a second?”
I nod, turning to Betsy to say something, but she’s busy shooing me away, and then I follow Cap through the open office door.
When I turn to close it behind me, my heart kicks into a full gallop.
“What can I do for you?” I ask with a calmness I don’t feel as I come to a stop in front of his desk.
Cap’s eyes are frighteningly assessing, so I avert my gaze to the window to watch a bird fly by.
Of course, there’s no bird, but he doesn’t have to know that. If he asks, I am the Steve fucking Irwin of birds.
“I actually just asked you in here to tell you to take the rest of the day off.”
My running heart skids to a stop. “What?”
“Ruby,” he says softly—so softly, in fact, my chest squeezes. “How often do you have a day to yourself?”
I shake my head as I try to understand the question, but he doesn’t let me get any words out before answering for me.
“Never. I know you’re busy with school and recording, and these days, when you’re not doing either of those, you’re here.”
“You work more than I do,” I challenge stubbornly. I have no idea why I’m fighting so hard against having the day off, but for some reason, it feels…awful.
Why the hell does it sound so bad?
“I know. I should take the day off too. But unlike your boss, mine is a real asshole.” He flashes a wink and a grin, and both feel like they have a direct line to my freaking chest. “He’s insufferable, really.”
“Cap, you are your own boss.”
“You’re right. And I’m also yours. Which means, I’m assigning you the rest of the day off,” he instructs without hesitation. And when he moves his gaze back to his desk, I’m just kind of standing there, unsure what to do with myself.
But Cap’s mind is made up.
“Ruby, I meant what I just said. And today, that assignment is top priority,” he adds, but his focus never leaves the case files in front of him. “Now, for God’s sake, go do something fun.”
Ruby
After I made sure Betsy was all set to handle things for the rest of the day, I left the office on the weirdest official assignment of my life and made a pledge to myself to take it seriously.
To do the things I never do because I don’t have the time, or money, or some combination of the two.
I walked straight from the office to the nearest salon and spa and begged them to cut and style my hair. And it didn’t take long before I added on a ten-minute massage, and then I finished it up with a manicure and a pedicure.
It took four hours, but my body feels more human than it has in the last three years.
I swear I didn’t know it, but I’m pretty sure all the long hours and sleepless nights and endless anxiety that come with being in law school had transformed me into a gremlin.
I was basically the equivalent of one of those random, super-long chin hairs that just appears on your face seemingly overnight. You have no idea how long it’s been there, who has seen it, or how in the hell it grew so fast, but it’s your reality, and the only thing you can do is pluck that fucker. Or, in my case, groom myself.
Thankfully, the several hours I spent getting pampered worked in my favor, and now, no one will shriek when they see me walking down the street or worry about feeding me after midnight.
Now, I don’t know what’s on the rest of my agenda for the day, but I’m fairly certain it’ll involve a bookstore or two.
I smile to myself and slide my sunglasses on my face, wrap my coat tightly around my body, and step out into the muted October sun.
It’s cool but crisp, and the heat from the sun is just enough to warm me from the inside out.
