Feral Obsession

Chapter One

It was sweltering outside. The sun was high in the sky, not a cloud in sight, and Ruby Crowell was cursing mother nature.

Ordinarily, she wouldn't hate this sort of heat; summer was her favorite season, after all. But this sort of weather on move-in day? Absolutely horrific.

Ruby squinted at the sky, tempting to raise a middle finger to whoever up there was cursing her. They had to be, because it was pushing one hundred degrees, and it was New England. It appeared that global warming was making a rather rash appearance.

She eyed her truck at the curb, mentally tallying up how many more boxes were left. Her arms felt like jello, and sweat was dripping down her cheek, but she still had five more boxes. Not including her suitcase, which sat in the passenger seat. She wiped the sweat from her forehead, pushed her flyaways back, and reached for another box.

"Do you need help?"

Ruby cast a look over her shoulder at a man leaving the apartment building that stood before her. The building itself was a lovely three story brick dream that Ruby had nearly swooned at seeing for the first time online. It was everything a first-time city apartment should be; small but cozy, cheap but quirky, and most importantly, within walking distance to everything.

The man in the doorway was smiling at her, a big friendly smile, the sort that makes you want to smile back. He wore a backwards baseball cap, a gray t-shirt, and cargo shorts. An adult frat boy, apparently. He extended his hand. "I'm Ryan."

Ruby's hands were sweaty. She rubbed them on her overalls, then stuck her hand in his. "Ruby."

"Well Ruby, you picked a great day to move." Ryan's smile was teasing. "What can I do to help?"

In any other circumstance, Ruby would have loved to entertain the idea of her and Ryan. She would be flirty, a little bit helpless, and they would end the evening drinking wine on his couch. But, Ruby didn't have time for boys, not really. Not if she wanted everything to go absolutely perfectly at her new job.

But, she wasn't going to refuse his offer, either. "Grab a box. I'm in apartment six."

The two of them grabbed and moved the remaining boxes and bags over the course of a few trips, and Ruby swore her legs were going to give out if she climbed them again. When she set the last box down in her empty living room, she collapsed by the windows, letting her lungs catch a break.

"No central AC is really inconvenient," she groaned when Ryan came to sit next to her. When she looked sideways at him, she was a little peeved he wasn't even red from the heat. No sweat in sight. "Maybe I made a mistake."

Ryan tilted his head back in a laugh. "I don't think you made a mistake. I think you'll fit right in here. Where did you move from?"

This is where it got tricky. Rule number one: Ruby didn't like to share her personal life. The more she shared, the weirder it got between her and whoever was listening. There would be a pity glance or two, or maybe they would excuse themselves politely and never talk to Ruby again. It was what always seemed to happen when she shared too much of herself.

She liked to stick to the basic things. The happy things. "South Dakota."

Ryan let out a low whistle. "You're far from home, South Dakota. Why did you move to the East Coast?"

Ruby tried not to fidget. She kept it brief. "A job. Isn't that why all twenty-somethings move away from home?" She turned to shoot Ryan a smile, hoping it would be enough for him. She didn't mind being mysterious, as long as they didn't ask for more.

"What sort of job?"

"I'm an event manager. There was a sweet job opening up here, and this is such a wedding hotspot, I didn't want to give it up."