Free Grave Destinations by Lori Sjoberg Page A

shoulder touching hers, his body so warm she had to fight the urge to snuggle up against him. “You did a good thing with that girl tonight, comforting her when you knew she was going to die anyway.”
    Ruby shrugged, struggling for nonchalant while she blinked back the threatening tears. My God, she was practically a baby. She could only imagine what her parents were going through at this very moment. “What else was I supposed to do? Leave her there on the bathroom floor, all by herself?”
    “That’s exactly what a lot of people would have done. But that’s not your way, is it?” He met her gaze then, his brown eyes nearly black in the moonlight. There was an undeniable intensity to his features, mingled with compassion and something else she couldn’t quite fathom. “You’re a passionate woman. It must make your job hell on earth.”
    Ruby’s muscles tensed. “I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
    “Sure you do.” When she turned away, he dipped two fingers beneath her chin and turned her head back in his direction. “When we first met, you told me that you were a collector. Now I know what you collect.”
    No way. Impossible.
    Jack leaned closer, his breath impossibly warm against her ear. His voice rumbled low, rough, when he uttered one word and rocked her world.
    “Reaper.”

Chapter 5
    B ingo. Got it in one.
    “I’ve never met one of your kind before.” The thrill of discovery surged through Jack’s veins. His grip on her hand tightened when she tried to pull away. “But I’ve heard stories over the years. Honestly, I never believed them until now.”
    Reaper. It explained her presence on board a ship she so blatantly despised. For her, this was no pleasure cruise. It was more like a working vacation. He never would have guessed if he hadn’t seen her in action. He’d left his seat to check out the commotion at the back of the bar, only to discover Ruby perched over the young dead girl, her face a mask of unwashed sorrow.
    “Wow, you have one heck of an imagination,” Ruby said on the heels of a laugh, but the humor failed to reach her eyes.
    No way was he going to let her smooth-talk her way out of this one. “It’s not my imagination, and you damn well know it.” When she tried to pull her hand away again, he tugged her close and said in a low voice, “I’m trying to be discreet here. But if you want me to cause a scene, I’d be more than happy to oblige.”
    She shot him an angry glare but kept her mouth shut.
    “Come on, admit it. It’s not like I’m going to tell anyone. Besides, no one in their right mind would ever believe me. They’d probably lock me up in some tiny room in the bowels of the ship.”
    “That would be my cabin,” she said through clenched teeth.
    He laughed, in spite of his building frustration. “In that case, I wouldn’t mind so much.” He caught her gaze, looking deep into those beautiful green eyes. Mixed with the anger, he found a slash of pain that made his heart twist in knots. “Look, I’ve seen a lot of strange things in my travels. It’s how I realized there was something different about you.”
    Ruby straightened, a hand propped on her hip. “Oh, so you’re saying I’m strange?”
    “What? No!” What the hell was she talking about? Then he realized it was another one of her ploys, a yank of the chain to put him on the defensive and avoid validating his conclusion. She’d slipped free from his grip and made it halfway to the door before he figured it out.
    “Nice try,” he said, blocking her path before she had the chance to make her escape. “But it’s not going to work this time.”
    Eyes narrowed, she glared at Jack. Then her expression faltered, shifting from anger to despair with an unhealthy measure of exhaustion.
    “I can’t . . . I don’t want to talk about this.” She sighed as she closed her eyes and scrubbed a hand across her face. “Aw, hell. Please don’t make me talk about this. Not