Emma continued to peruse file after file in the loneliness of her own one bedroom apartment while she looked for another couple she wanted to interview. She'd also made a few calls to her contacts around the city, trying to see if she could dig up any rumors about the company. But other than the complaints from GoldenHeart and some sideways glances from other dating sites, there was nothing.
She'd finally narrowed it down to Ruby Lucas and Dorothy Gale, and quickly shot a message to Killian to set up the interview. He'd been the one to take on their case, so she was looking forward to seeing if his tactics were the same as his brother's.
Emma arrived at MissMatched with a cup of hot cocoa in hand, eyes focused on the floor in front of her when a yelp from behind caught her attention. She turned to see two women hastily heading her way, blazing smiles on both their faces. From the pictures in their file, she recognized them as Ruby and Dorothy. They were a study in contrasts and complements. Ruby was a mix of leather, red streaks in her dark brown hair, and flirty smiles, while Dorothy a combination of pale blue clothing, honey blonde highlights, and a stern face. Their eyes were glowing and faces flushed from the chilly, winter morning.
"You must be Emma!" Ruby said by way of introduction when they reached her. "Killian described you perfectly!"
Emma stared at her, narrowing her eyes.
Ruby gave her a wide smile and shrugged a shoulder. "He said I'd find a striking blonde with a no-nonsense attitude." She tilted her head and bit her lower lip, and Emma was left with the feeling she didn't want to know what Ruby was thinking. Nor did she want to think about how her heart flipped at Killian's description of her, instead she quickly shut down those racing thoughts and focused on the case she had in front of her. She had a job to do.
"Indeed he did," Dorothy said, pulling Emma's attention back to the two women in front of her, "but when is he wrong around these things?" Dorothy gave her a sincere smile. "I'm Dorothy, this chatterbox is Ruby. It's a pleasure to meet you."
Emma smiled and tilted her cup at them in greeting. "Pleasure to meet you too."
Dorothy's smile faded into something smaller, more polite. "I'm sorry, but I can't stay for the interview. I was called into an emergency case when we were on the car." She took a sideways glance at Ruby and her eyes lit up. "But I swear, all this is real. Magical and real… it was like finding the home I never knew I was missing."
Ruby smiled in return, squeezing Dorothy's hand and nuzzling her nose. They shared a light kiss that left Emma feeling that the world just might be a better place than what she usually thought it was. She almost wanted to laugh at how sappy that thought was.
Dorothy looked at Emma one more time. "Be careful with this one, her teasing can be a little overwhelming at first." Her fond exasperation was clear in her words, and it reminded Emma of dealing with a teasing Killian.
"It seems to be a recurrent affliction around here."
"Tell me about it!" Dorothy chuckled. "Alright, I have to run. Have a nice day!"
She parted after another farewell kiss to Ruby, who stood for a few seconds and watched her go. Then she turned back to Emma, her wide, wolfish grin back on her face. "Well, let's get started." She linked her hand through Emma's arm and pulled her through Missmatched's glass doors.
"Now tell me, how you were lucky enough to end up with the plum assignment of following the charming Jones brothers around and snooping in all their secrets?"
Emma almost snorted the hot chocolate she was drinking. She'd read the descriptions Killian had made of Ruby and she was clearly living up to her expectations.
"The Chamber hired me," she said briefly, not wanting to let Ruby get carried away with other thoughts.
They'd barely crossed the office entrance when they bumped into Killian, who was waiting for them in the lobby. He gave them both a dazzling smile.
"I see you've met one another."
"Killian!" Ruby let go of Emma's elbow to wrap him in a big hug. "How can you even formulate words with such a goddess asking you questions?"
There was a tiny, brief, almost blink-and-you-miss-it-moment where the tips of his ears turned pink and his cheeks flushed, but it was gone as soon as it had come and he looked at Emma with all the full force of his striking blue eyes.
"It's been hard," he said, pulling back and shooting Ruby a wink before dropping his voice lower, "but you know me, I love to talk to beautiful women."
He sounded like liquid velvet and heat, his words full of promise. It was the type of voice she imagined he'd use in close quarters, whispered in ears and against skin. She could even picture his hooded eyes, dark looks given from beneath thick eyelashes, and the soft, breathy murmurs that would tingle skin beneath wherever his lips landed. Emma was taken aback for a moment, breathless, heart beating frantically in her chest while she tried to calm it. She was almost afraid her emotions were playing across her face. A pair of pretty blue eyes and a few charming words shouldn't have her reacting like this. She'd seen a dime a dozen in her life, and she knew all the insincere sentiments that usually laid beneath them.
Yet she couldn't avoid feeling rooted to the spot, kept there by the intensity of Killian's stare, leaving her feeling like she was the only thing that existed in that room.
Ruby broke the moment. "Unf, one day your words are going to get you in a lot of trouble." She waggled her eyebrows. "And hopefully a lot of fun." She linked her arm through his and blew him an air kiss. "Take us to the conference room so Emma can interrogate me in any way that she wants."
Emma had to admit, Ruby Lucas could give Killian Jones a run for his money when it came to flirting. And she knew it.
Killian led them to the same conference as last time and made sure they had everything they needed before stopping at the door, offering a small wink to Emma before he pulled open the door. "Please don't hesitate to call if you need anything, or if you need rescuing."
Ruby watched him go, and sighed the moment he closed the door. "He's adorable, isn't he? For a moment there, when he was working on my case, I thought perhaps he wanted - you know - but no, he was really taking his time to figure it out."
"How did it work out?"
Ruby curled her hair around a finger. "I'm a flirt, as you can see."
When Emma didn't react, she cocked an eyebrow and Emma's facade cracked. She laughed and nodded for Ruby to continue.
"I love to tease and most guys can't take it. They all love it when it's for them, but when I'm dating one of them they want me to be someone that I'm not." Ruby put her elbows on the table and rested her chin in her hand. "When I first met her, I thought Killian had gone crazy. While we hadn't ruled it out, I always thought he was finding a man for me. And Dorothy, she seemed so stern, like she was made of steel and missing a heart. But the moment I made my first flirtatious comment, she burst laughing." Ruby shrugged. "She doesn't care that I flirt with everyone, she finds it endearing. She's so sure of herself, and of me and what we have. It's refreshing. Killian..." she trailed off.
"He really got it right." Emma finished the sentence for her. She couldn't have spent more than half an hour with Ruby, but she knew she was telling the truth. It was clear in her face, and in every word she spoke of Dorothy.
"He always gets it right." Ruby winked before she focused on Emma with a serious expression. "I know it seems like they are bullshitting their way through this. Like their good looks are keeping everyone so dazzled and under a spell that they can sell you sand in the desert and convince you it was your idea. But they truly are the real thing. They just know how to connect people."
"If you say so," Emma offered, fidgeting with the edge of her notepad.
"Just… don't be hard on him."
Ruby's words took her by surprise. There was such concern and fondness in her voice that it made Emma's throat dry. She raised one shoulder, trying to dismiss Ruby's thought. "I'm sure he can take it."
"That's the thing," Ruby said as she stood up and headed to the door. "Sometimes, I don't think he can. I guess it takes one to know one and so you know, us flirty types are not made of steel." She gave Emma a final look. "Not like you and Dorothy are."
Emma was still staring at the door, trying to process Ruby's words when Killian entered the conference room and placed a coffee mug in front of her.
"I've found from experience that a caffeine boost is needed after a round with Ruby." He took a seat next to her. Emma took a sip of the coffee while his eyes never left her, making the hair at the nape of her neck rise.
"What?" She managed to ask after she put the mug back on the table.
"You can say it, Swan." He waved his hand through the air. "You still don't buy it."
Was she that transparent?
"You know," she admitted, fidgeting again with the corner of her legal pad and avoiding his eyes, "I keep trying to find the trick here."
Killian's sigh held a hint of sadness in it, and Emma lifted her head to meet his eyes.
"There is no trick, Swan. There is no scam." A lock of his hair had fallen to his forehead and Emma itched to put it back in place. "We are just good at reading people."
He'd delivered the line with such passion, the air in the room seemed to have thickened around them. Her eyes fixated on his face, to that single strand of hair in front of his striking eyes. On the way his brow furrowed and how he stared back, looking like he was trying to unearth the very hidden secrets of her soul.
She swallowed and her eyes darted to his lips, her heart beat frantically in her chest. Her mind was unable to conjure any rational thoughts.
But the moment was lost when he leaned back and averted his eyes. "Tell me, Swan, are there any gender preferences I should know about?" He raised an eyebrow at her and Emma felt her previous tension ease, only to be replaced by an overwhelming need to tease the man in front of her.
"I thought you had a sixth sense for this. Didn't you just claim to be good at reading people?"
He bit his lower lip to stifle a smile, the creases around his eyes deepening. "I do, but sometimes is easier than others."
She leaned in, her voice dropping to a whisper. "Are you saying I'm not an open book to you?"
He mirrored her, leaning in until they were just but a breath away. "Sometimes you are. Sometimes I think I have you all figured out…" He paused for a moment, his eyes searching her face. "And sometimes, you're a complete mystery." He gave her the smile that Emma had already catalogued as his charming salesperson smile. "So maybe you'd like to help me out here? I am trying to impress this badass PI who is investigating us."
There in that moment, she knew she could fall for his charm. It was almost irresistible after all. Emma would bet all of the money in her meager account savings that he'd benefited from that smile's ability to pry all sorts of information out of people. She knew she shouldn't want to tell him all sorts of secrets. And yet…
She smiled back, tapping a fingernail on the coffee mug in front of her.
"But, Killian, what fun would that be?"