Still, Rafe didn’t doubt Pirro was up to something. The writing in the notepad, the way his cronies circled around him when Rafe walked out of the doughnut shop…
Aunt Vi was prone to dramatics, but Rafe had no doubt the man was working an angle. He just had to figure out what it was.
RAFE PARKED IN his driveway. Sara met him behind the Jeep, ready to pull her suitcase out of the back herself. Instead, he grabbed the handle, too.
“I’ve got it,” Rafe said.
“I appreciate the gesture, but I can handle it.” They each had a grip on the luggage handle, but he’d just had surgery. She wasn’t about to let him do heavy lifting just for her.
She cleared her throat and shot him her fiercest I mean business look. “Do I need to call your mother and tell her you aren’t following doctor’s orders? Maybe she’ll come over and supervise you.”
He immediately released his hold. “Fine. Drag it in yourself.”
“I will.” With a grin, she yanked the suitcase, ignoring the tug in her knee. It had been a long day, and of course her injury was bothering her.
He strode ahead of her, unset the alarm and released the dead bolt. Along with the woodsy, hidden driveway, the security system made her feel much safer.
“Welcome home,” he said, holding the door for her.
“Thanks.” She walked past him, lifted her suitcase over the doorstep and inside. She glanced around, taking in the warm, cozy place he called home. “I love it. It’s very you.”
Deeply masculine and earthy, in a welcoming sort of way.
“Thanks.” He smiled, pride evident in his expression. “My family has owned this property for generations. My great-grandfather originally bought the land. He subdivided the acreage and left it for his sons, who left it for their sons and so on.”
“And so on. I get it. But didn’t your father want to live here?”
“Even if he did, my mom never wanted to be hidden away. She liked being in town, in the center of things. So Dad used an old cabin for fishing until Joanne got married. He subdivided the property, and we all got our portions early. Joanne is a few miles closer to town. I took the most secluded part.” Rafe shrugged. “So, here we are.”
She wrapped her arms around herself. “It’s so nice that you have such deep family love and tradition. You can just feel it surrounding you.” It was something she definitely missed.
The sense of having roots in any particular place.
“The only thing handed down in my family is being a cop.” For some reason, the thought didn’t bring as much comfort as she got from envisioning Rafe’s family living on this land.
Rafe didn’t reply.
It was almost as if he didn’t want to bring his big family into the small house with them. “So, how many bedrooms are there?” she asked, respecting the boundaries he’d erected.
“Two.”
“Perfect!” She glanced toward the small hallway leading to the other rooms, which appeared directly next to each other.
“The second one is an office with a daybed.”
She nodded. “Great. I can sleep there.”
He shook his head. “I’ll take the daybed. You can have mine. It’s more comfortable.”
“Nope. You’re the one recuperating from surgery. I’m the one intruding. I’ll take the daybed.”
“Don’t argue with me again.” He placed his hand on the handle of her suitcase and wheeled it toward the hall.
“But—”
“But nothing. Keep it up and I’ll call my mother and tell her I’m sleeping in my bed while I put you, my guest, on the daybed.” He threw her threat back at her. “She’ll be over here in no time, lecturing me on how to treat a lady. And you wouldn’t want to subject us to that, would you?”
Sara swallowed her argument. It wouldn’t hurt her to be gracious. “Okay, I’ll take your bed. Thanks.” Although she didn’t know how she’d get any sleep, imagining him there.
She wondered if he slept nude.
Sara sighed. She doubted she’d get any sleep with him directly next door, either.
CHAPTER EIGHT
RAFE COULDN’T SLEEP. How could he when the woman he desired more than his next breath was in the adjoining room? Her mere presence was making him crazy. He tossed and turned, imagining he could hear her breathing next door. Wondering what she wore to bed.
His bed.
Suddenly he bolted upright and glanced at the clock. One o’clock. He must have dozed off after all. Sounds from the other room told him there was someone in the kitchen. He assumed it was Sara, but he climbed out of bed, pulled on an old pair of sweats and headed into the other room to make sure.
Sure enough, Sara stood in front of the sink. But he was unprepared for the sight of her in a short two-piece number, all silk and lace, that was probably supposed to be cute but instead looked sexy as hell.
Her hair, tousled from sleep, hung over her shoulders. Her full br**sts peeked from the low-cut V-neck and her ni**les poked through the nearly sheer silk.
How much could a red-blooded male take?
Knowing he was staring, he cleared his throat.
She jumped, startled, and met his gaze. “I didn’t hear you come in!”
“Sorry. I wanted to make sure it was you and not someone trying to get to you.”
She nodded in understanding. “Sorry if I woke you. I just wanted to get a drink of water.” She raised the glass in her hand.
He inclined his head. “You didn’t wake me. I couldn’t sleep.”
“Me, neither.”
Quiet descended; there was no noise except for the hum of the fridge and the ticktock of a clock on the wall.
“We could sit and talk for a while,” she suggested. As if she weren’t half-naked. And he weren’t completely aroused, the blood rushing in his ears, through his head and settling in one very obvious body part.
There was no way she could miss it any more than he could ignore it. “Or we could pick up where we left off on the beach.”
Her eyes widened in surprise. “I thought you said it was a bad idea?”
He inclined his head. “It probably is.”
They looked at life from opposite points of view. He wanted to believe anything was possible. She was a cynic, always looking for the worst. He knew better than to think he could convince her to change her mind about relationships.
But he could change his about short-term affairs.
She reached out and placed her hand against his forehead much as he’d done to her the other day. “Are you sure you’re not sick?”