Connor drew her closer to his side. "Mom, this is Raine Taylor. Raine, my mom."
"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Donovan." Raine made a quick swipe of her hand down the side of her skirt before she extended her hand. "Thank you for having me over for dinner."
The woman smiled and ignored Raine's hand, wrapping her arms around Raine and squeezing tight. "I'm glad Connor brought you. I'm Rose."
Rose accepted the bottle of wine Raine held out and said, "Come and meet the rest of the family. Most of them are in the kitchen, annoying me." Tiny lines appeared between her eyes. "Except for Mac and Lizzie. I hope nothing's wrong. They're always early."
"They'll be here," Connor said. "And I'll grill them for you when they show up. I know how to make Mac sweat."
Rose sighed, but her eyes twinkled. "Can't you boys give it a rest for one Sunday? Raine will think you're a pack of savages."
Connor wrapped his arm around Raine's waist and pulled her close. "Nah, she won't. We're a hell of a lot better than her family."
The smile disappeared from Rose's face. "Connor! That's a horrible thing to say."
Raine put her hand on Rose's arm. "He's right, Rose." Calling his mother by her first name felt awkward. She'd been drilled by her grandmother to call older adults by their last names. "He met my grandmother yesterday. She's nothing like you or Connor. And that's a good thing."
Rose's eyes softened. "I'm glad you're here, then," she said, squeezing Raine's shoulder. "And I'm sorry about your family."
Did all the Donovans touch each other this much? She watched as Rose disappeared into the kitchen. Raine's grandmother had rarely touched her. Never hugged her.
Connor put his hand on her back and urged her toward the kitchen, but Raine held back. "I don't want to annoy her, too," she whispered.
"She's kidding, babe. She loves it when we all crowd in there with her." He gave her a tiny push. "Move. We're missing all the fun."
As they passed through the dining room, Raine expected to step into the usual tiny kitchen of a Chicago bungalow. This kitchen, though, was huge – beautiful cherry cabinets, granite countertops, a center island and a small table in one corner. And it was filled with people talking, laughing, gesturing wildly as they spoke.
Rose noticed her studying the room and smiled. "My brother-in-law Jamie built me a new kitchen this winter. Gorgeous, isn't it?"
Without waiting for Raine to answer, she announced, "Connor and Raine are here," as she walked in ahead of them.
The noise stopped as everyone turned to look at her. Quinn stepped forward first. "Hey, Raine. Glad you could make it." He tugged on the hand of a beautiful woman with long red hair. "This is my fiancee, Tessa Porter."
Tessa swept Raine into a hug. "Nice to meet you." She glanced from Quinn to Connor, her eyes dancing. "Too bad you got the evil twin, though."
"Yeah, we all feel sorry for you, but no one else will say anything." A woman with shoulder-length wavy black hair and the same bright blue eyes as Connor and Quinn smiled at her. "I'm Mia. The sister." She studied Raine's face and said, "You look a lot better than the last time I saw you."
"Jeez, Mimi." A taller, more rangy version of Connor elbowed Mia. "You're Ms. Diplomatic today." He turned to Raine. "I'm Brendan. Mom's favorite."
Wow. Raine looked from Brendan to Mia to Quinn. Her family had never been like this – talking smack, one-upping each other, teasing. The thought of her grandmother's reaction made her smile. "Nice to meet all of you." She turned to Mia. "When did we meet? You look familiar, but I thought it was because you look like your brothers."
"I was one of the cops who responded to the school when you took the beat down at the tae kwon do meet," she said easily. "Brave thing to do."
"Thanks, but I probably wasn't thinking straight when I did it."
Everyone clamored for the story, but Connor held up his hand. "We'll tell you later." He nodded toward the back of the crowd. "She hasn't met Helen and Jamie yet."
Another couple came forward. The woman was older than the rest of Connor's siblings, but she looked just like them. The man was tall and blond. He held a sleeping baby against his chest.
"This is my mom's sister Helen and her husband Jamie," he said. "And Charlotte." He wiggled his fingers at Jamie. "Gimme."
The woman laughed. "Yeah, let Con hold her while she's sleeping, Jamie. Remember last month."
The man grimaced. "Yeah, that was ugly. Took a long time to settle her down after she woke up to his ugly mug." He carefully put the baby in Connor's arms. She was beautiful, with black fuzz covering her head, pink cheeks and a little rosebud mouth.
Staring down at the infant, Connor said, "She's a lot bigger than she was last month."
"Yeah." Helen touched a finger to the baby's cheek, and the girl turned her head toward her mother. "They grow so fast."
"She's beautiful," Raine said, staring at the baby.
"You want to hold her?" Helen asked. She glanced at Connor and bit her lip, as if trying to keep from laughing. "We have to get her away from Con before she wakes up."
"Hey," Connor said, scowling at them. "That wasn't me. Brendan was barking at Lizzie's dog Frannie. He scared the kid."
"Yeah, put it on me," Brendan said, rolling his eyes. "Whatever makes you feel better."
Connor looked at Raine. "You want to hold her?"
"I don't know." Her hands were sweaty again, and she took a step backward. "I haven't held one before." Except for Genie. And since she'd been a baby herself, she barely remembered.
"Hold out your arms."
She stared at Charlotte for a moment, then slowly raised her arms.
Connor handed her the warm bundle. "Make sure you're supporting her head. That's the only trick."
The scent of baby powder and milk drifted up to Raine, and she gradually relaxed. Charlotte continued to sleep. Conversation drifted around her, but she lost track of it. Finally Mia nudged her. "My turn."
She slid Charlotte carefully into Mia's waiting arms, then looked around the kitchen. The noise of everyone talking at once bounced off the cabinets and the counters, echoed from the floors. Amazing that the baby was still sleeping.
"Is it always like this?" she whispered to Connor.
"It's usually worse. We're two short."
The front door opened, as if on cue, and footsteps echoed on the hardwood floor. "We're here," a man called.
Another Connor look-alike stepped into the room, a blond woman beside him. Her curly hair was pulled away from her face. Both of them were glowing.
"Mac and Lizzie," Connor announced.
"Everyone here?" Mac asked. He glanced around the room, as if counting heads. "Good. We have some news."
The room went silent. Raine scanned all the faces. Quinn looked interested. Rose stood straighter. Connor frowned.
Mac brought Lizzie's hand to his mouth and kissed it. Something sparkled in the sunlight. "We're getting married," he said.
Sound exploded into the room as everyone began talking at once. Raine stood aside and watched as everyone hugged Mac, then Lizzie. The women all oohed and ahhed over the diamond on the third finger of her left hand.
Raine watched with a lump in her throat. This is what a family looked like. This love. This ease with each other. Happiness when one of the other family members was happy.
They'd share their sorrows, too. None of the Donovans would mourn alone. None of them would struggle by themselves. They all had each other's backs.
If her parents had lived, Raine might have had a family like this, too. A smaller, quieter version, but the same closeness.
Her aloneness, the distance she'd struggled to maintain since Genie died, suddenly felt wrong. Painfully lonely. A barren way to live.
She reached for Connor's hand and twined her fingers with his. This was what she wanted. This exuberance. This joyfulness.
She wanted a family again.
The energy that filled the kitchen, that zinged from one Donovan to the next, was what she
needed in her life.
Her family was gone. But that didn't mean she couldn't have this kind of happiness in her life. This openness. This connection with her friends and the other important people in her life.
This kind of love.
Her fingers tightened on Connor's as he drew her closer to the couple at the center of the crowd. "Hey, Mac. Lizzie." He wrapped his arm around Raine's waist. "This is Raine Taylor."
First Mac, then Lizzie swept her into a hug. They were a physical family. She'd been hugged by just about everyone already.
Instead of putting her off, she liked it. Liked being welcomed without reservations, without judgment.
She wrapped her arms around Mac and hugged him back.
***
Connor glanced over at Raine, who was staring out the windshield. The glare of the streetlights on the window obscured her expression, and he needed to touch her. Just to make sure she was okay.
His family was completely different than hers – louder, boisterous, touchy-feely. Always trying to one-up each other. Maybe he'd made a mistake by bringing her to dinner today. Maybe they were too much for her to absorb in one gulp.
"You okay?" he said, reaching for her hand as he tried to keep his eyes on the road in front of him.
"Yeah," she said, absently bringing his hand to her mouth and kissing his palm. "Just thinking about your family."
"In what way?" His heart thundered against his ribs as he watched her out of the corner of his eye. Raine was reserved. She didn't let many people in. What would he do if all the Donovan touching and teasing made her uncomfortable? Or gave her the creeps?
How could they have any kind of relationship? Much less a long-term one?
He let her go and tightened his hands on the steering wheel. Jesus! Had he just used the words 'long term' and 'relationship'?
He drew in a careful breath. That was just a theoretical. A random thought. He wasn't thinking long term with Raine. No. Definitely not.
Probably not.
He slid his eyes to her, let his gaze linger on her profile. Her hair was standing straight up – she'd shoved her hands through it more than once today. There were shadows beneath her eyes, and they drooped with weariness.
He wanted to sweep her into his arms and kiss the pensive expression from her face. Tuck her into bed and make sure she fell asleep.
God. Who was he kidding?
Of course he was thinking long term.
What was terrifying was that the thought didn't make him want to bolt. It didn't have him scrambling backwards, trying to cover his ass.
She turned to face him. "Your family," she began, then bit her lip as she let her gaze slide away from him.
"What about them?" His hands slipped on the steering wheel, and he surreptitiously wiped one, then the other, on his thighs.
"They're wonderful." Her voice was so soft he could barely hear her. "They were so welcoming. So friendly." She flicked a glance in his direction. "I was thinking about my family. About how different my...Beatrice is."
"I'm not sure Beatrice is human," he shot back before thinking. "Maybe she's some kind of alien."
Raine reached for his hand. "That's how I was raised," she said quietly. "But I want more than that. I want what your family has. I want to be light, and easy. Happy."
"You will be," he promised, the dread in his chest dissipating into a long, exhaled breath. "As soon as Northrup is behind bars. When he's in a cage, when you don't have to look over your shoulder every day, you can live however you want to live." He put his hand on her face, caressed her cheek. Just because he could.
Her skin was whisper-smooth beneath his fingertips. Soft. Cool. "You can come to dinner with me every month," he promised. "For lessons."
She finally smiled. "Yeah? That sounds like what I need. Donovan lessons."
"You already have a smart mouth," he said, light-headed with relief. "So the smack talk will be easy for you to pick up."
"Yeah, I think I can hold my own in that part," she said, a grin flickering over her mouth. "Brendan wanted to come to the dojo to spar with me. I told him I couldn't do that to him. That I'd have to tell you how I kicked his ass, and I didn't want to humiliate him."
His jaw felt like it would split with his smile. "Wish I could have seen that."
"It was a thing of beauty," she said, satisfaction in her voice.
"Maybe you don't need lessons after all," he said. "Just more exposure. So you can hone your game."
She glanced over at him. "I'd like that."
He reached for her hand as they turned onto her street. Her fingers slid between his, connecting them. Weaving them together. "Consider it done."
Chapter 29
Raine leaned against the wall in the hall outside of her apartment. Connor was checking the place, but she wasn't worried. She reached out and grabbed her neighbor's doorknob to anchor her to the floor. If she didn't have something to hold onto, she'd float right to the ceiling.
A huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She'd met Connor's family. They'd welcomed her. Connor had talked about taking her to their Sunday dinner next month. As if it was a given they'd still be together.
And safe.
She'd heard Connor tell one of the detectives to get a warrant for Peter’s arrest, and pick him up when it came through. By now, Peter was probably sitting in a cell. He couldn't hurt her. Or Connor.
When Connor motioned her into the house, she threw herself into his arms. Wrapped her legs around his waist and fastened her mouth to his. Kissed him with the abandon of a woman freed from prison.
He held her against him and kissed her back, his tongue tracing her lips until she opened and let him in. "I wanted to do this all afternoon," he groaned into her mouth. "I thought we'd never get away from them."
She'd watched him all afternoon, too, remembering how he tasted, how his body felt against hers. Longing to repeat everything they'd done that morning. Need had been a banked fire, ready to crackle back to life at the smallest touch. "Yeah," she whispered. "And all that testosterone when you were teasing your brothers?" She sucked at his lip, then soothed it with her tongue. "Didn't help."
"Okay. No more Sunday dinners," he vowed, his breath feathering over her cheek.
"Don't say that." She bit his shoulder. "I liked them. I had fun. And you promised to take me back."
"So you can torture me every month?"
Not just next month. Every month. "Yeah," she said against his neck. "Every month."
"Guess we'll have a lot of catching up to do after family dinners." He leaned away from her, his eyes already dilated, his skin flushed. His hands trembled where they pressed into her waist.
"I'll be thinking about it every time. What we're going to do when we get home." Home. Another word she loved.
"You're an evil woman." He sucked at the skin behind her ear and she moaned against his neck. "I'll never be able to look at you at dinner."
"I'll be looking at you.” She leaned away from him. His pupils were dilated with need, his cheeks flushed. "Thinking about this. About where your hands are going to be. How I'm going to kiss you."
"God, Raine." He backed her into the wall and reached around to slide the straps of her sundress off her shoulders. The bodice slipped down her chest, exposing her right breast. He lifted her higher and swirled his tongue around the tip. "You're making me crazy."
She fumbled her hands to his waist, yanked his shirt out of his pants. "Only fair," she managed to say. "Because when you touch me, I don't remember my name." She gasped as he sucked her nipple into his mouth.
He lowered her, pressed his mouth against hers, then stumbled toward her bedroom. "Let's see if we can remember it together," he said, nipping at her ear lobe.
He fell onto the bed with her, twisting so she landed on top of him. As he pulled her dress over her head, his phone rang.
"Ignore it," she said, pushing the buttons through their holes on his shirt. "Turn it off."
He'd
stilled beneath her. Finally, brushing his mouth over hers, he said, "Sorry, babe. Work. Have to take it."
"You're off today."
"Doesn't matter. When they call, I answer."
He shifted her off his chest and sat up, but kept his arm around her shoulders. With his other hand, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. "Donovan."
As he listened, he closed his eyes. Let her go and stood up. Shoved his hand through his hair. Paced her bedroom. "Jesus," he finally said. "I'll be there in twenty."
He slipped the phone back into his pocket. Tugged the straps of her dress over her shoulders. Bent and pressed his mouth to hers, a kiss filled with longing and regret. "I have to go. We have a case. A bad one. A drive by. Three people killed, four more injured." He brushed his hand over her hair, cupped her cheek. Took her hand. "I have no idea when I'll be back."
"It's okay," she murmured. "I understand." This is what it would be like, being involved with a cop. Moments interrupted. Phone calls on his day off.
And a man who couldn't say no when he was needed on the job.
She wouldn't want him any other way. She stood up and wrapped her arms around him. Held tightly for a moment, then let him go. "Stay safe," she whispered. She turned and fumbled on the dresser for the second key to her new lock. She opened her dresser drawer, dug out the ring with her extra set of keys. She slid the new one onto the ring and pressed it into his hand. "Come back when you're done."
He stared down at the key ring for a long moment, then his fingers closed around it. "I will, babe. I'll be back when I can."
She wanted to ask him if he'd always come back, but she didn't. It was too soon. Too new.
They would have plenty of time for questions like that. With an arrest warrant finally issued for Peter, they had all the time in the world.
"Don’t go out tonight, right?" he said as he buttoned his shirt.
"Not going anywhere," she assured him. "I'm still stuffed with your mom's lasagna, so I don't even have to get takeout. I'll read a book." She twined herself around him. "Maybe catch up on my sleep, so I won't have to sleep the next time you're here."
Trust Me (The Donovan Family Book 4) Page 26
