Reflected in the Rain (The Storm Inside)

by Alexis Anne

  My defenses shot up faster than Greg’s words could sink in. “This is none of your damn business, Greg.”

  That was when I knew I was in trouble. Greg seared a hole through me with a stare that made my blood run cold. I’d seen him mad before, and what I was looking at now was on an entirely different level. When he spoke, his voice was quiet and controlled. “What happens between you and Eve is your business, but when you hurt her, you are messing with me, too.”

  “You are my friend, not hers.” I don’t even know why I said that. It was so far off point.

  Greg let out a long slow breath and the vein in his neck throbbed. “Let’s get one thing straight: I am friends with both of you. But if I had to pick a side right now, it would be hers.”

  “How did I hurt her?” I was being entirely too defensive, but I couldn’t stop myself. “She said she was fine with Ashley.”

  Greg looked at me like I was a child. “Eve was fine with giving you what you asked for because she loves you, you big dumb asshole. It does not mean she was fine with having your ex-lover under her roof. Are you telling me if Eve asked Sebastian over to work out a few lingering issues from their past you wouldn’t be upset and wondering what the hell was happening to your marriage?”

  Just the mention of Eve’s ex-boyfriend made me want to punch a hole in the wall. It didn’t matter that she didn’t love him. I hated everything about that man and spending one party in the same room with him was as much as I could tolerate for one lifetime. “I thought Eve was better than me,” I said as much to myself as to Greg.

  He rolled his eyes. “She is.”

  That hurt, but it was true.

  I sat there quietly because I didn’t know what to say. I had totally and completely misread Eve. Greg was right—I was an idiot. “I honestly thought she was simply better at putting the past away than I was.”

  “The past, maybe. Your old flame? Eve? Really? Seriously,” he shook his head at me, “when you’re getting relationship advice from me, you’re in a bad place my friend.”

  “Shit.” I couldn’t sit still. I wanted fix things with Eve right then and there.

  Greg laughed at me as he stood up and headed toward the door. “If I were forced to have dinner with my wife’s ex-lover, I probably would have gotten even drunker than Eve, then ripped out the assholes esophagus and beaten him to death with it. She must really love your loser ass.”

  Greg could seriously paint a mental picture like no one else. “You don’t have a wife.”

  “And it’s a damn good thing, too.”

  I stopped on my way home and bought Eve’s favorite chocolate cake from the little French bakery she loved. We’d been home less than a week and I’d already screwed everything up. If I was lucky she wouldn’t divorce me. I really didn’t know how to make up for last night. I’d never really had to make up with Eve before. Not like this.

  When I opened the front door I was hit on all fronts. Music was blaring, food was obviously cooking, and lights were low with candles lit everywhere. I found Eve singing and dancing in the kitchen, her back to me, while she chopped vegetables. I didn’t want to scare her with a knife in her hands, so I dangled the bag with the cake from my index finger and cleared my throat loudly.

  She spun around and grinned at me, her eyes dropping to the bag and back up again. “Hey there. What have we here?”

  She was wearing a tank top and exercise shorts—and obviously nothing else. I was instantly turned on. “I brought you dessert.”

  Her eyes flashed with something dark and dirty. Dessert was rarely eaten with a fork in our house. “To what do I owe such a lovely surprise?” She took a step toward me, taking the bag and placing it on the counter.

  She was inches away, and yet I could feel her body warmth. I wanted to touch her, but I held back. “I wanted to apologize for last night.”

  Her eyes flicked up to mine, but she didn’t say a word. Her breathing changed, but it wasn’t heavy with desire like I’d hoped. It was ragged, like she was upset. “Oh,” she finally said. Then she leaned back against the counter, crossing her arms protectively across her chest. “How was work today?”

  I wanted to pull her into my arms, rip the barrier between us away, and physically force her to forgive me, but I knew that wasn’t going to work. I couldn’t fix my screw-up with a hug or sex. I needed to start talking. “Work was fine. Normal.” I explained. “Greg took the meetings with Ashley and I didn’t see her at all.”

  I honestly couldn’t read Eve. She was stone—no expression on her face anywhere. “And I wanted to say thank you. I needed last night but I know it must have been hard for you.”

  She blinked a few hundred times. “Hard?” she finally said. “Hard? You invite your ex over and you think it was hard for me? You are such a fucking hypocrite!”

  Yeah, that hurt a little. “I know I asked things of you I couldn’t do myself. But I really needed to close that chapter.”

  Eve looked like she wanted to punch me as she turned away and paced around the kitchen. “Do you realize you didn’t even ask me how I was last night?” She stopped and glared at me from across the island. “When they left, you just asked me if I was ready for bed, we had quick sex, and turned out the lights.” She threw her hands up in the air and looked at the ceiling. “I had dinner with your ex and all you had in you was quick sex and a cuddle?”

  She was almost yelling by that point and I couldn’t blame her. “I was a selfish asshole, Eve.”

  She balled up her fists and screamed at me. It was unintelligible, but clearly full of curse words. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

  I took my life into my own hands and calmly walked around the island, placing my hands on her hips. “I needed her to see that I have a good life here. One she could never be a part of. That my old life is dead and gone, and my new life is the best thing that has ever happened to me. Ash is a visual person. I could tell her until I was blue in the face that I loved my company and being married to you was exactly what I needed, but until she could see it for herself, it wasn’t going to sink in.”

  I expected Eve to soften, to allow me to kiss her or hold her, but that wasn’t what happened. She put her palms on my chest and pushed me away instead. “Ashley and I had a very interesting conversation after dinner, Jake. One in which she told me how much she loved you.”

  Well that was an interesting development. A really unexpected, crappy, development.

  I was in much deeper shit than I realized.

  Eve paced around to the opposite side of the island, crossed her arms back over her chest, and glared at me. “I’m not sure your grand plan worked, Jake.”

  “What did you say to her?” I asked tentatively.

  The corners of her lips twitched up in an evil smile. One I kind of found a little hot. “I did what I do. I warned her she wouldn’t like stepping on my territory.”

  I felt my own lips twitch up a little. “I love you.”

  “I know. But you’re still a selfish bastard.”

  “I should have talked this over with you first, huh?”

  She shook her head and rolled her eyes. “Jake, I know you’re still getting used to having a wife and not simply making blanket decisions for yourself… but yeah, this is one of those things you should have cleared with me first.”

  I took a chance and started to slowly walk around the island. It felt like Eve was warming up to me. Possibly even willing to forgive me. “I’m sorry. I thought I was doing the right thing.”

  She sighed and closed her eyes. “I don’t understand, Jake. I feel like you’re keeping things from me.”

  Part of me wanted to tell Eve everything, I always wanted to tell her everything, but with Ashley it was different. Telling Eve everything would only make things more confusing and it wasn’t my story to tell. “I’m not going to lie to you, Eve. I’m going to be brutally honest and I’ll let you decide what you what to know. Ok?”

  I dipped down to catch her gaze. It was such a relie
f to look into her eyes. Sure she was as mad as ever, but what I really saw was confusion. “Start talking, Jake. My patience isn’t going to last forever.”

  “Alright. I’ve told you just about everything there is to know about my relationship with her, so if you are worried about that, don’t be. It was exactly what I told you—a convenient friendship.”

  I felt Eve tense under my hands and she was looking at my chest, not my eyes, but she was listening.

  “I never loved her. Hell,” I sighed, “I wasn’t even a very good friend. I was very selfish and wasn’t in a place to really care about anyone. She knew that and she knew what she was getting herself into, so I always absolved myself of any blame when it came to our past. That was probably shitty of me, too.”

  Damn, I was such a horrible person. The more I heard myself talk, the more I hated myself. So many mistakes…

  “I hate that you know so much about my past, and I can’t change it. But Ashley’s…” I swallowed and looked up at Eve. She was staring at me with her arms wrapped around her body.

  “How bad is it?” her voice was so quiet.

  “Bad,” was all I said. But it was all I needed to say. Eve nodded once and started rubbing her arms like she was cold. I wanted to walk over to her and make her warm, but I gave her a second to process everything I was saying instead.

  “And you don’t want to tell me about it?”

  I shook my head. It was the last thing I wanted. I didn’t like knowing Ashley’s history, how could anyone else? “No. I don’t want to put someone else’s shitty history in your lap. I just want to leave the damn past in the past already.”

  I could feel every inch of the distance between us and I hated all of it. “I’m trying to understand,” she finally said.

  “I’m sorry I invited her over here and I’m even more sorry I didn’t stop to think how all of this might affect you. I don’t know what the hell is wrong with me.” I really didn’t.

  Eve sighed and shook her head, then she crossed the kitchen and came to stand right in front of me. “There is nothing wrong with you, Jake. You’re in a weird situation and you’re trying to do the right thing. I get that. But…”

  I raised my eyebrows, “But?”

  “But you have to talk to me. You can’t just assume you know what I’m thinking or what is best for me.”

  “I’m sorry,” I repeated. “It was a dickhead move to do all of this without talking it through with you first.” I genuinely felt like a moron.

  “The thing is,” she smiled up at me, “it’s one of the things I really find very hot most of the time. I like decisive, commanding Jake. So I guess I have to accept a few misses here and there.”

  “You like the cocky bastard routine, don’t you Eve?” All the distance between us was melting. She was letting me back in.

  Her chest was rising and falling rapidly. “I love cocky Jake. Yes.”

  I picked her up and set her down on the counter in front of me, pushing her knees out so I could settle between her thighs. Eve rested her hands gently on my shoulders. She didn’t pull me against her, but she didn’t push me away either.

  I ran my nose up her throat and settled behind her ear. She shivered.

  “Forgive me?”

  Her hands curled around my shoulders as she sucked in an excited breath, but Eve still didn’t answer me.

  So I ran my right hand up her thigh and pressed my thumb up against her sex at the exact moment I whispered in her ear, “Please forgive me, Eve.”

  She whimpered and nodded. “I forgive you.”

  Then I tugged on her earlobe while I moved my thumb under her shorts, finding the warm, wet promise of make-up sex. “I love you so much.”

  “I love you, too,” she groaned, running her fingers up into my hair and pressing my lips against her chest.

  I grinned. Having my face planted between her breasts with my hand up her shorts was probably one of the best places in the world. “How can I make it up to you?”

  I pressed my thumb inside her and she arched her back, groaning and pulling me against her with her feet. “Shut up, you cocky bastard. You know what I want.”

  Chapter 27

  ~Eve~

  Jake pushed inside me with his thumb and I forgot everything we were talking about. How could I think about the past or my anger when his thumb was doing fantastic things to the most sensitive part of my body?

  He pulled me closer to the edge of the counter and I leaned back on my hands. I was so turned on I couldn’t see straight, so I closed my eyes and enjoyed the way Jake was saying he was sorry. “Don’t be quiet. I want to hear everything you’re feeling.” His voice was hoarse.

  But it was more than that. He was looking for a way into my head through sex.

  “I hate you for last night.”

  He groaned and kissed his way down my neck to my chest. When his mouth found my nipples under the thin fabric of my tank top I let him hear just how aroused I was, too.

  “Oh baby…” he sighed.

  I grinned as I ran my fingers through his hair and his thumb turned into two fingers stroking and massaging until I was panting and tugging at his hair for leverage. “You didn’t talk to me.”

  He pulled back and looked up into my eyes. “I won’t make that mistake twice.”

  He kissed me with one hand in my hair and one inside my body and, for a minute, I forgot about everything but loving Jake. “She’s not you,” I whispered. I knew I was treading into territory I probably couldn’t navigate, but I dove in anyway. Jake stilled, but didn’t look up at me. I kept talking. “Jake, in any other world I would have had her tossed out on her backside and I probably would have picked a huge fight with you. But I couldn’t. This is complicated and I know it. As much as I want this to be a black and white issue, it isn’t.” I grabbed his chin and tilted his face up to mine. “I know you’re confused and I’m trying to be understanding, but you have to trust me.”

  He swallowed and the dark look in his eyes about broke my heart. “I trust you more than I’ve ever trusted anyone, Eve.” He slowly pulled his fingers out of my body and wrapped himself around me, burying his face in my shoulder. “I do trust you. I just don’t always know how to say what’s going on in my head because I don’t know what’s going on in my head.”

  I wished holding him could actually make Jake’s problems go away. “But you’re writing, right?”

  He nodded against my shoulder, digging his fingers into my sides as he held me tighter. “Yes.”

  “Good. Keep writing and try to talk to me more, ok? We’ll get through this.”

  He started kissing my neck and massaging my hips. He was upset and thinking too much about things he couldn’t change. That was when my eyes fell on the bag he brought home. “I think we should eat dessert before dinner.”

  I felt his grin against my skin. “I think that is a fantastic idea.”

  While we ate dessert, dinner got cold. Not that I cared. Jake reenacted round two of our wedding night with shocking precision. Licking chocolate off of each other was one of my new favorite ways to relax.

  The combination of memories and emotions was overwhelming.

  He was on the counter on his back with me draped across his chest. I was exhausted and relaxed and oddly happy, all things considered. Words started falling out of my mouth before I could stop them. “When we’re like this, I’m always happy. When it’s just you and me… nothing else matters. It’s everything else that gets in the way.”

  He was rubbing my back and pulling his fingers through my hair. The rise and fall of his broad chest was as comforting as anything I’d ever felt. “If I could find a way to hide us away, I would,” he whispered.

  I thought about our honeymoon and how happy we were for those two weeks. Why couldn’t the rest of our lives be just as simple? “I think that should be our goal. You and me.”

  He was quiet for a minute and I wondered what he was thinking about but I still didn’t want to push him. Jake nee
ded to work through all of this himself. “We should really eat some dinner…” he chuckled.

  It took a few minutes in the microwave to warm our food back up. We ate dinner cross legged on the counter. “How have we never done this before?” Jake asked as he shoved a forkful in his mouth.

  “I don’t know, but we can do it again any time. Especially if we have sex as an appetizer.”

  Jake grinned, his dimple showing in his left cheek.

  I looked Jake in the eye. “You do realize that after this, if any other ex’s or Miss Sweet and Delicate shows up again, I’m enacting a zero tolerance policy, right?”

  “I had no doubt. Thank you for understanding that this was a unique situation.”

  I studied him while he ate. I still don’t think he really understood. To him, Ashley was in the same position he’d been in once. She just needed someone to help. I could see his point of view—that turning his back on Ashley was like turning his back on himself. Jake was too close to his own situation. He couldn’t see what Greg and I could see: he and Ashley weren’t in the same position. Helping her and dragging us along for the ride wasn’t going to fix things and it certainly wasn’t going to redeem anyone.

  Once is a lesson. Twice wasn’t going to happen.

  Chapter 28

  -Jake-

  I was sitting in yet another conference room waiting for yet another meeting… with Ashley... when all I really wanted was to be with Eve, who was also stuck in a late meeting at work. I hoped to hell after everything was settled on Monday our lives would get a lot simpler. A week ago we were relaxing and having sex. This week we were stressed and busy. I didn’t like this change at all.

  It felt late, my sense of time was still all off from our honeymoon, so I was surprised when I glanced at my watch and saw it was late. I had just grabbed my phone when Ashley walked in.