Trying to steal my heart.
* * *
Frankie squealed, clapping her hands as she dropped to her knees on our front porch. The tiny puppy scuttled toward her, jumping up on her chest, licking her face. “Daddy! Daddy! It’s a puppy. Look. It’s a puppy. It’s the cutest puppy in the whole wide world.”
She hugged the wiggling body against her probably a little too tightly, but the little ball of fur just went wilder, clawing up her chest to get closer to her face so he could lick her like he’d found his long lost best friend.
Unfortunately, Frankie was under the impression she’d found hers.
Shrieks of laughter rang in the air. “Daddy! He’s kissin’ me. He’s kissin’ me. I fink he loves me.”
The sight of it sent a rock sinking straight to the pit of my stomach.
My gaze cut to Rynna, who was standing there watching the two of them with an affected smile on her face. Her eyes were full of an emotion I wasn’t sure I was ready to recognize.
A lump formed in my throat. Heavy. As heavy as that rock that sat in the pit of my stomach. It only grew when Rynna edged forward and knelt in front of Frankie. Then she reached out and gently ran her hand over the puppy’s head, her gaze growing even softer as she looked at my daughter.
“He’s a golden retriever. What do you think we should name him?” she asked.
“How’s about Milo? Milo’s my friend at school who’s a boy and he’s so nice and this puppy is a boy so I finks we should name him Milo because he’s nice, too.”
Rynna didn’t even skip a beat at the ramble that fell from Frankie’s mouth. She just let her smile grow, glancing down at the puppy. He was currently on his hind legs thinking he could jump his way onto Rynna’s lap. “He is a nice boy, isn’t he?” she cooed, letting the puppy lick her face. “Milo it is, then.”
“Milo! I love Milo! I love Milo. Can I take him for a walk? Do you gots a leash?”
And the two of them? They disappeared, trotted alongside the road, Frankie screeching her joy, Rynna right there in case the puppy tugged hard enough to get loose.
Thirty minutes later, I watched as Frankie ran with the puppy nipping along at her heels through Rynna’s front door. Rynna stood on the same deck that had changed everything, hugging her arms across her chest and biting at her lip as she watched the two of them bound inside.
I’d held back, standing against the railing, unable to process what was going on inside me.
I edged up behind her. I could feel it. The chill that skated her spine, the way she shook as I released a breath against her ear. A few strands of chestnut rustled with the air and tickled my lips. “A dog, huh?” I whispered.
There was a swift intake of breath before she cautiously turned around to face me. “I . . .” She glanced back at the house. “I’m living here alone, and I thought I could use a friend. It gets lonely at night.”
She turned around to face me fully. Bewilderment twitched along her brow. “Do you not like dogs?”
A vice of grief wrenched up my insides. I was right. Ever since Rynna Dayne had come into my life, every old wound had been unbound, released from its confines, spinning and taunting me where they danced right under my nose.
“Of course I like dogs.” Could barely force it out through the hardness that ridged my lips.
Longing twisted through her features when she glanced back at the door, looking back at me like she was begging for me to understand. “I know you and I are new. But Frankie . . . I saw that puppy and the only thing I could think about was her. About how excited she would be. I . . . I wanted to give her something she didn’t have.” Rapidly she blinked, and tears threatened at her eyes. “I wanted her to love something that’s a part of me. Are you mad?”
I couldn’t hold back anymore. I jerked her against me. “Fuck, Rynna. Of course I’m not mad.”
I hugged her tight. Kissed the crown of her head. Wishing I could explain how it brought back memories I didn’t know how to deal with.
I was numb as I stood by the side of the road, staring blankly as the taillights disappeared in the distance. I tried to blink through the squiggle of red, neon lines that lit up against my bleary vision. It was like looking at the sun and then closing your eyes. Or maybe I just wished they were closed. But they were open wide, my gaze sucked down.
Down.
Down.
Missy dead at my feet.
I gulped around the vision, bile in my throat, agony in my chest.
Mrs. Dayne was there, her hand on my forearm. “Don’t worry. I’ve got her. You do what you’ve got to do.”
She picked up Frankie where she was laying on the gravel, face-down, barely able to process what was happening through the daze that clouded my mind. My daughter’s cries. Taillights.
What had I done?
What had I done?
A shovel.
Dirt.
Sweat on my nape.
I struggled for a breath, that numbness fracturing when I picked Missy up and carried her to the hole. I laid her in it.
I squinted, trying to see through the haze.
A shovelful of dirt.
Another.
A mound of nothing.
My girl. My wife. Gone.
They always were.
* * *
“You wants to be my bestest friend?” Frankie’s small voice slipped through the thin wall, muted just the same as the light. Rynna’s echoed back, so goddamned soft it penetrated to the depths of me.
“You want me to be your best friend?”
There was no answer, but my mind was conjuring a clear picture of Frankie vigorously nodding her head against her pillow. Could picture Rynna where she knelt on the ground beside her bed where she’d been reading my daughter her bedtime story.
Of course, because Frankie had again insisted.
“I’d like that,” Rynna murmured, and there was shuffling, what I knew was a tender kiss.
My heart fisted. There was a special kind of terror when things felt too right. Too good. That lulling calm before your life was demolished by a devastating storm.
“Good night, Sweet Pea,” Rynna said.
My ear was tuned to the movement in Frankie’s room as Rynna stood and flipped off the light. Her presence grew denser with each step. Could feel it swallow me from behind when she emerged at the end of the hall.
An avalanche of need.
A landslide of desire.
She edged around the couch. Since Frankie was safely tucked away in bed, Rynna curled up at my side. We were still being careful, easing Frankie into the idea of Rynna and me.
I wound an arm around her, pressed a kiss to her temple.
Milo yipped, and Rynna cooed, pulling him into her arms. She settled back into my chest and released a contented breath.
A breath that filtered through me like peace.
Like warmth and light.
Milo nudged my hand, and a restless sigh pressed between my lips when I looked down to find those huge brown puppy eyes staring up at me. He whimpered again, his snout damp, prodding at me. Relenting, I ran my hand over the soft, soft fur of his head.
My chest tightened and I felt another piece of me break.
God damn it.
Rynna snuggled closer. God damn it straight to hell.
Rynna.
Fucking Rynna.
Little Thief.
27
Rynna
“No.” Nikki sat forward as if the tiny bit of information I’d let slip was the most scandalous thing she’d ever heard.
I glanced around the quaint city sidewalk where Nikki, Lillith, and I sat out front of a small café under an umbrella sipping our coffees. People meandered, peering into the large storefront windows, enjoying their Saturday morning. Lush trees grew up from planters, strategically placed along the walk, their bright green leaves and thick branches shade for the old two- and three-story buildings that had been renovated as part of a restoration project over the last ten years.
Macaber Street was much like what was happening on Fairview where the diner was located and the new hotel was going up. I could only pray Pepper’s Pies would see this same kind of revitalization. That it would flourish and mobs of people would move in and out of its doors. It was the life I was looking for right there. Within my reach.
Which was what had Nikki in a stir.
I lifted a shoulder and took a sip of my ice-cold Frappuccino. “What?”
She gave me a look that told me I was insane. “Um . . . you did just say RG Construction had taken over the renovation on Pepper’s?”
“So?”
She laughed and glanced at Lillith, who was burying her smile in the plastic lid of her coffee. Disbelief filled Nikki’s tone when she aimed her inquisition back on me. “RG. As in Rex Gunner. Asshole extraordinaire, who just so happens to be your neighbor and you have so clearly been crushing on since the day we met you.”
I would have bristled at the insinuation of Rex being an asshole if it weren’t for the heat that rushed to my cheeks, beating any other emotion to the punch. There was no stopping it. Not when I was immediately assaulted with the memories of last night.
Frankie had been at her grandma’s, which meant Rex had me all night. Again and again. The man hard and commanding and rough. Demanding my pleasure just as sure as he’d demanded his. My body his claim. I’d never had sex like that. Not in all my life.
I shifted in the metal chair.
Nikki’s mouth dropped open. “Oh. My. God.”
My eyes widened in as much feigned innocence as I could muster. “What are you talking about?”
Yeah. I was brilliant when I was put on the spot. I wasn’t much of a player of games. But I honestly didn’t think Rex would appreciate me gossiping about how freaking fantastic he was in bed to my friends.
“Don’t you ‘what’ me, young lady. I know there’s a story behind all of that.” She circled her finger around my face, as if in my expression was a written confession. “And a good one, too. Fess up. There’s no way you two are just doing business together.” She air-quoted the business part.
Lillith swatted Nikki’s arm. “If she doesn’t want to talk about it, don’t force her.” Lillith looked back at me with an apologetic grin. “I swear that she chases all the good ones away because she thinks she needs to know every detail about everything.”
“That’s what friends are for. The details. I want all the details.” She looked to the sky as if she were casting up a petition. Her attention dropped right back to me with a plea on her face. “Come on, Rynna. Tell me. I can’t stand it. I want to know how you convinced Rex to work for you. I mean, not that you’re not all kinds of gorgeous, because we all know you are, and I’m pretty sure you could enchant just about any man with your sexual wiles, but we’re talking Rex Gunner here. ”
Leaning forward, I rested my forearms on the table as I fiddled with a paper napkin. “He’s not an asshole.”
Not even close.
“He just . . . doesn’t normally let people get to know him.”
Nikki’s brows rose. “And you know him?”
“We’re . . .”
“You’re what?” This from Lillith. She shifted forward. “Are you and Rex seeing each other?” Shock lined every syllable of the question.
Uneasily, I glanced down the street, not sure how to describe what Rex and I were. What we had.
Not when it felt like everything but still lacked a name. “We’ve been spending time together,” I settled on.
Nikki smacked the table then pointed at me. “I knew it!”
“You’re dating Rex Gunner?” Lillith drew in a sharp breath, totally taken aback.
“Is that such a surprise?” I didn’t mean for it to come across as defensive. But it did. I was feeling protective of Rex and the misguided reputation he had. As if he wasn’t deserving of love. Or maybe there were those distorted doubts that I wasn’t good enough.
Not to mention those specks of insecurity I felt at the mystery that remained hidden in his eyes, this needle of discomfort that poked and prodded and warned there was something he was keeping from me.
I was right there and he was terrified to let me the rest of the way in.
Lillith softened. “I am surprised, but not in a bad way. Rex deserves to find happiness. He’s had it rough. I couldn’t imagine a better person for him and that little girl than you.”
My lips pursed, and I decided to go with blatant honesty. Because Lillith and Nikki made me feel that I could. “I’m sorry. Sometimes . . . there are times when an old defensiveness appears out of nowhere. High school wasn’t exactly easy for me, and trust comes hard sometimes.”
Lillith glanced at Nikki. “I don’t think it was easy for any of us.”
“Oh, Lillith and I are no strangers to the high school bitches, are we Lily Pad? Believe me, we get it, and I promise you, our circle is safe. We invited you into it because we like you. That’s it.”
Gratitude throbbed, and a soft smile pulled to my mouth. “That really means a lot to me. I hope you know that.”
“Of course we know it. We’re awesome.” Nikki capped it off with a wink.
I laughed lightly. Truly loving that they had welcomed me into their circle.
My phone buzzed on the table. Excitement pulled across my ribs. I was biting at my bottom lip as I grabbed it from where I’d placed it face down, beating back a smile when I saw the text from Rex on the screen.
Rex: You still hanging out with your girls?
He’d teased me this morning when I’d tried to leave my bed, which he’d been gloriously stretched out in the middle of. The best kind of topping for twisted sheets. Naked and perfect and turning my world upside down. He’d told me he could think of much better ways to keep me entertained. It’d taken about all I had to rip myself away and force myself into the shower.
He’d just followed me in there.
I tapped out a quick reply.
Me: Finishing up soon. Will I see you later?
I set it back down. Obviously, I hadn’t done that great of a job containing my grin.
Nikki and Lillith stared back at me. Then Nikki howled. “Oh girl . . . you have it bad,” she drew out. “You should see your face right now. You are in so much trouble. Put a fork in that pie because you are done.”
“Stop it,” I whispered, laughing at her reference to pie and trying to hide the emotion that pressed in. This shimmery pulse that throbbed and vibrated, stretching out spindly fingers to find purchase in those secret places. Those places that were reserved for when it was right.
For when you just knew.
“So are you two like, together, together?” Lillith asked.
“Yeah.” As soon as I said it, those questions brimmed. Ones that hovered around the darkness that would dim his eyes.
“What?” she pressed.
Uneasy, I hesitated, hoping I wasn’t sharing something with them that would upset Rex. But I didn’t know who else to turn to. Because when I truly thought about it, it scared me.
“His ex-wife . . .” I blinked, choked around the words. “I don’t know if he’s over her.”
Just the thought gutted me.
A hollow, vacant space that radiated pain. He said he hated her. But there was so much pain around it, it made me itch.
“That bitch didn’t deserve either of them.” Nearly every word that came from Nikki’s mouth was light, filled with a tease and the easy way she looked at life. Not this. It was hard. A little bit bitter.
I hated the idea of crossing a line. Invading his privacy by asking for details he hadn’t offered.
But there was an ugly part of me that was shrouded in doubt. Turned out, old insecurities were hard to ditch. “What was she like?” I’d barely managed the choppy question when my attention caught on a big white truck that passed us, did a U-Turn, and pulled to a rumbling stop at the curb beside us.
“Holy shit,” Nikki mouthed, laughing under her breath. “Is
that actually Rex Gunner? Looks like you’re not the only one who’s done for.”
My heart surged to my throat when both passenger side windows glided down. Rex slanted me an almost shy smile that was every kind of sexy from the driver’s seat, that expression alone seeping into my spirit and finding a home.
From the backseat, Frankie waved frantically. Milo on her lap, yipping as he tried to paw his way out the window to get to me.
“We’s goin’ on a picnic, Rynna! You wants to come?” Frankie shouted.
Rex had offered to keep an eye on Milo for me when I was getting ready to leave this morning, claiming Frankie would love to see him when he picked her up this morning from her grandma’s.
Wasn’t that a sign? It had to be. I soared on it.
“It was all Frankie’s idea,” Rex said, voice gruff. The sound raked my skin and brought up chills. “She wants to spend the day at the lake, and we thought maybe you and Milo might want to join us.”
“We gots all the food, Rynna, but we ain’t gots no Pepper Pies. Is that okay?”
Oh my heart. That little girl was undoing me. Just as quickly as her dad. Affection thrummed, fluttery and thick and somehow light.
“That’s just fine, Sweet Pea,” I told her.
“Hey there, Rex,” Nikki sang, grinning as she rocked back in her chair. Leave it to Nikki to put him in the hot seat. “Tell Ollie hi for me.”
An exasperated, “Nikki,” was the only response she got.
His gaze shifted to Lillith for the flash of a second, his chin lifting in a subdued hello, discomfort ridging the lines of his expression.
But still, there was something significant about him sitting there, all rough and burly in his huge truck.
Something sweet in his offer.
Because this?
This was an offering.
“I would love to go.” I glanced back at Lillith and Nikki. “You don’t mind me cutting this a little short, do you?”
Nikki waved me off. “Get out of here. The lake sounds way more fun. Besides, Lily Pad over there is getting antsy to get back to Brody. It’s totally fine. You know, just leave me here all by myself. I don’t mind. Not at all.”
Fight for Me: The Complete Collection Page 21
