“I don’t understand. We’re both unattached, right?” she asked before he could explain. And her voice cracked, making him feel even worse.
“Right.” He inclined his head in a curt nod.
“And unless I’m really misreading signals, you were as into that kiss as I was.”
She attacked a problem head-on. Another thing he liked about Sara—her no-nonsense attitude. “You’re right. I was.”
She perched her hands on her hips. “So, what’s the problem?”
“We are. A quick fling can’t end in anything but pain and heartache for us both.”
His brother was currently living in hell over a woman who’d started out wanting the same things out of life as he did. Why willingly put himself in that position with Sara, his polar opposite, knowing ahead of time how it would end?
She drew a long, deep breath, her chest rising and falling beneath her shirt, and Rafe braced himself for an argument.
“You’re right.” She raised her hands in a gesture of defeat. “I’ve thought the same things myself.” She turned her back to him and stared out over the lake, wrapping her arms around herself.
For comfort?
Or to ward off the chill?
He came up behind her, pulling her against him for warmth. And for one last touch before he took her back to Angel’s for the night.
As the smell of the water mixed with her fragrant scent, Rafe wished like hell he could throw caution away and dive into her. After all, Rafe was all for affairs, and he was way overdue. He’d like nothing more than to bury his thoughts and himself deep inside Sara’s sexy body. And if she was any other woman, he would.
But Sara wasn’t just another willing female. She meant something to him. She had from the start. That kiss had proven without a doubt why he had to resist her—because his gut told him this limited time with her would never be enough.
And a short period of time was all she’d ever allow.
CHAPTER SIX
RAFE DIDN’T SLEEP. How could he when he’d been given a taste of what could never be? He climbed out of bed early, determined to focus on the ordinary. The mundane. If he was going to have company, he needed to stock up the fridge. He showered and headed to town. First stop: Hidden Falls’s doughnut shop, for coffee. Fortunately for the doughnut shop, unfortunately for Rafe, the small store was located next door to the barber shop where his aunt’s husband, Pirro, and his cronies hung out every Saturday, rain or shine.
Today offered pure sunshine, as had most of the sum mer. Pirro wore a Yankees cap to protect his bald head from the sun and a pressed white-collared shirt courtesy of Aunt Vi. He was surrounded by his friends.
“Rafe!” They greeted him before he could speak.
“Hi, all.” He tipped his head in acknowledgment. “In a rush.” He hoped they’d take the hint.
“Sorry to interrupt you last night,” Pirro said with a not-so-subtle wink.
“Not a problem.” Rafe wasn’t about to get into a conversation about his private life with the town gossips. These men were worse than the women who gathered in the beauty salon. He took another step toward the doughnut shop, but his escape wasn’t to be.
“Vi tells me she’s a visitor from the city?” Pirro prodded, digging for more information than his wife had given him.
“Good to know the family grapevine is alive and well.” Rafe’s mother had probably spoken to Aunt Vi bright and early this morning.
“You don’t want to talk about it, do you?” Pirro asked.
“Nope.”
Ernie, Pirro’s best friend, had stepped toward Rafe. “You having trouble with your pecker? Because there are pills you can take for that. Pirro here can hook you up!” He spoke too loudly, and people on the street turned to stare.
“Ernest, you shut your mouth!” Pirro shouted.
Rafe agreed. Too much information about his uncle’s sex life, Rafe thought and shuddered.
“Not having any trouble, Ernie, but thanks for the advice. I’m in a rush, so I’ll see you all later.” He waved at his uncle and his friends and finally headed into the doughnut shop.
When he exited a few minutes later, coffee in hand, the men were huddled over Pirro, who was scribbling in a notepad.
“Bye, Pirro!” Rafe called out.
The older man snapped his pad shut while his cronies surrounded him, blocking Rafe’s view.
“Strange,” he muttered, hoping when he was their age he had better things to do than hang out outside the barber shop.
SARA SPENT HER first day in the small town of Hidden Falls wandering the shops and getting to know the area. Main Street was decorated for the festival. Outdoor tables with umbrellas and chairs were placed on the sidewalk, and across the street on the grassy lawn, booths were being erected for everything from wine to handmade crafts to food. A makeshift stage had been set up at the far corner, with chairs lined up, obviously for a concert of some kind, and she found herself looking forward to the event.
She didn’t run into Rafe, and she was disappointed. Though he’d made his feelings clear the night before, and, as hard as it had been, she’d agreed, she still wanted him. Now that they’d kissed, she knew what she was missing and found herself looking out over the street, hoping to catch sight of him. When she didn’t, she consoled herself with the notion that there would be plenty of together time when she moved into his place tomorrow.
Before heading back to Angel’s, she stopped at an Internet café to check her e-mail messages. She wouldn’t answer them, because she didn’t want anyone tracking the IP address, but she needed to know if someone was looking for her. She scrolled through the usual mass of jokes from her cousins, mail from the various stores where she shopped, and the daily account balance she received from her bank.
But there was one e-mail with a red flag that caught her eye. A warning from her bank that someone had been searching activity on the debit card linked to her account. Sara paid extra for the additional security just for times like this—the rare incident when she was working a case or lying low and wanted to be notified if someone was tracking her. Not that Morley’s people would find anything. She’d taken out a lump sum of cash and wasn’t leaving a paper trail.
Still, she was unnerved. Using one of the disposable phones she’d purchased the day she’d left the city, she called the bank, only to hear they’d been unable to discover who had initiated the search, just that it had occurred. She thanked them and hung up, frustrated, then called Rafe and left a message that she needed to see him. If he was going to be her backup, she had to keep him informed.