Ash shifts his weight and nudges my shoulder, giving me that same look he wore when he joked,your secret’s safe with me. Back then, there wasn’t a secret to keep. Now?—
“Rayne Webber!” His voice carries across the boardwalk.
Luna stops and turns. The second her eyes find us, a startled look flashes across her face. It smooths out as she walks over.
“Ash,” she says, greeting him with a bright smile, but the one she gives me is carefully dialed down. “Dakarai. Taking a break from strategizing against me?”
“I need fuel if I’m going to keep up.”
She laughs.
I shove my hands into the pockets of my suit pants before instincts take over and I reach for her.
“Do you have time to join us?” Ash asks.
What the fuck?
Luna hesitates, too. Just as surprised by the invitation as I am. But then she looks over at me with a spark of challenge in her eyes. “Dakarai, are you up for a twenty-minute ceasefire?”
The strategist in me says,hell no. Too risky. Too many opportunities to say the wrong thing, look just a second too long, give something away.
But the man who misses her like crazy answers first. “Absolutely.”
Her look of pleasure is subtle. I notice it anyway.
“Brielle, you’re welcome to join us,” she says to her staffer.
“I’m good, thanks. I’ll get this paperwork back to the office. Unless you think you need backup?”
“I’m sure I can handle these boys.”
I smile to myself. Luna has confidence to spare. In spite of Hollis trying to shrink her to fit his pathetic insecurities, she bloomed after leaving him. Therapy didn’t create this version of her. It just helped uncover and nurture what was always living there.
When Brielle heads off, Luna steps fully into line beside us. With the ease of two people who grew up in the same town and know half the same stories, she and Ash fall naturally into conversation.
I should be listening. Instead, I find myself watching her. The way she talks with her hands when she’s excited or passionateabout a point. The smile that comes readily to her face, the laugh that rings out, authentic and unabandoned.
Ash catches me staring and raises an eyebrow.
I immediately pretend to study the menu board.
We finally reach the front of the line. “What can I get you, Rayne?” I ask.
“The South West salad, please.”
I repeat her order to the cashier and automatically add, “Extra avocado.”
Ash’s eyebrows climb even higher.
Shit. “Sorry. I shouldn’t assume just because I’m a fan.”
Luna’s mouth twitches. “That’s fine.”
Not for a second do I think Ash buys the explanation.
When it comes time to pay, I wave them both off. Ash and I usually take care of our own meals, but there’s no way in hell I’m splitting the cost with Luna. It seems less obvious to just cover the whole tab. Ash is definitely keeping score now.
“Thank you,” Luna says as I tuck my money clip back into my pocket.
