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She didn’t bother turning around, just raised her hand and flipped him her middle finger. The bastard didn’t deserve anything more.
They arrived back at the condo. Beck let her in quietly. In fact, he hadn’t spoken a word to her since they’d left her father, like he’d known that she needed to be alone with her thoughts, replay the afternoon a few times in her head to feel the upsurge of triumph…then the downhill slide into wondering what came next.
Instead of heading straight back to his place, Beck had driven her to the beach and let her walk, silently trailing a few feet behind and keeping an eye on her. The crashing waves had quieted her head some. Not nearly as well as Liam’s spanking days before Thanksgiving, but this worked for now.
Eventually, she’d sat in the sand, closed her eyes, and cried until Beck picked her up and put her in the car again.
Now she glanced at the clock on the oven. Ten minutes to six. “You hungry? I saw you had some steaks in the fridge. I can cook those up.”
“Would cooking clear your head or would you rather have pizza?”
“I’m actually not hungry.”
“Skipping dinner isn’t an option. Choose again.”
Raine sighed. “I’ll cook.”
“You want another bottle?”
She grimaced. “No. Hair of the dog doesn’t appeal at all to me.”
“Good. That’s the first time I’ve seen you be a sad drunk. It sucked.”
“Gee, I’ll be more considerate of your delicate mood next time.” Raine rolled her eyes.
Beck swatted her on the ass. “Sassy little thing. I’ll start the barbeque.”
“They’re better in the oven. I got it.”
Forty-five minutes later, they sat down to dinner. Afterward, Beck answered a couple of texts, then swore. “I have to head to the hospital for a bit. You’ll be okay here? You won’t do anything stupid?”
“Like jump off the balcony?” Raine looked at him like he was crazy.
“Like run off,” he said pointedly.
She lost her feisty mien. “No. It doesn’t work anymore.”
He grabbed his keys, then kissed her forehead. “That’s progress. You’ve done good.”
“Should I have breakfast ready in the morning?”
“I’ll have to see how this goes. I’m probably headed to surgery. If that’s the case, I’ll be back tonight, really late.”
Then he was gone. He was asleep on the sofa when she woke the next morning.
Raine whipped up some pancakes and set them in the oven with crisp bacon and a note. Then she slipped out to explore the building. Sure enough, the swanky place had snazzy fitness equipment. A circuit of weights and cardio helped clear her mind a bit more, and she returned to find dirty plates in the sink and the word Thanks! at the bottom of her note. Beck himself was gone.
She wandered around the little apartment, but she’d already seen it all and exhausted the available movie selection. Cable shows about silly chef challenges and house hunting didn’t hold her interest.
Palming her phone, Raine stared at the little device, but like last time she’d pondered making calls, she tucked her mobile away. It wouldn’t be fair to Liam if she called just to hear his voice when she didn’t have any answers to give him. And it would be equally unfair to ring Hammer for his gruff familiarity. She had nothing to offer him, either.
Raine whiled away the day on the balcony, just thinking. How did she learn to open herself up to the people she loved, especially if those people were at one another’s throats? How did she go back to Shadows without tearing everyone apart even more?
Beck dragged in about eight o’clock. She’d been about to open a can of soup, but he took it from her hand and led her out the door. “Mexican and margaritas. Now.”
Who was she to argue with that?
“I know a great place.” She smiled.
“Perfect.” He handed her the keys. “You drive. I’m fucking exhausted.”
Wow, the control freak was going to let her drive his ridiculously expensive convertible? She grinned. “You’re on.”
Fifteen minutes later, they sat with some salt-rimmed beverages and had ordered enchiladas.
Beck sighed. “Ah, chips and booze revived me.”
“You’re such a man.”
“I’m also a Dom. So here’s the portion of the day where I ask you to tell me what’s in your head. What are you going to do next?”
“I gave that a lot of thought while you were gone.”
“Only because you didn’t want to watch Rambo again. I know it.”
Her life was upside down, and Beck still made her giggle. “Okay, that’s kind of true.”
He winked at her. “So, cough it up, princess. I love having you crash with me. I could get addicted to the food really fast. But I’m back on call starting tomorrow, and you won’t like me coming in and out at two a.m., and that couch made my back hurt like a bitch.”
Beck deflected the importance with humor, as he often did. But he was also dead-on.
