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“I didn’t say that,” he protested with a frown.
“Neither did she, but that’s what I heard.”
“Maybe you should clean your ears then.”
“What are you doing tonight?”
Reyes fisted his hand in the cloth, resting it on the shining leather in front of him. “I have a few things to get done here, and some work to do on my jeep.”
Dev’s impatience sounded across the line. “Whatever that vague bullshit is, I’m willing to bet none of it has to be done tonight. You’ve been pulling away again, Rey, ever since brunch a couple of weeks ago. Either tell me what’s going on or come on over and have dinner with us.”
Reyes clenched his jaw, then blew out a rough breath. “The more time I spend with her, the more I like her.”
“Raine?”
He rolled his eyes. “Of course, Raine. Who else would I be talking about?” In fact, he more than liked her, but admitting that out loud would make it too real. Too hard to move past later on.
“I thought you two were friends now?”
“You know damn well being friends with her isn’t the problem.” He raked a hand through his hair as he leaned back in his chair.
“Yeah, I do,” Dev agreed.
“How the fuck did you keep Shelby at arm’s-length when you were with her twenty-four, seven?” When he was being paid by her father to guard her, not sleep with her.
“We talked,” his brother said with a grin in his voice. “There was a lot of talking. But honestly, taking time to get to know each other now can be a good thing for when you’re free to act on what you’re feeling.”
“Free to act.” Reyes snorted and shoved to his feet. “When exactly would that be? When she goes back to Texas? Or when she’s out chasing Olympic gold?”
“I didn’t say it would be easy.”
“It won’t be anything because it ain’t happening, Dev. She’ll go home, and I’ll just be some guy who trained her for a few weeks. You all have a good night. I’ll stick to working on my jeep.”
17
Raine sat on her cousin’s back patio, sipping a glass of wine with Honor, Shelby, Mae, Celia, and Roxanna. Honor laughed at something Mae said, and Raine forced a smile to make it appear she’d been listening. Then she made herself pay attention. After brunch that first weekend, they’d all gotten together for drinks a few days later, and Shelby insisted they had to do it one last time before Raine went home to Texas.
The guys were across the street at Mae and Merit’s house with the three kids. Well, all but Robert and Reyes. She was dying to know exactly what Reyes’ plans were, but when she considered maybe he’d had a date, her stomach soured. It didn’t matter that he’d kissed her senseless two weeks ago and avoided physical contact with her ever since, she didn’t want to think of him with another woman. Like Jess’s cousin’s niece, maybe.
She made a face, then quickly smoothed out her expression when Mae lifted the bottle of wine to offer refills. Raine shook her head, sticking to her one-drink limit so she could drop Celia off at her house on her way back to the guest house in Aunt Janine’s car. Honor took a refill, because all she had to do was walk upstairs to bed, and Rox and Shelby finished off what was left in the bottle, since their designated drivers were across the street.
While their small patio fire flickered, lightening in the distance drew her attention to the storm clouds gathering over the
mountains to the west. Each flash illuminated the jagged peaks of the Rockies for a few seconds before they melded back into the dark sky. The storm mirrored her emotions lately. Bright flashes of hope quickly swallowed up by gloomy reality.
“We’ve got about an hour before that hits,” Rox commented as the sky lit up again.
And it was already nine-thirty, Raine noted on her phone—in addition to the battery being low. “I should head out soon anyway. I’m not training tomorrow, but I still want to get down to the stables at a decent hour. I know I’m going to sound old, but usually I’m in bed before ten.”
Honor snorted. “That’s old? Between the bakery and Ava, Asher and I are eyeing the clock by eight every night. I might have two four a.m. bakers, but I still try to get there by six every morning.”
“I always wake up when Robert gets up for his run at five-thirty, so I just head into the office early,” Celia said. “Even on a Sunday, he still gets up for his run.”
Raine heard the hint of annoyance in her oldest cousin’s tone just as Mae raised her hand.
“Five-thirty here, too, and to the construction site by seven now that Merit takes Ian to school before taking Maverick to his studio for a few hours.”
“Ditto with the clinic,” Shelby chimed in.
