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I don’t care about pleasing Sonya, but she is right. Alcohol on an empty stomach is probably not the best way to spend my first night back in this house. So I fold a peanut butter sandwich in half and carry it and the whiskey down the hallway to the living room.
Sonya had the cleaning staff kick on the heater the last time they were here to clean, and even though I turned it off an hour ago, the house still feels stuffy. I strip off my jacket and shirt and throw both over the arm of the couch.
The curtains on the floor-to-ceiling windows are still drawn. I consider leaving them that way, but eating a cold sandwich while shirtless and drinking alone will become too pathetic to stand if I’m also doing it in the dark.
I throw the curtains wide with a quick slash. The metal rings scrape against the rod and early evening light fills the room. I can feel the warmth of it through the glass.
I take a swig of the whiskey and chase it with a bite of my sandwich. It’s a repulsive combination.
I choke down a bite and take another swig, but as I tip my head back, something catches my eye.
The windows in the living room face the ocean at an angle. From here, I get a peek at the manicured grass in the front, the stone patio just beyond the glass doors, and a small section of beach behind the slope down to the water.
If she was sitting even three feet further back or to her right, I wouldn’t be able to see her.
But there she is.
Like she knew I’d be watching.
Even from this far away, I recognize her. The chestnut hair curling over her back and down her shoulders. The delicate point of her chin. The way she tucks her knees to her chest, feet crossed at the ankles.
I’d know Rayne Garner anywhere.
Without another second of deliberation, I turn away from the window and walk to the back door. I’m not sure where I leave the whiskey bottle and my half-finished sandwich. My brain isn’t capable of thinking about anything else except getting to her.
When I step outside, the ocean breeze washes over me. Wet, salty, wild. It whisks me back to a night five years ago.
To me in the sand with a drink in my hand. Rayne was there, too, little more than a dark shadow smudged against the softer darkness of the beach. Even then, I recognized her.
That night, I drew a line in the sand and she crossed it.
When I let my imagination run away, I can still hear the soft cries she buried in my chest. I can feel the velvet slide of her against me, her neck arched back as I filled her.
That was another lifetime ago.
That was before.
That will never happen again.
I move with single-minded intensity down the beach to where she’s sitting. The waves are loud against the shore, so she doesn’t hear me approaching until I’m only a few feet away.
Finally, she whips around to face me.
The half-second of surprise on her face is wiped clean once she gets a good look at me. Her full lips fall open in shock and her blue eyes go wide. Her face is pale as a full moon, glowing in the golden evening light. I’m positive a strong breeze could blow her over right now.
When her gaze slides down my body, I realize I’m still shirtless. Then she glances at the house behind me. Her brows knit together. “That was closed.”
I turn back and see she’s looking at the living room window. The curtains are pulled back now. The window reflects the sky, the room beyond almost black. If she’d turned back a few minutes ago, she would have seen me standing there.
Has she been checking to see if I was home? How often? For how long?
Rayne blinks up at me, long lashes brushing across her cheeks. She looks exactly the same. It’s jarring. Almost like no time has passed at all.
Slowly, she takes one step towards me. Then another.
We’re close enough now that I could reach out and grip her hip. I could take a single step and close the gap between us. Cross the chasm between now and five years ago. One movement and I could be a time traveler.
Her hand flexes at her side. She’s fighting with herself over what to do. Whether she should reach out and feel if I’m real, or let me exist as a dreamy possibility for just a few moments longer.
