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“But you still want to go through with the plan.”
“I don’t really have a choice. That’s why I’m here.”
“Or maybe you do have a choice, and you’ve lived with this for so long and ignored who you are as a person and as a woman and you needed this. Maybe it’s time to bury this vendetta.”
“What, and live a blissfully shagged life with my father’s killer?”
“When you put it that way, it does sound a little warped.” Charisse took a breath. “So what’s the plan, Stan? You going to sleep with him again?”
Vagina: Fuck yes.
Brain: Hell no.
My brain won out despite the deep pull in my belly. “No. I’m going to do my best to wrap this up and stay alive.”
I glanced around the kitchen where the remains of our dinner was still on the table, spilled wine and all. The place was a damn disaster. The situation just kept spinning more and more out of control, and I was afraid that eventually I’d be thrown off the ride. I blew out a breath as I grabbed a dishrag and started cleaning. It was something to take my mind off how crazy the situation was at least. I’d made such a mess of things. So it was time to get to plan B, or I was going to make a deadly mistake.
“I just—”
“What, Char?”
“I just hope you know what you’re doing.”
“Me too. I always have the Corbin James contingency.” Corbin James was the fictitious ex I’d created for myself. If things got too hot, I’d leave some clues that my ex had found me, and I’d vanish. Rafe would be so busy looking for a ghost that it would be too late by the time he found my real trail.
At least I hoped that’s how things would go.
“I hope it doesn’t come down to that.”
“Yeah, me too.” I put the last of the dishes in the dishwasher and then went back to wipe down the table.
I could hear Charisse breathing softly and figured my friend was trying to come up with something to say. But in the end she just sighed. “Be safe, Diana. Love you.”
“Love you too. I’ll call you later today when it’s safer.”
“Uh-huh. Be careful.”
“Always.”
I hung up with a sinking feeling in my stomach. Then I turned, and my stomach dropped completely when I saw Rafe standing in the doorway to the kitchen, watching me with shrewd eyes.
Oh shit.
“Hey, there you are. I didn’t hear the shower stop.”
I cursed myself silently as soon as I said it. I didn’t need to point out to him that I’d been listening for when he was done.
“I finished and came looking for you. I thought you’d be back asleep.” He looked over at the clean table. “Apparently I didn’t tire you out as well as I thought I did.”
I blushed. “You did. I only got up because I heard my phone ringing. I figured the least I could do was start cleaning up.”
He moved closer. “You don’t need to do that. I can think of much better uses for all this extra energy.”
Relieved that he was in a playful mood, I put my arms around his waist. He hadn’t bothered to put a shirt on after his shower, so he was only wearing a pair of loose gym shorts. The scruff that looked so sexy on him was gone now, and he was clean-shaven. It was ridiculous that a man could look so good both ways.
“I’ve never seen you without the beard. You look good. But I definitely like the stubble too.”
“Yeah. I do too. But I noticed the beard marks on your neck. And having the scruff makes it harder for me to do this.” He easily picked me up, then covered my lips with his. By the time he pulled back, I was dazed and panting.
