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Abbe’s phone rang. She saw it was Rafe and answered it. “How dare you have coffee without me,” he said by way of greeting. She could hear the smile in his voice.
“Where are you?” she said, startled, and looked around.
“Across the street.”
Abbe saw the Panamera and stopped walking. “Are you stalking me?” she asked.
He chuckled. The sound sent a warm wash of tingles down the back of her neck. “I was driving past to stop by your work, got held up at the light, and I saw you sitting in the window, talking to your friend. Avrika, right?”
Abbe was surprised. She stood on the other side of the street and watched him sitting in his car while she talked to him on the phone. “Wow, you’re good with names.”
“It’s good for business,” he said in an offhand way. “Anyway, I saw you having a rather intense conversation and I didn’t want to barge in and blow it up.”
“Thanks. That was thoughtful of you,” she said, meaning it.
“Why don’t you have an umbrella?” he asked.
Abbe laughed. “I’m a Bostonian. We know umbrellas have a five-minute life span before they turn inside out in New England weather.”
“Well, I’m a Bostonian too. I just buy stronger umbrellas.” He threw up a hand at her through his window. “And why are you still standing there?”
“I’m kind of enjoying this,” she admitted. She liked watching him from afar while he talked on the phone. “Is that strange?”
“Yeah, because it’s raining. Get in the car, you lunatic.”
Still laughing, Abbe ran across the street and got in the passenger side. “Sorry,” she said, trying not to drip all over the custom leather interior.
“Come here,” he said, leaning across the middle console, not caring.
He kissed her thoroughly, seeming to enjoy the sensation of her damp mouth. He tried to turn more toward her, to get their bodies to touch and not just their mouths, but the overly structured seats stopped him. All the technology that wrapped around him like a spaceship cockpit made it impossible for him to get close enough to her.
“Okay, I always loved this car. Right up to now,” he said, pulling away from Abbe in frustration, and holding his hands up as if he could see something around them that would solve the problem.
“It’s much easier to have sex on a bench seat,” she agreed.
“You’ve never had sex with anyone but me,” he said immediately, a corner of his mouth twitching with the absurdity of that statement, though she could tell that the thought of her having been with other men in the past did bother him, even if he knew that it shouldn’t.
“I mean theoretically, of course,” Abbe said, playing along. “I’m merely extrapolating from what I’ve seen in movies.”
“As one does,” he added, tipping his chin. He looked at her sitting next to him, then reached over to put his hand on the inside of her thigh, squeezing momentarily. He abruptly let her leg go, put both hands on the wheel, and craned his head to look for cars. “So. Did you have a good conversation with Avrika?” he asked as he pulled out into traffic.
“Eh. Not really,” Abbe admitted.
He kept his eyes on the road, a knowing smile on his face. “You seemed a little upset.”
“She misses me. And I miss her.”
Rafe frowned, not understanding. He looked at her and then back at the road. “Is there a reason you don’t hang out anymore?”
Abbe considered just telling him. It wasn’t something she was ashamed of, but it was a bit soon to be talking about past relationships. She wasn’t even sure where she stood with Rafe. Telling him about the guy she’d almost married was a bit much.
“We’re working on it,” she said, sparing him the details.
They pulled up in front of the shelter and he parked the car. “Wait,” he said before she got out. “Can I pull up into the carport? I have something for you in the trunk that shouldn’t get wet.”
“For me?” she asked, surprised.
“Well, for the shelter.”
