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“Yeah. Go ahead,” she said, indicating the driveway. She couldn’t figure out what he was up to. “What did you get?”
“You’ll see.”
He drove up and parked under the carport, and popped the trunk, grinning. Abbe stood next to him and looked into the trunk at a bunch of oddly shaped black cases. She knew exactly what they were.
“Lighting equipment,” she mumbled, confused. She looked up at Rafe.
“And background screens you can pull down. There’s all kinds of colors and textures,” he said, pointing to a long, thin, tubular-shaped object in a black vinyl cover. “I also got you a really good camera. You know. For the dogs.”
She stood there, staring at the equipment. “You got me lighting equipment,” she repeated, trying not to cry. She didn’t have the heart to tell him that it was possible she would only be able to use it a few more times before she lost the shelter.
He frowned like he did when he was feeling unsure of himself. “Did I overstep?” he asked.
“No,” she whispered, overwhelmed. She faced him, went up on her tiptoes, and gave him a hug. “This is the nicest thing anyone could have gotten me. Thank you.”
She felt him relax. “You’re welcome,” he said, holding her close.
Abbe relaxed into him, feeling herself warm to him. His hand did not stray, though, and he kept his hips back away from hers. He leaned back so he could look at her, but kept her in the circle of his arms.
“Something’s bothering you, and you’re avoiding telling me about it,” he said.
“It’s not about you,” she said immediately.
“You can talk to me, you know,” he said quietly.
“There’s nothing you can do about it.” She smiled and pulled out of his arms. “I got the weekend off,” she said, changing the subject shamelessly. She really didn’t want to think about her problems anymore right now.
“You did?” he said, excited.
“Well, I got tomorrow off, and Sunday morning. I’ll probably have to be back Sunday evening, though, to close up,” she amended, turning her attention to the equipment in his trunk.
“I guess that’s better than nothing,” he said, sounding a little disappointed. Whether it was about her partial weekend break or because she hadn’t confided in him, Abbe couldn’t tell.
By the time they had moved all of the equipment into Abbe’s office, he had let that disappointment go. While Abbe closed up the shelter for the evening, Rafe tapped on the face of his phone, sending emails and texts.
“Everything okay?” Abbe asked as he read a reply with an angry expression.
“Yeah. Except my brother is the only person at work who isnotpissing me off this week, and he’s in London,” he said, stowing his phone quickly and forcing a smile for her. “You ready?”
“Are you sure you can spare the time?” she asked. “You look like you’re fielding a lot right now.”
He grabbed her arm and pulled her to him. “It’s all handled. Everything,” he assured her cryptically. As he brought her in for a hug he stopped suddenly and pulled back. “You’re still damp. Are you cold?”
Abbe shrugged. “A little,” she admitted. “Can you drive me home?”
Rafe put the heat on in the car, turning the vents toward her for the short drive back to her place. As soon as they got inside, he started “helping” her undress, which included peeling off her clothes one layer at a time and stopping every time a new bit of skin was exposed to touch it or kiss it.
She could feel his body reacting to hers. His mouth softened, his skin heated up, and she could see him getting hard, but when she reached to undress him, he put his hands over hers, stopping them.
“You shower. Get warm first,” he said, pushing her away from him gently. “We have time.”
“Uh-oh,” Abbe said, feeling like something was off. “What’s going on?”
He looked up at the ceiling pointedly, still trying to untangle his hands from her reaching ones. “I’m doing my best tonotpush you down and fuck you on the floor, so could you please just get in the shower?”
Abbe giggled and drew one of his hands to her breast. “Who says I don’t want you to do that?” she said, snaking herself closer and putting his other hand between her legs.
“Shit,” he whispered when he felt the wet softness waiting there for him.
