Whatever his problem with the club was, James promised Gabe and the club to end the case before he left to pursue other interests.
Swinging open the car door, my feet hit the ground at the same time Peyton came out of the house and stood on the front porch, the dogs on her heels. Her light pink hair was pulled up in a high ponytail, dressed in a loose fit tee, one shoulder of the shirt hanging low down her arm showing off her smooth sun-kissed skin and, more importantly, the fact that she had no bra under the top. Groaning, I resisted the urge to adjust my thickening crotch, and I let my eye travel down her sexy body to take in the rest of her outfit. Narrowing in on the sliver of skin between the short white top and the waist of her shorts … very short white shorts, I took my time ogling her long, lean legs and finished my mouth-watering journey at the coral painted toenails and the sexy toe rings she wore on two of her toes on both feet.
Since when did toe rings do it for me? Never, not until Peyton leapt into my arms and my life.
She is a fucking goddess dressed in white and pink.
“Hey you,” Peyton called out softly, her hands in front of her leaning over the porch rail and smiling at me. Her smile split her face like always, but it didn’t reach her stunning amber eyes.
Something has happened.
“Hey back, Bunny.” Closing the door softly the way Peyton insisted on, I walked slowly to the bottom step and stared at her. “What’s wrong?”
Her smile dropped from her mouth. “How on earth do you know something is wrong?” she huffed at me.
“Because Bunny, you might be giving me that thousand mega-watt smile, but your eyes aren’t firing. Even from here, I can’t see the different depths of colour your eyes hold. So tell me what has happened.” Taking the three steps at once, I landed on the wooden deck without so much as a thud. One more pro of being a trained commando, make no noise, and they won’t hear you coming.
“You have to teach me how you do that,” Peyton demanded, pointing at my feet. “In fact, I was kind of hoping you would teach me some basic self-defence moves that could be helpful.”
I recognised stalling tactics when I heard them, but Peyton wasn’t the type to be pushed. She went at her own speed, opened up when she felt ready. Choosing to follow her lead, I nodded my head.
“I can do that for you baby. When I get back from the training exercise, we can start with some useful basics that aren’t too involved but very effective in preventing an attacker from hurting you.” As I said the words, a tight ball fisted in my gut. Just the thought that someone might hurt Peyton had my inner alpha pushing to the surface, memories of a night not all that long ago, the fear on Peyton’s face etched into my mind followed me in my sleep.
Of all the shit I saw overseas in my military career, the worst vision was Peyton’s wide, scared eyes begging me through the glass to save her. The worst for me was seeing the brief flash of resignment that she was going to die that passed across her beautiful tear-stained face.
Stopping the direction of my mood, I held out my hand to Peyton.
“Wanna go inside and watch a movie?”
“Sure.” She nodded taking my hand. “But can we talk first?”
Hearing the underlining seriousness in her innocent suggestion, I stilled myself for bad news.
“Sure Bunny, whatever you want.” Meaning the pure truth behind my simple answer with every fibre of my being.
Whatever she wants, that is all I want.
CHAPTER SIX
PEYTON
The warmth of Rafe’s hand enveloping mine calmed some of the nerves dancing around inside me. After I left the clinic today, I promised Addy that I would talk to Rafe and open up to him. The more and more I thought about Rafe and I becoming something more than friends, the more it appealed to me. Our friendship was solid, our bond was already there, and so was the spark of electricity every time he touched me or vice-versa. All we needed was the truth and honesty all relationships required to go the distance.
My last and only relationship was in my teens. The most adult thing Darren and I did was have sex; other than that we both lived with our parents and went to school. All we had to worry about was our popularity and being seen as the cutest couple at school. If I thought really hard about my time being Darren’s girlfriend, I honestly wouldn’t be able to recall one serious relationship talk or expressing our feelings for one another other than the obligatory ‘love you’ or ‘call you tonight’.
Now, I was no longer a teenage girl, only concerned with how her friends saw her. Nor was I that girl that put the feelings of a boy before hers. As important as my budding but hidden feelings for Rafe were to me, we had nothing if we couldn’t be honest with each other.
Entering the house, I pulled Rafe through the lounge and into the kitchen. When I got home from work, and received a text telling me he was on the way home, I started on a special meal for Rafe and myself. He might think we will be sitting down to watch a movie with a bowl of spaghetti Bolognese on our laps like we normally would. However, tonight was different, at least for me. Giving him the story of my life meant a roast tea with all the trimmings. A leg of lamb with a herb crust, minted peas, Hasselback spuds, carrots and parsnips—the whole shebang. An added bonus my beautiful boys can have the bone later as a treat.
“Take a seat, Rafe, tea is just about ready.” Busying myself at the stove, I stirred the gravy I’d made from scratch and not from an instant powder, then turned off the heat and set it off the element to thicken some more on its own.
“Sure you don’t need any help, Bunny?” Rafe asked as he pulled out a chair at the table that was already set with plates and cutlery, not sitting just looking at me.
“Nope, all good thank you, kind sir, take a load off and let me take care of you … um, everything, take care of everything,” I stammered quickly in a poor attempt to cover my slip.
Take care of you? Seriously, Pey? Why not scare him off by getting all demanding and acting like his mother before anything has a chance to start.
Of course, the fault for my skittish and weird behaviour landed squarely on his shoulders. It was his fault he was too good looking for his own good and that he made me tingle between the legs just by speaking.
Damn sexy growl.
Quickly plating two serves of roast, and doing my best not to look affected by the intense scrutiny from the handsome devil sitting at the table. I didn’t do well when stared at, all my insecurities came to the surface, reminding me that my thighs probably touched too closely, that my middle toe bent slightly at the end, causing it to overlap his neighbour, and that fine freckles from too much sunbathing littered my shoulders. Say nothing of the fact that my belly pooched with a muffin top when I wore too-tight shorts … like the ones I had on.
As discreetly as I could manage, I pulled at the hem of my tee only to pull the shoulder further down my arm uncovering more skin and a good portion of the top of my boob … and in doing so also unveiling a small oval mole. On my face, it would be described as a beauty spot, but on my boob it was a mole, no escaping that fact.
Thank you, Cindy Crawford.
Realising that I was out of options to gather any shred of dignity, I carried the two plates with half of my breast exposed to the table, practically dropping Rafe’s in front of him, tiny peas scattering everywhere onto the table.