Page 44 of Rafe: Sins of the Father

I smile and settle on a word I don’t think will scare her. “Cute.”

She returns my smile and hesitantly moves to the other side of the bed.

Lifting the covers, I show her I’m clothed. “You’re safe,” I tease. She climbs in, and I open my arm. “C’mere.”

She cuddles against me, and when her head rests on my chest, it's heaven. Her arm comes across my waist, and I stroke her back.

“I’m sorry I drank too much,” she whispers.

I kiss the top of her head. “Did you have fun?”

“Yes. I really like Melissa. She’s sweet. All the girls are.”

“They are. Did they take you into their fold?”

“Well, they invited me to brunch next Sunday, and Melissa and I exchanged numbers, so…”

I huff a laugh. “Sounds like you’re in the fold.”

“Am I?”

“Um hmm. Don’t worry. It’s a good place to be.”

“I could use some friends. I barely know anyone here.”

“Well, now you have a girl squad all your own.”

She giggles. “I’m in a girl squad. I like that.”

I rub her back and soon realize she’s drifted off to sleep. I love the way she’s cuddled against me, like she feels completely safe with me. That’s the way I want her to feel.

Her curves pressed against my body are a perfect fit. It’s like she’s meant to be here. It feels right. It feels different from with any other woman I’ve ever held like this.

I stroke her hair and stare at the ceiling, knowing this might be all I ever have of this girl. This night, these few hours in this bed together, holding her…

I already know it’ll never be enough.

CHAPTER NINE

Rafe—

I bring Cody with me the next morning to replace the window glass in Tori’s back door and clean up the mirror in her bedroom.

Once that’s done, we measure the frame, and I send him to get a replacement the same size. He takes the one from his own bedroom and brings the entire piece. When he arrives with it wrapped in a quilt, tucked in the backseat of a car he borrowed from a buddy, we carefully swap the mirrored glass into the frame of Tori’s bedroom set. When we’re done, we clean all traces of what happened.

Then I go to my saddlebag and get the sweeping device I procured from Green and sweep Tori’s white Lexus for a tracking device. I find one stuck to the inside of the door to her gas tank.

“C’mere, babe.” I point at it.

“Oh, my God. I can’t believe he did this.”

“All he had to do was press on the door to get it to spring open.”

“I never would have noticed it.”

I pry it off, walk over, and attach it to the gas tank of my bike. “There. He’ll have a surprise if he tries to follow you.” I take my fist and punch my palm.

The prospect sits in his car, waiting for me.

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