Page 77 of Rafe: Sins of the Father

“Is that jealousy I see?”

I wince. “Maybe a little. Okay, a lot.” I fling my hand toward the doorway and hiss in a whispered voice. “She’s gorgeous.”

He sets his beer down, puts his hands on my waist, and turns me to face him. “Babe, I don’t want her. I want you. Understand?”

I nod, but I’m still feeling insecure.

“Tori, if I had wanted to be with Sutton, I’d still be with Sutton. I’m not.”

“I’m glad you’re not, Rafe. I’m so glad.”

That gets a grin out of him. He cups my face and pulls me to him, brushing his lips lightly across mine. It makes me weak, and I droop against him.

“I can’t wait to sneak out of here and be alone together,” he whispers. “But first we better join the party for a while.”

We stay about two hours, then cut out, walking hand in hand around the corner to his bike.

It’s a short ride to his house, and he pulls up the driveway. I notice a building behind his house and gesture to it.

“What’s that?”

“A rental apartment. Came with the deed.”

“Nice. So, you have extra income, huh?”

“Unfortunately, there’s no tenant right now.”

I see the ghost of a shadowy outline in the moonlight. It’s an iron structure like a gazebo with a seating area underneath.

“That’s cute,” I say.

“I’ve done a lot of work trying to make the backyard area nice.” He leads me up onto the front porch and unlocks the door, flipping on a light.

We step into a long living room that continues through to the back of the house. Tall wainscoting comes up the walls, and the floors are the original hardwood. There’s a pretty set of corner windows with seat benches underneath and leaded glass on the top of the windows. “It’s charming, Rafe.”

“Thanks.” He hefts me into his arms, and my legs naturally go around his waist. “Let me show you the bedroom.”

He carries me into a room off to the left at the front of the house, and I realize it’s the one with the bay windows I saw from the street.

Leaded glass on the top transom of the windows floods the room with moonlight.

He drops me to my feet, and his fingertip glides along my bare shoulder, exposed by my blouse. “You have such luminescent skin. Like pearls.” He toys with the string tied in a bow at the center of my neckline. “I really like this shirt. You know what would make it better?”

“What?” I ask, staring into his heavy-lidded gaze, filled with molten desire.

“If it was on the floor.”

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Tori—

I give a barely discernible nod, and it’s all the permission Rafe needs.

He slowly tugs at the string until it loosens and billows at my feet, leaving me standing in a strapless bra and my cutoffs.

His eyes roam over my body, and then he tugs me closer for a kiss full of need. He plunders my mouth, deepening the kiss, and his hands roam over my body. They slide down my stomach and slip under the waistband of my shorts.

I feel a rush of heat at the memory of those fingers slipping inside me and moan against his mouth.

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