Page 13 of Tempting as Sin
Oh,shit.
Lily could have laughed at the expression on—onRafe’sface. If she hadn’t been so mad, that is.
Jace was still pounding Rafe on the back. Fine.Hecould like him. She wasn’t going to tell him what she thought of his brother. No point causing trouble.
At least she’d managed to slap Rafe before she’d had that inconvenient thought.
Paige had pulled a towel from the closet and was starting to rub Tobias down. Lily grabbed it from her and said, “I’ll do that. Get your wet things off.” She needed a second anyway.
Paige handed the towel over, started pulling off her jacket, and asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong.” Tobias smelled a little doggy, but when she put a hand out for his front paw, he lifted it, set it into her palm, wagged his tail slowly, and fixed his soulful amber gaze on her while the perplexed wrinkles in his forehead asked,Are you OK? Can I help?
She was going to cry because adogliked her. Great. She said, “Good boy,” wiped off the rest of his feet, and then rubbed him down some more, just because he loved it. She clearly needed to get a dog, since her track record with men had once again reset itself all the way down at “Fail.”
Meanwhile, Paige was pulling off her shoes and saying, “You’re obviously Rafe. Wow. Jace didn’t tell me you looked thatmuchlike a werewolf. I love your movies, by the way. If he hadn’t told me what a great guy you are, though, I’d be heading out the door again. How can you be that good-looking and still be scary?” She smiled, stuck out her hand, and said, “In other words—Hi. I’m Paige. I guess you’ve already met Lily.”
“You staying, bro?” Jace asked, getting out of his own wet jacket, shoes, and socks at last.
Jace and Paige were crazy. When Lily had asked this morning, “Do you actually like running in the rain?” Jace had answered, “After some of the places I’ve spent my time, being wet is nothing but a good thing.”
Why was she thinking about that? Because she was still trying to calm down, and she already knew the answer to Jace’s question. Yes, Rafe was staying. Unfortunately.
She wanted to run away, but that wasn’t an option. Not anymore.
She had to stop rubbing Tobias at some point, so she headed over to the laundry closet off the kitchen, tossed the towel into the washer, and told Paige, who’d followed her, “Bring out yours and Jace’s running stuff once you change, and I’ll do the wash. I have a few things to throw in anyway.”
Paige pulled her shirt over her head, which left her in her jogging bra and tights, and handed it over along with her wet socks. “Tell Jace I got in the shower, and to hurry up, or the hot water will be gone.” She headed off, pulling the elastic out of her ponytail. “But—hey.” She turned back. “You’re still going to meet that guy tonight, right?”
“No.” Lily tossed in some detergent and started to sort the laundry in the hamper. “Change of plan.”
Paige sighed. “Iknewit. Why?” She searched Lily’s face, and Lily wished she wouldn’t. “Youlikedhim. There really are a few good guys out there, and you tune into people better than anybody I’ve ever known. All right, you were too trusting before, but you’re done with that. So why not give it a shot?”
Jace came around the corner, followed by Rafe, who didn’t look enthusiastic. Surprise. Jace took in Paige’s outfit, said, “Whoa, baby,” grabbed her around the waist, and started hauling her off. “Shower.”
She said, “Watch the hands, buddy. I’m armed. Or I will be,” and he laughed. “Wait,” she said, putting both hands on his forearm and giving him a shove. “Hang on. Lily says she’s not going out after all. She’s chickening out. Tell her she’s awesome and that the guy’s going to think it’s his lucky day.”
“You’re awesome, Lily,” Jace said, “and he’ll think it’s his lucky day. But seriously—yeah. You are, and he will. In fact—here’s a professional male secret. You could be a little intimidating for a fella, just like your sister. Give the poor bloke a shot, if you liked him that much, as long as it’s in a public place. He’s probably having a cup of coffee he doesn’t need right now, looking at his watch, telling himself it’s not cool to care that much whether you show up, and caring anyway.”
“You know what?” Lily said. “I’m pretty sure he’s not. Besides, I came to visit Paige, not to go out with some guy who’s probably a con artist. Actually—I’msurehe was a con artist. Trying too hard, when I look back over it, like he’s…” She cleared her throat in a ladylike fashion. “Compensating for something. He’s probably like the used-car salesman in that Arnold Schwarzenegger movie, pretending he’s an international spy to get women. When, really, he’s as far from being a spy as you are from being a car salesman.”
“Really?” Paige said. “That’s not what you said this morning. Oh. Wait. No. Donotsacrifice yourself to hang around with me. Don’t be ridiculous. I don’t need your moral support. Yeah, meeting Rafe is intimidating and all, but Jace isn’t going to dump me because I’m not hot enough for the werewolf. He’s resigned himself.”
Rafe still hadn’t said anything. He was leaning up against a cabinet, and Lily couldn’t read him at all. He’d wiped his face blank.
Paige was studying Lily too closely again. “I’m right, aren’t I? Jace, tell her she’s being an idiot. I’m taking my shower. And would youstopdoing our laundry?” She grabbed a pair of black boxer briefs out of Lily’s hand and tossed them into the washer. “This is your vacation, and Jace might not appreciate you washing his underwear anyway. I’ve tried to explain to him about the twin thing, but he doesn’t really get it.”
She took off, and Jace said, “You should go out, Lily, if you want to. He’d be a lucky man, and I reckon he knows it,” and followed her. Which left Lily with Rafe.
She kept sorting laundry. She didn’t care what Paige said, she needed something to do with her hands. Without looking at Rafe, she said, “I’ll show you where the bathroom is. You’re sleeping in the loft, at least until tomorrow when I leave. About all that’s up there is a bed. Too bad. If you think I’m moving out for you, you can think again. I’m not even washing mysheetsfor you. If you want them clean, you can wash them yourself.”
Finally, she shut the door of the machine, punched the buttons to turn it on, and turned to face him. He was still soaking wet, and that annoyed her almost as much as seeing how much like the werewolf he looked in a canvas jacket over a black-and-green plaid flannel shirt, gray canvas work pants, and all that casually too-long hair and scruff. Exactly the kind of shirt she’d imagined wearing last night over absolutely nothing else. When she’d been lying in bed, and he’d been murmuring sweet things to her over the phone, going to work on her hopeful, stupid, battered heart. She told him, “You could use your time to work on your plan to—what? Pay Paige off? Yeah, good luck with that. She’ll probably shoot you. Or Jace will. And has anybody pointed out—” She was getting that red mist again. He didn’t even look like he cared. “That you’re an asshole?” She’d never called anybody that. It didn’t exactly make her feel better, but it sure didn’t make her feel worse. “I thought I’d met somebody special,” she said, hearing her voice break and hating it. “I thought I’d met somebodyreal.Congratulations. I’m sure that Oscar is coming your way, because you’re one hell of an actor.”
He still hadn’t moved. He asked, “Are you done?”
“No. Yes.” She went to shove her hair back, realized it was in a knot, and got even madder. That he’d made her feel like she had to button up, had to put on armor.
Forget that.She yanked out the elastic, shook her hair out, and said, “My sister loves your brother. I’m not telling either of them about this and messing that up. If you’ve got any sense, you’ll do the same thing. Because you know what? If you force Jace to make a choice, he might not choose you. My sister is awesome. She’s brave, she’s smart, she’s funny, and she’s a good person.She’s ahero.The real kind, not the kind in a comic book. She’ll put her life on the line for people she doesn’t even know, because that’s what she promised to do. She’s paid every kind of dues there are, and she doesn’t deserve this. Leave her alone.”
