Page 34 of Unraveling Rain
I melt into him, breathing in the clean scent of his shirt, laced with a familiar hint of pinewood from the other day.
It’s wild how someone I’ve just met can make me feel this much at peace.
“Hey, are you okay?” he murmurs, tightening his arms around me.
I nod, sinking into his embrace. “Yeah, I’m okay. I just had a conversation with River,” I say, keeping it vague. I’m not sure he wants to hear all my emotional baggage.
“Everything good between you two now?” he asks gently.
Instead of brushing it off with my usual,Of course everything is fine, I find myself telling the truth. “Yeah, we’re good now. It was a good talk.”
He tilts his head and presses a kiss to the top of mine.
It’s such a small, innocent gesture, but it sends goosebumps skittering across my skin.
No one—not outside my family, anyway—has ever made me feel this seen, this understood.
And that thought alone is terrifying.
“Alright, let’s get moving,” I say, pulling away from our embrace, sliding the armor back over my heart.
I can’t afford to fall for a guy who’s only here for a few weeks. And who says he’s even interested in me like that?
He could have any woman he wants in Raleigh. Why would he go for a small-town chef?
No, he’s just being polite.
Xander clears his throat as he falls in step beside me. “So, where are we going? Should we get water bottles from the kitchen?” he asks, thumbing toward the doorway.
“No need. I packed some essentials.”
He nods and trails after me toward the driver’s door. I glance at him, confused, and lift an eyebrow.
With a chuckle, he says, “I’m just trying to be a gentleman. Please, let me open the door for you.”
I roll my eyes, even though I secretly find it adorable.
“Don’t go all gentlemanly on me, Hotshot. I don’t want to get used to it—and then you have to go back to Raleigh,” I tease, grabbing his hand instead of the door handle to hop into the van.
“Don’t ever settle for less than you deserve, Rain,” he says as I sit down, looking me straight in the eyes. “You deserve this and more. You deserve everything.”
He gives my hand a quick squeeze, then jogs around to the passenger side.
Phew. This guy’s got game.
I crank the AC to full blast and glance over at him.
“Since you’re the copilot, you have to choose the music,” I say, tossing him the cable so he can connect his phone.
“You don’t have to tell me twice,” he says, taking out his phone and plugging it in.
A few taps later, “Cherry Pie” by Warrant fills the speakers, and he starts nodding to the beat.
“Nice choice. I wasn’t sure what kind of music you liked,” I say, pulling away from Serene Lookout.
“I listen to a little bit of everything. You might catch me nodding to a rock song, and the next minute I’m belting out Teddy Swims at the top of my lungs,” he says, a hint of pride in his voice.
“Awesome. We can check how good of a singer you are at karaoke sometime. My siblings and I try to go every week,” I say, shooting him a grin.
