Page 2 of Montana Rain

Leaning in, I kissed her. She tasted like whiskey and cherry lip gloss…and something deeper and sweeter that was absolutely her alone. The tiny moan in her throat was enough to undo me.

“Still…” The brash man was still talking. “Your talk last year about PTSD was one of the best. I still use it every day with my clients. Not a single session this year even held a candle to it. I’d wager to say some of them were useless.”

I glanced over just in time to confirm I was right. Rayne Westerfield was sitting not even ten feet from me, now frowning at the asshole who was making his displeasure known.

“There’s always something worth learning, Arnold. Take some time and go back over your notes. I’m sure some things will pop out.”

I smirked and took a sip of my beer. The man hadn’t noticed the nearly undetectable put-down—that she’d called him by his first name instead of his last name. Hell, he probably thought it was an amazing thing, and he was now on a first-name basis with Rayne. Not that she wasn’t giving him the same level of respect he gave her.

“Sure,” he laughed. “That’ll happen. I didn’t take notes in any of these sessions.”

Rayne stood, and I watched her from the corner of my eye. “That’s a pity. I thought some of them were very informative. And considering three of the people who gave sessions today are within hearing distance, I would think carefully about how much more of an ass you want to make of yourself.” She looked around the circle. “It was good to see you all, but I’d like to say hello to my family before I catch my flight in the morning.”

There were murmured goodbyes, and Arnold’s face was bright red. He’d been trying to impress her and flatter her, and it had backfired spectacularly.

Turning, I slipped off my barstool and waited for her to pass. “Is there anyone else you’d be willing to say hello to?”

Rayne froze, and she took a long, slow breath before looking up at me.

There it was. The invisible connection between us sprang to life, like a magnet was in my chest, pointed straight at her.

Her eyes widened, like she couldn’t believe I was really standing here. I couldn’t believe it either, because the two of us meeting at a hotel in Chicago seemed pretty unlikely. But then again, plenty of things in my life so far were unlikely. Running into the woman I’d been thinking about for a year was honestly pretty low on the list.

“Cole Phillips,” she said, tone intentionally neutral. “What are you doing here?”

“Join me for a drink, and I’ll tell you.”

She laughed once. “Thanks, but no thanks.”

“Rayne.” I took a step forward. “I’m sorry. You don’t know how sorry I am. I’ve wanted to apologize to you forever—”

“Then why haven’t you?” Her eyes blazed with fury. “We have technology now, Cole. Phones and email. If you really wanted to apologize, you could have.”

She wasn’t wrong, but I honestly didn’t know what to say, because I wasn’t clear on what had happened. I assumed it was because of Simon and the Riders and, just like the FBI, not knowing my partner was a piece of shit.

But that wasn’t the beginning of it. The beginning was me kissing her and feeling like I could finally breathe for the first time in my life before she’d pushed me away and said she couldn’t.

“I am sorry,” I said. “I’m not sure what I did, which was why I didn’t reach out. I…” I scratched the back of my neck. “I should have anyway, because I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you.”

“Really?” Rayne stepped in closer to me. “You haven’t been able to stop thinking about me for a year?”

“It’s the truth.” This close, I could smell her sweet cherry lip gloss. I remembered it like it was yesterday. That, and her perfume, which I swore made her skin smell like honey. This woman was made to undo me.

“You were an ass,” she said. “To all my friends. To my client. You were the reason Daniel was shot.”

“Yes.” I accepted responsibility for all of it. Jones was the one who did the shit with using Emma’s name and got Daniel shot, but it didn’t matter. I should have questioned more, and I didn’t. “I’ve cleared the air with them,” I said, closing the last bit of distance separating us. “But Daniel was shot after I kissed you.”

Rayne’s cheeks turned pink, and I craved that color. I craved her being flustered. Because whatever made her push me away that night? It sure as hell wasn’t me being a dick. I had been one, and I owned it. My desire to catch Simon Derine outweighed everything else in my view, and I’d let it blind me.

“That was a mistake,” Rayne said softly. “An error in judgment.”

“Was it?”

“Yes.”

The breathy tone of her voice told me she was lying. But I wouldn’t do anything about it. Not for the moment. Soon enough, I’d have more chances.

“Okay, Rayne. But for what it’s worth, I am sorry. For everything. It was good to see you.”

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