Chapter 14 Rae
RAE
Iwas rolling out dough for a cherry pie when my father made some sort of sound next to me. Looking over, I watched as his face contorted.
“What was that?” My hands stopped mid-roll as worry cut into my movements, making them jerky.
He laughed, rubbing his chest. “Nothing, don’t worry, I’ve already seen a doctor about it.”
I was worried.
“How long ag—”
“Did you see who’s out there?” Rudy, one of the servers asked, interrupting my trail of questioning.
I watched as he walked to the sink to wash his hands, then flicked my worried gaze back to the man at my shoulder.
My father gave me a look that told me to drop it, but I would definitely be bringing it up again.
“Is it Susan Bowker again? Because I told her she can’t come in here unless she’s fully dressed.”
I laughed along with Christy, the woman who frosted cupcakes next to me.
Rudy barked out a laugh. “No, it’s that recluse guy.”
“Thomas?” my dad asked with a hopeful tone, but hearing that name did the opposite for me, and the lack of recognition bounced off everyone’s faces.
Dad corrected himself. “Davis, I meant Davis.”
“Yeah, he’s outside, across the street, leaning against his motorcycle.”
It had been over a week since our kiss, and the betrayal.
And just as long since I had begun turning down his order requests.
Every day, a new one came in, confusing me on too many levels.
He knew that I would be the one who would be delivering to him, and yet he told my father I was too much work…
but he had also said that the conversation around that kiss wasn’t finished.
But maybe that was only in regard to coming clean—explaining that my father had asked him to take pity on me.
Maybe he hadn’t wanted to kiss me at all.
“I better go out and talk to him.” My dad started untying his apron and washing his hands.
“Why do you have to go out there? Why can’t he come in here to talk to you?”
Not that I wanted him to come in here, but I would have preferred that to my dad having to go out. Especially after his weird behavior just a moment ago.
“It’s just how things are with him, honey.”
This again. We hadn’t broached the Davis subject again, since that day where I had an emotional breakdown. We all just moved on from it, like it was taboo, which I suppose for them, maybe it was. Regardless, I wasn’t okay with my dad giving in to that spoiled mountain brat’s whims.
Letting my dough go, I copied my father’s movements. “Fine, I’ll go with you.”
“There’s no need, honey. It would help if you stayed here.”
“Oh no, I insist.” I followed.
Anything to remind Davis that he needed to stop treating my mother and father like stand-in parents. Their daughter was back in town, and she would be stepping up to stop this abuse.
Shaking his head, my father bypassed customers and headed outside.
Davis sat with one leg kicked back and the other long leg extended while his ass rested lightly against the black leather seat of his bike.
He had his head dipped looking at his cell, and he was wearing that leather jacket, despite the warmer temperatures.
As his eyes tipped up and he saw me accompanying my dad, my arms crossed, an angry scowl on my face, he straightened his spine, pushing off the bike and running a hand through his hair.
“Thomas, my boy, how are you?” My dad asked as we approached.
I narrowed my eyes at his ‘my boy’ comment.
Davis opened his arms, and my father stepped into a hug.
A hug.
My scowl deepened.
“Such a nice way to greet someone you forced to come outside in the middle of baking a pie and running a business.” I scowled.
Davis matched my expression, stepping back. “Well for anyone who’s been here for any amount of time at all, they know this is how people communicate with me when I come into town.”
“Cater.”
He scrunched his dark brows together. “What?”
I clarified. “How people cater to you…”
My dad waved his hand like it was funny. “Just ignore Rae, she’s still getting used to being back. You remember she hit her head, and well, things seem to still be a little unsettled.”
What in the—?
Davis moved his eyes from my hair down my body and then to my shoes in a suggestive way. A way that made me blush, considering my father was standing right there.
“Yes, I remember.”
The way he said that gave me goosebumps, as if he could actually remember teenage me.
I’d die if he ever did—pack right up and move to literally anywhere but here.
His lingering gaze made my brain short circuit in a way that had me completely forgetting about my father’s comment, and instead I began reliving the way Davis’s lips felt pressed against mine.
The way he smelled, and how safe I felt when he had caged me in.
“Well, I wanted to swing by and ask if everything was okay. My last few delivery orders have been denied, saying you no longer service my area.” He stuffed his hand into his pocket and pulled out a white envelope. “And Rae left without this last week, so I wanted to bring it by.”
Smiling, he handed it to my dad, whose face had slackened. He must have forgotten that he had followed me home and easily could have brought it with him.
I should have stayed inside, because the way my father turned toward me and glared told me he didn’t find my refusal of service very cute.
“I’m so sorry, Thomas. There must have been an issue with the app.” My dad kept his gaze on me as he talked, and I felt two feet tall, “I’ll be sure to have Carl look at it and see what the problem is.”
Davis smiled, flicked his gaze to me briefly before looking away. “No problem, Roger…that’s what I figured.” His gaze hardened on me as he finished his sentence. “You and Millie mean so much to me; I just wanted to be sure there weren’t any problems.”
“None whatsoever, you know you’re like a son to us.” My dad walked forward and embraced Davis in another tight hug.
I flipped the recluse off, while my dad’s back was still to me.
Davis smirked.
“Well, I better get back in. Millie will want to see you, have some tea. Will you come over again, maybe for dessert?” My dad’s gaze bounced to me as if I were the reason they couldn’t go up to his house. Good. I hoped I’d always be the reason they didn’t make that dangerous drive.
Davis seemed to understand and lowered his head. “Sure, of course.”
Slapping Davis on the back, dad crooned. “I’ll have Millie call you.”
Davis nodded, and we both watched as my dad turned back toward the diner. I was turning, about to leave as well, when I felt a firm grip on my elbow, holding me in place.
“Not so fast,” Davis muttered close to my ear.
The closeness did deliciously wrong things to my stomach. I blinked to remain impassive.
“I wanted to bring back an extra purchase that seemed to make its way into my delivery. I checked the receipt and noticed it wasn’t on mine, so it must have been yours.”
Oh shit.
I didn’t want to look, but he pressed the glossy cardboard box into my chest, his fingers wrapped around it, so his knuckles grazed my breasts.
“You might need these if you’re planning to fuck any time soon.”
Heat slammed into my face as I took the box of condoms from him. The way he’d said fuck, the tone of his voice…it grated along my skin, like a rough stone.
“You might want to return those ones, though.” He smirked, and I turned enough to register for the first time that his face was clean shaven, making his firm jaw stand out even more than it did before. His hair seemed shorter, too, and it was styled.
“Why should I return it?” I asked a little breathlessly.
Clicking his tongue, he stepped closer until our bodies were almost aligned, then he whispered, “Because those won’t fit me. You’re going to need the magnum size.”
My gaze hardened, and my jaw locked tight.
“You son of a—”
His hand came up, gripping my jaw, and within seconds we were turning, so my back was against the building and we were out of sight of the diner.
His nose was at my neck, and his hands on my hips.
“Can I kiss you, Rae?” he whispered, moving along my skin.
Shaking my head, my throat bobbed. “No.”
“You don’t seem like the kind of girl who likes to be asked, so I’m just going to do it.”
“Try it and see what happens,” I smiled wickedly.
He stared at me, a tiny smile lifting in the corner of his mouth. “You can’t resist me forever.”
“Watch me.” I glared defiantly, hating that he’d called out something that simmered so close to my core.
His body pressed against mine for a second longer then it vanished. “I think I’ll kiss you when you’re least expecting it. Maybe in church or something.”
“Why bother with this ruse? I overheard you talking that night in the garage. I know my dad asked you to place the order, and I know you think I’m too much work to befriend.” My palms went flat against the brick, so I could somehow find balance.
His stormy glare cut through me, as if I were a cold stick of butter and he was the searing knife, just pulled from the fire.
“You misheard…or at least misunderstood.”
Tilting my head, I asked, “Did he tell you to place the order and lie to me?”
Without a single hitch in his voice, or flicker in his gaze, he answered. “Yes.”
“Then I don’t know what’s left to—”
His grip returned to my waist as his body pressed into mine, pushing me tighter against the brick at my back.
“You misunderstood…I don’t want to be your friend, Rae, and you are a lot of work, but if you haven’t noticed, work doesn’t scare me off.
I like work. I like trouble. You’re a fucking delicious mixture of both, and please understand me when I say this”—he lowered his head, his lips just barely a breath away from mine—“I like kissing you.”
I felt like I was spinning in place, like my entire universe had turned upside down. I had run from this town because of him. Picked the furthest college from this place, just to heal from him.
Now here he was wanting me? This was madness.