Chapter 32
CHAPTER 32
S tark wasn’t expecting to see the sheriff’s SUV in Rayna’s driveway when he arrived home Wednesday night. Nor did he expect his immediate rush of panic. He climbed out of his car and practically ran across the front yard and up Rayna’s porch steps.
He knocked hard on the door, his stomach churning. Had that asshole Louis shown up on Rayna’s property again? Had he hurt her? He knocked again, nearly bruising his knuckles with the force.
“C’mon,” he muttered. “Answer the fucking door, baby.”
He was about to knock a third time when the door opened. He stared at Sheriff Walker, his stomach dropping all the way to the fucking ground. “Where is she? Did he hurt her? Did he -”
“She’s fine,” the sheriff said. “I’m not here on business.”
He shouldered past the sheriff, needing to see Rayna for himself. “Rayna, where are… holy shit.”
He stared in disbelief at the giant dog sitting in the hallway. His tail wagging madly, the dog stood and took a few steps forward before the sheriff said, “Tank, sit.”
The dog sat obediently, but his tail wagged even harder when Bea wandered into the hallway. The two dogs touched noses, and Bea licked Tank’s nose. Tank’s tail smacked against the wall, and Gideon sighed. “Do not put a hole in the wall with your tail, Tank.”
“This is your dog?” Stark asked.
“Yes,” Gideon said. “He’s a Great Dane, he weighs about a buck seventy-five, and he eats ten cups of food a day.”
Stark grinned. “I guess you get asked those questions a lot.”
“You have no idea,” Gideon said with a laugh.
Stark walked toward the fawn coloured Dane, holding his hand out for Tank to sniff before scratching his throat and behind his ears. The dog chuffed happily and stood before leaning hard against Stark. He braced his feet before he could get knocked into the wall. “Whoa, big guy.”
“Sorry, he’s a leaner,” Gideon said.
Bea whined happily before sitting on Stark’s feet. He leaned down to pet the old beagle and got a giant dog tongue slurping across his face for his efforts.
“Tank, c’mon, buddy,” Gideon said with a sigh. “No licking the guests.”
Stark straightened and wiped the drool from his cheek as Gideon said, “Rayna and Grace are in the living room.”
Stark followed Gideon into the living room, Tank and Bea both competing to see who could knock him off his feet first. Although he didn’t doubt the sheriff’s assurance that Rayna was fine, he didn’t truly relax until he saw Rayna in the room with a curvy, dark-haired woman.
They were both crouched in front of a long white metal cage, and he could hear weird squeaks and whistles coming from the cage. He nudged Bea off his feet and joined the two women.
“So, this one is Nadia, and this one is Penny.” Rayna pointed first to a tricoloured guinea pig and then a pure white one. “I’ve held them a few times, and they’re skittish but not bitey. You’ll need to pick up some more supplies for them - hay and pellets, and some fresh veggies - which, as a foster, you can submit the receipt for reimbursement.”
The dark-haired woman shrugged. “I don’t need reimbursement.”
“Okay, but we won’t be able to give you a donation-in-kind receipt,” Rayna said. “Not until I finish setting up Little Whiskers as a registered charity. Sorry, Grace.”
“No worries,” Grace said. “I’m just glad that Tank doesn’t see them as a snack.”
Rayna laughed. “Me too. Although, when you told me way back when that you’d foster a guinea pig, I bet you didn’t expect me to actually make you keep that promise.”
Grace grinned at her. “Maybe not, but I’m happy to help and -”
She stopped, glancing behind her as she noticed Stark for the first time. She stood gracefully and held out her hand. “Hello, I’m Grace Larken.”
“Isaac Stark.” He shook her hand as Rayna stood.
“What, uh… what are you doing here?” Rayna asked.
“I saw the sheriff’s vehicle and thought Louis was giving you trouble again,” Stark said.
“He won’t,” Rayna said. “I’m perfectly safe.”
“You’ll be safe once the security system is in place,” Stark said. “Did you call them today?”
“Yes. They’re coming on Monday.”
“Not until Monday?” He hated the idea of her being without the security system for that long.
“That was their first availability,” she said. “Anyway, everything’s fine, as you can see, so thanks for checking in, but -”
“These are the guinea pigs, huh?” He turned to Grace. “And she’s convinced you to foster them?”
“Rayna can be very persuasive,” Grace said with a smile. “In all honesty, I’m glad I can do something to help. I’m allergic to cats so I can’t foster them, and Tank in the house is more than enough dog.”
At the sound of his name, Tank woofed softly and joined them, leaning against Grace so she could scratch around his ears.
“Speaking of which, how are you feeling?” Rayna asked Grace. “I put Freddie in the laundry room and did a quick dust and vacuum of the downstairs before you arrived, but I didn’t do a deep clean or anything. Mostly because the cat hair is what helps keep this place standing.”
Grace laughed and stroked Tank’s ears. “So far, I’m feeling fine. I took some allergy meds before we came over, and as long as I’m not actively petting a cat or in the same room with them, I can avoid a hospital visit.”
“You’re sure?” Gideon joined them and slid his arm around Grace’s waist, squeezing her hip gently.
Stark had the sudden inane urge to do the same to Rayna and immediately shoved his hands into his pockets to stop himself.
“Positive,” Grace said. “Unless you’re trying to get out of buying us dinner like you promised? Because I’ve been looking forward to Chinese food all day, and I have the delivery app queued up and ready to go on my phone.”
Gideon chuckled before pressing a kiss against her mouth. “Decide what you want and order the food. I need to do a quick phone check-in with Ian.”
“All right.” Grace watched Gideon leave the room before grabbing her phone and scrolling across the screen. She smiled at Rayna and Stark. “I was thinking we could do some family-style dishes. That should be more than enough for the four of us.”
An awkward silence hit the room, and Grace made a face. “Uh oh, I just put my foot in my mouth, didn’t I?”
“No,” Stark said quickly. “But I should go. I have a… thing.”
He started across the room, moving more slowly than usual, refusing to admit to himself that he wanted Rayna to ask him to stay for dinner. Why would she? They hated each other, and people who hated one another did not go on double dates, even if the date was just ordering in dinner.
“Stark,” Rayna said.
He turned, hoping his desire to stay wasn’t written all over his face like some childish love-struck fool.
Rayna glanced at Grace before she said, “You should cancel your… thing and stay for dinner.”
He couldn’t stop the grin from crossing his face. “Consider it cancelled.”
* * *
“There’s an awards ceremony for video games.” Gideon took a drink of beer before arching an eyebrow at Stark. “Seriously?”
Stark laughed, leaning back in the kitchen chair and reaching down to scratch the top of Bea’s head, who was sitting at his feet. “Completely serious.”
“Have you won any?” Grace asked.
“A few,” Stark said.
“More than a few,” Rayna said. “Emma told me your Shadow Game series has won multiple awards.”
“That’s impressive,” Grace said.
“I have an amazing team of developers and designers,” Stark said. “The awards are because of them.”
Rayna took a sip of her beer. She often told Stark he was arrogant, but for someone with his arrogance, he sure was modest about his work accomplishments and quick to praise his team.
“I know Lucas loves his job and has nothing but good things to say about it,” Grace said.
“You know Lucas?” Stark asked.
“We do,” Grace said. “He’s best friends with Connor, and Connor is dating my best friend, Kira.”
“Small world,” Stark said.
“Small town,” Rayna corrected.
He grinned at her, and her hand was actually inching across the small space between them to rest on his thigh before her common sense returned. They weren’t dating, for God’s sake. Unease trickled through her, and she quickly finished off her beer before standing and gathering the empty food boxes.
Gideon stood and cleared the dishes from the table, and she smiled at him. “Thanks, Gideon.”
Tank nosed his way in between them, and she petted the giant dog. “Does anyone want coffee?”
“Normally, I would be all over that, but my eyes are starting to water, and my nose is tickling a bit,” Grace said. “I think my allergy meds are wearing off.”
She stood, smiling at Rayna and Stark. “This was a lot of fun. We should do it again, but maybe at our place next time? I love cats, but they just don’t love me.”
“Oh, um…” Rayna glanced at Stark. Shit, Grace thought they were dating.
Of course she does. You invited Stark to stay for dinner. The two of you haven’t fought once tonight, and if you think for one minute that you’re doing a bang-up job of hiding how attractive you think he is, I have a bridge to sell you. You’re acting like you’re dating. Why wouldn’t she think you are?
Her stomach dropped. She and Stark were acting like a couple tonight. From sharing the story of rescuing the stray dog from the barbwire fence to finishing each other’s sentences more than once. What was she doing? Tonight was a mistake. Just because they had fucked twice didn’t mean a goddamn thing. Stark was only being nice to her because he wanted her house, and thinking he was starting to feel something for her was dangerous.
No more dangerous than how you’ve caught feelings for him.
She nearly dropped the dish she held. She hated Stark. He was an arrogant ass trying to bully her out of her home and - shit! She realized she’d been staring at Grace for close to a minute without saying anything, and the air was thick with awkwardness.
Get your shit together, Abrams!
“We’d love to,” Stark suddenly said. “Just let us know when.”
“Perfect,” Grace said before standing. “Thanks again for the fun evening.”
Her stomach still churning, Rayna stayed quiet as Stark and Gideon carried the guinea pig cage to his SUV before Gideon loaded Tank into the back. She smiled and waved at Grace and Gideon, then disappeared into the kitchen like the giant chicken she was as Stark closed and locked the door.
She gripped the sink, staring out the window into the cold darkness. Despite knowing that Stark was only trying to get on her good side to buy her house, she was still tempted to ask him to fuck her again, and how pathetic was that?
She took a deep breath as Stark joined her in the kitchen and turned to face him. He smiled at her, his face relaxed and open, and leaned against the counter beside her. “That was fun.”
“It was,” she said.
“Thanks for inviting me to stay.”
She nodded, her throat suddenly too tight to speak. Christ, she needed to remember that she was literally sleeping with the enemy, and it couldn’t continue, no matter how good the sex was between them.
She stiffened when Stark reached out and hooked a finger in her belt loop. He tugged her toward him, giving her a slow, inviting smile. He bent to kiss her, and she shook her head before backing away.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
She folded her arms over her torso, studying Bea, who had fallen asleep in her bed in the corner. “I don’t… we shouldn’t be having sex. We hate each other, remember?”
His lips thinned, and she was stunned by the hurt that covered his face.
“Stark, I -”
“You’re right,” he said. “Good night, Ms. Abrams.”
He stalked toward the front door, and she hurried after him. “Stark, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.”
He opened the door with a derisive snort. “Trust me, Ms. Abrams, it would take a lot more than a rejection from you to hurt my feelings. The sex wasn’t that good between us.”
“You can’t help being a dick even when someone is apologizing, can you?” she snapped.
Stark stepped out into the cold and slammed the door shut behind him.