Chapter 3 #2
Gio’s arrival prompted a flurry of barks from Cricket.
Not that the dog would be a bit of help if an intruder ever broke in.
Her home security technique consisted of barking her head off until the guest appeared, then dancing around them until they picked her up so she could slather them with sloppy puppy kisses.
“Yeah,” Rafe called out, taking a deep, steadying breath. “Come on back.”
A moment later, Gio walked in. “It’s Friday. Let’s kick this weekend off in style.”
Gio had stopped by a few times this week after work to see how things were going with the hoard, jokingly inquiring about the status on the boat…
which was still missing. Rafe wasn’t used to seeing so much of him, and he’d begun to suspect it had something to do with Keeley’s presence in the mansion.
Cricket, now used to him, jumped up on her hind legs, pawing at Gio’s knees until he picked her up so she could lick him to death.
“Cricket,” Rafe said sternly, but Gio waved away his attempts at training the dog.
“Leave her. This is the most action I’ve seen in months,” he joked. “Did you spy any ghosts today, Cricket?”
“She did!” Keeley excitedly proclaimed, pointing to a battered recliner in the corner of the office.
“Sat beside Albert’s old recliner for nearly an hour, staring at the same spot the entire time.
I swear I think his ghost was sitting there, talking to her.
At one point, she rolled over like someone was stroking her belly. ”
Then, Keeley’s gaze flew to the desk before lifting to capture Rafe’s, her brows raised. Rafe knew exactly what she was thinking because there was a small part of him that wondered the same thing.
Something had moved the desk—and he was certain it wasn’t Keeley.
But he wasn’t about to fuel that flame because Keeley was way too obsessed with the ghost story, so he shook his head dismissively.
“Cricket was a weird dog before Grandpa Albert died. She’s not seeing ghosts,” he insisted, even though he was secretly skeptical.
The longer he lived here, the harder it was to hold on to the assertion the place wasn’t haunted.
There had been a few too many bumps in the night, creaking floorboards, and things he was certain he’d left in one place, only to find somewhere else later.
“Well, if anyone was going to haunt a house, it would be Grandpa Albert,” Gio said. “Simply because I’m pretty sure he’d take a lot of pleasure in messing with you from the Great Beyond.”
Rafe grimaced. “You’re not wrong about that.”
His relationship with his grandpa had changed after Rafe graduated from college.
The old guy—true to his word—did seem to regret his workaholic ways, so for the last decade of his life, the two of them had met up for drinks and dinner every Monday night, talking about everything under the sun.
Rafe had shared stories about work and his mom, about his buddies and his high school and college adventures, while Grandpa told him about his own life, about Marta and what his mother was like when she was younger.
Grandpa admitted he saw a lot of himself in Rafe, so he’d done a bit of preaching, telling him that while hard work was all well and good, he also needed to stop and smell the roses.
Rafe missed those weekly dinners more than he could say.
“I’m afraid I’m out on happy hour,” Keeley said, reaching for her oversized purse. “I need to go home and get ready for my date.”
Gio frowned. “Another of your online guys?”
Keeley nodded. “Yep. Although, I think this guy might have potential. We’ve chatted on FaceTime a few times.
He’s cute, appears to have a sense of humor, and best of all, he has a real job and an actual apartment—unlike the last two guys, who were still living in their parents’ basements and trying to break out as videogaming stars on Twitch.
Plus, my horoscope promised that romance would go beautifully for me today.
” She smiled brightly. “All I have to do is communicate openly and honestly.”
“Well, if your horoscope says it, it must be true,” Rafe said dryly.
They’d started every single workday this week with Keeley reading his horoscope to him.
It was getting to the point even he was starting to take them seriously.
His horoscope for today promised vast changes were coming, and he’d spent more than a few minutes wondering what the changes could be. “Where’s he taking you?”
Keeley crinkled her nose. “We’re starting with dinner at Saloon and then—no judgment, please—we’re going to Enigma. He said he likes to dance.”
Gio scoffed. “He likes to cop a feel, is more like it. Why don’t you just do the dinner part tonight and leave the bump and grind for a future date?”
“Wow, Gio. I’ve never heard you manage to channel my brother so perfectly. When did you turn sixty, by the way?” she asked. “I must have missed a few birthdays somewhere.”
“Smart-ass,” Gio said.
“Old man,” Keeley retorted.
“Come on. We’re not starting that shit again,” Rafe said, cutting off their standard name-calling game. “I’m in for happy hour, Gio. And dinner too, if you don’t have any plans. Haven’t had time to hit the grocery store lately, so the cupboards are bare. How about cheesesteaks at Founding Fathers?”
Founding Fathers was a local bar, and a hidden gem as far as Rafe was concerned. He and Gio had spent countless evenings there, watching whatever sport was in season with the other regulars.
“Dinner sounds good.” He turned to Keeley. “You sure you don’t want to jump to the inevitable and give this loser the heave-ho before the date instead of after? I’ll pay for dinner.”
“He’s not a loser. I’ll stick to my plan and continue to hope for the best, since you guys keep rejecting me.
” She flipped her hair over her shoulder dramatically.
“Besides, Baby is lonely,” she said, pointing downwards, making it clear the nickname was for her vagina.
“I don’t put out on the first date,” she added, “but if this guy is cool, I wouldn’t be opposed to setting up a second date that includes heavy petting. I’m getting bored with my vibrator.”
“So the end goal on all this dating is just sex?” Gio asked.
Keeley shook her head. “Of course not. Well, not entirely. I mean, I like a good time as much as the next person—and don’t you guys dare pretend that you’re not the same. I’ve been around long enough to overhear plenty of your locker room talk.”
Gio grinned. “I don’t believe in the double standard, and you know it.”
“Can I tell you guys a secret?” she asked, her voice suddenly more serious than he was used to hearing from her.
Rafe nodded.
“I’m sick of the party scene. I want what Jess and Gianna have. And now Penny. You realize I’ve never had a long-term boyfriend, right? Think about it. My longest relationship was with Herbie Wilson my junior year of high school, and that lasted all of four months. I’m ready for something real.”
Rafe hadn’t put it together until she said it, but she was right. He’d never known a Keeley who wasn’t perpetually single.
Not that his track record was much better.
Actually, he didn’t even have a track record. He didn’t date to change his relationship status. For him, dating was just about sex.
He hadn’t grown up with a stellar role model when it came to love and marriage. Not that his mother didn’t fall in love because she did. A lot. The problem was, she fell fast and hard and too impulsively.
Too many years of helping his mother pick up the pieces after her divorces had left Rafe trigger shy, wondering how the hell someone was supposed to know if it was really love or just a mirage, like the ones his mother chased.
In the end, he’d decided the whole thing—love, and the inevitable pain associated with it—was not for him.
“Herbie was a putz,” Gio grumbled.
“Yeah. He was,” Keeley agreed. “But he was cute, with parents who didn’t care if he threw a keg party in the basement every weekend. Underaged drinking and zero parental supervision—it was the equivalent of teenager Heaven. And for four brief, wonderful months, I was the queen bee at the parties.”
“I’m surprised you gave all that up,” Rafe joked. He’d never heard this story, and it appeared Gio hadn’t either.
“So what happened?” Gio asked.
“I caught Megan, a bleached-blonde bitch and captain of the cheer squad, giving him a blow job in the bathroom at one of his parties. Herbie, the witless wonder, couldn’t understand why I was pissed. He didn’t consider blow jobs cheating. Claimed he hadn’t laid a finger on her.”
Gio rubbed his jaw, grinning widely. “How do you always find these idiots?”
“Hell if I know. But I’m not giving up. Onward and upward and all that crap. With any luck, tonight might just be the night I meet my forever guy.”
Rafe wrapped his arm around her shoulder and tugged her close for a side hug, kicking himself for hoping tonight’s date was a dud…because nothing could ever happen between him and Keeley. “Ever the optimist.”
“That’s me. Hey, tell Gio my idea about the inn tonight at dinner,” she added, as Rafe attempted to stifle his wince.
With any luck, perhaps Gio hadn’t heard her. Because he’d already crossed his arms and was hitting Keeley with his most fierce look. “Behave yourself.”
She grinned shamelessly as she shoulder-bumped Gio on her way out. “Nope. Later, gator.”
As was her new habit, Rafe heard her stop at the front door and call out, “Goodbye, Albert! Bye, Marta!”
Gio chuckled, then dropped down in Grandpa’s recliner. “She’s a piece of work.”
“She is. It’s been nice having her around this week. She’s completely professional, a hard worker.”
Gio observed, “Yeah. I can see that.”