Chapter Thirteen
Raff
Had some part of me (namely my dick) been pissed with me ever since rolling off that bed?
Yep. But I was convinced it was the smartest decision.
Even if every bit of me was dying to just be alone with her again, I’d made it a point to fill our time outside of the car with experiences.
And, perhaps more importantly, audiences.
So I would keep my damn hands to myself.
Especially because, more and more, I caught her looking at me when she thought I couldn’t see. Sometimes, it was with a curious, confused sort of look. But just as often, it was something else—deeper, and maybe a little intrigued.
The part of me that was worried about getting my hopes up tried to remind me that it could be nothing.
But the part of me that had been watching Lula for years knew what I was seeing. Interest. Attraction.
Which was why I was cutting off any chance of intimacy.
Better to let her keep realizing she liked me as a person rather than just someone who could make her toes curl.
It would be too easy when we got back to Shady Valley for her to brush off an affair like some silly road trip fling.
But if I never let it go there, she might need to confront actual feelings instead.
And that was the end goal here.
Not just to fuck her, but for her to see that we could actually work.
Did I make her rub sunblock on my back, though? You’re goddamn right I did. I’m a red-blooded man after all. And a quick dip in the ocean fixed the whole uncomfortable hard-on thing.
“See, now,” she said, clucking her tongue at me as she came out of the Cuban sandwich shop with a bag and two sweating drinks pressed between her chest and arm, “that’s what you get for leaving your shirt back at the house.”
There’d been a ‘No shoes, no shirt, no service’ sign on the door when we’d arrived, making her shoot me a smirk and me resign myself to staying outside while she ordered the food.
We were just gathering up our garbage when I heard a familiar voice break through the crowd.
“Raff! My friend!”
Lula’s brows lifted as she glanced between me and a man she had no idea was a notorious international arms dealer.
“Zayn,” I said, getting to my feet, tossing the trash, then walking into the hug that was offered to me. “I’d say ‘long time, no see,’ but…”
“Did you not leave?”
“I left. I’m back.”
Lula had gotten to her feet and approached, dragging Zayn’s attention from me.
“And who is this magnificent creature?” he asked, taking her hand and fawning all over it.
“This is Lula.”
“Lula. What are you doing with a man like this, hm?”
“A road trip, actually,” Lula said. If I wasn’t mistaken, there was a harder edge to her voice. “We’ve had a lot of fun.”
Was she… trying to defend me to Zayn?
That was unexpectedly sweet. Even if I knew Zayn meant nothing by that.
“I believe it. You’re resplendent.”
Lula shot me a smile. “When you guys go out, is it a competition for who can say the most absurd things to women?”
“Speaking of going out, you have to come to my club.”
“Your club?” Lula asked.
“I opened a new club!” Of course he did. It was a smart business move. I wasn’t sure how he didn’t have more legitimate businesses to hide his weapon empire.
“Of course you did,” I said, finally spotting his private security guy, Daniyal, hanging back under the awning of a smoothie shop, his gaze moving up and down the street.
“You have to come. I have a VIP section just waiting for you.”
I glanced at Lula, a question in my eyes. She gave me a little shrug.
“We’ll drop by then. We have a few things to do today, but once it gets dark, we will come say hi.”
“I’ll put your name on the list. Viper Lounge. Dresses for the ladies. Slacks and button-ups for the men.”
“Got it.” I guess we had another shopping trip ahead of us.
We got talked into smoothies, where Zayn declared that the silent Daniyal highly recommended the girliest drink on the menu, then forced all of us to have them before we parted ways.
After that, I tried to check in with Arty again. But got no answer. I didn’t say anything to Lula, but I was getting a little concerned about not hearing back from him. Yes, it was true that he became obsessed with work. It wasn’t like him, though, not to at least answer a text.
If I didn’t hear back from him after the club, I might consider dragging my ass over there to check on the guy.
I kept those plans to myself as we each hit up a few shops and then a coffee place before heading back to the house to wash off the salt, sweat, and sunblock.
I was just getting out of the shower when I heard my phone ringing downstairs where I’d plugged it in.
I rushed down in my towel, hoping for Arty, but seeing Dixon’s name on the screen.
“Yo,” I answered.
“Little bird told me you’re back in town without saying anything. So I’m under orders to see what’s going on.”
“I didn’t check in because I’m not here for work. Just came down with a friend.”
“Yeah, I heard all about your friend,” Dixon said, voice teasing. “She as gorgeous as Zayn claims?”
“More.”
“I guess I’ll see for myself tonight. We’re hitting up Viper Lounge too.”
That was good. Maybe I could get one of them to go check on Arty for me, so Lula didn’t get suspicious.
“Is that—” Lula started, then cut off, making me look over to find her gaze raking over me, her eyes so heavy-lidded they were mostly closed.
She’d been wearing the fluffy robes from the hotel, but without one of those here, she’d slipped into one of her own silk robes in a color that could only be called a whisper of pink.
It was painfully obvious that there was nothing on beneath it with the way the material cascaded over her breasts, hips, and ass.
She’d taken off her bonnet, and judging by how much her skin was glistening, I imagined she’d already slathered on her oils and lotions.
My hands itched to reach out, to feel the impossible softness of the skin of her ankle, calf, knee, up under her robe.
“You there?” Dixon asked in my ear, making me jolt.
“Yeah, I’m here.”
“I said we were thinking of being in Miami by eight. You mind if we park where you’re at?”
“Yeah, that’s fine. Teddy’s glass beach house.”
“Alright, see you then.”
“See you then.”
I ended the call and placed the phone back down. “Don’t get your hopes up. It wasn’t Arty.”
“Who are we going to be seeing then?”
“Seems like Zayn was calling all his close friends. He name-dropped us. Now we will be seeing the Golden Glades crew here later. Go to the club together.”
“Oh, okay.”
“Don’t stress out. I know you aren’t used to a lot of company, but it will only be three of ‘em. And their main focus tonight will be finding something pretty to go home with.”
“I’m okay with meeting them. Will they be staying here?”
“Might be a very slight chance someone crashes if they get kicked out of whoever’s house they go to. But they will stay out of our hair.”
“So, still no word from Arty?”
“Not yet. But don’t stress about that. We’re going to have fun tonight. We can worry about all that shit tomorrow.” I took a few deep breaths, meaning to calm down my desire, but all I managed to do was breathe in the intoxicating scent of her.
“Yeah, no. I’m determined to try to only focus on that when it’s time. Now that we’re here, I don’t really have a lot of time left to enjoy things.”
My heart dropped at that.
The road trip felt endless in the best kind of ways. But we were at the final destination. Once we knew about Drake, once we had a location, it was basically over. Barring no complications. Like a missing hacker or something.
I was running out of time.
Well, I was out of time to catch her when she was all soft and sweet with me. There would be plenty of time back in Shady Valley. But there would likely be at least a week between this trip and seeing her again. Likely more like two.
It was almost over.
I tried to shake that thought off, but it had claws.
“When’s the last time you went to a club?” I asked, trying to distract myself.
“An actual club? God, I’m not even sure. College, I guess.”
“Baby girl, that’s way too long.”
“My last club experience involved half-dragging, half-carrying my roommate out after her drink was spiked, then sitting with her all night at the hospital to make sure she was okay.”
“No one is gonna spike your drink when I’m around. You can relax and have fun.”
“What kind of fun? Getting drunk?”
“If you want. Or just have a few, dance, enjoy the atmosphere. I’m sure Zayn’s club is something else. You can probably expect some celebrities. But if you’re not having fun, we can leave. No questions.”
“I sound like a Debbie Downer, don’t I?”
“No. You sound like someone who hasn’t done anything just for the fun of it for so long that you might not even know what you’ll enjoy anymore.”
“That is… a little painful but very true.”
“It’s not a bad thing. It means you have a ton of chances to fall in love with new things.”
“That’s a really cool way to reframe it,” she said, watching me as I moved across the lower level toward the kitchen.
Normally, I was pretty nocturnal. But the road trip made it so we had to check out early and get on the road, so staying up late was going to require more caffeine.
“You can count on me for finding the bright side,” I agreed, reaching up into the cabinet to grab the grounds.
As I was coming back down, I caught sight of Lula, her lips parted, her gaze hazy as it moved over my midsection.
I’d never be jacked like some guys at the club, like her cousin Detroit, but I worked out with enough frequency that there was definition in my abs. And being on the thinner side just made them all the more visible, without spending hours a day at the gym.
“Baby?”
Her gaze flicked upward, going round, knowing she was caught looking.
“Coffee?” I asked, trying not to smile.
“What? Oh, um. We don’t have any soy—”
I moved over to the fridge, reaching in, and pulling out the soy milk.
“Wait… how?”
“I asked Teddy if he could send someone over before we got here so they could bring in a few basic groceries. Soy milk, sugar, and your sweetener were top of the list.” Her head tilted, brows pinching. “What?” I asked.
“That was a lot of forethought.”
She wasn’t saying it outright, but I was reading between the lines: she was impressed.
It was no secret that Lula was a very ambitious woman. She liked her plans, her lists, her five-step thinking. And she was intrigued by men who had those same qualities.
“What can I say, I like keeping you comfortable,” I said. “Peek in the freezer.”
She did just that as I started the coffee.
“You didn’t,” she gasped, grabbing the box of her caramel blondie ice cream bars she’d mentioned.
“And I got myself the chocolate fudge brownie ones so I’m not tempted to steal any of yours.”
“Coming home from the club to dessert sounds perfect.”
“I’ve always been more of a mac & cheese or grilled cheese guy when I’ve been drinking, but I see your vision.”
“Both of those meals require cooking. You can cook?”
“It might be a stretch to call stirring gooey cheese into boiled pasta ‘cooking,’ but I can do that, yes.”
“I can cook but don’t do it much.”
“Do you like it?” I asked, passing her a mug of coffee.
“I, um, yes. If I don’t have to worry about the time it takes.”
“Is something wrong with the coffee?” I asked as she kept turning the mug in her hand.
“This cup is from Tiffany.”
“Guess so.”
“No, it is. I have these saved. I didn’t pull the trigger because they’re not dishwasher safe. And that just felt like a lot of work.”
“Well, that was good information to have before I ruined these by putting them in the dishwasher,” I said, adding sugar to my mug.
“Anything with gold on it like this can’t go in a dishwasher,” she explained, standing beside me to make her own coffee.
It was so normal.
Comfortable.
Nice.
Something I could get used to.
If all worked out the way I was hoping, maybe I could. Get used to it. Us. Together. Domestic. Happy.
At that moment, sipping coffee and watching the seagulls land in the backyard, I had no idea how close I was to losing it all.
To almost losing her.