“It’s a start,” Rhett agreed. He reached for his coffee, suddenly aware of the stillness in the room.
He looked up, and Boone asked with raised brows, “Care to tell us what you’re planning?”
“Who says I’m planning anything?” Rhett asked.
Asher leaned against the door frame and barked a laugh.
Boone merely gave him a knowing look.
Rhett snorted, giving his head a slow shake. “If you both know me well enough to know I’m planning something, then you also know that I’d never tell you what I was planning.” And with the men he considered his brothers chuckling behind him, Rhett strode out of the command center. His only plan was not waiting for that group of bastards to act again. This next move belonged to him.
* * *
Two hours had gone by since Rhett left the bar this morning, and Kinsley was still reeling from their talk earlier. He’d rattled her then, and she still felt rattled. She could stay strong against jerkish Rhett, but when faced with the sweet, caring, and tender Rhett who fixed her hand and offered his house up to her, she felt the strands of her strength waver. She chugged the cold water in her glass and set it back onto the bar when she heard Remy say, “Oh, my God, Kinsley, I’m so sorry.”
A quick look at the front door revealed that not only had Remy arrived but so had Peyton. Both were ashen faced. Remy took two big steps in and spun in a slow circle. “Who would do this?” she gasped.
“First guess would be the Red Dragons,” Kinsley explained, feeling the dull headache building behind her eyes. She’d spent an hour calling her staff and explaining what had happened then another hour with the insurance adjuster when he came by the bar. He told her that he had what he needed to get the claim rolling. She moved to the stage, which luckily hadn’t been smashed in, and took a seat on the edge. “But my dad called a bit ago and said that the guys didn’t think it was them.”
Peyton picked up a chair leg before tossing it back into the pile of broken wood. “Did he say anything more than that?” she asked.
“Nope, just that.” Kinsley hesitated. Then, and fully aware of the reaction she was going to get, she added, “Well, not exactly just that. He did say that he’ll be picking me up later to drive me home to grab my stuff before taking me to Rhett’s.” At her best friends’ bewildered expressions, she gave a laugh that sounded empty even to her ears. “Surprised?”
“Yes,” they said in unison.
She laughed again. A little more honest this time. “I was surprised too, believe me. Rhett showed up this morning, and we had a talk.”
“Which obviously went well,” Peyton said.
Kinsley nodded. “Things are moving forward, and right now, I think that’s about as good as I’m going to get. I mean, this is a shock. For everyone, I’m sure. We all just need to catch up, and luckily we’ve got time to do it.” She noticed the tightness in Remy’s mouth. “All right, out with it. I know you’ve got feelings on this.”
Remy’s voice came out in hyperspeed. “Staying with him is a terrible idea. I mean, there’s just a lot going on right now. You can stay with me and Asher, where there’s absolutely no one that’s going to upset you.”
She only loved Remy more. “It’s sweet for you to offer, thank you. Boone already offered, but Rhett’s trying to do the right thing. I need to let him.” She paused, trying to get this right. “I know it doesn’t really make sense, but it feels like I’m making the right move here. At this point, I just gotta trust what I feel and hope to hell this is all going to work out okay.”
Remy didn’t look convinced.
Peyton glanced between them then, being her ever-sweet self, smiled. “Boone told me about Rhett stepping up this morning. I think this will be good for him. Just might help him accept that this is happening, you know. Seeing what you go through and stuff.”
“Like barfing my brains out at totally random times and wanting really weird food combinations,” Kinsley offered.
“Exactly.” Peyton laughed.
Remy didn’t laugh. Her eyes narrowed on Kinsley. “Well, if I can’t talk you out of this, then you can’t go into his house without backup.” She marched out of the bar to no doubt go to her magic shop to bring back every candle, incense, good luck charm, and whatever else she had to bring positivity and light to Kinsley.
“It’s good Rhett came by to talk to you,” Peyton said as the door shut. She turned to Kinsley. “To be honest, considering how his talk with Boone went last night, I think it’s great he’s already stepping up.”
“It went that well, huh?”
Peyton lifted a shoulder. “Boone said he was just…torn up a bit.”
Kinsley didn’t have a reply, so she simply nodded. Yeah, and that was because Rhett wasn’t the guy you had a kid with. Hell, he wasn’t even the guy a woman should date. He had always been that hot-as-hell tough guy that gave a woman the best sex of her life. Rhett had been that for many women. He’d been that for Kinsley too in the tropics, but she also had something no
other woman had with Rhett. A long-standing friendship. She’d known him as a boy, as a teenager, and known him right before he went off to the military. Sometimes, every so often, in his smile she could still see the kid who wasn’t so…torn up.
“Shit, man.”
Kinsley whirled around right as Benji stormed through the front door. He scanned the space, looking probably like she did this morning. Tormented.