The Summer He Came Home (Bad Boys of Crystal Lake 1)

She ran a hand along the back of her neck. The action pulled her tank top tight across her chest, and she bit her tongue and hissed. Her nipples tingled and her belly clenched.

Cain was right. There was no way around it. This thing between them was palpable. It was alive inside them both. God, the thought of his hands on her body was enough to drive her to distraction.

Not once in the entire time she had been in Crystal Lake had she entertained the idea of being with someone. She’d been content to carve out a life and look after her son. Heck, for the first few months it was all she could think about. She’d arrived with five thousand dollars and not much else. It had taken everything in her to set up a house and keep things normal for Michael.

If she was honest, she’d given up on the possibility of a relationship long before she left Savannah. The twisted thing that her life had become had left her no choice, really. It had beaten her down and snuffed out the flame.

And now there was a glimmer of something. Would it be worth it? To open up and experience Cain Black, even if it was just for a short period of time?

She heard him inside the cottage whistling to himself as he prepared meat for the barbecue. Mac was helping, or rather drinking beer, while Cain prepared. There was something dark inside his friend, a wounded soul that she could relate to. Maggie didn’t know the details of his life, but she thought that maybe he drank a little too much.

So far, Jake hadn’t shown up.

“When’s Jake heading back to Afghanistan?” she asked. Good. This was good. Think about other things, and maybe the longing that hung in her belly and warmed the softness between her legs would go away.

Raine sighed and kicked her toes into the water. Little minnows swam crazily, darting in all directions. They looked like what was going on inside her belly.

“I’m not sure. He’s not exactly talking to me these days.” Raine splayed he

r hands out along the deck, and Maggie frowned, noticing for the first time that the young widow had removed her wedding band. “We had an argument the other day, and things aren’t good.”

“Oh. Sorry to hear that.”

Raine pushed her hair behind her shoulders and leaned back, her eyes closed as she drank up the sun. “I don’t want to talk about Jake or Jesse or the phantom baby.” A ghost of a smile touched her pale lips. “What the hell is going on between you and Cain? And don’t tell me nothing, because seriously, he’s eating you with his eyes.”

Raine straightened and glanced at her, and a giggle fell from her lips. “I don’t ever remember seeing him so”—she shook her head and made a weird face—“so freaked-out over a woman.”

“Freaked-out?”

“I see the way he looks at you, and it makes me think of being sixteen again and how I felt when I first realized I was in love.”

Maggie nearly choked. “Love? Um, I think you’re getting way ahead of yourself. I’ve barely known him two weeks.”

“Oh I know. I didn’t mean… It’s just…” She shrugged and looked out over the water as her face fell and her chin trembled. “If I could go back in time, there are so many things I’d do differently—”

“Raine, you can’t think like that,” Maggie interrupted.

“Oh don’t get me wrong. There’s a lot I wouldn’t change. But the thing that scares me most is the thought of never feeling like that again. The innocence, the hope, and the endless possibilities. We had it all. I don’t want to lose that. I’m scared that that part of me will dry up, turn to dust, and fade away like it never existed. That I’ll forget what it feels like to connect with someone so intensely that it hurts.” She turned to Maggie, her eyes filled with glassy tears. “I’m twenty-eight, and I’m scared my life is over. If I have this baby…” She sighed, tucked a long strand of hair behind her ear, and looked back out over the water. “We were kings back then and didn’t know it. We had no responsibility and the world at our feet.”

“You miss him.”

“I miss all of it.”

“You’re young. Don’t give up.” Maggie winked. “Love will find you again.”

“So says the woman who’s afraid to date.” Raine’s eyes narrowed. “I know there are things in your past that have scarred you too, but Maggie, you need to listen to your own advice. Cain’s a good guy, and from my perspective, I’m not afraid for you. He won’t break your heart. He’s not that guy.” Raine glanced toward the cottage. “It’s Cain I’m worried about.”

Maggie was stunned. She didn’t know what to say.

“Why would you…” she began. Anger stirred in her gut. Okay, the woman was newly widowed, but hell, that didn’t give her the right to freaking say whatever was on her mind.

“Don’t take it personally, Maggie. But I’ve known Cain my whole life, and as much as people would like to think he’s a player, he just doesn’t do casual.”

“Really? I find that hard to believe.” The pictures she’d seen the day before ran through her mind, and with them, a tingle of jealousy. If she were being honest.

Raine shrugged and rose. She offered her hand, and Maggie pulled herself up until she stood beside the small brunette. “Believe what you want, but you’ll see…he’s one of the good guys, and when you finally realize that? Promise me you’ll let him go, because unless you’re willing to walk away from whatever the hell has damaged you, he’ll get hurt.”

Maggie didn’t know what to say.