The Christmas He Loved Her (Bad Boys of Crystal Lake 2)

Raine took a step closer, the anger and pain inside her begging for release. “Really? I must have missed the memo on that one. And here I thought all I had to do was invest in a couple packs of pee pads and another dog crate.”

“Raine, I didn’t mean—”

“Yes you did,” she interrupted and held her hands up. “You know what? I’m not doing this with you, Jake.” Suddenly she was defeated. “I can’t do this. Not with you.”

Gibson stared up at the two of them from the coffee table, and even though he wasn’t allowed on it, she didn’t have the heart or the strength to push him away. In fact she wanted nothing more than to crawl back into bed and go to sleep. She glanced outside into the gray, overcast sky. It was only four in the afternoon. Was it too early to go to bed?

“Hey, I don’t want to upset you.” Jake sounded as tired as she felt.

But you do.

“Shouldn’t you be with your parents? Why are you here, Jake?”

He ruffled the fur behind Gibson’s ears, and she watched as her puppy wiggled outrageously, angling to get closer without falling off the table.

He nodded toward the leather bag he’d arrived with, which she now noticed he had set on the edge of the coffee table. “That belonged to Jesse, and after all the craziness with…” She watched him closely as he paused, his eyes on the bag, and for a moment, she knew he wasn’t with her anymore. His eyes went darker, his mouth tighter. “It was left behind in Afghanistan and sent back to base, and I knew…Jesse would want you to have it, even if it’s taken me forever to ge

t it to you.”

He stepped back when she bent forward. Raine’s fingers trailed along the bag, lightly touching the strap that was bound with travel tags. “What’s inside?” Her voice, barely a whisper, was rough, but she was thankful that she was able to hold it together. She clamped her teeth together as her stomach roiled. She needed to keep it together.

At least until Jake left.

“I don’t know.”

She looked up sharply. “You didn’t open it?”

He shook his head but remained silent, his dark, intense eyes shiny. “It’s not mine to open.”

“Okay,” she said finally. “So, what—”

The sharp ring of a cell phone cut her off, and Jake looked startled as he reached into his pocket. He withdrew the phone, glanced at it, and frowned. “Sorry, I gotta take this, hold on.”

Raine nodded and took a step back. She scooped Gibson into her arms and ran her fingers through the dog’s fur as she pretended not to listen to Jake’s side of the conversation.

“Hey.” He paused and glanced her way. Raine brushed past him and walked toward the kitchen, though her ears were left somewhere behind her.

“Yeah, I’m done here. I’ll pick you up.”

His conversation was none of her business, but listening to him tell whoever it was on the other end that he was done with her made Raine feel even less important than before. She couldn’t lie. Even as angry and disappointed and upset as she was with him…she still wanted to matter, and his dismissive tone hurt.

There was a long pause as Raine busied herself refilling Gibson’s water bowl, even though she’d done it a few hours ago.

“All right. I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.” He pocketed the cell, and Raine leaned against the counter as he entered the kitchen.

“Who was that?” she asked bluntly.

Jake shoved his hands into the front pockets of his jeans and shrugged. He didn’t quite meet her eyes, and she knew something was up.

“A friend.”

A friend. She didn’t like the way he said it. She didn’t like the guarded look that crept into his face. Call it women’s intuition, but Raine had a feeling there was more to the story.

“What kind of friend? An army buddy?” she asked casually.

“No.”

His dark eyes focused on her with an intensity that made her uncomfortable, and his one-word answer pissed her off more than it should. “You gonna elaborate, Edwards?” she pressed.