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

“What is this, twenty questions?”

She shrugged and pasted what she hoped was a sweet smile to her face. “No,” she said slowly, as if talking to a child. “It’s only one.” She paused. “Are you going to answer it?”

His face was flushed now and a feeling of unease clutched at her stomach. Which was ridiculous—she didn’t give two shits about who he traveled with.

“Lily was at loose ends for the holidays, so I invited her along.”

“Lily?” Raine’s eyebrow shot up. Since when did Jake have a Lily in his life?

She grabbed Gibson’s water dish and emptied the water she’d just filled it with. Turning on the tap, she kept her eyes on the bowl and tried to keep her voice neutral. “Your friend is a female?”

“You already did that.”

“What?” she snapped and turned so quickly, she spilled water all down the front of her T-shirt.

Jake pointed to the water bowl. “You already filled that.”

Raine set it on the counter, her cheeks flushed as she grabbed a cloth and dabbed at the large wet stain on her chest. “You’re staying for the holidays?”

He was silent for a few moments. “Yeah, I’m staying for the holidays. Thanksgiving is a big deal to my folks, and with my dad…well, with Dad being sick, it was time.”

“And you brought a woman, this Lily person.”

“Yeah, I brought a woman. A woman named Lily.” Jake’s tone was sharp and he cocked his head to the side. “That a problem?”

“Not at all. You can bring whoever the hell you want. Your social life isn’t my business.” Lips tight, Raine set Gibson’s water bowl back in its spot, aware that Jake had moved toward the front door. She followed him out to the porch, wrapping her arms around her body and trying to find some bit of warmth. He stood at the bottom of her steps and glanced up once more.

There was no warmth in his eyes. In fact, there was nothing. Jake Edwards looked as frozen as she felt inside. He glanced at his Jeep. “I should go. It’s been…it was nice to see you again, Raine.”

Raine’s chest was so tight, she was afraid to speak. She nodded and managed to get a few words out. “I’ll see you Thursday.” And then she turned, disappearing inside the house. She leaned against the heavy oak door, her breaths falling in short, tight spurts as she listened to Jake’s Jeep roar to life and eventually fade until nothing but silence surrounded her.

Down the hall, the late afternoon was long in the tooth as new shadows crept over her floors. It was nearly dinnertime and she supposed she should eat…

Instead, Raine locked the door, took her phone off the hook, and with Gibson following behind, climbed into bed without bothering to change. She pulled her heavy lime-green comforter up to her chin, shivering violently as she lay facing the empty pillow beside her.

She heard the wall clock tick from the hallway. The wind rustling branches against the house. The creaks of her wood floors as the house shifted. These were the sounds of her life. The sounds that filled her world.

Eventually she closed her eyes and prayed for sleep.

Chapter 3

Wednesday it poured buckets.

All day long, wind and driving water lashed at Raine’s windows and shook them in their frames. The world outside was drenched in a palette of gray that consisted of fog and water. It looked like the end of the world from where she huddled beneath the heavy pile of blankets.

Even Gibson preferred to hunker down in her bedroom, and it was an effort to get the dog out of the house to do his duty. Though, if she were to be truthful, it was more of an effort to get her own butt out of bed. But she forced herself because, given the choice, she’d rather not deal with doggie mess in the house.

Wrapping herself in a heavy coat and walking the dog outside would prove to be the extent of her exercise for the day, not that she cared. The funk that had been hanging over her head for months was slowly getting bigger, thicker, and she just didn’t have the energy to deal with it.

So she chose not to. As Scarlett O’Hara had once said, tomorrow was another day, and she’d deal with it later. Raine let the cloud of fatigue and cold settle on her shoulders and huddled beneath her covers with the dog as midmorning crept into late afternoon.

She dozed off and on, her body sluggish, her limbs cold. At one point she crawled from beneath the heavy blankets and changed out of her jeans and T-shirt, throwing on a pair of thermal pajamas that drowned her slight frame but offered a modicum of warmth.

She was so damn cold, and no matter what she did, she couldn’t seem to get warm. Gibson cuddled with her when he wasn’t tearing around the room, his puppy growls and excited barks incredibly annoying. He brought her chew toys, squeaky things that she’d bought him, but she pushed them away or tossed them over the side of the bed. She ignored him for the most part and fell back asleep as the storm continued to shake her windows.

Much later, when the gray shadows outside fell into her room, draping everything in early evening gloom, she woke with a start. Rubbing her eyes, Raine blinked rapidly as she stared at the neon-green display from the clock beside her bed. It read six thirty.

She groaned and stretched her tight muscles. Had she really been in bed all day?