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

“Sure.” Jake signaled the waitress.

Raine cleared her throat and glanced around the bar as she waited for the waitress to return.

Music played in the background, the DJ spinning some soft country song. Jake’s gaze was shuttered, a small frown on his face, and she glanced away, hating the silence between them. God, there’d been a day when the two of them couldn’t shut up. It used to drive Jesse crazy. Her late husband was the type to sit back and analyze things—people and places—while Jake and Raine were more in-your-face with their opinions. And their opinions rarely matched—in fact they most always clashed—and that led to arguments that on more than one occasion had sent Jesse packing while the two of them duked it out.

She hated this uncomfortable space between them. Hated it a lot, but for the life of her, she had no idea how to conquer it.

Melinda, the waitress, brought her water along with another beer for Jake. Raine watched the way the young woman’s eyes rested on him. She saw the hungry look and she also saw the questions. Melinda was wondering about Lily. Wondering about Jake’s relationship with the blonde.

Join the club.

The water was tepid, and Raine made a face as she took a sip and watched Melinda weave her way around the tables on her way back to the bar. A few guys sat there, including Matt Backhouse. He caught her eye and nodded, his eyes appreciative in the way a man’s are when he sees something he likes.

It had been so long since anyone had looked at her that way that for a moment she was startled. She’d been holed up for so long that she’d forgotten what it feels like to be appreciated. Raine smiled politely but not before Jake caught the look and turned around.

“Backhouse?” he said roughly. “Really?”

Raine glared at him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Backhouse is a skirt.”

“A skirt?”

Jake nodded, his frown firmly in place. “Yep.”

Raine gripped her glass a little tighter and took another sip, even though Jake’s cold beer was looking a hell of a lot better than what she had in her hand.

“What exactly is a skirt?” she asked drily.

Jake looked at her as if she’d just dropped in from outer space. “You don’t know what a skirt is?”

“I’m pretty sure my definition of a skirt is a lot different than the one in Jake Edwards’s dictionary.”

His frown relaxed somewhat as he settled back in his chair. “Well, let’s see. Backhouse is divorced, right?”

Last she heard.

“You know he is.”

“His wife left him for Pete Ramsey?”

She nodded. It had been quite the scandal at the time.

“Pete Ramsey is his best friend?”

Her lips tightened. “Since elementary school.”

“And isn’t that Pete he’s sitting with?”

Raine glanced back toward the bar. Again, she nodded. “Your point?”

Jake took a long drink from his beer and stretched his legs out in front of him. “My point is, he’s a skirt. If my woman left me for my best friend, you can bet your ass I wouldn’t be having social beers with the guy. It would take everything in me not to beat his ass into the ground.”

“Well that’s a great way to solve things.” She motioned toward the men. “Maybe they worked their issues out.”

“I’m not talking about solving anything. I’m talking about code, a guy’s code of conduct, and that”—he nodded back toward Backhouse—“is just wrong.” He shook his head in disgust. “I bet he moved back in with his parents.”

Raine gritted her teeth, but she had to hand it to Jake. He was calling it pretty close.