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

Okay, so maybe it wasn’t plain old anger. His eyes flashed and a muscle worked its way along his jaw. He was way beyond anger.

“What kind of man do you think I am?”

“Jake.” She returned his gaze as steadily as she could. “We’ve never really talked about that kind of stuff, and it’s obvious she means something to you.”

He looked like he wanted to strangle her. “Of course she does. She means a hell of a lot to me, but that doesn’t mean I’m in love with her. And you can be damn sure that if I was, I wouldn’t have spent two days and nights making love to you.”

Oh God, she was making a mess of things, and the damn elephant was still smiling at her.

“Jake, I didn’t mean to upset you. I just…I don’t know where we go from where we’ve been.”

He was still angry, and when he leaned closer, when his hands crept into her hair and cradled the back of her skull, the look in his eyes scared her even more. Because it was a look she couldn’t crack. She had no idea what was coming next, and that scared her more than anything, because…

I love him.

“We have a lot to talk about. A lot.” Jake’s voice was hoarse, the way it got when he was dealing with too many emotions. He cleared his throat while her eyes fixated on the pulse that beat at the base of his neck.

I love him. Her brain was frozen, because it wasn’t just a thought anymore. It was real—just as real as the elephant in the room. The elephant that really was nothing more than a manifestation of her fear. The fear that when he found out the truth about the secrets she’d kept, it would all go away.

Jake’s fingers slid to her chin and he forced her head up so that she had nowhere to look other than directly into his eyes.

“I can’t lose you.”

Mortified, she realized that she had spoken out loud, like an angst-ridden, overly dramatic teenager. Her cheeks flushed hot, and when she tried to yank her head away, he wouldn’t let her.

“You won’t lose me.”

Jake’s breathing changed, but then her heart was beating so rapidly, she felt faint. Every bone in her body had liquefied, and it was all she could do to not melt into a pathetic puddle at his feet.

He moved so that his knees touched hers, so that they faced each other dead on.

So that she had nowhere to run or to hide.

Trembling, Raine let him hold her up, her throat tight with emotion, her eyes filled with tears.

“I love you, Raine.”

Her eyes widened and her breath caught as his gaze followed the path of one lone tear that slowly made its way down her cheek. He bent forward, his tongue warm against her skin as he licked it away.

When he spoke again, his words caressed her cheek; they vibrated and made her shiver. “I think I’ve been in love with you since we were kids.”

“That’s a long time,” she whispered.

“Yeah,” he said haltingly. “But the thing is, I know I’ve been in love with you since…”

Another tear slid down her cheek as she nudged him with her nose. She glanced up at him and saw her heart reflected in his eyes.

“Since when?”

“This is so screwed up.” He shook his head. “You were Jesse’s, and I…” He exhaled as she moved her hands up to rest against his chest. “I couldn’t seem to help myself.” The last words spoken were more to himself, and for a few moments he said nothing.

“You remember your wedding day? You remember how it rained?”

She nodded. “Your mom told me it meant good luck.”

Her mind rolled backward and she squeezed her eyes shut. Images from the past slid through her brain. She saw Jesse. Her serious, steady Jesse. She saw him watching her with amusement in his eyes.

Amusement, because she’d just come in from the rain, where she’d spent the last half hour dancing up a storm with Jake. The hem of her wedding gown was in tatters, t