“We were beginning to think you forgot about us.” Kate looked over to Rafe. “Thankfully, we had Rafe here to keep us company. I wish we could stay longer and catch up, but it’s time for us to call it a night.”
“Really? So soon?”
“Yeah, it’s kind of late, and Eric has a meeting in the morning.”
“Okay, well...I guess we can get together another time.”
“Of course.” She and Eric both stood. “I’ll give you a call tomorrow, and we’ll set something up.”
“Okay, sounds good.”
Before they started to leave, Rafe shook both of their hands and said a quick goodbye, then we each watched silently as they headed for the door. As soon as they were gone, Rafe turned his attention to me. His green eyes were filled with an intensity like I’d never seen as he stepped over to me and said, “You and I need to have a talk.”
Chapter 13
Rafe
I knew things with Marlowe’s family were fucked up. I just didn’t know how fucked up they really were until Kate came into town. From the minute I laid eyes on her, I knew I wasn’t going to like her. Sure, she was attractive. One of those pretty blonde types, but there was something about the dissatisfied furrow of her brow and critical curl of her lip that screamed pretentious, self-absorbed brat. I hoped I’d just read her wrong, but the second she opened her mouth, it was clear I was right. Hell, the girl took being a condescending bitch to a whole new level. All it took was our brief encounter for me to understand why Marlowe wasn’t looking forward to her visit, but what it didn’t explain was the sudden change in her behavior. While I was a little surprised to find her so dolled up for work, it didn’t bother me nearly as much as the distant look in her eyes. It was like she’d withdrawn into a place that was a million miles away where I had no chance of reaching her. There was no way in hell I was going to let that happen. I had every intention of making her mine, and it was time she knew it.
Up until closing, Marlowe made sure to keep herself busy cleaning with the bar and did everything she could to avoid eye contact with me. That was fine. My time with her was coming, and it was coming soon. After the club closed, I followed Marlowe over to her place, and again, she was quiet as we made our way into her apartment. I’d barely locked the door before she’d slipped off her heels and disappeared into her bedroom. I wasn’t in the mood for playing games, so I decided to follow her. By the time I reached her room, Marlowe had already removed her miniskirt and fitted sweater and was standing there in just her deep red satin bra and panties. I leaned against her doorway, watching silently as she pulled a hoodie from her dresser and put it on. I crossed my arms and asked her, “How long are you planning to keep this up?”
“As long as it takes for you to stop looking at me like that.”
“Why don’t you do us both a favor and tell me what the hell is going on with you?” I took a step in her direction. Her eyes never left mine as I added, “Marlowe, just talk to me. I’m on your side. There’s nothing you can say to change that.”
“I don’t know about that. If you knew what was going on in my head, you’d probably run for the hills.”
“Never gonna happen.”
“Okay, suit yourself.” She sat down on the edge of the bed and sighed. “It’s just hard having Kate here. It’s brought up a lot of feelings I thought I’d put behind me.”
“Such as.”
“Hmmm ... The fear of rejection. Feeling not good enough. Weak. Pathetic. The list goes on and on.” She shrugged. “Does that put things in perspective for you?”
“It’s a start.” I sat down next to her. “I can’t say I understand why.”
“That’s the part that’s hard to explain.” Emotion filled her eyes as she explained, “I spent my entire childhood feeling like I lived in Kate’s shadow. I’ve worked so hard to break free from all that, and then she shows up and I suddenly feel like I’m going to lose everything again ... like it wasn’t even meant to be mine in the first place.”
“Are you being serious right now?” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I got that things were hard for her growing up. Hell, we’ve all had our struggles there, but it was hard for me to understand why someone so amazing would ever doubt herself. “You’ve busted your ass to get where you are. Came here with nothing and built an entire life for yourself, and you did it without any help from anyone. How in the hell can you think of yourself as weak?”