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

“I’m good.” And she was.

“So”—she paused—“Wyndham Place.”

Jake leaned back in his chair and nodded. “Yeah, Wyndham Place.”

She reached over and grabbed his beer bottle, taking a good long sip from it as she organized her thoughts. But in the end, it wasn’t so much being organized as it was just asking the question.

“Why?”

Jake studied her closely and she took another long drink from his bottle, emptying it along the way, and set it back in front of him.

Brad Kitchen appeared from nowhere with a more-than-a-little-tipsy Lori Jonesberg on his arm. The woman was sporting a vibrant red head of hair with shocking chunks of white blond fringing her bangs. The look was retro, loud, and on anyone else would have looked outrageous, but on Lori it looked cutting-edge and was actually almost tame, compared to some of the looks she’d sported over the last few years. As owner of the local salon, it was almost as if Lori felt she owed it to the town to show them exactly how cool they could look.

Except there were very few residents who could pull it off, Raine included.

Raine pretended not to notice the frown that settled on Lori’s mouth as the woman eyed Raine’s own impromptu cut. The frown deepened a

nd Lori’s eyes—slightly crossed from too much beer—narrowed as she teetered dangerously on her four-inch leopard-print boots.

“Good Lord, which one of my girrrlzz did that to you?”

Shit.

Raine fingered the one piece that never settled and tucked it behind her ear. “Uh, I kinda did it myself.”

Lori’s eyes widened in horror. Seriously. It was as if Raine had just told the woman she was terminally ill or something.

Thankfully, Brad saved Raine from the brunt of whatever the hell Lori was about to unleash.

“Congrats again, Edwards, on the Wyndham deal.” Brad’s arm snaked around Lori in order to keep the petite woman steady. “You never did say what you’re going to do with the property. You gonna demolish it and build?”

Jake shook his head. “Nope.”

For a moment, Brad seemed a bit mystified, and then his eyes widened incredulously. “That house was this close to being condemned, Jake. Are you seriously going to fix it up?”

Again, Jake nodded.

“Hell, that will take a small fortune and a hell of a lot of time and worry.”

“I guess it will.”

“Good luck with it, then.”

Jake took the hand offered to him and shook it. “Thanks.”

They both watched as Brad Kitchen led Lori away, though she did manage to peer over her shoulder and grimace at Raine once more, her hand to her ear as she mouthed Call me before Brad guided her out of the Coach House.

“Don’t pay any attention to her,” Jake said quietly.

Raine stopped fussing with the errant strand of hair and glanced back at him.

“You look good.”

She stared across the table at Jake for so long that when he cleared his throat and looked away, she exhaled a shaky breath and pushed her empty glass back. He was so full of shit that if his eyes weren’t already brown, they sure as hell would be now. She looked like crap and she knew it.

“You ready to go?” he asked, pushing his chair back.

“Yes,” she murmured. “Do you need a ride, or are you okay to drive?”