Not once. Not twice.
At least a dozen times.
I made my way through the small space and pulled the door open to see my nemesis on the other side.
“Wildcat,” I said, calm and ready for whatever she was going to throw at me today.
I reached into my pocket and found the green stone that I’d snatched back from Clark last night, and rubbed it between my fingers because I didn’t trust that this woman wouldn’t cause me pain once again.
“Rafael,” she purred, her voice lighter and sweeter than usual, but her eyes looked slightly frantic. She was wearing a pair of jeans, a white turtleneck sweater, and some sort of colorfulscarf tied around the top of her head. Long blonde waves fell around her shoulders, and I tried hard not to stare.
“What can I do for you?”
“Funny you should ask.” She cleared her throat and pushed past me into the house, even though I hadn’t invited her in. “I need a favor.”
“That’s rich. Why would I do you a favor?”
“Because my options are limited. So, basically, you’re here, and I don’t have a lot of time. So, if you do this for me, I’ll owe you one.”
“You’ll owe me one? What does that mean? Are you saying that I can have anything I want?”
“It depends how well you play the part,” she smirked. “But yes, within reason.”
“Wow. You must be really desperate.” I walked to the counter in the kitchen, picked up an apple, and took a bite.
“It’s pretty simple, actually.” She walked past me and grabbed an apple out of the same basket, acting like she owned the place before taking a bite.
The woman oozed confidence and sex appeal, and as much as I despised her, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t intrigued.
And by intrigued, I mean that my dick was highly entranced with her.
And considering he’d been through a trauma—caused by her—that was saying a lot.
“Take your shot.” I leaned my ass against the kitchen counter and crossed my feet at the ankles.
“Okay. Time is of the essence, so try to keep up.” She paced in front of me.
She was nervous.
I liked it because it meant I had all the power in the situation.
“I’ll do my best.”
“My family, well, they aren’t like yours. Everyone is kind of… competitive.”
“We’re competitive. That’s not unusual,” I said.
“This is different.” She came to a stop in front of me. “My cousin, Charlotte, is a real piece of work. But she’s the shining star, so to speak, and she loves to point out that I’m sort of a black sheep.”
“You don’t say?” I said, not hiding my sarcasm.
Color me intrigued.
“Here’s the short version. I dated a guy who became a famous rock star after we were together, and let’s just say he’s an unpredictable time bomb. He’s pulled me into his endless drama, dragging my name into the press all the time.” She shrugged. “But I’ve been done with that for a long time. However, no one seems to believe me. So, I stretched the truth a bit and said I had a very serious boyfriend in Rosewood River, and that’s why I was coming here for three months.”
“And you don’t have a boyfriend here?” I asked, already knowing the answer.
“Correct.”
