Rainy Day Friends Read online

“Okay,” Lanie said. “What’s up with people staring at my hair?”

  “You’re wearing frosting in it,” Mark said.

  She turned and found him in uniform looking his usual badass self, a fact that the smile on his face only amplified.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked, slapping his hand away when he tried to touch her hair.

  He simply used his other hand and swiped his finger over her head, which came away smeared in chocolate frosting.

  “Dammit,” she said.

  “That’s a bad word,” Sam said. “Our friend Alesia gets a spanking if she says a bad word or fibs.”

  Mark arched a brow at Lanie, and in a reaction that she did not approve of, her body disconnected from her brain and quivered. “No, but seriously, what are you doing here?”

  “Dispatch got ahold of me,” he said. “I stopped at the bakery in Paso Robles.”

  She eyeballed his perfect, bakery-made cupcakes. “Those aren’t homemade. They’re supposed to be homemade. You cheated.”

  “So . . . you made yours, then?”

  “Yes.” She paused. “Sort of.”

  He leaned in and with his mouth against her ear said softly, “You remember what happens to fibbers, right?”

  She got a hot flash.

  From the front of the room, the teacher clapped her hands twice, which was apparently the sign for class to start because people started to scatter.

  “You guys gotta go now,” Samantha said in a rush and both girls flung themselves at Lanie and Mark, giving hugs and wet kisses. “Thanks, Lanie,” Sam said. “Thanks, Daddy. Don’t go too hard on her, okay? Her heart’s in the right place.”

  The words were Cora’s. Lanie could hear her boss saying those exact words and knew that was where Samantha had gotten them. If she hadn’t been so frazzled—and covered in chocolate—she’d have taken a beat to admire the wonderful qualities the woman was imparting to her family, and maybe even ache a little bit since she’d not gotten much of that from her own.

  Mark was still chuckling as he and Lanie headed out of the school.

  Lanie bit her tongue, refusing to ask him what the hell was so funny because—

  She gasped when Mark pulled her around the corner and pressed her up against the wall of the building.

  “What the—”

  Before she could finish the sentence, his mouth came down on hers. He kissed her long and quite thoroughly before lifting his head and licking his lips. “Definitely store-bought frosting,” he chided.

  She gave him a shove and he took a step back, laughing outright now. “You are so spoiled rotten,” she exclaimed. “You have no idea!”

  His smile faded a little, as if maybe he suddenly remembered what had happened and all he’d learned about her, and just like that her humiliation renewed itself. She whirled around to leave, but he caught her hand and reeled her back in.

  “Don’t,” she said, not sure what she was saying “don’t” to exactly. To looking at her in that way he had that both made her bones melt and her heart go squishy? To kissing her again? Because if he did, they’d end up in bed—where, granted, they did their best work—and that thought scared the hell out of her. It was getting hard to keep her heart out of the mix.

  Actually, scratch that. Not just hard, but outright impossible.

  Mark used his free hand to stroke her hair back from her face. Then he looked at his finger—streaked with chocolate—and licked it.

  She made a sound that was half laugh, half sob and his hands tightened on her.

  “You’re still avoiding talking to me,” he said quietly, no longer amused.

  “No.”

  “Lanie.”

  She sighed. “Okay, yeah. A little. I’ve been avoiding talking to you a little.”

  “Why?”

  She stared up at him. “Have you not been paying attention?”

  “I have. I’m paying all my attention.” He leaned in close. “What are you so afraid of, I wonder?”

  “Honestly?” she asked. “I’m putting all of my energy into not seeking the answer on that.” She paused. “I’m going on a road trip tomorrow.”

  “With River. You’re going to go through Kyle’s things to see if you can’t get her ring back.”

  She shook her head with a sound of annoyance. “Do you know everything?”

  “I try to. For instance, I know that you’re the most incredible, caring, warm, most amazing woman I’ve ever met.”

  She snorted and rolled her eyes. “You need to meet more women then.”

  His lips curved into a very small smile. “You coming back, Lanie?”

  His eyes were like lasers, burning into hers, and she supposed it was somewhat of a relief that he could read her so well. Saved a lot of time. “I’m not quite done with my contract,” she said. “And I don’t leave in the middle of my obligations.”

  His gaze held hers prisoner. “Is that all this is? An obligation?”

  “No,” she whispered.

  “Good. And you know damn well you don’t have to go at all; everyone here, including me, would love for you to stay.”

  She dropped her head to his chest again. Let herself soak up the innate and delicious guy scent of him, his strength, his goodness. Then she pushed off. “I’ve got to go.”

  He let her, and a minute later she was in her car. She drove to the winery on autopilot and parked. And then sat there, head down on the steering wheel.

  What the hell was she doing?

  She was still straddling that line of telling herself she couldn’t possibly stay. Still telling herself there was nothing to keep her here, a vow that had become even more serious once River had revealed herself.

  But now her commitment to her self-pity was wavering, along with her resolve to stay unattached to anyone here. Her roadblocks were falling away one by one and it was . . .

  Well, terrifying.

  All the more reason to go, she told herself firmly. Stick by that. Own it. Finish your work and get out, walk away while you still can.

  A few minutes later her phone vibrated in her pocket, nearly giving her heart failure. It was Mark. “Hey,” she said, annoyed at how breathless she sounded.

  “Hey, yourself. I’m back at work, but according to Holden, you’ve been sitting in the parking lot talking to yourself for ten minutes. Am I worried?”

  “No.” She paused and closed her eyes. “Mark?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Thanks for caring.”

  There was a beat of silence. She’d surprised him, she realized. “I care a lot,” he said very quietly, as if he didn’t want to scare her off.

  And when had she become that person? she wondered. The one of the two of them who was afraid of her feelings and emotions? Okay, so she’d always been that person.

  The truth was, she’d hidden behind his no-relationship stance because she was afraid, afraid that her feelings for him left her feeling as if she were naked in school and vulnerable. And she didn’t do vulnerable. “I know you do,” she said and then let herself say it. “I, um . . . care a lot about you too.” And then, because she was in uncharted waters without a navigation system, she ended the call.

  By this time tomorrow she’d be on Lanie’s and River’s Most Terrifying Adventure.

  Chapter 26

  My anxieties have anxieties.

  The next morning, River stood in front of her closet trying to figure out what to wear for this road trip when Holden knocked and came in looking like the cowboy he was in boots, jeans, and a cowboy hat, shoulders broad enough to carry any burden that came his way.

  He smiled at her and moved to her side. “You about ready to go?”

  “I would be—if any of my clothes fit.”

  “So you’re really going to do this thing with Lanie?”

  “Yes.” And if she was being honest, she was excited about it too. It was a chance to get Lanie back in her life. She missed her, like she imagined she’d miss a sister if she had one.