Rainy Day Friends Read online

  Lanie had to smile at that. The girl—and she really was just a girl—was pregnant, with apparently no one at her back, and she thought things were good. Optimism. Something she herself was missing. She looked down at a now sleeping Elsa and felt a totally unfamiliar ache in the region of her ovaries.

  Kyle hadn’t wanted kids. She’d told herself she’d been okay with that and maybe she’d believed it at the time, but right now, at age thirty, her ovaries were definitely starting to say otherwise.

  Mark had turned to the bartender, offering him a hand, pulling him up off the floor, clapping him on the back. They spoke for a moment and then Mark eyed the crowd. His sharp gaze found them, and with one last word to the bartender, he headed right for their table.

  His gaze was on Lanie and Elsa, eyes soft. “You look like a natural.”

  Oh boy. That look combined with the warmth of the sleepy baby against her chest was probably potent enough to make her pregnant. Because she couldn’t help herself, she pressed her nose to Elsa’s neck and inhaled that unique sweet baby scent.

  And there went her ovaries again.

  “She’s cute, right?” Alyssa asked. “It’s not just me?”

  Mark laughed. “Are you kidding me? They have big, suck-you-in eyes and they smell good. It’s a scam.” He set himself to the task of untangling the sleeping Elsa’s fist from Lanie’s hair, then gave the baby a quick hug. Talk about being a natural. He rubbed gentle circles on the baby’s back and then handed her off to Alyssa.

  He then pulled Lanie upright—in a much nicer fashion than he had the fighting idiots. He slid one arm around her waist, buried his other hand in her hair, and kissed her hard and with quite a bit more tongue than she would’ve expected in public before he pulled back.

  “I’m an ass,” he said quietly, pressing his forehead to hers. “I don’t always think to pretty up my words before I speak.”

  She felt like she had whiplash. She’d just seen him as the tough, impenetrable, stoic cop, and now she was back to dealing with the sexy, alpha man who’d kissed her on the beach before reminding her he wasn’t going to ever fall in love again. “I don’t want you to pretty up your words for me,” she said.

  “I appreciate that, but I’d still like to try. After I deal with the dicks outside. Will you wait?”

  She hesitated and then for some reason nodded.

  He gave her a small smile. “Later?”

  “Later,” she whispered and watched as he strode outside to make his perps regret their most recent life choices. Then she sank shakily back to her chair.

  “That was the hottest thing I’ve ever seen,” River said. “If I didn’t hate men so much, I’d start dating again just to get kissed like that.”

  “It was a pretty great kiss,” Lanie managed.

  They turned their attention back to the platter of wings, splitting a pitcher of iced tea in deference to the baby. Not what Lanie had come for, but it worked.

  Holden showed up with a couple of other guys, but broke from the pack when he saw them. Well, not them, exactly, because he didn’t seem to notice Lanie or Alyssa at all.

  Just River.

  He’d changed from his work gear. Clean jeans, cleaner boots, and an untucked button-down shoved up on his forearms. His cowboy hat had been traded in for a baseball cap, which he took off. “Ladies,” he said. “Looking good.”

  River rolled her eyes. “I’m big as a house.”

  He shrugged. “I stand by my statement.”

  River didn’t seem to know how to take that so Lanie kicked out a chair for him. “Want to join us?” she asked, purposely not looking at River shaking her head no-no-no behind his back.

  “Thanks.” Holden sat and looked at River. “Wanted to know if you’d have dinner with me.”

  “I already ate.”

  “I meant another night. Any other night.”

  River flushed. “Are you asking me out in front of Alyssa and Lanie?”

  “Trying.” He slid them an apologetic look. “I’ve been trying to catch her alone to ask her, but she’s surprisingly sly and fast on her feet given how pregnant she is.”

  Lanie smiled because River was beet red now.

  “She’d love to go out with you,” Alyssa said.

  Holden gave a rare smile, reminding Lanie just how good-looking a kid he was. “Great. I’ll pick her up tomorrow after work.” He rose, winked at Lanie, and stroked his fingers once over the back of River’s hand before walking away.

  River gaped at them. “I can’t go on a date!”

  “Why not?” Alyssa asked. “You’re single, right?”

  “Yes, but look at me! I weigh as much as a two-ton cow. And I’m pregnant. And I don’t even know him!”

  “You’re not even close to two tons,” Lanie piped in. “I’d be shocked if you were much over a hundred pounds. And being pregnant doesn’t mean you’re dead. As for not knowing him, that’s easily fixed by going on a date.”

  River stared at her. “Why do you care?”

  Lanie shrugged. “Maybe I want to see you happier than I am.”

  “I don’t need a man to be happy.”

  “Well, ain’t that the truth,” Alyssa said. “Look, you work hard, but you seem a little lonely. Holden’s a good guy with a good job and it’s clear he’s interested in you. What could be the harm in that?”

  River shook her head and opened her mouth, but then closed it again. Lanie wondered what she’d been about to say, but it was really none of her business. And an hour later, when Mark still hadn’t returned, she drove herself back to the winery. Turned out that the bedroom they’d procured for her on the second floor at the end of the hall was . . .

  Mark’s.

  He would apparently be taking the twins’ room, who were having a sleepover in Aunt Mia’s room. Lanie stood in the middle of his bedroom looking around at the dark, masculine furniture and lush bedding and tried not to picture him lying in that bed wearing nothing but luxurious sheets.

  Shaking off the image, she stole one of the T-shirts from his dresser for PJs and used the toothbrush someone had thoughtfully left for her on the bathroom counter. When a knock came, she debated whether to chicken out by turning off the lights and hiding under the covers—or running for the hills.

  “I can hear you breathing,” came Mark’s low, amused voice. “Open up.”

  Said the Big Bad Wolf . . .

  Chapter 15

  Why limit yourself to panicking in a crowd? Panic everywhere. Follow your wildest, most anxious dreams.

  Lanie rolled her eyes at both herself and Mark and cracked open the door. “Yes?”

  He hadn’t changed his clothes and his hair had dried a little crazy, as if he’d shoved his fingers through it a lot. “Try out my bed yet?”

  Oh boy, she thought. Her body liked the low velvet in his voice way too much. “No. How did you know the bar needed a cop tonight?”

  “The bartender’s an old friend. Boomer called me instead of 9-1-1.”

  “That seems like a huge risk. What if you couldn’t get there in time to stop the trouble?”

  “He knew I’d get there.”

  So matter-of-fact. So confident. Not cocky, just very sure of his abilities. She wondered what that utter lack of self-doubt was like. She’d sure like to know. “So . . . did you want something?”

  “Yes. It’s later. Sorry it took me so long at the station.” He leaned on the doorjamb looking like sin personified. “You going to invite me in?”

  “You’re a bad idea. We’re a bad idea, remember?”

  He laughed low in his throat. “How could I forget when I’ve told myself the same thing a hundred times?”

  So he’d been thinking about them too. There was comfort in that. “I don’t think this is the time or place.”

  “I know.” His dark gaze swept over her from head to toe, slowing at some strategic spots that quivered in response. “But you’re standing there wearing my favorite T-shirt from when I was a teenager and near