imagination or did Rafe’s thumb press harder against the silver band?
She’d loved Quentin, deeply. Yes, that love had been different from what she and Rafe shared, different but still special. She missed Quentin and the simple life they’d built every single day.
So why did she ache to squeeze Rafe’s hand and tug him closer? Something flashed in his eyes, but skittered through so fast she didn’t have time to analyze it before it was gone.
The heat of his skin warmed her for an instant before he let go.
“I’ll see you at seven o’clock then.”
“Great.” She backed away, reaching behind her for the door. “We’ll finally have a chance to talk and catch up on everything.”
Her grip closed around the doorknob and she exhaled hard with relief. She’d made it through this encounter easier than she’d expected. Maybe talking to Rafe tonight wouldn’t be so difficult after all.
“Sarah?”
His voice stopped her dead and made her skin tingle with nerves. She glanced back over her shoulder. “Yes?”
“Skip the steak. I’d rather have a cheeseburger.”
His arrogant grin told her he knew full well the reference would bring reminders of that first night he’d climbed through her bedroom window, and other stolen moments of picnic meals and frantic make-out sessions. Rafe may not have spoken to her since he returned to Vista del Mar, but it was clear he hadn’t forgotten the past any more than she had. Fourteen years ago she’d trusted Rafe not to hurt her and he’d trampled all over her feelings and dreams.
This time, she wouldn’t be so naive.
She recognized the light in his eyes too well. The same blue-hot flame had blazed over her whenever he’d vowed he wanted nothing more than to bury himself heart-deep inside her. And though she felt the same passion coursing through her veins, she’d held back then, even when she’d loved him.
She would sure as hell hold back tonight.
Three
Rafe leaned against his desk as Sarah made tracks out of his office. She may have invited him to her place for supper, but he suffered no delusions that she wished to rekindle their old flame.
Business instincts blared that she wanted to convince him to leave what remained of Worth Industries intact. And she would fail. She couldn’t succeed in diverting him from revenge now any more than she had in the past. But he was still curious just how far she would go to persuade him.
Sundress swishing around her slim legs, she angled sideways out the door being held open by Chase on his way in. His stepbrother nodded politely, then turned his attention toward Rafe. Chase didn’t even bother hiding his curiosity as an eyebrow shot up.
At least he waited until Sarah stepped into the elevator before speaking.
Turning back, Chase asked, “What’s she doing here? Sounded to me like she said her piece back at the restaurant yesterday.”
Rafe closed the office door again, the floral scent of Sarah lingering in his space. “Apparently not.”
“At least you managed to stay dry this time.” Chase dropped into a black leather chair by the sofa, sliding a portfolio onto the coffee table. “Does this mean the two of you are rekindling the old flame?”
Rafe forced himself to sit in the seat across from Chase rather than pacing around, broadcasting how restless one visit from Sarah left him. “Just because you’re wallowing in marital bliss with Emma doesn’t mean you have to haul the rest of us down with you.”
While they shared the same business drive, they differed in their personal lives. Rafe kept dating low-key, fostering easy relationships with corporate women who had as little free time as he did. Chase had been more of a player until settling down with Emma Worth. The former playboy was now a proud papa-to-be.
Chase thumbed his own wedding band absently. “I know how far gone you were on Sarah Richards back in the day. I could see it whenever I came out to visit Mom, and I barely even knew you.”
“Back in the day, sure.” He’d loved her then, or thought he had. He couldn’t deny he was still attracted to her. But that’s all it was. “Not now.”
“That’s not how it seemed at lunch. Sparks were flying.”
“That was me flying out of my chair when she soaked my lap.”
Chase chuckled. “Priceless moment.”
“Glad you’re amused.” He tapped the monogrammed portfolio in front of him. “Do you think we could stop gossiping about my love life and focus on business?”
“She’s single. You’re single,” Chase said without so much as reaching for the graphs Rafe spread out on the coffee table. “What’s to stop you from following those sparks?”
“Did you not hear me, my brother? We’re here to work.”
“No need to start without Preston and Tanner.” Both men were top-level executives, part of the very small inner circle of the trusted few in his own personal Dream Team.
Rafe looked sideways at his stepbrother. “You’re a real pain in the ass today.”
“You’re extraordinarily crabby yourself, and I think we both know the root of your bad mood.” Chase leaned forward, elbows on his knees. “She could only bother you this much if she still means something to you.”
A damned good point and Chase was the only one who could say it. Rafe would have flat-out denied the claim from anyone else. “I’m seeing her tonight for supper. Now can we get to work?”
“Dinner date? Where are you taking her? I hear Jacques’ keeps a table reserved for you all the time now.”
Just the mention of the exclusive French restaurant stoked his bad mood even more. Back when they’d been teenagers, he’d planned to take her there for Valentine’s Day. Then the electric company had been ready to shut off their power. His dad had been flat broke from paying off medical bills even three years after Hannah’s death. Rafe hadn’t hesitated to pay the bill, which meant no special Valentine’s date.
He’d settled for taking her to the beach with a picnic meal his dad’s fiancée had cooked. Fourteen years later, his pride still stung over how little he’d been able to give Sarah then. “I thought you were my business manager, not my social secretary.”
“I’m your brother and your friend.” Chase pinned him with an intuitive look as effective as any wrestling neck lock they may have resorted to as teens. “I know you better than anyone. Even your old man doesn’t know half the things about you that I do. There’s an edge to you lately and it’s not good. Is it so wrong that I want to see you happy?”
“Once the changeover is complete, I’ll be very happy.”
Chase opened his mouth to respond only to be cut short by a knock.
“Come in,” Rafe called, so ready to end this conversation
