the last time someone who wasn’t a waiter had done that for her.
“Everything okay?” he asked.
“Uh, yeah.” She eased into her chair and felt the weight of his gaze as she poured the milk, then swirled it into the dark, black liquid. When it was perfect, she took a sip.
“Not too dark?” he asked.
“Nope.”
He shook his head. “I drink it sweet, the way the Italians do.”
Raven glanced over the rim of her mug. “I don’t use refined sugar.”
He laughed. “You’re kidding, right?”
“No. Why?”
“What do you call that shrine to diabetes?” He gestured his thumb over his shoulder toward the pile of candy on the counter across the kitchen. The torn box of Tinks sat atop the unopened strawberry licorice vines, a testament to her weakness.
Shit. Her stomach squeezed. She’d caved and eaten one of those nasty little things. And worse, she barely remembered what it tasted like.
She drew a deep breath. Today was a new day. A clean slate. She’d do better. Be better.
Raven forced a steely smile. “Oh. That. It was . . . uncharacteristic.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Really.” She took another sip.
“Like the tequila was uncharacteristic?” Jack asked.
“Pretty much.” Raven swallowed the coffee and focused on the taste as it slipped over her tongue. It was so much better than the domestic, so-called gourmet brand she grabbed each morning on her way to work.
Coffee this good shouldn’t be a once in a while luxury. It should be a necessity to start the day right. But coffee like this took time and effort to brew, and she’d had other priorities. Which was so dumb. At most, she’d have to wake up, what, ten minutes earlier to press it? The fact that that seemed like too much effort showed how little she’d been doing to care for herself. That needed to change.
An awful, ironic realization struck. Now that she was unemployed, she’d have plenty of time to brew as much coffee as she’d like. Her last sip turned bitter. Suddenly, she didn’t want any more. She placed the mug on the table and sat back.
“Wanna talk about it?” Jack asked uncomfortably. The expression on his face screamed that he very much didn’t want to talk about it.
Not that she blamed him. He didn’t know the first thing about her. He was probably scared that her tequila binge and candy mountain resulted from an epic PMS attack or being dumped by some asshole ex.
If Jack got a glimpse of the intensity of emotion that had sent her diving into that tequila and box of Tinks, he’d run screaming for cover.
Raven hadn’t just lost her livelihood—she’d lost control of the company she’d worked so hard to save. She’d failed not only herself, but her boss, and the men before him who’d built the company and had expected it to stay in the family’s hands. She’d been blindsided by Tiffany and her new, anonymous “partner.” The anger and sadness that swelled in Raven’s chest were overwhelming, but it didn’t compare to the disappointment she felt in herself.
So she was grateful that Jack didn’t want her to share her feelings because if she did, they would probably break her.
Raven shook her head. “Nope.”
Relief flooded over Jack’s handsome face. “Anything you do want to talk about?”
Definitely not that you saw me half-naked. Or that mind-bending kiss.
Raven forced those thoughts from her mind and painted on a bright smile. “Finding you a new place to stay.”
He stared, stone-faced. “I thought we settled that last night. I paid for a solitary long weekend in this beach house.”
“And I offered to make it worth your while to stay—alone—somewhere else.”
“You offered ten percent above the rental. That’s peanuts.”
“I can go higher.” If he wanted to negotiate, he had no idea who he was up against.
He laughed. “I doubt you have enough to pay me off.” Raven’s palm burned to slap the condescending grin from his face. She might look young and inexperienced, but she wasn’t, and her bank account proved it. “Don’t be so sure. Besides, I don’t have to pay you anything. Your reservation was never entered into the scheduling system, so as far as the rental company is concerned, it never existed.”
“But you know it did. You saw Lark’s email.”
“Sure, after I was already here first. And possession is nine-tenths of the law. You’re not the only one who needs a weekend to themselves.”
Jack stared at her for a moment. She imagined tiny wheels churning in his head. “Hey, I get it. Being alone is sometimes the only way to process