Falling Fast (Falling Fast #1) - Tina Wainscott Page 0,49
in your pocket.” Rose shifted her gaze to Raleigh as they all came to the deck. “I hear George Morlen’s clearing his land for a horse barn and corrals. Does that affect where you live?”
“No, he’s not doing anything near my property.” Raleigh turned to Mia. “George is the man I bought the acre my cabin is on from. The one who let me use his Airstream.”
“Is that by the lake?” Rose asked. “He finally going to do something with that?”
“Not far from it,” Raleigh said. “But I don’t think he’s messing with the lake.”
Rose looked a little relieved. “Probably for the best. Lakes bring gators, and I’d sure hate to see someone lose an arm to one of the beasts. All right, see y’all later.”
A few minutes after Mia closed the door behind Rose and Cody, she said, “Oh! I forgot to give Rose the wings.” She grabbed the bag and ran out to catch Rose climbing into the old truck. “Here, we had extra.”
Rose looked surprised as she took the bag. “You didn’t have to do that.”
Mia lifted one shoulder. “We ended up buying more than we could eat.”
Rose opened her mouth but paused. Finally, she said, “You’re a good person. Like Raleigh.” Her eyes seemed to assess Mia. “Don’t break his heart, y’hear? I know you wouldn’t mean to, but it’s easy to let your heart blind your mind.”
“I…I won’t,” Mia stammered.
She started the engine. “Thanks for the wings.”
Mia walked back through the house, finding Raleigh on the deck staring at the Gulf. The sun was just disappearing below the horizon. The waves rolled in, washing up on the beach. As they receded, they were like fingers curling in, calling to her.
The sight of Raleigh did the same, his broad shoulders and strong back making her ache to come up behind him, slide her arms around his waist, and rest her cheek there. But Rose’s warning echoed. Getting involved was a bad idea. She had a job in Minneapolis. And while he could establish a business anywhere, he had Cody and Rose to watch over. Mia couldn’t hurt them by taking Raleigh away.
As if he would go.
So she stood beside him instead, curling her hands over the wood railing. “We made good headway. I think we should call it a day.”
He raised an eyebrow at her. “You sending me off?”
“Yes. No.” She gave her head a shake. “I feel like I should. Being with you is like driving your car today. It makes me not care that we have no future together. It’s pushing me to beg you to stay here tonight. Not because I don’t want to be alone but because I want to be with you.”
She traced her fingers up and down his forearm, a safe part of his body. “Not be with you that way—I mean, I do want to be with you that way, but I don’t, because it will hurt too much when I have to leave. Oh, God, I’m rambling.”
He brought his hands to her face and gently stroked her cheeks with his thumbs. “I know what you mean. But I don’t want you to hurt because of me, Mia. Never again.”
She’d admitted to wanting him, and he said he knew what she meant. Did that mean he wanted her, too? Given what she saw in his eyes, she had to guess that he did. “Are we feeling this way because we want to relive those beautiful days? Or because we didn’t get to say goodbye properly?” she asked.
“Maybe both.”
“Maybe we need each other to heal the scars on the inside.”
He stepped closer, his thighs brushing hers. “How do we do that?”
We make love. We kiss and hold each other through the night the way we used to, and this time we don’t have to set an alarm to get me back before daybreak. But she couldn’t say those words. Wasn’t sure that was the best way to heal without making new wounds.
“Stay with me. You can sleep on your chaise lounge.”
“Only if you show me your face.” His fingers skittered across her skin. “Without the makeup.”
“Why? You’re not going to use it to beat yourself up, are you?”
“No. I’m sure I’ve made it worse than it is in my head. I just need to see it. For my own closure.” He ran his hands down her arms. “Your face, your shoulder, arm. I don’t want you to hide it from me.”
She had been hiding it from him, wearing clothes that