The Rivals - Dylan Allen Page 0,262

meet you, Mommy’s friend.”

“Bianca, it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, finally.” Remi takes her hand and bows over it like he’s meeting the queen.

She giggles.

My little girl is so like me at that age and never, ever giggles.

But then, she’s never met Remi and he could charm a giggle out of Medusa.

“Nice to meet you, too. Mommy showed me your picture. Said you’re her best friend.”

“Bianca, it’s not nice to repeat private conversations,” I reprimand her.

“I already knew that. And she’s mine.” Remi runs a hand over my daughter’s head and my heart quickens.

“We just had dinner, but there’s some leftover, if you’re hungry,” she says, batting her lashes at him. Oh boy.

My daughter is a firm believer that the path to everyone’s heart is through their stomach.

“I ate already, but maybe we can have breakfast tomorrow? Sweet & Lo’s makes a mean omelet.”

“Can we, Mommy, please?” she asks and I smile stiffly at Remi.

“Of course we can. Now, run upstairs and get me a vase for these flowers.”

She grins at both of us and then darts through to the back. As soon as I hear her feet thundering up the stairs that lead to our living quarters, I speak.

“Way to put me on the spot.” I cross my arms over my chest in disapproval.

“I wasn’t. She invited me to dinner and I didn’t want to completely disappoint her. But, I do want to talk to you.”

He steps toward me and I take a step back and glance over my shoulder to make sure Bianca’s gone.

“Come back later. After she’s asleep, we can talk then.”

“Okay. What’s her bedtime? Ten?” he asks.

“Eight thirty. She’s only nine.” I remind him teasingly.

“Oh, yeah. Of course.” He is nervous and it’s cute.

“Okay. I’ll see you later.” I say when he just stands there.

“Okay.” He nods tersely.

“And, uh…I put the trellis back up. Step up your groveling game. Right now, it’s a little lame,” I joke.

Then reach up on my toes to press a kiss to his lips.

“I love you.”

“I love you, too. I’ll see you tonight.”

Chapter 44

LOVE ME LIKE THAT

REMI

* * *

“The things we do for love,” I mutter to myself before I stick the stem of the rose I bought between my teeth and start to climb the trellis. I’m sure this window was lower to the ground all of those years ago. Thank fuck I work out.

I rap on the window twice before her light comes on and the curtains rustle.

She pulls them back and opens the window. Her smile is wide. And on the other side of that fucking screen.

“Oh, God, Remi. I was just kidding. Why did you climb up here? I can’t open the screen, remember?”

A deafening rumble of thunder is followed by a clap of lightning that illuminates the sky and nearly gives me a stroke. I can’t speak around the rose I have gripped between my teeth.

Regan’s right. My game is so weak.

“I’ll meet you downstairs,” she says loudly, enunciating her words so her lips move in a comically exaggerated way. I laugh and the rose falls from my mouth.

I let go of the trellis with one hand to try to catch it and lose my footing. The last thing I see are her wide, horrified eyes before I go tumbling to the ground.

I land flat on my back; the wind knocked out of me and I feel a fat drop of rain fall right in the corner of my eye. In what feels like a split second that one raindrop multiplies and with another crack of thunder, turns into a deluge.

The lights come on in the back windows of the bookstore and I plant my hands on the ground to find that it’s already muddy. It’s raining so hard that I don’t see Kal until she’s ten feet in front of me. She’s in tiny boy shorts and a tank top, and she’s not wearing any shoes.

Her mouth is moving as she runs frantically toward me. But, the rain muffles her voice and I yell for her to stop.

“Kal, slow down, it’s muddy.” She keeps running and promptly slips and slides into me with enough force to push me backward into the soggy pit of dirt.

“Remi, oh my God, are you okay?” She straddles me, rain pouring down her face, mud is smeared on her shirt which is plastered to her body.

The peaks of her breasts are hard under her tank top, her boy shorts are thin and I can feel the heat of her