Taking Chances
Alexandra
Thebreak-inaside,thishad been a fantastic evening. Rafferty was right. We needed to get to know each other again - yet I felt so comfortable with him it was like getting my best friend back. I felt a warmth and relaxation I hadn’t felt with anyone, ever.
The stress of straightening Ines’s room wore on me earlier, and I’d been thinking it was too bad I didn’t have any kind of ice cream in the freezer.
Leave it to Rafferty to remember my favorite dessert.
Then it hit me what his other motivation might have been for it.
No. No. He’d always been thoughtful and sweet.
‘Any man biding his time to get in your pants is far from sweet.’
Gah!
Why couldn’t I get those words out of my head?
“Your mochi needs five minutes at least, so which will it be, champagne or—”
“Champagne,” I said.
Rafferty took the bottle out of the fridge while giving me a probing look. “Cool. Any reason in particular? If you think I can take that other bottle back for a refund, think again.”
I wandered into the kitchen and grabbed two coupe glasses Grandma gave me when I moved out of Mom and Dad’s house.
Once I set both glasses on the counter, I caught Rafferty’s gaze. “I think you’re right - that this is a special occasion.Notthat either of us had our heads up our—”
He put his finger to my lips. “How many times did you high-tail it out of a room when I got there?”
This time, I gave into temptation and nipped at the pad of his index finger. “How many times did you ignore my presence in a room?”
“One hundred and forty-three,” he said, taking his finger back and peeling the foil from the champagne bottle.
“What?” I almost yelled.
He smirked. “Give or take a few.”
I laughed. “You are…”
“Just like you, Lex. Stubborn, loyal, and dependable.”
“Here, I was thinking you’re incorrigible. And stop listening to your mom about your Taurus astrology sign.”
He chuckled. “Ourastrology sign, since our birthdays are three days apart.”
The pop of the champagne cork derailed any retort I had. “I love that sound,” I muttered.
He poured into each glass. “Yeah, it’s a good sound.”
An awkward feeling threatened to overtake me, and with anyone else, it might have. Since this was Rafferty, I willed myself to ignore the awkwardness.
He handed me a glass and put his to his lips.
“Whoa. We aren’t going to toast?”
He held his glass aloft. “To extracting our heads from our asses.”
