“You’re like family, and I don’t charge family for staying here. Besides, you earn your keep.” At the sound of an engine, Francie turned toward the house. “That must be Alex.”
“What are you going to do with a Saturday just to yourselves?” Ahri asked, following her inside.
“Rafe’s the one who arranged the play day. He said he’s got something planned with us.” Francie continued into the living room to meet her husband.
What was Rafe doing that didn’t include the kids? Ahri tried not to think about it too much. The man confused her so much. When he’d taken her hand back at the gem mine, she’d thought it had meant something. It hadn’t, and she’d felt like a fool afterward. Having her brother hint there might be more to Rafe’s feelings for her had kept her awake for a few nights. She’d let it go when his behavior toward her had been strictly businesslike. Ahri was the one who was trying to make it more than it was.
As for his adventure today, she might not be invited, and she thought that would probably be for the best. He or the kids had invited her on every one so far, and she’d loved it. If her life had to be on hold, she couldn’t think of a better person to pass the time with than Rafe. And his family, of course. Just friends.
With the upgrade launch completed and an incredible success, he’d had a lot more free time and had been spending it at his mother’s house. He might as well live there. That thought drovehome how much she’d miss him when she wasn’t working for him anymore. What would she do when he wasn’t such a fixture in her life?
Ahri sat at the kitchen table and opened her laptop. Instead of going to the university’s page, she did a general search for employment in Boone. When her job ended, she had to have some way to support herself. She wouldn’t freeload off her brother.
She’d only read a few job descriptions, when she heard the familiar sound of Rafe’s SUV. Her pulse went insane as it always did whenever she heard it. Ahri stayed at the table, not wanting to make it obvious to the world how much she craved to see him, even though it’d only been about ten hours since she’d spent the evening supporting his champion in their weekly game night.
After a few minutes, Francie hurried into the kitchen, followed by Alex and Rafe. A faint sheen of perspiration dotted her normally calm face, and she wrung her hands.
“Is everything all right?” Ahri jumped to her feet, alarmed until she saw Rafe’s cheeky grin.
“Have you ever gone zip lining?” Francie asked, a little breathless.
“Nope.” Ahri sat back down, trying to hide her disappointment.
“Rafe and Alex want me to go with them,” Francie said, her voice pleading.
Ahri looked up again. Did her landlady need help telling the guys she didn’t want to go? Ahri glanced from Alex to Rafe, who both watched her expectantly.
“Um . . .”
“They really want me to try it out, but I don’t want to be the only one there who hasn’t done it before.” Francie took the seat next to Ahri’s. “Will you come too, so I don’t look like a fool?”
“I don’t like the sensation of falling.” Ahri’s heart thudded so hard it hurt at the thought, even as she felt guilty for the lameexcuse. The Diederiks had done so much for her, Francie especially.
“It doesn’t feel like you’re falling,” Alex said.
“It’s like you’re flying. It’s amazing.” Rafe’s expression now resembled his mother’s pleading one—minus the abject terror.
“It’ll feel like I’m about todie.” Ahri held up her pointer finger when they started to argue. “You two stay out of this.” She turned to Francie and asked softly. “Are you sure you want to do this?”
“If I follow the rules, I’ll be right as rain. I’ve wanted to do this since Rafe told me about his first time. We couldn’t afford to do anything like this when he was in high school. I’m not getting any younger, and I don’t want Lessa and Nik to have a cowardly old woman for their mother.”
“There’s nothing cowardly about you.” Ahri rubbed the spot over her heart. Finally, she let out a long breath and said to Rafe, “If I die, tell Kayn to send my Korean doll to my mother.”
He let out a whoop and pulled her into a hug. Ahri stilled, her cheek pressed against his shoulder, his aftershave—now one of her favorite smells—filling her senses. Time seemed to suspend, and she wanted to stay there forever. Someone coughed.
Rafe released her. He stepped back and put his hands in his pockets. “Y’all need to put on some solid, closed-toe shoes.” He lifted a foot to show his hiking boots.
Still a little unsettled by the hug, Ahri heaved a sigh and met her hostess’s gaze. “I guess we’re going ziplining.”
Grinning, they left the room.
“Don’t even say it,”Rafe said to Alex when he could hear the women’s footsteps on the stairs. “I didn’t mean to do it.”
“You’ve been walking a fine line, and you may have just crossed it.” Alex leaned against the counter, one leg crossed in front of the other.
“I know.” Rafe started pacing the kitchen. “Like I said; I didn’t mean to do it. It’s hard.”
“Maybe you should take a business trip and get away from her for a few days, or you could just not come over here every dang day. I sympathize, but any man would be tempted if he spent so much time with a woman he cared about.”
