Rafe climbs inside seconds later and starts the car. The entire ride back to the restaurant is silent. “Uh, thanks,” Gwen mumbles and opens the rear door when we park near her car. When I don’t move to exit with her, she adds, “Lucy?”
“I’ll get her home,” Rafe replies before I can.
I roll down my window. “You’re good to drive, right? It’s been a while,” I state, referring to the drink.
“Yeah. I’m good.” Her tone is flat. She slams the door, stalks over to her car, and gets in.
I sigh. “She’s mad at me.”
“Ask yourself why.” I look over at Rafe, pondering his words.
“Because I bailed on her?” I offer.
“No, you didn’t. You had plans for dinner and a movie.” He lets his words sink in for a second. “She’s the one who invited me to join you, right?”
“I would have too,” I defend.
“But you would have made sure it was okay with her first, right?” he presses. He already knows me too well. “How many times have you been out with that chick and the roles were reversed?”
“Like she met up with someone and ditched me? Never.” I watch Gwen pull out of the lot, speeding away, but that’s not unusual.
“No, because you didn’t ditch her. How many times has she brought a guy along or met one while you were out?” Rafe steers out of the parking lot a few minutes after her.
“I don’t know. She meets people everywhere. She’s social,” I argue. “I’ve never felt ignored or slighted. Besides, we hardly ever go out.”
“Look, I don’t want you to be mad at me, but she didn’t seem like a great friend tonight. You said she was having a bad night, so I guess that’s all it is.” He shrugs, letting the conversation go, which I’m glad for. I don’t like thinking Gwen was being a jerk on purpose. She’s been a great friend to me, my only friend. I’ll talk to her tomorrow and sort this out.
“Where are we going?” I ask, looking at his profile. I can barely make out the slight scruff on his jaw in the dim light of the car.
“Where do you want to go?” he counters in turn.
“I don’t want to go home.” My reply comes quickly.
Rafe looks over at me for a long second. “We can go to my place, but once I get you there, I might want to keep you.” He smiles at me, and it’s pure mischief.
My heart starts beating faster. “Are you sure you want me to know where you live? I might be a stalker,” I tease.
Rafe tosses his head back and laughs. I think it’s the first time I’ve heard anything more than a chuckle from him. “You’re adorable. If you only knew.” He shakes his head slowly.
“Knew what?”
“Nothing,” he answers. “Keep your eyes peeled so you can find it next time. We’re almost there.” He slows the car and turns into a gravel drive. The tires crunch over the rocks, but the lane quickly smooths out to asphalt.
After a few seconds, a house comes into view. “Whoa,” I breathe. I figured Rafe had money after realizing he drove a Mercedes, but not this level of money. It’s dark, and there isn’t a light in sight, but the moon is almost full, so I can make out the size of the place and a whole lot of glass.
I look over at him. “This is where you live?” I feel inferior for an entirely new reason now.
“I haven’t for very long, and not all the time, so it’s kind of empty.” He sounds like he’s warning me.
“You mean you have another place besides this one?” I look up at the house—scratch that, it’s more of a mansion.
“In the city. I’m not going to be staying there often anymore though.” He parks in front of a bay of garage doors, and we climb out.
“What exactly do you do?” I ask him over the hood of his car while looking at a water feature near the side entrance. “Is that a fucking moat?” I gulp when I notice the water flowing over some rocks and under a bridge we have to walk over to get to the door.
“A fucking moat. I don’t think so, not yet anyway. We can change that later if you like.” He walks over the little bridge to get to the huge door, and my cheeks flame when his meaning registers. That is certainly not what I meant. Something tells me I would never want to have sex in a pond or whatever the hell that thing is.
Rafe opens the door and disappears into the darkness of the house. I expect a light to come on, but it doesn’t. I look around and get a little creeped out. It’s a new, unfamiliar place. Everything feels different all of a sudden.
