Page 21 of Deal Takers

She grabs the remote and pauses the film. “Hold on a sec. I’m going to grab some snacks, and then I’ll rewind it to the beginning.”

I adjust my semi as she flits around the attached kitchen, grabbing random items. “You need any help with that?”

“Nope, I’m good,” she replies, arms full of bagged popcorn, candy, and bottled water.

I ignore that and help transfer everything to the coffee table. “Wow, you came prepared, huh?”

“With the twins home for the summer, the pantry is stocked with theater goodies,” she explains. “Eighties movie night was our family thing growing up. If you looked through their collection, you’d see how obsessed my parents are. Especially this one—I honestly couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve seen it. As a teenager though, I tended to lean toward anything starring members of the Brat Pack.”

“What’s a Brat Pack?”

“I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that,” she says with a side of stink eye.

“Hey, you can’t blame me. We weren’t evenalivein the eighties.”

“I was close enough,” she retorts.

I smirk. “Ah, that’s right. Please forgive my forgetfulness, Mrs. Robinson.”

She punches me in the arm. “I’m only six years older than you, dick.”

“True, but you’ve crossed over into an entirely different decade,” I tease. “Six years may as well be twenty-six years at this point.”

She rolls her big brown eyes and laughs. “You’re ridiculous. I have quite a while before I enter cougar territory.”

“I’ll let you in on a little secret.” I lean in to whisper into her ear. “I happen to think older women areincrediblysexy.”

It may be my imagination, but I swear she just shivered.

She pushes me away and presses play on the remote. “Just shut up and watch.”

CHAPTER 14

Brody

After our impromptu movie night, Rainey bid me good night and went to her room. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t seriously tempted to follow her to see what happened. Rainey’s not a cheater—I know this, and I would never want to help make her one—but that didn’t stop me from imagining all the possibilities. The more I get to know her, the more convinced I am she doesn’t really want to marry Adam. They’ve been engaged for almost two years now, and they still haven’t set a date for the wedding. That’s weird, right? Is she sticking with him out of some sense of obligation? I’m not proud to admit it, but I eavesdropped on her conversation with Devyn earlier. Rainey really wants kids one day, and he doesn’t. Not that I’m jumping to knock anyone up, mind you—I’m only twenty-four, for fuck’s sake. It just pisses me off she thinks she should settle. Someone like her should never have to settle foranything.

“You okay, man?” Drew asks. “You look like you’re ready to off someone.”

“Nah, just thinking about work,” I lie. “I have a busy week ahead.” I pull up to the curb outside his condo and flick my hazard lights on. “Here we are…home sweet home. You need some help getting everything upstairs?”

Drew looks in the back seat and sees his sister pulling her sleeping toddler out of his car seat. “Yeah, that’d be great. I think we could do it in one trip.”

I twist my torso until I’m facing the back seat. “Princess, do you mind taking the driver’s seat until I get back? I’d rather not get towed for parking in a loading zone.”

Rainey unbuckles her seat belt. “Only if you agree to stop calling me princess.”

“Sure thing…sweetheart.”

She rolls her eyes as she exits the car. “Jackass.”

I laugh as I slide out of the driver’s seat and gesture for her to get in. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“You would,” she mutters.

I shut the door after she’s seated and lean into the window frame. “I’ll make it as quick as possible. Try not to miss me too much.”

This earns an even bigger eye roll, but her lips are turned up in the corners.

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