Page 29 of Red Hot Roaster

By now, we’d reached the steps to my front porch. I quickly wiped away the wet from my cheeks with the back of my free hand. Rafe finally turned to me. His whole face was rigid, his eyes dark and intense, his lips pressed into a straight line.

Oh, fido. Did I bring up bad memories? Did I get too personal? Did I hurt him? Did I make him sad? Or maybe, sadder?

He stared right into my eyes and said, “Yes, Rose.”

Yes to what? I’d forgotten the question in the midst of my concern.

His face relaxed, and one side of his mouth quirked up. “Yes, Rose. Yes, I plan to come on Sunday to show off my mad pumpkin-carving skills. And, yes, I will take you to pick up the pumpkins on Thursday. We’re going to use my pickup, since, frankly, your car is a tiny beater on its last legs. Plenty of room in the bed of my pickup for pumpkins. And that way, the dogs can come along with us.”

I didn’t argue because he was right…about everything.

We climbed up the stairs to the front door. Holding out his free hand, he said, “Keys.”

I smiled up at him and handed over my keys. He unlocked the door, pushed it open to see I’d left on some lights, and handed my keys back. He tilted my chin up with his fist and pressed a hard, closed-mouth kiss on my lips.

“Rose. So sweet. Remember to lock up. See you tomorrow at the café.” He pulled Princess down the steps, walked around to the driveway and headed to the apartment in the back.

Chapter 16

Rafe

“That’s harsh, man!”

I’d called Mateo on his bullshit, and he had the nerve to act all offended.

We’d been celebrating our win at the local pub, Hair of the Dog, and the server was clearing the table of empty glasses, pitchers and pizza pans.

Most of the guys had already left after a round of fist bumps and shoulder claps. I’d waited until it was just Mateo and Jean-Luc still sitting there to start my sham rant. I had my reasons, and I didn’t want the rest of the soccer team listening in.

Nice guys, but this was about Rose. So, discretion required.

“Yeah, Mateo, you pulled a con on me.” I scoffed. “You told me it was an over-forty rec team. You claimed you only needed me for a sub. You said there were a couple of matches left in the season. Shoulda known I was being bullshitted.”

Turned out it was an over-thirty team, which I should’ve copped to since Mateo was in his early thirties. Plus, there were two guys out for the rest of the season from various injuries, so they needed more than a sub to fill out the team. And I would be here in Portland just long enough for the remaining five—count ’em, five—matches before the rec league moved indoors for the winter.

Earlier this evening, over at Dogwood Park, I’d been on the pitch most of each forty-five-minute period—plus the stoppage time. Thank fuck I was in decent shape and had some fast footwork for midfield.

In the sandbox, we’d played pickup games with other units and the local kids. I’d always been a runner—needed to be in times past—and still ran four, five miles every morning. These days, I hefted coffee bean bags—one hundred and fifty pounds at a crack—for a living.

Still. I was going to take advantage of the fact that Mateo, aka “the bullshitter,” owed me.

“So, brother, I’m going to need a favor in return,” I informed him.

Mateo raised his eyebrows, and I could hear Jean-Luc huff out a laugh on the other side of me. Maybe he knew where this was going.

I wanted to give Rose a getaway. When we were picking up the pumpkins this morning, she’d let drop that she hadn’t taken a fun trip for ages, what with her mom sick, Finn busy with school and, of course, operating the café.

Not complaining, not her style. She was just remembering when she and her parents used to take Finn to pumpkin patches and petting zoos in the countryside outside Portland.

I figured Rose was due for a day off, or at least, part of one. And I had a selfish reason for taking her on an outing. We’d have more time together—more timealonetogether, if we didn’t count the dogs.

“Here’s the thing,” I continued. “One day soon, while the weather is still good at the beach, I want to take Rose for a day trip. The only way that’s gonna happen is if you take her early shift so we can get on the road first thing in the morning.

“I’ll get us back by early evening so we can relieve you and close up. But I have to present this to her as a done deal. Otherwise, she’ll never go for it.”

Mateo got a big shit-eating grin on his face and said, “No worries, man. Take Rose out for the whole day—I’ll cover it.”

At the same time, Jean-Luc smirked and said, “Presentit to her? You sound like you’re proposing a business deal, not asking her on a date.”

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