Page 109 of Let It Breathe
Don’t be an idiot, he told himself. She doesn’t want to see you right now. Especially not with her cousin’s shoe.
But he already had the truck in gear, pointed back toward the vineyard. He second-guessed himself the whole way there, but he didn’t turn around.
Not even when he spotted the blue Subaru in the driveway. He tried to remember if it looked familiar, but there had been so many of them cycling through for wine tastings the last few days. All cars were starting to look the same.
He killed the engine, picked up the shoe, and got out of the truck. Before he could even knock, Reese opened the door.
Her face was flushed, and she studied him with mild alarm.
“Clay,” she said.
He looked at her and lost his breath. She was wearing some sort of thin, sleeveless top and stretchy pants that were either for sleeping or exercising. Her feet were bare, and he was pretty sure she wasn’t wearing a bra.
Before he could even kick himself for ogling her, a male voice called out behind her.
“Everything okay, Reese?”
Reese opened her mouth to speak as Dr. Wally approached and rested a hand on her shoulder. He smiled at Clay. “Hey, there. Good to see you again.”
It wasn’t good to see Dr. Wally. Not at all, especially not at Reese’s house, but Clay didn’t say so. Instead, he nodded at them both.
“Good evening.”
Reese bit her lip and glanced at Wally, then back at Clay. The message was clear. Now wasn’t the time to mention what had happened last night.
“What brings you here, Clay?” she asked.
He held up the shoe. “I brought this,” he said lamely.
Dr. Wally gave a good-natured laugh. “I think you’ve got the wrong house. Cinderella lives two blocks that way.”
Reese offered a stiff smile and reached out to take the shoe. “That’s Larissa’s.”
“I know.”
She met his eyes then, and Clay tried to absorb what he saw there. Hurt? Jealousy? Anger? Lust for the guy standing beside her? He honestly couldn’t tell.
He cleared his throat. “Sorry to interrupt, but I happened to be passing by and thought ’Riss might need that.”
“It’s okay. Dr. Wally just stopped to check on me. The news did a big broadcast about the fire and he was worried.”
Clay looked at Wally, trying not to notice the guy’s hand on Reese’s shoulder or think about how pleasant it would be to rip it off at the wrist, throw it in the gravel, and back over it with his truck. “What are they saying about the fire?”
“They made it sound pretty bad,” Wally said, giving Reese’s shoulder a squeeze. “They mentioned someone was injured, and I wanted to come out and be sure Reese was okay.”
Clay caught sight of a vase of daisies on the coffee table behind them and felt something twist in his chest.
Wally brought her flowers. You brought her another woman’s shoe.
He cleared his throat to speak but couldn’t think of anything to say. Reese bit her lip again and glanced at Dr. Wally.
“It was actually Clay who got hurt,” she said. “He helped put out the fire before the fire crews got here.”
“That so?” Dr. Wally asked. “Lucky he happened to be here, then.”
Clay looked at him, trying to assess his tone. It seemed bland enough, but something in his eyes suggested suspicion.
“Right,” Clay said. “Well, I should be going.”
