Page 17 of Guarding the Shadows
“I don’t know … dress zippers mainly,” Benny casually remarked.
The muscle in his jaw ticked again and I bit back a grin. “Zippers,” he repeated like Benny had told him we watched pornography together. He smacked his lips, then continued, “So, this is purely a work arrangement between you?” Raff asked as if further confirmation of this were necessary.
Benny bent his arm up, his hand in the air like he was making a pledge and shook his head. “I swear, your honor, this thing we’ve got going on between us is purely platonic,” he joked.
Benny’s face fell when Raff continued to give him a dark stare and when Raff didn’t crack a smile, I couldn’t contain my laughter and decided then and there to pour a thick dose of adoration on Benny. “I know Levi sent you, but Benny saved me last night. I was lucky I was with someone I trust completely. Benny’s probably my closest and oldest friend.” Giving him an affectionate smile, I reached forward, grabbed Benny’s hand and held it to my chest. “I never did thank you for what you did for me last night.”
“Is that right?” Raff asked, sounding condescending and abrupt. My questioning eyes flicked to his, and I loved how jealousy darkened his usually sky-blue eyes. But my cock-sure attitude quickly dropped when we became locked in a stare so deep, it stole my breath until I almost forgot to breathe. I gaspedwhen his pointed eye contact slid from mine back to Benny. “Well, thanks for whatever you did, dude. But you can get back to carting her shit around because if there’s any saving to do, I’ll be taking care of that for Beth now.”
Hearing Raff’s unmistakably possessive remark, delivered in his gruff, gravelly tone, sent a shiver of ecstasy down my spine. When Raff’s gaze returned to mine, the air in the room grew thicker, until the weight of it became too much for me, and I shifted uncomfortably in my chair.
“Thanks for coming, Raff, I know you’ve probably got better things to do—” I began as I tried to recover from the arc that had formed between us, but before I could finish my sentence, Raff cut me off.
“At this minute, there is nothing more important to me, than taking care of you, Beth.”
14
Raff
I wasn’t prepared for the light feeling in my chest the instant I saw Beth again. The moment I confirmed that she was still in one piece, I recognized something significant about myself. I hadn’t spared another thought for my betraying ex-girlfriend all day. And now that we breathed the same air again, a thought in my head decided that Gwen didn’t matter anymore.
“Okay, I’ll leave you two to get reacquainted,” Benny muttered awkwardly, clapping his hands with straight arms by his thighs. He looked as uncomfortable as he sounded once I’d made his boundaries clear about Beth. Barefooted, he padded across the room and sidestepped around me. “I’ll be in my room. Give me a call when you’re ready to leave.”
“Benny,” Beth called out. Her roadie turned with his hand on the doorknob to look at her. “Thanks again, you’re a lifesaver.” He gave her a sharp salute with two fingers to acknowledge the thanks she gave before he quietly opened the door and left us alone.
“That was rude,” Beth admonished, anger flushing her cheeks in that cute look that had always held my attention.
“What was?” I asked, pretending to have no clue about putting her roadie in his place.
“He saved me last night,” she argued, pointing at the door he’d left through.
“And I’m here now so he doesn’t have to,” I said evenly.
“But you weren’t when I was threatened, so you can show him the respect he deserves,” she snapped, sounding stern. Her arguing pissed me off but still managed to stir my dick in my pants at the same time.
I felt my jaw tick in frustration and inhaled a calming breath to relax. “You’re right, I’m sorry if I was insensitive, I was just worried about you.”
“As I’ve been about you,” she countered in a school marm tone. “I thought we were friends. It’s been a while, and you’ve had plenty of time to return my call. Why is that, Raff?” she challenged, watching me through narrowed eyes.
“I was in a bad headspace.” I should have felt embarrassed to admit that, and with anyone else I likely would have been, but not with her.
“I’m sorry she did that to you.”
I huffed out a sardonic laugh. “Yeah, well, I’m not. Glad she showed her true colors, even if it took years for her to do that. I guess love is blind because I had no clue about that other guy. Fuck, can you believe she broke up with me by showing me her wedding invitation? She planned to marry the guy before she’d even gotten around to telling me.”
“Well, I bet there’s a special brand of hell for people like Gwen,” she stated, unsmiling.
“Anyway, she’s married, and I’ve moved on,” I said, dismissing the topic because I didn’t want to give Gwen more of my air.
Her concerned face fell in a frown. “Have you? Moved on?”
For a few seconds I considered if she meant was I over her but there was something about her sad expression that made me wonder if she thought I already had someone else. “What I mean is, I’m over what she did. My heart’s stopped breaking if that makes any sense,” I replied honestly.
“Good, because I can’t have you still loving a toad that I’ve never met, and I’d run over with my car if I ever saw her.”
“Aw, and I didn’t know you cared,” I mocked, grinning at the building chemistry from our conversation.
“Of course you do. At least you would have if you’d listened to my voicemail.”
