Page 104 of Protected from Malice
Then again, I’ve known Rafe for years. And the way I feel about him… it’s so much more than friendship or desire or affection, although it’s all of those things.
It’s love. A big, warm, fizzy ball of joy that fills my chest whenever I’m with him. Whenever I even think about him, really. It’s a feeling stronger than anything I’ve felt for a man before. It’s this bone-deep certainty that he’s theone.
“So you’re only working for a few hours today, right?” Rafe signals to turn into the parking lot of my building, then turns to me. “I was thinking we could have lunch at that new microbrewery a few blocks from here. See if it’s worth checking out one of their trivia nights.”
“Oh!” I bounce in my seat. “Trivia?”
“Yeah.” He flashes me a quick grin. “Since you’re feeling better. Tyler and Indy said they’d be up for going, too. Unless you’d rather it just be the two of us on the Sneaky Cheeseburgers team.”
As he pulls into a visitor spot in front of the entrance, I ask with a smile, “Not the Mighty Mitochondria? Or the Devilish Double Helixes?”
Rafe laughs. He gets these cute laugh lines around his eyes, and his face lights up with it. “I think I’d prefer the Sneaky Cheeseburgers to those.”
“Sneaky Cheeseburgers it is, then.” Now that we’re stopped, I twist in my seat to face him. Then I palm the back of his neck and pull him forward to kiss me.
His arms come around me as he deepens the kiss, teasing my mouth open and plunging inside. He tastes like brown sugar and cinnamon from the breakfast rolls we had earlier—baked by Rafe, which was quite something to watch.
I can’t think of many things better than walking into the kitchen, still bleary-eyed and rumpled from sleep, to find a very sexy man standing at the counter, his glorious arm muscles flexing as he whisks the batter he made. Fromscratch, no less.
Unfortunately, Indy was there, too. And Tyler. Which kind of put a damper on my initial idea, which was to inform Rafe that I’mabsolutelyokay to have sex again.
But I still ogled Rafe. He’s my boyfriend now, after all. I think I have the right to.
As Rafe breaks our kiss, I suck in a greedy gulp of air. Something about kissing him makes me forget everything else, apparently including breathing. He gives me a soft smile and strokes my cheek. “I’d keep kissing you. But I have a feeling you’d rather not give all your coworkers a show.”
Guiltily, I jerk my head away from him to scan the parking lot around us. And yes. Thereareseveral of my coworkers headed into the building right now. In fact, there’s Adam, who turns bright red when he sees me looking, but still gives me a quick but friendly wave.
I wonder if he’s still with Wendy. If they’ve been to any more LARPing events. I’ll have to ask when I see him.
It’s a little thing that makes me feel happy to be back at work again, albeit only half time to start. Just like seeing my coworkers again and being part of the scientific community. I’m not interested in the whole sales part of the pharmaceutical industry, but working with other scientists to make medical advances? That’s pretty cool.
“Who’s that?” Rafe asks, gesturing with his chin towards a departing Adam. He doesn’t sound jealous—not that he’d have any reason—but simply curious.
“That’s Adam,” I reply. “He works in the same department as me, but on a different project. He’s nice. He does LARPing with his girlfriend. And he’s walked me out to my car a few times when I left work late.”
Rafe is silent for a few seconds. Then his expression sobers. “You won’t have to walk back to your car alone again. Ever.”
My heart jumps. Does that mean what I think it does? That he’s going to stay?
I’m tempted to ask. But we’re in his rental car. Right outside the building. I’m supposed to be meeting with my team in—oops, the kiss threw me off—ten minutes. Maybe not the best time for anotherfuture of our relationshiptalk.
But.
The way he’s looking at me. Like there’s an epic of words he’d like to say.
Then he blinks, and the moment passes. He turns away to open the driver’s side door and says, “Wait there, Brain. I’ll be around to get you.AndI’m walking you inside.”
His tone brooks no argument, and I really don’t want to. I’m fine with Rafe walking me in, especially on my first day back.
Less than a minute later, we’re at the glass door, and as I swipe my key card to unlock it, a bittersweet pang hits me.
I want to go back to work. But I don’t want to leave Rafe.
Rafe pulls me in for a hug and presses his lips to the top of my head. “Eden.” His voice is rougher than normal. “Shit.”
I look up at him. “What’s wrong?”
“I—” He stops. His jaw works. “I’m just going to miss you.”
