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DEE’S STOMACH SUNK when Winston walked into the lounge during her break. Her crush on him made things awkward enough but knowing he’d seen those pictures was more than she could bear.
He shuffled toward the soda machine and got a Pepsi then came to her table. “You all right?” He opened the can.
“Yeah.” Her stomach tied in knots. “I’m not hungry.” She stood, gathering the rest of her salad and tea. “I’ll see you.”
“Don’t do this, Dee.” He blocked her. “You’ve been avoiding me all day.”
“What do you expect?” She lowered the items. “I can’t even look at you.”
“You have nothing to be embarrassed about.” He took her salad and set it on the table. “Don’t leave.”
She sighed, sitting.
“I don’t see what the big deal is.” He sipped from the can. “It’s not really you.”
“But people will think it’s me.” She lowered her voice, watching officers who came and went. “You didn’t tell anyone else?”
“I wouldn’t do that to you.” He sipped and licked soda from his kissable lips. “Lisa told me you tried to contact the site master?”
“I keep getting a busy signal.” She plunged her plastic fork into the salad. “So I can’t even leave a message. I’ll try the number a few more times and then email.”
“It’s gonna be okay, Dee.”
“It’s easy to say.” She crossed her legs. “Your naked ass isn’t on some site begging for dates. I want the profile down now.” She pushed the salad away. “What if it doesn’t happen?”
“The site master has to take it down. Just keep trying.” He winked with a suggestive glint in his eye.
Dee wiggled the straw in her tea. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
He set his soda down. “Whoever doctored those photos did a great job matching your face to that body. The body looks just like yours.”
“Aren’t you supposed to be comforting me? Not making me feel worse.”
He cleared his throat. “Sorry.”
She groaned, pulling at her blouse. “You’ve never seen me naked so how would you know?”
“I know your body.”
His tone became more elusive when he said that.
“You’ve been paying attention?”
“You think I’m blind?” He leaned back with a cocky grin. “You’re a beautiful woman. Of course, I check you out. You check me out, right?”
“With the way your mind’s always on Lisa I’m shocked you realize anyone else exists.” She sucked on the straw.
“We’re not getting into that.”
“You always get defensive when I bring up Lisa because you still want her.” She shook her head, sighing. “No matter how many times she breaks your heart.”
“Stop it.” He curled his fingers into a fist. “We’re talking about you now. I’m here for you if you need me. I don’t want things to be awkward between us.”
“You don’t get it,” she spoke with the straw in her mouth. “As long as I have feelings for you and you don’t return them it will always be awkward between us.”
He dropped his gaze to the table.
Her phone buzzed.
“Uh-oh.” She checked the text but couldn’t make out the photo. “What...oh!” A close-up shot of an erect penis came into full view. “Pervert!” She slammed down the phone.
“What?” Winston grabbed it. “Jesus.” He shook his head. “Unknown number again I see. Think it’s the person who did the profile?”
“Or anyone else who’s been to that site. See?” She stood. “This is the shit I’ll deal with for God knows how long.”
“It’ll be okay—”
“Don’t.” She ripped her phone from his hand. “The last thing I wanna hear is that everything will be okay.”
She marched out the lounge.
****
“YOU LIKE IT?” JAKE sat beside Rayne on the couch.
“Are you kidding me?” She chomped on lettuce and fruit. “This is the best salad I’ve ever tasted. You didn’t have to make me lunch.”
“I wanted to.” He sat up straight, feeling triumphant without his wheelchair. “You’re helping me so I wanted to show my appreciation.”
“But, it’s my job.” She chewed.
“Lisa had no right treating you that way.” He rubbed his hands together.
“She’s threatened by me.” She crossed her long legs. “I thought I was being nice when I brought the cookbook. If I’d known it would be an issue, I wouldn’t have.”
“I appreciated it. In fact this Greek salad is one of the recipes.”
She moaned. “I’m in heaven with this salad.” She ate more. “I can taste everything you put in it.”
“Yeah there’s extra-virgin olive oil.” He pointed to the plate. “Some fresh dill, oregano, olives. There’s other good things, and I threw in the apple.”
“I love the apple in it.” She sucked her lip. “Love fruit in my salad.”
“I’m glad you like it.”
“Why aren’t you eating?”
“I’ll eat something later.” He crooked his body toward her, propping his arm on the couch. “Guess you got another client after you leave here?”
“No, you’re it for today.” She sipped punch. “This was sweet to do. I don’t get many clients who do things like this for me.”
“You said you’ve been a massage therapist for a year?”
She nodded.
“How old are you if you don’t mind me asking?”
“Thirty-five.”
“I just turned thirty-six.” Jake nodded. “What were you doing before you got into massage therapy?”
She swallowed. “Um—”
“I’m sorry.” He lifted his hands. “Being too nosey?”
“No, it’s okay.” She stirred the salad. “I’ve been in a lot of different professions, but I found my calling with massage therapy. I like helping people so—”
“That’s cool. I wanted to be a cook ever since I was a boy.”
“Well, you’re definitely good at it if this is any evidence of what you can do.”
Her eyes lit up the same way his deceased fiancée, Katherine’s.
He caught himself staring and dropped his head.
“Something wrong?” she asked.
“You remind me of someone I used to be with.”
“Really?” She slipped another piece of lettuce into her mouth.
“My fiancée who died. Katherine.” He became tense. “She died in the same crash where I got hurt.”
Her mouth fell open. “Jake.”
He fidgeted, rubbing the back of his head.
“I’m so sorry.” She patted his leg. “You lost your fiancée? That must’ve been devastating.”
“Especially since the accident was my fault.” He held his breath.
“I don’t understand.”
“It happened the night of our engagement party.”
She batted her long eyelashes.
“I was drunk.” He turned his body to the front. “I’m an alcoholic, and I’d had too much to drink at the party. We had an accident, but I don’t remember what happened. I was driving and the next thing I know I woke up and there was smoke everywhere. I sensed something wrong with my legs.”
Rayne covered her mouth.
“Then...” He closed his eyes to block tears. “I realized Katherine was dead.”
“She died on impact?”
“Yes.” He sucked in tears. “With that one stupid decision, I lost the most important person in my life.”
“Jake.” She scooted closer.
“Since that night I never took another drink. I’m in AA, and I don’t miss drinking at all. After losing Katherine you couldn’t give me a million dollars to take a sip of alcohol.”
“I can imagine the guilt you must feel.” She set the plate on the coffee table. “Do you think about Katherine a lot?”
“That’s her over there.” He pointed to the bookshelf.
She walked over and picked up the photo of Jake standing in his tuxedo with Katherine beside him. “You two looked perfect together.” She touched the photo. “Both seem so happy.”
“We were,” he whispered.
“She looks like she was very kind.”
He smiled. “Katherine had a heart of gold.”
“It’s a shame there aren’t more people like that in the world.” Rayne glanced at him. “I remind you of her?”
He nodded. “You look a little like her.”
She picked up the picture of him and Lisa. “Does Lisa ever get jealous that you still have Katherine’s picture up?”
“She understands she’ll always be a part of my life. She encourages me not to forget her.”
Rayne nodded with her lips poked out. “That’s not the Lisa I met.”
“She’s been under a lot of pressure so she might’ve just been in a bad mood. You did nothing wrong.”
“Can I ask you a question?” She set the photo of him and Lisa on the shelf.
“Sure.”
“If Katherine were alive do you think you’d still be together?”
He clasped his hands. “I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her and that’s why we got engaged.”
“But you found Lisa.”
“I’m a lucky man.” He nodded. “Found two wonderful women who’ve loved me.”
She sashayed back to the couch. “But if you had to choose you’d pick Katherine?” She lowered herself beside him. “Right?”
“Katherine’s gone.” He turned from her enigmatic stare, clearing his throat. “I love Lisa.”
“It shows.” She licked her glossy, pink lips. “She’s a lucky woman. I’m sure Katherine would be happy for you and wouldn’t want you to hate yourself for what happened.”
“I don’t hate myself. It was an accident I regret.”
“But you were drinking.” She tilted her head. “If you hadn’t been Katherine would still be alive, right?”
He took in a deep breath, his chest heaving. “Wow.”
“Hey.” She patted his hand. “I didn’t mean to sound like I was accusing you.”
He swallowed through the imminent sadness. “If I could take that night back I would.”
“Did I upset you?”
“No,” he lied. “Just hard to hear it I guess.”