CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Rafe slapped his hand against his bedroom wall. How could he have been so stupid? He knew women. He’d been with enough of them to consider himself a connoisseur. So where this one was concerned how could he have been so wrong?
From the first day he’d met her he’d sort of guessed that Anya hadn’t been around the block. So she was inexperienced. That, he could live with. But a virgin?
Not that that was a bad thing. It was just that it had thrown him for a loop to find out that he would be the first. And, he had to admit, it had been a bit of a shock to find out just how innocent she really was. After all she’d told him about going out to night clubs with her friends, sometimes going alone, getting home at four in the morning, in his mind he’d branded her a party girl. And party girls weren’t usually virgins, were they?
Well, he’d personally run into one who was. And that taught him a good lesson – never to pass judgment on anyone.
Still kicking himself for his mistake Rafe walked into the bathroom then stood in the shower for a long time, letting the water beat on his chest. He’d blundered when he’d made his assumption and then he’d made things worse by the way he’d handled things. Next time he was with Anya he would have to tread very carefully. If there was a next time…
When he got into bed he tossed and turned and he knew that sleep was never going to come. He glanced at the time on his cell phone. Three-thirty in the morning. God, was that all? A whole three more hours to go before the sun even poked its nose out from under the covers.
But then, as sleep goes, Rafe didn’t know when he finally drifted off. It could have been minutes or it could have been hours later. The next time he knew himself was when the ringing of the cell phone jerked him awake, hauling him back to awareness.
Eyes still closed Rafe reached over to where he knew he’d left the phone and swiped it, ending the annoying tone. With a groan he dragged the phone to his ear. “Hello?”
“Hey, my man. Long time. What you doing this Sunday morning? It’s still morning in Germany, right?”
At the sound of Khalil's super-cheerful voice Rafe groaned even louder. This was not what he needed after a fitful night of no sleep. “What do you want?” he growled, just wanting Khalil off the damn phone.
“Hey, is that the way to greet your best friend?” Instead of shutting up and disappearing, Khalil sounded even chirpier. “Don’t tell me you were fast asleep. Do you know what time it is? Hang on. I’m online. I’ll check.” There was the sound of tapping on a keyboard then Khalil was back. “Right now it’s twelve forty-two in Bremen, Germany. Morning is long gone. What the blue blazes are you doing in bed at this hour?” Then he chuckled. “No, don’t tell me. My man got busy last night, right?”
Rafe’s only answer was another groan.
“Hey, man, you don’t sound too good.” The chirp was beginning to slip from Khalil’s voice even as concern began to creep in. “Are you sick or something?”
Rafe heaved a sorrowful sigh. “Yeah, I’m sick,” he said, his voice heavy with disgust, “but not how you might think.”
For a second there was silence and when Khalil’s voice came again it sounded puzzled. “I know you’re not sick from a hangover. You don’t drink.”
“Nah,” Rafe said, “that’s not it.”
“Then it’s got to be woman problems. I know you went all the way back to Germany just to be with Anya so your problem's gotta be with her.”
Again, Rafe didn’t answer. But then again he didn’t have to. Khalil was no fool. He could figure things out.
“Yeah, it’s Anya,” Khalil said, now sounding more certain. “But you know what? I know you and I think I know Anya well enough to say you’re two sensible people. Whatever it is, if you really care for each other, you’ll work it out.”
Rafe couldn’t help but snort. “You make it sound so easy.”
“You love her, don’t you?” Khalil demanded, his question like an arrow shot straight through Rafe’s heart. It must have shocked him into momentary silence because Khalil asked the question again and this time his tone was more insistent. “Don’t you?”
“Yeah, I love her,” he said, shifting so he could sit up in the bed. “Yes,” he said again. “I love her. A lot. That’s why I’m here.”
“All right. Now you’re talking. That sounds like the Rafe Kent I know, a guy who’s big, bad and bold, who knows what he wants and goes for it.”
“All right, all right. Get to the point.” Rafe knew Khalil. If he didn’t cut him off fast he’d jump on his soapbox and start preaching.
“My point, my good man, is that whatever problem you’re having right now just work it out. You’re a level-headed guy. Just trust your gut. I know you’ll do the right thing.”
And, as it had happened so many times before, Khalil was right. The only thing to do right now was the right thing. And what that meant was, the next time he saw Anya he had a very important decision to make.
***
Stupid, stupid, stupid. How could she have been so stupid? Why couldn’t she have kept her big mouth shut and not said a word? It wasn’t like he would have known the difference. Now he thought she’d deceived him and for that he despised her. Anya had seen it in his face. The scorn, the disgust, the annoyance. How could she face him when Monday morning came around?
And the worst part was, if he never spoke to her again she didn’t know how she would stand it. She, who had always prided herself on being strong and practical with both feet on the ground had, all of a sudden, turned into a wimp. And it was all the fault of the man who’d waltzed into her school and into her life. He was like no other man she’d ever met…because he was the man who had stolen her heart.
And that was why she’d wanted him to be the one who would take her on that ultimate journey to womanhood. Except that he’d turned her down. Flat.
Deflated and depressed, Anya spent most of Sunday moping around the house, hoping Rafe would get over his anger and just call her. And then she’d spent the other part of Sunday peeved with him. After all, what right did he have to be angry with her simply because she hadn’t been the type to sleep around? Wasn’t that a good thing? She had a good mind never to speak to him again.
And that was why, when her phone rang that evening and she saw that it was Rafe, her heart leaped for joy but then her brain kicked into gear, reminding her that right now she was not in the mood to speak to that man. And so she stared at the phone and let it ring until the call went to voicemail.