Love in a Small Town (Pine Harbour Book 1) by Zoe York Read Free Book Online

flushed at the bald honesty. Her guilt was definitely misplaced. “No. They don’t want to piss you off,” she teased, knowing that Greg had phoned Frank earlier and made the initial inquiry about using the diner for some outdoor secondary shooting. 
    “I kind of like the idea of Mac’s being memorialized like that,” he chuffed. “And it’s good to see you so excited about something that isn’t Rafe Minelli, that no-good deadbeat.”
    She laughed again and tipped her head back against the booth’s cushion. “You love Rafe.”
    “Sure, everyone loves Rafe. And you. But the two of you are like…” He scratched his chin.
    She sighed. “I know, oil and water.”
    “Nah, that’s not it. You mix well at first. Too well, as evidenced by him batting his pretty brown eyes at you and you falling into his arms last week.” He lifted his hand at her gaping mouth. “I’m never going to say this again, Olivia, so let me have my piece now. You’re more like two explosive chemicals—individually dangerous, but deadly in combination. And entirely unstable.”
    “You just saw us at our worst.” When her marriage had started to fall apart, she’d quit working at Rafe’s mother’s cafe and started working for Frank instead. A heavy ache started in her chest. “We weren’t always like that.”
    “I’ve been through two divorces, Olivia. Neither of them was quite like yours. Not by a long shot. And then the cold war you and Rafe have been playing at for the last two years? That’s something else that’s hard to wrap one’s head around, I gotta tell you.”
    Olivia just sat there, stunned. She’d never heard Frank string together so many words at once. And they didn’t feel good. “I don’t know what to say.”
    “I can see you falling for him all over again. And if that’s what’s meant to be, there’s probably no stopping it, but you gotta know it’s not going to be smooth sailing.”
    She shook her head. “No. I took this second job to build up a little nest egg so I can leave. Rafe and me…we need more distance than Pine Harbour allows.” In more ways than one, given how much her boss seemed to know about her divorce.
    “We’ll see.” He thumped on the table. “Finish your paperback, young lady, then back to work.”
     

    *dpgroup.org*

 
    — FIVE —
     
    Six years earlier
     
    “B ABY, I’m heading out,” Rafe quietly whispered in her ear, squeezing her hip in one last reluctant goodbye touch. 
    “Mmm-kay,” she half-said, half-groaned. It was way too early for conversation. She’d woken up and made him breakfast his first few day shifts, but when he admitted that he preferred just a cup of coffee, she happily let him hit the brew button while she snuggled deep into the blankets and dreamed of what they’d do when he got back from work. “I love you.”
    “Not as much as I love you. I’ll be home late, don’t wait up.”
    “Only if you promise to wake me up when you get in.” She squeaked as his hand slid around to cup her bottom, his fingers teasing between her cheeks.
    “I promise to wake you up with dirty demands every night for the rest of your life, my beautiful wife.”
    When she roused again, he was long gone and her legs rubbed restlessly against each other. She blushed at the heat that instantly bloomed as she thought of Rafe’s hands on her. She’d been so nervous when he’d proposed—yes, she felt things for him that she’d only read about in romance novels, and it felt like the real deal, but marriage? And a move, way up north?
    She’d been working at Starbucks, it wasn’t like she’d left behind a major career, but six months earlier she hadn’t even known this man and now she was completely dependent on him. It wasn’t a permanent situation, this housewife business. She was looking for a job, but with her limited resume, she wasn’t qualified for much.
    And yet…they were making it work. And much of the time, just making it . Which definitely worked