Rekindle Read online

  “Rhett McCoy, you aren’t helpless! Sometimes situations are beyond your control, and all you can do is manage the chaos. I have no doubt in my mind that you did everything you could to make sure this woman felt comfort and peace. And there are times when that’s the only thing you can do—just be there.” I try and soothe his frazzled nerves, but I don’t know what to say to make it better or take away the doubt in his mind that he isn’t doing the job that he’s expected to do.

  “You’re right. I know you are. I think I just needed to get it out there. I love my job, but there are times where it just hits you—how fragile life is. How much you need to focus on the important things instead of the day-to-day bullshit that goes on all around us, and the first thing I thought about was how I needed to hear your voice.”

  His words strike me silent. I’m not sure what his words mean, or how to respond to him. Being the first thing he thought of, the first person he wanted to talk to, thrills me. I know what I want his words to mean, but at the same time, we’re just rekindling a friendship that was torn apart years ago. We were kids when that happened, and so much has changed. I’m not the same person I was fifteen years ago, and he isn’t either. Jumping head first into anything would be stupid.

  “So—” he breaks the silence from my moment of spacing out “—got any big plans for tonight?”

  “Actually, I’ve got a date with—”

  “A what?” he asks, cutting me off mid-sentence. He sounds a little pissed, and it occurs to me what I just said, but if he would have waited for me to finish my sentence, this wouldn’t even be a discussion.

  “A date, Rhett. Where two people go somewhere together to enjoy each other’s company.” I’m snippy and I know it, but assumptions make me crazy.

  “I’m well aware of what a date is, Emma Grace. What I am not aware of is who you are going on a date with.” Oh. Hell. No. Is he playing Mr. Domineering with me?

  “Are you playing Mr. Domineering with me?” Shit. Word vomit. Again.

  “Domineering, no. Not yet, anyway. Concerned as to why another man is taking you out, yes.”

  “In case you haven’t noticed, Rhett, I’m all grown up. And I can make big-girl decisions about who I spend my time with all by myself.”

  “Trust me, I’ve noticed you’re all grown up, Emma Grace. I noticed it about a million times the other night. I noticed it so much that it struck me stupid. Which is why I neglected to ask you out on a proper date Monday night. A problem I was trying to rectify this morning. Hence the reason I am none too happy that you seem to already have plans with someone else.”

  Oh, well, when he puts it that way….

  “I have a date with Cam to get pedicures tonight. We try to go every other week, but we haven’t been in a while, so we planned to go tonight. So you can tone the macho-man talk down a bit, sir,” I reply with a smile in my voice.

  “Jesus fuck, M! Why didn’t you tell me that to begin with?”

  “Calm your tits, mister! You cut me off in the middle of my sentence and made an assumption, so technically, your pissed-off-ness is not my fault.”

  “My pissed-off-ness?” He’s laughing now. Apparently he has stowed Mr. Alpha-male away for a while.

  “It’s too early to correct my vocabulary. Shut it.”

  “Well, since tonight is a bust—what are your plans for tomorrow night?”

  “Umm, laundry?” I really do need to do laundry.

  “Laundry can wait. Come out with me, M.”

  “Aren’t we all getting together Saturday?” I question him.

  “Well, yeah. But I wanted you to myself for a little while.”

  “Well, okay then.” I respond, a little taken aback by his forward nature.

  “Great. I’ll pick you up at seven. Have a great day, M&M.” I can hear the smile in his voice.

  “You too, Rhett.” I hang up the phone, surprised by how quickly my morning has changed. And then I glance at my clock. Shit. I’m late. A-freaking-gain!

  Rhett

  Well, I just made myself look like a complete ass. I had no intention of losing my shit like that, but she told me she had a date. Ha, over my dead body would anyone fucking take her out on a date. She is damn lucky I didn’t just hang up the phone and drive my ass to her house. Now, that would have been borderline creepy, but I was literally barely holding on to my self-control at that point. This girl has been back in my life just a few days, and I’ve already managed to get the whole caveman act down to a T. I can’t be calm and I can’t control myself. These feelings I have for her are absolutely overtaking all of my senses. She’s all I can think of. I smell her. I see her. No matter where I’m at. No matter what I’m doing. I feel kind of like I’m growing a pussy. So much so, I have to reach down and make sure my dick is still there in all its manly glory. Men should not think like this. Not to this level anyway. I’m really questioning my manhood.

  “Yo, Rhett, are we all still on for Saturday night?” Micah asks, barreling through my door.

  “Yeah, man. We are most definitely still on.”

  “Ok, well I invited a few more of the guys to come, and while I’m thinking of it, did you meet Emma’s roommate?” He asks, biting into an apple. “Is she hot? Ya know, on a scale of ‘fuck yes’ to ‘I think the wicked witch of the west took a shit on your face.’ Please, just be honest. Do not lie or you’ll regret it.”

  “Micah, what the fuck, man? The wicked witch? Really? You seriously just pull this shit out of your ass, or do you Wikipedia this crap? And I will not answer that question. I’ll say that she’s not ugly. Honestly though, she’s not going to like you.”

  “Hold on just one minute. Everyone likes me. I’m like a cuddly teddy bear, only I’m better because while I’m adorable, I fuck like G.I. Joe. I’m the master of all things sexual. That’s just a fact, brother. I make the energizer bunny cower in comparison,” he spouts off.

  “I’m not even going to touch that statement. I meant she’s just like you. She is the female Micah.”

  “No, you’re wrong. There is no such thing. I’ll prove it to you Saturday night when this roommate is begging me to take her back to my apartment so she can slide down my pole.” He wiggles his eyebrows.

  “Ok fine, you win. Now, can I please get some sleep so I can actually function?”

  “All you had to do was say you were tired, man. No need to get testy. Sheesh. I will lock the door on my way out. Sleep tight,” he says, reaching over to pinch my cheek.

  “Asshole.”

  “Pussy whipped,” he says, giving me a smirk. The fucker knows I have it bad.

  Now that he’s gone, I can collapse into my bed and pray that sleep finds me quick. If only I could get a certain auburn-haired beauty out of my head. Just as I feel sleep overtaking me, my last thought is of M, and I smile before I fall into a deep slumber.

  Chapter Ten

  Emma Grace

  “These flip flops are killing my outfit mojo,” Cam comments as we walk down the street to the local coffee shop.

  “The price you pay to have fabulous toes.” I smirk at her.

  Pedicures were a success. Of course, there isn’t much to complain about when you spend an hour and a half getting your toes done while gabbing with your best friend. It’s been a while since Cam and I’ve had a great girly date, and I really didn’t realize how much I’d missed it until now.

  “I have to go out and look at another place tonight with the realtor. I’m hoping this one turns out to be right. I’m already tired of looking for a studio.” Cam has been looking for a studio place since we made the decision to move to Alabama. Needless to say, she isn’t the most patient person when it comes to finding what she wants.

  “It’s out there. You’ll find the right space eventually.” I try and appease her as much as I can.

  “True. And when I find it, it will be mine. Oh yes, it will be mine.”

  “One thousand points for Wayne’s World, since that’s a classic.”

  She laug
hs and bumps my elbow as we walk into the coffee shop. I open the door and run smack into something solid.

  “Whoa!” I hear a deep voice stammer as I catch my balance.

  “So sorr—” My apology is cut off when I see who I ran into. “Rhett?”

  His eyes snap to mine and a smile takes over his face. “M&M. What are the chances of running into you here? Literally.”

  I laugh and shake my head at him. “We just finished with our pedicures and figured we’d stop for a coffee on our way home. What are you doing here?”

  He holds up a brown bag. “Best carrot cake in the world, and I had a sweet tooth.”

  “Mmm.” I smile up at him and he smirks right back. We’re both just standing here, staring at each other.

  “Well,” Cam breaks the silence. “All this sexual tension is suffocating me. I’m gonna get my coffee to go. Emma Grace, why don’t you stay and have coffee with Rhett. I have to go meet the realtor anyway.”

  I glare at her obvious indication that Rhett has nothing better to do than have coffee with me. Also, the sexual tension comment was totally uncalled for. She beams back at me with her most innocent smile, batting her eyes. The little hoe.

  “That sounds like a great idea,” Rhett agrees.

  “Perfect!” Cam aims her smile to him then turns back to me. “See you at home later, chica.”

  She kisses my cheek and she’s off.

  “So, coffee?” Rhett asks me.

  “Uh, yeah. A mocha frappuccino would be great.”

  “Got it. Why don’t you grab a seat, and I’ll be right back.”

  I nod my head and make my way to a table in the corner, curling up in the booth against the wall. It doesn’t take long before Rhett is back with my drink and sitting across from me, that smirk still on his face.

  “Sorry about this morning, M. I don’t know what got into me.”

  I laugh lightly. I was wondering if he was going to bring that up. It was a little surprising that he reacted that way about me having a date, but it was also flattering that he wants the chance to take me out.

  “A little jealously isn’t a bad thing, I guess. But calling me that early in the morning could be a danger to your health.”

  “Not a morning person. Got it.” He laughs. “What else?”

  “What else what?”

  “What else is there to know about you that’s changed in the last fifteen years?”

  “A lot of things.”

  “Hit me with it.”

  I’m perplexed. I’m not quite sure where to start. How do you drudge up fifteen years over coffee? “I’m not quite sure where to start.”

  “How about we play a game?”

  “A game?”

  “Twenty Questions. You get ten, I get ten. You can ask anything you want, but you have to be prepared to answer it yourself. And vice versa.”

  I shrug my shoulders. “Easy enough. Shoot.”

  “Favorite movie?” he asks.

  “Pretty Woman.”

  “Die Hard,” he says, answering his own question.

  “Favorite food?” I ask.

  “Easy. Steak. You?”

  “Pizza or Mexican. It’s a toss-up.”

  “Song?” he questions me.

  “Of all time? Dream On by Aerosmith. Currently though, it’s Blank Space by Taylor Swift.”

  “Oh God!” he groans. “Tell me you’re not a Taylor Swift fanatic!”

  “That song is good and you know it.”

  “I wouldn’t admit that if you had a gun to my head.”

  “I bet you listen to it when you work out. Hand me your iPod. I want proof.”

  “Not a chance in hell, M&M. I admit nothing.”

  I burst out laughing at his lack of answer, knowing full well he likes that song. Everyone likes that song.

  His confident smirk is back on his face and he taps his chin, thinking of a question. “What’s the funniest thing that happened to you in high school?”

  I open my mouth and stop short. I’m actually not sure. There were several times I remember laughing with Cam so hard my stomach hurt, but it’s hard to pinpoint what started any of it. I take a sip of my drink when it hits me. “Got it! Okay, so this one time…”

  “At band camp?” Rhett interrupts.

  “Ha. Ha. Very funny.” I roll my eyes and continue. “Okay, so we were sophomores I think. We were both in advanced placement art. We were using the art room during lunch to finish a project that was due the next day. We’d been too busy shopping for prom dresses the whole week to worry about the art project, so we were sacrificing lunch to do it. Anyway. We had a bet going. Cam swore that she would get asked to prom before I did because she was already dating a senior. Well, I may have neglected to tell her that I had been asked by Mark Wilmington the day before. So that night I called him and told him if he wanted me to go, he would have to ask me in front of everyone. So that day, Mark had asked me in front of everyone in the quad before first period. Cam was fuming because she lost the bet. Well, I started to feel a little guilty, so I admitted that Mark had asked me before we made the bet. I thought that would calm her down, but it didn’t. She ended up flinging blue paint all over my pants. In return, I flung yellow paint in her hair. This escalated pretty quickly, and soon we were rolling on the floor covered in paint, squealing at each other and laughing. We had already gotten over the snit about prom, but we kept one-upping each other with the paint. Well, our paint fight ended promptly when the principle and art teacher showed up to look at some of the pieces for the exhibit the next week. We got into so much trouble for that one, but we laughed about it for weeks. We still laugh about it every now and then.”

  Rhett was laughing by the time I finished my story. I laugh too, recalling the look on our teacher’s face when she saw the destruction we had made of her art room.

  “Your turn,” I prompt Rhett.

  He shakes his head and starts telling me about the time Micah stole his clothes while he was showering in the locker room. “So, I start chasing him around the locker room, and the fucker takes off down the hall. All I have is this damn hand towel and I figure, fuck it—school was out. We had just finished baseball practice. I was going after him. He took off down the hall and into the gym. I swear to God, I had no idea there was a girls’ volleyball game that night. I ended up in nothing but a towel covering my junk, standing in a gym full of people.”

  I end up choking on my drink through my laugh. It’s everything I can do not to spit my drink across the table. Rhett is just shaking his head with a smile on his face, like he still can’t believe it actually happened.

  “That’s the funniest thing I’ve ever heard,” I say, trying to catch my breath from choking.

  “I can promise you, it wasn’t funny when it happened.”

  “I beg to differ. I bet it was hilarious.”

  We continue the game, laughing and catching up about things that have happened over the years, just getting to know each other better. After a few hours, I decide I should probably get home. Rhett walks me the few blocks to my condo, and as I turn to unlock the door, he grabs my hand. I turn back to face him.

  “I’m glad we had this, M.”

  “Me too. It was fun.”

  “It was. Looking even more forward to tomorrow night.”

  “Yeah.” I smile at him.

  He leans in and kisses my cheek. “Goodnight, M&M.”

  “Night, Rhett.”

  I walk in and head straight to my room, equally excited and anxious for tomorrow night.

  It’s Friday. It’s 6:48 p.m. Rhett will be here in twelve itty-bitty minutes, and for once, I am ready. Totally and completely ready to go. I’m also pacing around my room while Cam lounges on my bed. This is why I’m never early. It gives you time to think and worry—two things I definitely don’t need to do more in my life.

  “Emma Grace, calm the hell down before you trip in those fabulous heels and bust your nose. That would be a horrible way to start your big date,�
� Cam says in all seriousness while she flips through the pages of the latest Cosmo.

  “It’s not a big date, geez! It’s just two friends getting together for dinner. Quit making it out to be more than it is.” I am in complete denial and I know it.

  “Whatever! You never wear red lipstick when you go out with me, so don’t hand me that line of shit.”

  “Pouting doesn’t suit you, dear.” I smirk at her through the mirror on my closet door. I give myself another once-over.

  I’m under no delusions that I’m the sexiest girl alive, but I am happy and comfortable with myself. My auburn hair falls past my shoulders in wavy layers, bangs brushed to the side. My makeup is light for the most part—a little BB cream, some bronzer. My gray-blue eyes are a little more dramatic with shimmering dark gray eye shadow, eyeliner, and mascara. My lips are fire-engine red… It’s only fair.

  My charcoal-colored top fits me well, the deep V-neck giving away more than I’m normally comfortable with. My jeans are snug in the hips, ‘cause let’s face it—I’ve got hips that really don’t lie. My legs are longer than average, but even with my heels, I know that Rhett will tower over me.

  I plop down on the bed and let out a breath about a millisecond before I hear the doorbell. Cam squeals and takes off. She may be more excited about this date than I am.

  Not true. I’m ecstatic, but my nerves are taking over.

  I round the corner to the living room and see Rhett talking to Cam. His green eyes fly to me and begin their slow journey over my body. His gaze is so intense; it’s sending a wave of goosebumps down my arms. When his eyes meet mine again, I can see nothing but approval in them.