Chapter 41

Lanie

The doorbell sang, and I immediately got to work smoothing down my hair and patting under my eyes, checking for any eyeshadow that had fallen there. It didn’t matter that Andrew had seen me in all kinds of rumpled states. I still got butterflies when I thought of seeing him, and I wanted to look good for dinner at his house.

The door flew open, and Karen smiled wide. “Lanie,” she cooed, pulling me in for a hug.

We’d only met once before, but Karen had one of those personalities. She could make friends with anyone.

“How are you doing?” I asked, face still pressed against her shoulder.

“Good, good. Come in out of that cold.” She quickly shut the door behind me. “I was just headed home. Raven and Andrew are somewhere downstairs, and dinner is in the oven.”

As she talked, she worked fast, taking and hanging my coat in the hall closet and winding her scarf around her neck. “There’s a cake in the fridge. You’re not allergic to coconut, are you?”

“Nope. I love it.”

“Oh, good! It’s coconut with layers of strawberries.”

“Wow. You really didn’t have to go all out. It’s only Monday night.”

“Stop. It’s my job.” Karen buttoned her coat with flying fingers. “You have a good night, sweetie.”

“You too.” Before I could say bye, she was gone, the door closing behind her.

Tentatively, I peeked into the quiet living room. There hadn’t been a peep yet from Raven or Andrew, and I briefly wondered if the giant house had even more rooms than I had initially thought.

“Hello?” I called.

No answer.

Still feeling self-conscious about walking around the house all by myself, I slowly took a few steps down the hallway. “Andrew? Raven?”

Without warning, a door behind me opened and an arm looped around my waist. I yelped as Andrew spun me around and pressed his mouth to mine.

“Mm,” I murmured, laying another quick kiss on his lips. “That’s a nice hello.”

His fingers pressed into my lower back, sending forbidden tingles all through me. “Sorry I didn’t hear you come in. I was on a work call.”

“That’s okay.” I lightly grasped his arms, enjoying the tautness of the muscles beneath his shirt. “Where’s Raven?”

“Last I saw her, she said she was going to do some homework. Hey. Thanks for coming over last minute.”

I cocked my head and scoffed. “You really think there’s someplace else I’d rather be on Monday night?”

“I hope not.” Andrew ran his thumb down my lower lip before taking my hand. “Hungry?”

“Extremely.”

Hands clasped, he walked me in the direction of the kitchen. At the stairs, he paused. “Raven!”

Footsteps sounded above our heads, and a beat later Raven appeared at the top of the stairs, earbuds hanging around her neck. “Huh?”

“Dinner.”

“I’ll be there in a little bit. I have to finish this essay.”

I opened my mouth to say hi, but she was already gone. Andrew squeezed my hand, giving me a smile.

“How is she doing?” I asked on our way into the kitchen.

Andrew pulled a chair at the table out for me. “Good. Wine?”

“Sure. Thanks.”

With smooth movements, he popped a bottle of red and filled two glasses.

“Has she been talking about school any?” I asked, accepting the glass Andrew handed me.

His back turned to me, he pulled dishes and silverware out of the cupboards. “No. She’s been kind of mum lately. But I think it’s the regular teenager kind of mum.” He turned around with a grin. “She has all these friends all of a sudden.”

Any of them Jason? I almost asked. Mine and Raven’s last conversation about Jason had been between student and counselor, though. The topic wasn’t something I needed to share with Andrew, and Raven would probably be mortified if I did.

“It’s amazing, really.” Andrew set a good-smelling lentil dish on the table. “You’re a miracle worker.”

“What?” I scoffed. “Are you not going to give yourself any credit at all?”

Andrew took my hand in his and gave it a quick kiss before spreading his napkin on his lap. He didn’t even look at me as he did it, which made the whole act more endearing. Touching me was becoming a habit for him, something he didn’t even need to think about doing.

“Why me?” he asked.

“Hm?” I lazily blinked, unable to take my eyes off his profile.

Andrew laughed and turned to me. “Lanie?”

“What were we talking about?”

“Are you serious?”

I slowly nodded. “Yeah. You’re just that handsome.”

He growled in pleasure and scooted his chair closer to mine. “Come here.”

Andrew’s lips graced mine, sending my head and heart both spinning. Before I could get too lost in the kiss, I pulled back. “Seriously. What were we were talking about?”

“How much better Raven is doing,” he murmured, squeezing my thigh.

His answer snapped me out of my lust-filled reverie. “Right. You can’t give me all the credit. What she needed was more attention from you, and you’ve provided that.”

“I’d like to give you my attention right now.” He ran his nose against my neck.

“Andrew!” I laughed, glancing at the still-empty doorway.

“Okay. You’re right.” Clearing his throat, he raised his hands in defeat. “I’m done. For now, anyway. And, as far as Raven, let’s agree that we both helped out. It’s something we did together.”

His eyes settled on mine, and there was something so deep and purposeful about that last sentence. A pleasurable shiver went through me, but I couldn’t say why. It was like Andrew was hinting at something that I didn’t quite understand yet but that I knew was inherently good.

“I want to ask you something,” Andrew said, still looking into my eyes.

“Uh-huh?” My pulse started racing. I couldn’t take a single guess as to what he was about to say, but I knew it would be good.

Taking my hand, he turned it over on top of the table and ran his fingertips down my palm. “Do you have plans this weekend?”

“No,” I exhaled, finding it hard to think of anything other than the way he was touching me.

“Good.” A smile danced at the corner of his mouth. “Come away with me for the weekend. We’ll go to San Juan. There’s a resort there I think you’d really like.”

“Really?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“That’s … Wow. When? Friday? What about Raven? When will we be back?”

I knew I was asking too many questions, but Andrew’s proposition had made me get excited, and sometimes when that happened, I talked too much.

“I was thinking we leave after school on Friday and then come back Sunday afternoon. Or early evening. I talked to Raven about it, and she’s fine. Karen will be around, so she won’t be alone. What do you say? Can you miss one weekend of yoga for me?”

Andrew raised my hand and kissed the inside of my wrist, and I laughed with joy. “I think I’ll get over yoga.”

“Erica won’t be mad?”

“Definitely not. She’s always talking about how you and I are meant to be.”

“Oh, yeah?” Andrew tilted his head, looking at me with increased interest.

Embarrassment hit like a ton of bricks. Shit. Had I really said that out loud?

“Should I go check on Raven?” I asked, desperately needing to change the subject.

“I’m right here,” her voice answered.

She took a seat at the table, and I guiltily pulled my hand from Andrew’s.

“Hi,” I smiled at her. “Did you finish your essay?”

She tore a piece of bread from the loaf near her. “Yeah. It was boring as hell, but I finished it.”

“Raven,” Andrew chastised. “Hey. Let’s not curse at the table.”

Her gaze jumped from him to me. “What were you guys talking about?”

“Um.” I bit my lip, looking to Andrew.

“This weekend,” he explained. “Lanie said she can go.”

“Cool,” she said around a mouthful of bread. “San Juan is pretty neat.”

“You’re sure you won’t be bored being by yourself all weekend?” I asked.

“Nope,” she quickly answered.

Our eyes found each other. There was a question glimmering in her irises, one I didn’t understand. Was she wondering whether or not I’d mentioned Jason to Andrew?

“You can have a friend over,” Andrew was saying as he busily cut his food. “But make sure you tell Karen first.”

Raven didn’t answer. She stared at the salt and pepper shakers, a zoned-out look on her face.

“Raven?”

“Oh. Yeah.” She snapped to and smiled at Andrew. “Got it.”

I couldn’t stop watching Raven. Did “a friend” in her mind include Jason? Would Karen even agree to having a boy over? Even judging from my two small interactions with Karen, I got the sense she was pretty conservative. If Raven had a guy come around, Karen would probably make the two of them sit at the kitchen table, hands in their laps, while she baked them chocolate chip cookies.

“What are you going to do at this resort?” Raven asked. “Can I have some wine?”

Andrew snorted. “Sure. A little bit.”

Taking her glass, he poured her an ounce of red.

“Oh, come on, Dad. You know, statistically speaking, I’m much less likely to go crazy drinking at parties if my parent lets me drink at home.”

Andrew rolled his eyes but poured another ounce. “To answer your other question, we’re just going to relax. Maybe go on a boat tour or a hike. It depends on what Lanie wants to do.” He gave me a smile, and I melted into my seat.

“When are you back?”

“Sunday.”

“What time?”

Andrew shrugged. “Late afternoon. I’m not sure.”

Again, my gaze caught Raven’s. This time, though, she quickly looked away. I glanced at Andrew, wondering if he also suspected something was up. Why was Raven so interested in what time he’d be home?

Andrew seemed oblivious, though, moving on and telling us about how he ran into my dad the night before. As he talked, all my worry about Raven faded away. She was a smart girl. It seemed unlikely she’d take chances with her safety and knowingly put herself in a bad situation. And, yeah, teens didn’t have the best judgment skills, but Karen would be around to keep an eye on things.

I was probably being paranoid, the last month of counseling kids nonstop taking its toll on me. It seemed I needed a serious break and hadn’t even known it.

For not the first time, Andrew had swooped in and given me exactly what I craved.