Chapter 10

Rein

There were people in my shop. For the first time in ages, there were actual people in my shop.

I hurried out of the back office and frantically tied my apron behind my back. I rushed around one of my paintings and found myself staring at a little girl with dark hair who couldn’t have been more than five. She was looking at me with a big sunny smile that revealed a couple missing teeth, and she reached out to grab the pant leg of the man standing slightly behind her.

I looked up the length of his body and locked eyes with him.

Brayden Hennie.

Of course.

I opened my mouth and promptly shut it again. What did he expect me to say to him? And who did he think he was, showing up at my place of work unannounced?

“We want to buy this!” the little girl cried, pointing a finger straight ahead at the painting I had done of the polar bear in the town square. It was an old piece—a piece I thought would never, ever sell.

“Umm,” I said, forcing myself to smile at her. “Okay. You can just have it.”

The little girl looked up at Brayden and grinned. “We can have it she said.”

“I heard her,” Brayden said in that deep voice of his that used to drive me wild. He looked up from his daughter and back to me. “I won’t take it for free. You’ll have to set a price for it. Money is no object.”

Money is no object, I mocked him in my head. “It’s not worth anything. I painted it ages ago. Just take it.”

Brayden’s daughter rushed forward and wrapped her arms around my legs. “Thank you! I love it. I love the big one outside, too.”

I stood stiff in her hug for a surprised moment, then patted her shoulders. “I like the one outside too. He’s huge!” I spread my arms as wide as I could, and she giggled. “My name is Rein. What’s your name?”

“Bella,” she said shyly.

“Bella, what a nice name. It suits you.”

Bella blushed, giggled, and then tugged on the corner of my apron. “Did you paint all of these?”

“Yes,” I nodded, “I’m the only artist here. I paint every day.”

“Cool!” Bella said, turning back to her father. “Did you hear that, Daddy? She painted all of these!”

“I heard her,” Brayden said, his hands clasped behind his back. He arched an eyebrow at me. “Impressive. You’re a lot better than I remember.”

“You didn’t see much of my work back then. I didn’t like showing people.”

“Oh,” he said simply.

“Are you looking for something in particular?” I asked, slapping on my business face and tone. There was no need to be rude, but I didn’t have to be nice and sweet, either. Professional was the happy middle ground.

“No, we were just looking. But when Bella sees something she likes…” he trailed off and smiled as Bella wandered away from me to look at more paintings. “She gets it.”

“A doting father, I see.”

He glanced at me and then back at Bella. “I wouldn’t say that.” He unclasped his hands from behind his back and ran them through his hair. Watching him move was like watching something magical. I had always thought so, even when we were teenagers. He was made of something special. That was for sure. I had always known it, and I had told him constantly, too.

“How’s business?” he asked, turning in a circle and admiring my loft. “You have a pretty cool space. Never thought Valdez would have something as trendy as this going for it.”

“It’s good. Not everyone has to leave to start a business.”

He looked at me out of the corner of his eye, then smiled. “It would seem so.”

“Daddy, I’m hungry,” Bella said as she returned to his side.

“Alright, kiddo,” he said, extending his massive hand to her. I couldn’t help but think of how cute it was that she grabbed his thumb. “We’ll go get some dinner as soon as Rein tells me a price for her polar bear painting.”

I crossed my arms and scowled. “Consider it a gift. From me to Bella. A welcome to Valdez present.”

“Giving your merchandise away for free isn’t going to get you any profit, you know?”

“I’m aware,” I said coldly. “But it’s my business, and if I needed your advice, I would ask for it.” I walked over to the painting and took it off its stand. Then I handed it to Bella. “There you go, sweetheart. All yours.”

She smiled down at the painting as Brayden let out a deep sigh behind her. Then he stepped forward, and his daughter followed, her tiny fingers still wrapped around his thumb.

He drew to a stop once he passed me and turned around. He was so close that I could smell his musky cologne. “Listen, Rein… I’m sorry. I know it’s been a long time and that probably means nothing now, but I am. Would you consider joining us for dinner? I want to repay you somehow and taking your merchandise doesn’t feel right.”

“No, thank you, but—”

“Please?” Bella pouted beside him, looking up at me with big green eyes that looked exactly like Brayden’s. “It’ll be fun!”

Brayden shrugged one shoulder as if to apologize to me. He seemed to know how cute his daughter was and how hard it was to look her in the eye and say no. I supposed that made sense. He was her father, after all, and he hadn’t been able to say no to giving her the painting.

“Alright,” I conceded. “But I can’t stay out late. I have an early morning.”

“And I have a four-year-old,” Brayden said, chuckling. “I can barely stay awake past nine anymore.”

Even though I desperately didn’t want to, I smiled. I couldn’t help it. “Just let me close down and get my things. Then we can go. Okay?”

“Sounds good,” Brayden said. “Need help with anything?”

“No,” I said flatly. “Just a couple minutes.”

He nodded. “We’ll get out of your way and meet you downstairs then, alright?”

“Sure.”

I turned on my heel and went to my kitchenette, where I removed my apron and watched Brayden and Bella leave through the corner of my eye.

What am I getting myself into?

I shook my head when the door closed behind them. It was just dinner. I was a grown woman. Surely I could withstand having a meal with him, couldn’t I? It’s not like there was anything between us anymore. We were an old item. A couple of kids who fell hard for each other back in high school. That was it.

At least, that was all it had been to him.

I had thought I would marry him.

I groaned inwardly as I got my jacket and flicked off all the lights in the loft. I left and locked up behind me, then put my jacket on while I was out in the hall.

Gracie was going to shit herself when she found out I went to dinner with him.

I should go downstairs and tell him no, that it was a bad idea. There was no harm in being honest. I certainly didn’t owe him anything. It was the other way around. A meal with him wouldn’t make up for what he put me through, and if he had any sense at all, he already knew that.

But his eyes had looked honest when he told me he was sorry moments ago. He meant it, I was positive, but it was too late to matter now. He should have called me when he first left. He should have told me how sorry he was that he left me behind. He should have explained himself. Then maybe I could have had some sort of closure and been able to move on without wondering what the hell I had done wrong.

Without thinking I had driven him away.

I made it halfway down the hall before stopping and turning around.

“You’re being a baby,” I hissed to myself. “It’s just dinner. Then you’ll probably never have to see or hear from him again. You can finally close the door on that chapter of your life and walk away.”

I turned back around, my hands balled into fists at my sides, and marched straight down the hall to the top of the stairs. I hesitated for only a moment before forcing myself forward and hurrying down to street level.

“Just dinner,” I reassured myself as I pushed the door open.

On the sidewalk, I paused to inhale a deep breath of cold fresh air. It cleared my mind and chased away the lingering oily smell of paint in my nose.

Brayden was beside me, leaning up against the wall as Bella played in the snow on the sidewalk. His hands were in the pockets of his kneelength black coat, and the stark white of the snow made his eyes look even greener.

Fuck me, I thought. I should have told him no. What the hell was I thinking?

“Ready?” he asked, his voice making the hairs on the nape of my neck stand up.

I nodded. “Yeah. Where were you two heading?”

He cracked a smile that reminded me of the boy I used to know. “Don’t hate me, but I was thinking Emmett’s diner. I told him I’d bring Bella by while I was in town.”

I crammed my hands into my pockets. “Works for me. He makes a good burger.”

“I don’t want a burger, Daddy,” Bella piped up as she crossed the sidewalk and came toward us. “Cows aren’t food.”

“You don’t have to have a burger, kiddo. I’m sure there are plenty of animal-free things you can eat. Alright?”

I dropped into a crouch in front of Bella. “Do you like grilled cheese?”

Bella looked up at her dad, who nodded. “Yes,” she said softly.

“Good!” I said with enthusiasm. “Because Emmett makes the best grilled cheese in the whole world. I promise.”

Bella grinned and swayed on the spot. “Okay, I believe you.”

“Good.” I chuckled, standing back up and looking over at Brayden. “Ready to go?”

He nodded and the three of us started off down the sidewalk. We cut across town square and headed down Fourth Avenue toward the diner, which was alight with neon lights that glowed and reflected off the snow on the street. It gave the place a retro vibe, and even from the street, we could hear the music playing inside.

“Not much has changed,” Brayden said as we walked by the windows toward the front doors. “Is that still the same juke box in there?”

“You’d better believe it,” I said. “It still plays through the same twenty tracks, too. Emmett suggested a few years back to add some new ones, but people freaked out. God forbid someone tries to do something new around here.”

“God forbid,” Brayden muttered, grabbing the door and holding it open for Bella and me.

“Thanks,” I said.

He nodded his head politely and stepped in behind me.

Standing in the warmth of the diner, I was acutely aware of how close Brayden was to me. He was at my back, maybe half a foot away, and the smell of him was intoxicating. It flooded my nose and played with my brain, urging me to be nicer to him. He had said he was sorry, and he was a different man than the boy I remembered.

Much different.

There was something in the way he walked and talked that lent him a new sophistication that suited him. He was hot as hell—hotter than anyone I had ever seen in person. His sharp chin and high cheekbones made him look like he belonged on the cover of a magazine.

His broad shoulders, narrow waist, and thick arms had me wondering what he looked like in Florida where he wouldn’t be hidden beneath layers of winter clothing. What did a man like him look like naked?

I swallowed and tried to brush the thought away as heat gathered below my belly.

I was in trouble.