Where I Belong

by Jill Sanders

  Eva couldn’t remember if it was from Lucinda or Pricilla, but she chewed the cookie that had been shoved, unceremoniously into her mouth. It was better than the ones that had been delivered just that morning. Way better.

  “Thank you.” She glanced up and noticed Rafe, hovering above her, a frown marring his face.

  “You okay?” he asked, his voice a little rough.

  Instead of answering, she nodded and wiped at her eyes again as she finished off the cookie.

  “Go on, dear, we’ve got this,” ChiChi said, once again waving him away.

  He set a bottled water down in front of her and walked away, still frowning.

  “Now that all that is done, tell us what your intensions are with the young Rowan boy.”

  Eva almost choked on the swallow of water she had in her mouth.

  ***

  Rafe sat across the room and felt completely helpless. He’d never been so—hell, he didn’t know what. Hurt? Upset? Pissed?

  Then he heard Eva laugh and relaxed slightly.

  How could he be pissed at the Grey group. As he used to call them. The group of women didn’t mean any harm to Eva. But, still. Hearing and seeing her burst into tears had done something to him.

  It was almost as if the sound had ripped his heart in two. Even hearing his sister cry like that hadn’t had the same effect.

  Sure, she’d cried that first night she’d been with Rafe. But, that was in private and after she’d told him...hell, everything.

  Flipping open his laptop, he decided since it was obvious the group was making Eva their next “project,” he had plenty of time to do a quick search.

  Punching Harry Chapman, Seattle, Washington, into the search bar, he held in the gasp when several news headings popped up immediately.

  Nathanial Chapman, son of Coffee King, Harry Chapman dies in car accident.

  Instantly he knew who her family was. Harry Chapman’s brand of flavored coffees was some of the best coffees to come out of Seattle several years ago. Actually, the man was the reason Seattle was known for its coffee brands. That and Starbucks, but everyone knew Starbucks was nothing without Chapman Coffee.

  Clicking into the article, he continued reading.

  Daughter, Evangella had been behind the wheel of the BMW, and was unscathed. The Chapmans have made no comment as to the whereabouts of their daughter since the accident. It’s rumored that she was last seen leaving her hospital room, early in the morning, three days after the accident.

  Evangella’s presence was missed at her brother’s funeral last year. Some speculate that it was due to the rumor that the young woman was currently sitting in a jail cell. It’s been no secret that the party girl had been seen the night before with her friends at Trinity Nightclub. Some speculate that the girl had been still drinking before the accident. The night before she’d caused a scene with then boyfriend, Kade Willison, son of billionaire, Keith Willison.

  The two had broken their serious relationship off weeks before, when Evangella had accused Kade of cheating.

  There was a picture of Eva and Kade, snuggled up to one another in a dark booth. Eva’s hair had been shorter, she’d been almost ten pounds heavier, healthier, and her eyes had been a lot happier.

  Instantly Rafe’s heart did a quick dive.

  He glanced over at the woman sitting across the coffee shop now and couldn’t help but feel sad.

  Yes, she was too skinny. Almost ten pounds so. Her eyes had a hollowness to them. Even now, there were still dark circles under them that he doubted a month’s worth of sleep would remove.

  What had she done? What drove a person to leave everything behind? Guilt? He shook his head. No, from what she said, it was just an accident.

  Then he scoured several more articles quickly. None of them even hinted that the police were looking for her. Did she know that? Maybe that’s why she jumped and ran away every time she saw a cop in uniform?

  He glanced up as the trio of older women hugged Eva and walked out. ChiChi gave him a quick wink before she left.

  “Well, what was that all about?” he asked, watching her return the empty cups and plates to the back room.

  “I like them.” She smiled up at him.

  He raised his eyebrows. “Even after they made you cry?”

  She shrugged and glanced out the window. “It was past due.”

  “So, you want to talk about this?” He turned his laptop around. The picture of her and Kade was still on the screen.

  She shrugged again and walked past him. “Not particularly.” She pulled out a bottle of water and started drinking it. “It was a lifetime ago.”

  “Don’t you find it funny that the daughter of the Coffee King doesn’t drink coffee?” He leaned against the bar as he brushed a finger down her arm.

  She chuckled. “Call it one of my only ways of rebelling.” She downed the rest of the water. “Now, if you’ll excuse me.” She nodded to the bathroom.

  His eyes narrowed. “You’re not going to try to climb out the window again, are you?”

  She smiled as she walked by him. “My days of running are over,” she said softly and patted him on the cheek.

  Her hips swayed as she walked away and he wondered what would come next. How had he come to care so much about her in such a short time?

  Walking over to wipe down the booth with a clean rag, he spotted the bag from Boulder Holder, the store next door, and bit his bottom lip as he glanced nervously towards the bathroom door.

  Picking it up, he peeked inside and saw red lace, and shut it again with a groan. Damn.

  The woman was going to be the death of him.

  Chapter Seven

  Eva took several deep breaths as she leaned against the bathroom door. Closing her eyes, she thought about the conversation she’d just had with three of the nicest, but oddest women she’d ever met.

  She held in a giggle as she rolled her shoulders and realized that all the tension from before was gone.

  For the past year, she’d done everything in her power to keep everything in. Now, it felt wonderful to open up. Even if it was to strangers. Maybe that was why it was so much easier?

  She thought about all the friends she’d left behind in Seattle. Her family. Kade.

  Her head throbbed and she walked over to the sink to splash water on her face. Why did her past hold so much anxiety for her?

  It had to be more than just Nate. She thought back to the pressure she’d been under. Pressure from her family to finish school. Her father had been trying to get her to change from her journalist degree to a business one. So she could get her feet wet in the family business.

  She looked up at the mirror and looked deep into her own eyes. There wasn’t a drop of Coffee King behind them. No matter how much she thought about it, toiled over it, she would never be what her family wanted her to be.

  She sighed and rolled her shoulders. Maybe that, along with the guilt over Nate had led her to run.

  She leaned against the sink and closed her eyes as she crossed her arms over her chest. Sure, Rafe had been right. Long ago she’d come to realize that there hadn’t really been anything she could have done. Even if she’d had a full night’s sleep the evening before, it hadn’t been what caused her to miss seeing the truck.

  Nate had been telling her one of his “stories.” He’d been so animated when he talked. She loved watching his face light up as he spoke about something. This time it was how he’d won the science fair project. He’d gotten a gift card for fifty dollars and wanted to spend the money on something special for their folks.

  She’d tried to talk him into spending it on video games, but Nate wasn’t like that. His only thought was to share the joy.

  She’d glanced down at him, for just a moment. Seeing his smiling face look back at her as they had decided to buy movie tickets and take their parents to the latest sci-fi that Nate wanted to see.

  When she’d glanced back up, the BMW had drifted too close to the white line.

>   She cut her thoughts off and tried to block the next moments of her memory from surfacing.

  It had been an accident. Nothing more.

  By the time she walked out of the bathroom, she was even more exhausted than before.

  Rafe surprised her by standing directly outside the door. He held up the bag with bright pink letters, Boulder Holder, on it.

  “So”—his eyebrows rose and fell— “when do you think you can try these on?”

  She laughed and grabbed the bag from him. “Well, since you peeked, never.” She rushed past him, only to have his hands grip her hips and pull her close.

  When his lips brushed the side of her neck, just under her ear, she felt all the worry drain from her.

  Somehow, the man had the power to energize her. More than any of her family’s coffee ever could. He nibbled up her neck until she wiggled free.

  “If you’re good”—she tucked the bag behind her back— “I might try on one or two items.” She watched his eyes heat as he moved slowly towards her.

  “How good?” It was almost a growl.

  “How about, taking me out to dinner.”

  He nodded, still moving slowly towards her as she continued to back up.

  “Dessert…” She felt her mouth go dry at the look he was giving her.

  He nodded again.

  “Back rub?” It came out as a whisper.

  He smiled and easily closed the distance between them. “And?” he said as his arms wrapped around her waist.

  “Foot rub,” she added, her mind going almost completely blank.

  “Anything,” he said, just before he laid his lips gently over hers.

  Her heart did a little skip, then settled softly into her chest as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

  Over the next few days, Eva enjoyed her time with Rafe. He fulfilled all of her demands, spoken or not. The man had a way with his hands. He listened to her—not just listened, but heard her. Heard her meaning, the emotions behind every word. Something she’d never experienced before in her life.

  She found herself growing more comfortable around him and even opened up a little more about her feelings and past.

  She loved working at the cafe; she even grew to like a handful of people that came in on a regular basis.

  Rafe gave her a bigger advance and drove her to a small shopping area where she proceeded to purchase several other outfits, better suited for sitting behind the counter of a coffee shop. She even grabbed a few toiletries she’d missed having in the past year. Things like her own brush, makeup, and sexy shoes. She glanced down and smiled at the polish on her toenails and sighed. She’d missed having color on her toes.

  She’d been born and raised around the elite. And if she had to admit it, she’d held a small disliking to them all. One of the main things that had attracted her to Kade in the first place—he’d despised his father, therefore despising all the gifts and wealth that came with the last name of Willison.

  Which, as a young twenty-year-old in her second year of college, only made her like him even more.

  But after Nate, she’d changed. Taking the year off, she’d found out more about herself than anyone could. She’d been truly alone for the past year. But, looking back at her time, she doubted she would have survived if she’d stuck around. Her folks would have probably shoved her in counseling for her “drinking problem.”

  No, what she’d needed, she’d gotten. Alone time with her guilt. Time for it to run its course.

  She shielded her mind from anything beyond that, and switched her mind to focus on Rafe.

  Each day they talked about themselves. She opened up to him a little more, and he toldher stories about his family. About going to college and wanting to become apsychologist.

  How, after his parents’ death, he’d been left to care for his sisters and had pretty much played counselor ever since.

  She’d gotten use to ChiChi and her gang coming in on an almost daily basis. The women doted on her. She loved the attention, and more importantly, loved the way the women treated her like she was family.

  She met Cara, Rafe’s sister, and instantly liked the woman. He had two nieces, who looked just like their mother. Cara was a petite auburn-haired woman with a smile that could light up the room.

  Rafe spoiled the little girls rotten every time they came into the shop. And she made sure to save them a couple of M&M cookies they loved.

  Just thinking about Rafe did strange things to her insides. She really enjoyed spending the nights with him. Wrapped up in his strong arms, naked, sweaty, and sated from their lovemaking.

  God the man could move. He enjoyed the items she’d bought at the boutique next door so much, she spent more of her advance getting a few extra things for him to enjoy.

  She didn’t know how much longer things would last, but she wanted to cherish the time she had.

  That was the one lesson she’d learned in the past year. Take what you could; you never knew when it would be gone.

  They had just opened up shop one day when a busty brunette came rushing towards them.

  “There you are,” the woman said, rushing directly into Rafe’s arms.

  “What are you doing here?” He frowned and stepped back from the woman’s embrace.

  “Cara called me,” the woman said, moving closer and taking Rafe’s hands. The woman’s eyes traveled quickly over to where Eva stood.

  Eva’s eyebrows shot up at the look she’d gotten.

  “Who’s this?” the woman said in a tone that Eva understood.

  Eva was, at the moment, the other woman. Putting on her fake, fuck-you smile, she extended her hand. “Evangella Chapman.”

  “Roslyn.” The woman glanced down at her hand, but didn’t budge. “Rafe, I’d like a few words with you.”

  Rafe sighed, then nodded. “Can you man the store for a few minutes?” he asked Eva, who just raised her eyebrows a little more in response.

  Then he pleased her by moving the two steps to her and placing a heated kiss on her lips. “This won’t take long,” he said under his breath.

  She’d been enjoying his kiss too much to hear the woman’s shocked gasp.

  ***

  “So it’s true,” Roslyn said, crossing her arms over her impressive chest.

  He shut the storage room door behind him and waited. When she didn’t continue, he asked. “What’s true?”

  “That you’re back?” she supplied.

  “For a while,” he answered.

  Roslyn’s eyes narrowed. “Cara said...”

  “I don’t care what my sister told you,” he started. Although he highly doubted Cara had called Roslyn at all. More like Roslyn and Cara had bumped into one another and his ex-fiancée had whittled everything she could out of his sister.

  “So you’re not staying?” Roslyn frowned slightly.

  “Why would it matter to you?” he asked, gaining the stare of daggers from Roslyn.

  “Because...” she started and he watched her bottom lip puff out. “We were once...”

  He laughed. “What? Almost married?” He jerked his shoulders. “Glad that mistake didn’t happen.”

  She glared at him. “Just because...”

  “You couldn’t commit to just one man?” he supplied. “Or were you going to say, you were marrying me only for my money?” He tilted his head. “But, I regress. I’m being rude. Go ahead.” He nodded towards her.

  “You haven’t changed one bit.”

  He smiled. “Now here is something we can agree on. I still find it repulsive that a person cheats on a relationship. I still find it disgusting that that same person cheats on the relationship the night before making the big commitment. Oh, and I find it even more unforgiving when that person posts pictures and a video of the act on social media for the entire world to witness.”

  “It was a mistake,” she started, causing him to laugh.

  “Yes, I heard you only meant to send the photos and video to the man in question instead o
f uploading them to the whole world.”

  “No, I mean, it was a mistake to sleep with Jeffery.”

  He laughed again. “No, the mistake was mine. In not seeing you for what you are.” He reached for the door handle. He’d lost the steam and the anger months ago. After deciding his life was better off without his long-standing girlfriend from school.

  They’d gone through everything together. She’d lied to him the entire time.

  “Roslyn.” She stopped just outside the door and glanced over at him. Her eyes were dry, but he could tell she was hurt. “Someday, somewhere out there you’ll find the perfect person.” His eyes moved over her head and landed on Eva, sitting behind the bar, looking directly at him. “Someone who tells you the truth, believes in you, someone who sets your world on fire.” He smiled at Eva.

  Then he turned back to Roslyn who was looking over at Eva as well.

  “Good luck,” she whispered, then turned on her heels and waltzed out of the shop.

  When he walked over behind the bar, Eva tilted her head.

  “Mind telling me what that was all about?” she asked.

  Instead of answering, he gathered her up and kissed her until the bell above the door chimed again.

  “Damn.” He chuckled and pulled away. “We will continue this later.” He rested his forehead on hers and smiled.

  He turned to greet the new customers only to feel Eva stiffen beside him.

  “Mom? Dad?” She took a step back as the couple rushed towards her. Her hands went up in defense. Her eyes zeroed in on his, begging for help.

  “I”—she shook her head quickly— “I can’t do this.” She rushed from behind the bar and ran out the back.

  “Let her go.” He stopped her father from chasing her.

  “Who the hell are you?” The man turned on him. “We’ve been searching for our daughter for over a year,” he growled, his arms wrapped around his wife’s shoulders as she cried. His eyes were glued to the back door.

  “I’m Rafe.” He held out a hand. “I’m the man that’s in love with your daughter.”