Touch of Heaven (11 page)

Raina cringed, her face flushing. “It wasn't like that. Not like what you're thinking.”
It came pretty damned close though!

She hastened to explain herself. “I dropped by his uncle's house to see one of his latest classic cars. Warrick was already there when I arrived and—”

Reese shook her head. “See, that's why I've always warned you about hanging out with Randall Mayne. You just never know when one of his despicable family members—in this case, Warrick—will stop by for a visit, putting you in a very awkward position.”

Raina flashed on a mental image of the position she had been in with Warrick that afternoon.
Awkward
definitely wasn't the first word that came to mind.

Reese was still lecturing her. “If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times that your friendship with Randall is a bad idea. But,
nooo,
the two of you insist on sneaking around behind his family's back, almost like a pair of rebellious teenage lovers!”

Raina sputtered in indignation. “
Teenage lovers!
Have you lost your mind? Randall is old enough to be my father, and he's always been like one to me.”

“He's not
that
old.”

“He's fifty-six, Reese. I'm thirty. Trust me, he's old enough to be my father.”

Reese snorted. “That didn't stop Meggie from hooking up with Father de Bricassart. Remember how romantic we thought their relationship was when we saw
The Thorn Birds
when we were growing up?”

Raina laughed, shaking her head. “This ain't a miniseries, and I'm not in love with Warrick's uncle! If anything,
you're
the one who used to ogle him in his police uniform—you and all your silly little
friends. You guys are the ones who used to giggle and whisper about how fine and sexy Randall was.”

Reese grinned. “
Was?
Hell, that man is
still
fine and sexy as all get out, pushing sixty or not. If he were just ten years older than me, instead of twenty-two, I might have to give him the time of day. God knows he's the only decent one in that family.”

Raina said nothing. She knew that when it came to her sister's feelings about the Mayne family, there was no love lost.

Arms folded across her busty chest, Reese arched a perfectly sculpted brow at Raina. The manicured eyebrow was courtesy of Tina at the spa. The disapproving expression was very much Reese's. “Well? I'm still waiting.”

“For what?”

The eyebrow rose higher. “For an explanation of how Warrick's hands wound up on your behind.”

Raina scowled. “I was
trying
to explain. You're the one who interrupted to lecture me about my friendship with Randall.”

Reese just looked at her.

Raina went back to flipping pages in the cookbook. “Anyway, Randall had to make some phone calls, or so he said. While he was gone, Warrick and I got to talking, and, uh, one thing led to another and…We, uh, kissed.”

Dead silence.

“And?” Reese prompted.

“That's it. We kissed.”

“Judging by those handprints on your butt,” Reese drawled sardonically, “you and Warrick did a helluva lot more than kissing.”

Raina groaned, covering her face with her hands. “All right! Fine! We kissed
and
fondled each other. A lot! We were in the garage,” she explained, the breathless words tumbling out of her mouth faster than water from a spigot, “and Warrick was working on the car. It was hot as hell, and all I could think about was how incredibly sexy he looked with no shirt on. One minute we were having a perfectly normal conversation. The next thing I knew I was touching his chest, and heaven help me, it felt
sooo
good. Before I knew it we were kissing, and then we were on the hood of his uncle's Thunderbird, bumping and grinding like a couple of horny teenagers. And then…and then…”

“What?”

“I came! Right there on top of the car. Fully clothed. I came harder and faster than I've ever come in my life. And…and he did, too.” Raina closed her eyes, shuddering all over again.

Once she'd gotten over the shock of her own unbridled response, she remembered being stunned to realize that she could cause a man like Warrick Mayne—a gorgeous, virile, powerful man who had slept with countless women—to lose control in such a way.

After several moments of silence, Raina uncovered her face and hazarded a glance at her sister. Reese was staring at her, mouth agape.

Humiliated, Raina mumbled resentfully, “There? I've told you the whole sordid story. Are you satisfied?”

“Are
you?
”

Raina frowned. “What's that supposed to mean?”

Reese gave her a gentle, pitying look. “You've been carrying a torch for that man ever since you were ten years old—over half your life, Raina. Now that you've finally had a taste of him, so to speak, was it everything you hoped for? Was it everything you dreamed it would be?”

Dumbfounded, Raina stared at her sister. “You…
knew?
”

Reese burst out laughing. “What a question! Of course I knew. Come on, Raina, you know you've never been able to hide anything from me. Even if you
hadn't
walked in here tonight wearing the incriminating evidence, I would have known something was different about you.”

Raina's frown deepened. She had never told anyone about her feelings for Warrick. Not even Reese, with whom she had always been close. But apparently that didn't matter. Reese had figured out her sister's secret all on her own. And although Raina knew she shouldn't be surprised, she was.

She glared accusingly at Reese. “Did you read my diary?”

Reese snorted. “Girl, please. I had better things to do than snoop in my kid sister's diary. Besides, I didn't have to
read
anything. The look on your face every time Warrick was around told me all I ever needed to know.”

Raina scowled. “What look? I never had a look.”

“Oh, yes, you did.” Reese grinned. “You tried to hide it as much as possible, and you were very convincing, for the most part. But you couldn't keep up the charade all the time. And, really, who
could expect you to? You were just a little girl. Whenever you thought no one else was looking, you would stare at Warrick with such adoration, such admiration, such unrequited
longing.
” She snickered. “I didn't know whether to laugh at you or feel sorry for you.”

“Gee, thanks, sis,” Raina muttered darkly.

“Oh, hush. At least I never teased you about it. And I never told anyone else what I knew. I could have, you know. I could have told my friends, or Mom and Dad. I went to high school with Warrick and cheered at his basketball games, and I could have told him at any time that my little sister had the hots for him. But I never did. I didn't want to embarrass you, and I figured he already had enough girls making fools of themselves over him. He certainly didn't need another groupie, especially one who was barely in a training bra.” Reese grinned. “Besides, I didn't want Deniece Labelle trying to kick your ass. Everyone knew that chick was crazy!”

Raina couldn't help laughing. “I know that's right!”

Returning to her sun-dried tomatoes, Reese said wryly, “But even if I hadn't caught you making puppy eyes at Warrick, I still would have been suspicious of you.”

“Why?” Raina asked, though she wasn't sure she wanted to know.

“For starters, you always wanted to hang out over at Yolanda's house. Even though you knew Mom and Dad had concerns about the safety of their neighborhood, you somehow convinced them to let you spend all that time over there. I guess it didn't hurt that they liked Randall, and because he was a cop, they took him at his word when he reassured them that the neighborhood was regularly patrolled by the police.”

“It was,” Raina interjected.

“Maybe so, but at the risk of sounding like a snob, Raina, it was still the projects. There could only be one reason you preferred to hang out over there instead of your own clean,
safe
neighborhood with a lovely park and community swimming pool, and that reason had nothing to do with not wanting to hurt Yolanda's feelings. Oh, that might have been your reason at first,” Reese said when Raina opened her mouth to protest, “but we both know that over time you stopped worrying about that. In fact, I seem to remember Yolanda wanting to hang out at
our
house more often.”

Raina grimaced. “Yeah, at first. But she got bored too easily. She
always complained that our neighborhood was too quiet and the kids were corny and too uptight. No one played loud music or sat on their porches gossiping and watching cars drive by to see who had a new ride. The girls didn't jump double Dutch or sit around braiding each other's hair, and there were no basketball courts to watch the fellas playing with their shirts off.” She sighed, remembering how often she had watched Warrick running up and down the court, his muscles rippling and glistening in the sun, his teeth flashing strong and white against his beautiful dark skin as he laughed and taunted his opponents. How many times had she fantasized about what it would be like to touch him, to press her hand against the smooth, solid warmth of his chest and feel the pounding rhythm of his heart, the way she had done today?

Shoving aside the memory, Raina continued, “Anyway, after a while I got tired of hearing Yolanda's complaints, so it was easier just to hang out at her place.”

“How convenient for you,” Reese said with a knowing smile. “Just as it was convenient for you that we only had one car, and since Dad always had to work late and Mom didn't drive, Warrick usually had to bring you home. Oh, you used to be floating on cloud nine after he dropped you off. You'd hardly say three words to me or Mom before you ran to your room to scribble furiously in your diary.” Reese chuckled, dumping the chopped tomatoes into a large glass bowl. “I think the day I got my driver's license and Dad bought me a car was probably the worst day of your life, Raina. You knew it meant no more rides home with Prince Charming.”

Raina gave her sister a surly grin. “I was hoping you would think I was just jealous of you being able to drive before me.”

Reese laughed. “I knew better. Just as I knew that the only reason you wanted to attend all those high-school basketball games was not to watch me cheering on the sidelines, but to watch Warrick play. And even if Yolanda hadn't always invited you, I know you would have found a way to be at all their family events—the backyard cookouts and picnics at the beach, Warrick's birthday and graduation parties. Wherever he was, you were never too far behind.” She shook her head, efficiently chopping black olives. “If Mom and Dad had ever suspected what was going on, you would have seen
a lot
less of Yolanda, I can tell you that. I mean, Warrick was six years
older than you, Raina. If he'd been a different type of guy—a pervert—he could've tried to take advantage of you. But lucky for you, he barely knew you existed.”

“Lucky me,” Raina murmured broodingly.

Her sister looked up at her, her gaze softening. “Do you want to know when I realized that your feelings for Warrick went deeper than a childhood crush?” she asked quietly.

Raina hesitated, then nodded reluctantly.

“It was when you decided to remain friends with Yolanda, even after you realized she was just using you. And don't look at me like that. We've been over this before, Raina, and I know how painful it was for you to finally accept the truth about your friendship with Yolanda. You helped her with her schoolwork so she wouldn't fail all her classes. You bought things for her even though you barely had a part-time job yourself. You were the mediator whenever she started running off at the mouth to older girls at school, girls who would've stomped her behind if you hadn't stepped in. Hell, Raina, you even did her chores sometimes. You were the mature, responsible friend, the good girl who never got into any trouble. As long as Yolanda said she was with you, no one would ever think she was up to no good. And she knew that. How many times did you cover for her when she told her mother she was spending the night at our house, when in reality she was over at some boy's place? And how many times did you lie to her boyfriends just to help her keep her stories straight?”

Raina frowned. “Our friendship wasn't always as one-sided as what you're describing, Reese. Things didn't change between me and Yolanda until we got to high school, and everyone used to say that was perfectly normal. If you're suggesting that I put up with her nonsense just because I liked Warrick—”

“What I'm suggesting, baby sister, is that you put up with it because you
loved,
not liked, Warrick. And no matter how badly Yolanda treated you, you wanted to believe the best of her. Not because of who
she
was, but because of who
he
was. Because you had Warrick on a pedestal, you rationalized that anyone related to him had to have at least some of the qualities that made him so special to you. You gave Yolanda the benefit of the doubt even when she no longer deserved it. Even when she became an accomplice to an armed robbery, then expected you to cover for her just as you'd always done.”