Lizzie Blake's Best Mistake (A Brush with Love, #2)(33)
“I’m sorry I’m such a mess,” she mumbled into his T-shirt.
“I’m lost at all this too, Birdy. But we’ll take it one hour at a time. Together.”
Lizzie was still for a second before nodding into his chest. She sucked in a deep inhale, smooshing her nose against him. “You smell so good, I want to eat you,” she said.
“… thank you?”
They stood like that for a few soft moments, Rake rubbing his hands up and down her back in what he hoped were soothing circles. He had no clue what he was doing, and he was probably doing it wrong, but he felt as directionless as Lizzie seemed. After a few breaths, he realized she was quietly crying.
He pulled back, looking down at her. “Why are you crying again?” he said. He really wasn’t sure he could handle more tears.
Lizzie let out a wet laugh, rubbing her eyes. “I’m sorry. I know this is like the eighty-seventh time I’ve cried today. I’m not even sure why I’m crying. I’d like to blame it on hormones, but I also cry at kittens and bench ads pretty regularly, so who knows.” She stepped away from him, using the hem of her shirt to wipe her nose. “I’m sorry,” she repeated, “this is so embarrassing.”
“Why are you embarrassed?”
“The crying. Telling you all this. Being a hormone monster. An emotional nightmare. It makes me want to rip my skin off.”
“That’s … graphic.”
Lizzie snorted in amusement.
“You don’t have to be embarrassed,” Rake said. “About any of it. You aren’t an emotional nightmare.”
She gave him a skeptical look.
“You’re … alive.”
She blinked at him, her eyebrows furrowing. “Alive?”
Rake waved his hand, heat crawling up his skin like he’d just told her something way too honest. “You know. Lively. Energetic. There’s a sort of … I don’t know … vibrancy about you.”
Good Lord, was he blushing?
Lizzie was oblivious to his discomfort, her eyes lighting up and head tilting as she seemed to chew on the word.
“Vibrancy,” she said slowly. “I like that. Sounds very glamorous. Like how you’d describe an old Hollywood starlet.”
“Sure.”
Her eyes glinted as she stared off. “And perhaps she’s a young widow, gallivanting off to Palm Springs or Monaco and throwing lavish parties, taking an endless string of lovers.”
“Okay?”
“Rumors start circulating about the sudden death of her late husband, but her elusive beauty is the ultimate distraction. But then, one day at the opera, her lover and her other lover meet and—”
“Lizzie? Don’t we have to get ready for dinner?”
“Oh, right, right, sorry,” she said, shaking her head. And just like that, she grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the room and off to dinner.
Chapter 18
LIZZIE walked ahead of Rake into the restaurant, her eyes adjusting to the dimly lit space as she scanned the crowd of people waiting to be seated.
Over by the bar, she spotted her four favorite people in the entire world.
Indira was leaning against the bar, while Thu stood in front of her, sipping a cocktail. Harper was perched on a barstool, facing them, with one arm wrapped around Dan’s waist. Lizzie watched them for a moment, absorbing the way Thu said something that made Indira throw back her head and laugh. How Dan’s body molded against Harper as though he couldn’t help but be pulled in closer. Dan stooped to whisper something into Harper’s ear, and whatever it was made Harper turn and beam up at him then brush her hand across his cheek.
They were so in love, it was almost tangible, like a delicate force field existed around their happiness. The sight of their pure, open adoration rattled something in Lizzie’s chest and tightened her throat. It wasn’t jealousy—no one deserved love and happiness more than Harper—but an acute sense of want. And loss. Like she was peeping through a window and seeing something she would never get.
Harper’s eyes flicked away from Dan and landed on Lizzie. A goofy grin of excitement filled Harper’s delicate features as she started waving, gaining the attention of the rest of the group. All four of them moved toward Lizzie, and it took every ounce of Lizzie’s minimal self-control not to break into a dead sprint across the restaurant for a hug.
The four women threw their hands around one another, giggling as they tangled in a tight hug that eased the squeezing feeling in Lizzie’s chest. Lizzie eventually freed herself long enough to give Dan his own hug.
“I’m not letting you guys go back to New York,” Lizzie said, fixing Harper and Dan with a stern look. “Or you to California,” she added, swinging around to point at Thu. “Consider this the beginning of your kidnapping. I’ve missed you all way too much.”
“We’ve missed you too, Lizzie,” Dan said, giving her shoulders a final squeeze.
Thu cleared her throat, making the subtle yet universal face that said, There’s someone weird lurking around us, causing Harper, Dan, and Indira to shoot glances over Lizzie’s shoulder.
Guilt hit her as she realized she’d forgotten Rake’s existence in her excitement. She was always doing that. Getting so lost in a feeling, social norms and niceties flew out the window.