Modern Romance January Books 5-8. Heidi Rice

thanks to their thoughtlessness, she was now alone. Again.

      ‘Rafe?’

      He froze. Gracie was standing behind him, wearing a flour-sprinkled apron, and she was as pale as that flour, save for two red spots blooming high on her cheekbones.

      ‘What are you doing here?’ she whispered, glancing around at all the other people who’d just heard what he’d said.

      He didn’t care about the other customers, he cared about her.

      And that realisation made him flounder. ‘You...’ He swallowed, then swiftly stepped forward. ‘You said you were having dinner with Alex.’

      ‘That was the original plan, but his family turned up for a surprise visit,’ she answered, her soft eyes full of emotion.

      And she’d been dispatched. ‘So now you’re working again?’ he asked.

      A chair scraped on the cobbles as Alex stood. ‘Gracie—’

      ‘Please, sit down, Alex, and enjoy your meal with your family.’ She leaned past Rafe to offer the old man a smile, her flush steadily growing. ‘It’s fine. Rafe just got confused about...things. I’ll take him away.’

      Because he was misbehaving? He followed her into the pasticceria. She picked up a large slice of pizza and offered it to him, her eyes not quite meeting his. ‘Would you like some?’

      Oh, no, she wasn’t going to take care of him now.

      ‘What about you? Have you eaten?’ he demanded.

      Surprise flashed on her face, then she averted her eyes again.

      Of course she hadn’t eaten. He stalked behind the counter and took the pizza from her. He reached for an empty box from behind her, put that piece in and then added more. ‘No doubt it’s hours since you last ate properly.’

      ‘You go, Gracie.’ Francesca emerged from the kitchen, a subdued look on her face when she glanced at Rafe. ‘I can handle the café.’

      ‘You’re sure?’ Gracie double-checked.

      Of course she checked. Rafe felt even more irritated. Couldn’t Gracie put herself first for once, instead of trying to be all things to everyone?

      He walked her to his car. She got into the passenger seat and he handed her the pizza box. He took a couple of deep breaths as he walked around the car to the driver’s door. He shouldn’t be this worked up, but he couldn’t shake it off. This protectiveness? Just instinct, right? Normal levels of concern for a nice person.

      ‘I’m sorry for interrupting Alex’s dinner,’ he said, starting the engine to get out of the village as fast as possible.

      She slowly swivelled to face him, the pizza balanced precariously on her knee. ‘You thought they’d been rude to me?’

      He sighed. ‘You said you were going to dinner with Alex. I saw you in the kitchen from the alley. You were alone and you looked sad and then they were there all having a nice dinner without you and, yes, I thought they’d been rude to you.’ He clenched the steering wheel as he thought about it. He sounded like some stalker. Hell, he was some stalker. But he’d been worried. And annoyed. And she still looked sad, even if she was trying not to.

      Though why he felt this mad about it, why he’d chastised those strangers, why he’d insisted on ensuring she was okay... He just felt an incredibly strong need to be with her. To take care of her.

      ‘I wanted them to have some space. It was my choice,’ she replied with a determined smile. ‘They just wanted to spend some time together as a family. It’s nice.’

      But he’d seen her loneliness, he heard it in her voice now—because she didn’t have the kind of family she wanted. She’d treated Alex as family, and for his son to have rejected her?

      ‘It would also have been nice for you to spend time with them,’ he pointed out with more gentleness than he was feeling. ‘You care for him like family.’

      Rafe had been isolated and treated with suspicion, been looked down on, and it had hurt, and Gracie didn’t deserve that from those people. She had a kind, generous heart. Fury rose all over again at the thought of them dismissing her. He glanced at her but his rage was derailed because her expression had crumpled. He instinctively slowed the car. ‘Hey—’

      ‘Thank you for standing up for me,’ she muttered quietly. ‘That was nice.’

      His chest tightened and he swallowed, not quite sure how to respond.

      But then she smiled. ‘Your first instinct is to think the worst of everyone, isn’t it? You don’t trust anyone.’

      His pulse thundered even more. ‘You heard that bit? Damn.’ He shook his head and dragged up a rueful smile. ‘I’m sorry.’

      ‘No, it’s okay.’ Her expression sweetened and she put her hand on his. ‘Alex would never think that I was after something from him. I don’t think his son would either.’ She looked at him with those tender eyes. ‘What made your mind even go there?’

      ‘My mother,’ he said bitterly, pulling in to park at the villa. ‘That’s who she was, right? The gold-digging slut who seduced septuagenarians for their megabucks.’ He looked at her. ‘All my life people have thrown that rubbish at me. I don’t want them saying anything like that to you.’

      ‘Rafe, they wouldn’t. They didn’t. And even if they had...you know I can take care of myself.’

      ‘Can you?’ Warm amusement muted his earlier annoyance. He released his seatbelt and turned to her. ‘Gracie, you’re like a marshmallow melting into a mug of chocolate to sweeten it up. You like to make a difference. You like to be needed.’ And right now her friend Alex didn’t need her. But Rafe did. He wanted to think she might need him too. Just for the moment.

      She lifted a shoulder in a little shrug. ‘And what’s wrong with liking to be needed?’

      ‘Because you do it at the expense of your own needs. Of your own welfare.’

      ‘No, I—’

      ‘Stop, Gracie.’ He turned his hand and grasped her fingers before she could tug them away. ‘Enough of the pretence. Your whole “life’s perfect” performance. You were lonely tonight. And you were sad. You’re still sad, I can see it in your eyes. Be as honest as you always say you are.’

      ‘Okay, I was sad,’ she admitted quietly. ‘I saw them and they were so natural and happy together and I felt down and I excused myself from the dinner because...’

      ‘You didn’t want happy families in your face.’

      She shrank a little in her seat. ‘It sounds so bitter and jealous.’

      ‘No, you’re not either of those things, but after what you’ve been through I wouldn’t blame you if you were.’ He put his arm around her. ‘So you opted to work?’

      ‘Francesca was run off her feet, trying to get prepared because one of the crew was late...’

      ‘And it’s your stress release—you work out your worry, right?’

      She nodded.

      ‘You’re too generous,’ he added quietly. ‘You let people take advantage of you.’

      ‘Is that what you’re doing?’ she teased.

      He released her with a sigh and got out of the car. ‘You know I am.’

      ‘You don’t think I’m getting anything out of this?’ She laughed lightly as she joined him. ‘I’m getting all the experience I’ve missed out on in all these years.’

      ‘Because you’re so ancient?’ He tried to tease her back. But there was still an ache in his chest.

      He