“My boss. I want to fill him in on this. Tyron would probably get pissed if one of our offices step in, but I’m not going to cater to jurisdiction bullshit while this kind of thing is going down and you’re involved.”
I figured it was only a matter of time before the Feds got involved. “Make yourself at home. I’m going to go talk to Mom.”
Slipping around him, I started toward the door when Cole snagged me around the waist and drew me up against him. Before I could take my next breath, he kissed me hard and deep. My pulse immediately pounded. When he let go, I was a little dizzy. I looked up, and our eyes met. I couldn’t help it, but my thoughts tracked back to Irene. All of that had faded to the background along with the knock on the door, but now the knowledge that Cole had been married, that he’d said it had always been me, was still in the back of my mind.
“I’ll be down shortly.”
“Okay.”
I left the room and by the time I found my mother, my heart had finally slowed. Dinner service was about to begin, so I took her into the old kitchen and tried not to think of the fact that the person who took Angela’s key could’ve been the same person I’d run into.
Breaking the news about her truck to her had gone over surprisingly well with the exception of her being rightfully ticked off at me for keeping it secret.
“Don’t ever do that again,” she said, marching right up to me. She grasped my arms. “I get why you did, but you do not keep me in the dark. If something happens, you tell me. I’m a grown woman, and I can damn well handle it.”
“I know and I’m sorry.”
Mom’s lips thinned as she stared at the closed door that led into the kitchen. “Part of me wishes you hadn’t come home.”
“What?” I gasped.
“Please don’t take that the wrong way.” She faced me, eyes full of concern. “But I’d rather only see you once a year than you be terrorized or harmed.”
Little knots of dread formed in my belly. “I’m not terrorized—”
She shot me a look that shut me right up quick. “You’re strong, honey, one of the strongest people I know, but this is frightening. No one would fault you for being scared and nor do I believe for one second that you’re not.”
Mom. She knew me too well.
“I want you safe, Sasha, and I don’t feel like you’re safe here,” she admitted, eyes gleaming in the low light, and if she started crying, I’d lose it. “I wish I didn’t feel that way.”
“I know.” And I knew she really did mean that. She was beyond thrilled when I told her I was coming home. She wanted nothing more than for me to be here, but not like this.
Never like this.
Dinner service was a blur, and every smile and laugh felt brittle, but I tried. Miranda showed up during it, along with Jason, and I ushered them into the kitchen.
“Jesus, Sasha, someone sent you a finger?” Jason exclaimed the moment the door swung shut.
“Keep it down. James doesn’t know about that.” I cut Miranda a sharp look. “You weren’t supposed to say anything.”
“He needed to be here,” Miranda stated. “He’s my friend. He’s yours. You’re not shutting anyone out.”
Had she been talking to Cole? And I also wondered if Jason was more than Miranda’s friend. I really needed to find some time to talk to her.
Jason stepped to the side as James came in through the old kitchen, smelling faintly of cigarette smoke. He scowled in their direction as he shuffled to the sink.
“I wasn’t trying to cut you out,” I told Jason in a low voice. “I hope you know that. It’s just that this is . . . well, it’s kind of crazy.”
“I know.” He straightened his glasses as he smiled. “I don’t take it personally. That’s why I’m here.”
“Thank you.” I turned to the door. “Can you guys hang out in here—”
“And stay out of my way,” James barked out.
“And do that while I finish up dinner service?” I asked. “Cole is around somewhere. He’ll probably be down soon.”
Once they were situated, I hurried back out to the dining room. My head was aching by the time Mom and I removed the last of the dishes with Jason’s help. He’d even rolled up his sleeves and was putting away dishes.
Miranda was currently “managing” or something, sitting at the table with a glass of wine from a bottle she’d obviously helped herself to. Cole had come down at some point and he caught me after I placed a stack of white dishes near the sink.
“You’re looking a little pale.” A concerned frown pulled at his lips. “How’s your head?”
“Hurts a little.”
“Let me get you something,” Mom said, dashing off into the back room and returning within seconds with a pain reliever. She handed it over. “Take these.”
“Thank you.” I walked over to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water. Knocking back the pills, I faced the little group. “Shouldn’t be much longer.”
Jason turned from the counter. “How about you take a seat and I’ll help Mrs. Keeton finish up.”
“You don’t—”
“Let me rephrase that,” he said, walking past me. “Sit and I’ll finish it.”
Cole grinned. “Like that guy.”
“Whatever,” I sighed, moving over to the bistro table.
Miranda sat back. “I bet you wish you could have some wine.”
“I do.” However, a concussion, even minor, put the kibosh on that.
We didn’t talk about anything until James left for the night. At that point, I’d moved from the table and was sitting on the counter. Mom had taken my seat, and Jason and Cole stood while Miranda was nursing her second glass of wine.
I’d checked outside earlier and seen that the snow had tapered off, and only a dusting remained.
Everyone was filled in on, well, everything. Miranda downed what was left of her wine. Jason was pacing. Cole was leaning against the counter I sat on.
“I’m going to be up front with you,” Cole warned, and keyed into what he was talking about. “Press is going to hear about this soon. They have ways. You already know that. They’re going to be all over this. Tyron and I can keep them away—”
“So will Jason and I,” Miranda chimed, arms crossed and looking like she enjoyed the idea of keeping journalists at bay.
I glanced over at them.
Jason nodded as he stopped to stand by Miranda’s chair. “Of course. We’ll be your anti-press guard.”
“That’s good, but those bastards are relentless.” Cole pushed my water closer to me. “I just want you to be prepared.”
Miranda watched Cole with a small smile and then she glanced over at me. I picked up the bottle and took a drink before she chimed in. “I am.”
“When’s the alarm going in?” Miranda asked.
“Tomorrow,” Cole answered. “And the tunnel is getting closed up.”
I looked over at Mom. She had been quiet as she sipped her glass of wine, but she still looked like she had when we’d been in the back room, as if she was thinking about packing up my stuff and sending me back to Atlanta. That coming home had been a mistake.
Close to midnight, Cole and I returned to my apartment. Full of restless energy, I washed my face and slathered on lotion, my mind in a thousand different places.
I changed into a lavender nightie with fluttering cap sleeves and then pulled a cardigan on over it. Not the sexiest combo, I realized as I wandered into the bedroom.
Cole was standing by the bed. His shirt was off and his gun was on the nightstand. The button on his jeans was undone, and for several seconds, I got a little lost staring at him. Twenty-nine years old and I’d never seen a stomach so defined. Come to think of it, I’d actually never seen a six-pack in real life. Up until this moment, I was beginning to believe they were like a unicorn.
A half grin formed as he eyed my getup. “That’s cute.”
“Only you would think that.”
“I don’t think that’
s true.” His hands fell to his sides. He’d already taken off his boots and his toes peeked out from the hem of his jeans. “I know you didn’t invite me back here, but I want to be in bed with you.”
My breath caught.
“I want to hold you,” he continued. “Today. Yesterday. Both days have been rough. You’ve learned a lot. So, I’m hoping you’re not going to kick me out.”
“I’m not.” I moved to the edge of the bed and let the cardigan slip off my shoulders. I placed it on the bench, feeling his gaze travel over my arms and heart-shaped neckline. “I want you in my bed.”
“Best words I’ve heard in a long time.” His voice had deepened.
Biting down on my lip, I peered up at him. “I was shutting down earlier,” I admitted. “Right after I saw what was in the box, I started to shut down. It was the easiest thing to do, but I don’t want to do that.”
He lifted his chin as a tense, aware energy poured off him.
“I want to feel.” I made up my mind right then as I stared at him standing by my bed, so stunning and so strong—but more than that, he was here. Drawing in a shallow breath, I walked up to him and placed my hands on his bare chest. His skin was hot under my palms, and I felt his sharp inhale in every cell of my being. I tipped my head back. “Stay with me tonight,” I whispered. “Be with me tonight.”
Chapter 20
The breath that Cole inhaled was ragged as his hands closed into fists at his sides. “I’m here with you. I’m not anyplace else.”
“I know.” I slid my hands down over his hard stomach, marveling at the way his body jerked at my simple touch. He had those muscles on either side of his hip bone. They fascinated me. “But I want . . .”
His hands reopened at his sides. “You want what?”
“You.” I lifted my gaze to his once more. “I want all of you.”
“Christ,” he groaned, lips parting as he raised his hands and touched my bare arms with just the tips of his fingers. “You have no idea how long I’ve waited to hear those words. Feels like an eternity.”
I slid my hands to his sides and then stretched up, kissing him. His fingertips coasted down to my wrists, where he loosely wrapped his hands.
“A lot has happened today,” he said, voice strained. “I don’t want you—”
“I know what I want.” I settled back and met his gaze. “I know what I’m feeling. This has nothing to do with today.” My chest rose sharply. “I want you.”
He lifted my hands back to his chest. “You have me, babe.”
“Prove it.”
His nostrils flared and he didn’t move. He just held my hands to his chest, and I thought he was going to turn me down. He was going to use some rational excuse for why we shouldn’t do this, and I was going to resort to desperate measures.
I had no idea what those desperate measures would be.
But then he moved, sliding his hands back up my arms. He lifted me up onto the tips of my toes and brought my mouth to his.
And his kiss told me he wasn’t going to deny me.
I loved the way he kissed—how he tasted me with every part. My breath hitched and then sped up as one hand dropped. Circling an arm around my waist, he brought me against him, and I could feel him pressing against my lower stomach.
There was no going back from this moment, and I dove in headfirst. Need rose swiftly, and I was so lost for him, so hot with a need that spanned a decade. I’d waited so long for this. We’d both waited so long for this.
“Hurry,” I pleaded.
He moaned against my lips. “You’re going to kill me.”
Sensual heat flowed through my veins as his other hand skimmed down my side and slipped under the hem of my nightie, ghosting up my thigh. He kissed me hard, dragging his tongue over mine. I gasped into his hot mouth when he cupped my rear and squeezed.
And then he let me go.
A cry of disappointment rose in my throat and then faded like smoke in the wind when his heated gaze locked with mine. The intense look in his pale blue eyes stole my breath and caused a series of shivers to skate all over my skin.
Cole’s hands went to his zipper. The tinny sound of it coming down echoed throughout the room. Hooking his fingers into his jeans and tight black briefs, he swiped both off in one quick, smooth motion, and then he was completely nude.
I inhaled, at a loss for words as I stared at him. His body was beautiful. A work of chiseled muscles and lean length. A faint, light dusting of hair covered him, and his erection was thick and long, jutting out.
Cole was . . . he was not lacking in that department, and he was more than beautiful, and I . . . I wasn’t. My body wasn’t all long and lean lines. It was more lumpy and curvy. Actually, I was pretty sure some of the lumps had their own curves. It was far from flawless, and then there were the scars.
No one had seen me nude.
I swallowed hard and then turned, heading for the nightstand lamp he’d turned on when he came in here.
“What are you doing?” Cole asked, his deep voice raspy and about five hundred different types of sexy.
My cheeks flushed. “Just turning off the light.”
“No.”
I stilled. “What?”
He approached me slowly, cupping my cheeks. “I want to see you.”
“No, you don’t,” I whispered.
His head tilted to the side. “There is nothing about you that I don’t want to see. Nothing about you that doesn’t turn me the fuck on.”
Heart racing, I shook my head. “You don’t know, Cole. I . . .”
“I know,” he said softly. “I know what happened to you. I want to see you. Please give me that. Give me you.”
Give me you.
Those three words shattered my defenses, and I found myself whispering yes. Still holding my gaze, he gathered up my nightie and carefully lifted it over my head. The material disappeared, and I was standing in front of him in just my pale pink panties. Not even sexy panties. Cotton ones. With pink and blue flowers, I believed.
Cole wasn’t looking at my undies though.
His gaze was trained on my chest in a way that made me flush. I wanted to cover them and I wanted him to look his fill. The tips of my breasts tingled and hardened. I didn’t think he was checking out the faint pink raised scar that had almost ended my life.
Before I lost all courage, I curled my fingers around my panties, drew them down, and stepped out of them. Then there was nothing between him and me. His gaze moved slowly over my body.
“Christ,” he groaned again. He slowly shook his head. “You’re so damn beautiful. Every part of you.” His fingers brushed over my shoulders and then down my front. I jerked when he touched the scar between my chest and then on my stomach. “These are beautiful to me, because it shows how incredibly strong you are. Never think you have to hide them from me.” His hand slipped down to my hip. “Never think that this,” he said, grasping his erection with his other hand, “isn’t all for you. You have no idea what you do to me. If you did, you wouldn’t be standing there looking at me like I’m crazy, but you’re fucking beautiful to me. You drive me crazy. Don’t ever forget that.”
His words turned my muscles to mush, because even though I found it all hard to believe, I knew he believed every word he just said.
Anticipation swirled hotly. “Make . . . make love to me.”
Cole drew me to him. Our thighs brushed. The coarse hair on his tickled mine. His hard chest brushed into my much softer one. Sensation thundered through me. “Do you have condoms?”
“Yeah. Yes. I have some in the top drawer of the dresser.”
“Stay right there.”