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Her eyes locked with mine. “Are you really sticking up for him?”
“Fuck no. I hate that motherfucker—I’m sorry, but I do.” I pulled back my thoughts, taming my voice before I continued, “However, I’m capable of seeing both sides of a situation, and his, as much as I can’t stand it, makes sense. I don’t think I’dwant my little sister, if I had one, to date someone like me either.”
“Were you really …thatbad?”
I sighed. “Listen, I’ve hidden nothing from you. I was straight up and honest the night we met at the bar. I didn’t know what the fuck this feeling was until it happened with you. So, yeah, things hadn’t exactly been pretty. Meaning I’d worked my way around LA a bit?—”
“I honestly don’t need to hear any more.”
“Fair.” I paused. “But I don’t know if he was even referring to my reputation or if he was just being an asshole because I’m a Spade.”
“With him, anything is possible.”
“Have you heard from him?”
She shoved her phone into the pocket of her jacket. “He replied to one of my texts, and all it did was make me angrier and more hurt. I don’t even know which one I am at this point.”
“Probably a lot of both.”
She put her other hand in her pocket, keeping both hidden and away. “What if this never gets better? And we’re constantly at war? What would that even look like as a company, never mind a couple?”
I’d thought about that while we both lay in bed last night.
The outcome of this merger—not just as a brand, but Rowan and me too.
It would certainly make things complicated if the Coles were never able to accept us. If every time we were in Rhett’s presence, he acted the way he had last night.
But after my chat with Jo, something told me things were about to change within the Cole family. Maybe they would calm. Maybe they would be more accepting.
Maybe things, like my relationship with Rowan, would be put into perspective.
I didn’t know … it was just a hunch.
“Let’s not focus on the what-ifs.” I pulled her closer. “Rhett just found out—and by found out, he busted us in the hallway while I was all over you. Jarring, I’m sure, for him. Give him some time. It’s still fresh and extremely new to him. He might need a minute, and that’s all right.”
Her eyes turned more emotional. “He told me he would never accept us, Cooper.”
“He’s a hotheaded prick. I’m not surprised he said that.” Jesus, I really needed to stop talking shit about her brother in front of her, but, hell, I couldn’t help myself. “Once he’s had a few days to process and he sees us together more, he’ll relax.”
“Rhett doesn’t relax.” She swallowed. “He gets even.”
“So does Brady.” I smiled. “Can you imagine the two of them assigned to the next build-out?”
She laughed, and, damn, it was a sound I needed to hear.
“No”—her eyes widened—“I cannot. And I don’t want that to ever happen.”
“If I was to bet, it won’t happen again after us.”
She studied my face. “Because we’re failing?”
“Because if the seven of us want to get along and work together, I think it’s best that we’re all given separate tasks to manage. Whether that’s departments or build-outs or whatever, we just need equal ground.”
“Oh, yes. I agree.”
I lifted my hands to her face, taking a quick peek at the contractor before I gazed back at Rowan. “I don’t want you inside your head, where this is all eating at you. There’s enough stress with the merger and what’s going on here at Lake Louise and …” All the other factors she didn’t know about yet, but instead of saying that, I squeezed her harder. “I just want you to focus on what we can control.” I moved our faces closer together. “That’s us, Rowan. We can control what happens between youand me. That’s where I want your mind.” I rubbed my thumb over her lip, the gloss causing my skin to stick to hers. “No more going to bed, pretending to be asleep. Do you know how fucking torturous that was for me—when I knew you didn’t want to talk, and you were naked within inches of me, and all I wanted to do was put my mouth all over your body and make you forget the night had ever happened?” I tilted her face up. “But what I didn’t know was if that would upset you more, so I let you keep your back to me, and I watched your shoulder rise every time you took a breath, and I observed you, waiting for the moment you turned over.”
“And I never did.”
