Page 53 of Blush Crush

“Yeah.” He leans back in the chair, casually. “Okay. We can do that.”

I wait for the catch. For the smirk. For some version of Cole Benton to emerge and make this into something I’ll be reliving at three in the morning for the next decade.

But it never comes.

“That’s really all you’re going to say?”

He shrugs, looking entirely too relaxed. “What else do you want me to say?”

“I don’t know.” I gesture vaguely at the space between us. “You’re being very calm about this.”

“Would you prefer I make it weird?”

“No.” I groan. “No, calm is good. Calm is great.”

He tilts his head, studying me. The way his eyes travel over me makes me feel exposed, like he’s seeing something I’m not aware I’m showing. “So we have a deal.”

It isn’t a question. But I answer it anyway. “We have a deal.”

His gaze drifts over me again, his brows furrowing tightly. He gulps down air like he might be changing his mind, realizing what a terrible idea this is, but it’s gone so quickly I almost convince myself I imagined it. Then he pushes to his feet, reaching for his jacket off the arm of the chair. “Get some sleep,” he says, moving toward the door. “We’ll figure out the rest later.”

“We didn’t establish any rules,” I call after him.

He glances back over his shoulder. “Later, doll.”

“What if I have questions?”

The corner of his mouth lifts. “Then I would imagine they’ll stay safe in your head until we find the time to discuss it all.”

He slips out into the cold, and I listen to the soft click of the lock behind him.

I sit on my velvet sofa in my empty shop long enough for the sun to rise, my fingers twisted tight in the tassels of a throw pillow. If the ghost of Cole’s cologne wasn’t still lingering in the air, I might be able to convince myself I imagined the whole thing.

But I didn’t.

I just made a deal with Cole Benton.

CHAPTER 16

Cole

YOUR FAVORITE COFFEE GIRL

I’ve done a lot of questionable things in my life.

I once convinced Blake he was adopted and actually our cousin. He’s still not over it. I once dropped acid at a music festival and thought I could see fairies. I once casually dated two women at the same time without recognizing their resemblance to each other until it was way too late. They were sisters. That was the day my threesome fantasy came to an end.

Not one of those things prepared me for last night.

I’m standing in my kitchen, staring out the window at the expansive, frost-covered vineyard view, barely registering anything at all. The conversation with Ariana has been replaying on a loop that started somewhere around leaving Novel and hasn’t stopped since.

Ariana asked me to give her lessons.

Those kind of lessons.

And I agreed.

I couldn’t even give her a proper answer. Just—okay. I thought if I said much more, she’d come to her senses. In fact, I’m surprised I didn’t wake up to a text from her taking back the whole thing.