Page 146 of The Heart Breaker

He lifts one shoulder. “Probably. Don’t know.” His eyes stay on mine. “Can’t really look at anything else right now. Not when you’re finally looking at me.”

My stomach flutters like crazy, and I can feel a smile pulling at my lips, so I lift a brow instead and take a step back from him.

“Then you better make Friday worth it,” I tell him.

I push past him and start down the steps with my heart still going wild in my chest.

I can feel him watching me the whole way, and all I can think, as I smile for the first time in days, is that Friday suddenly feels very far away.

39

COLE

I’m parked outside Aurora’s building with both hands locked around the steering wheel, staring at the entrance. I’m so wound up I’d sell a kidney for a cigarette. I haven’t had one since Sophie left, which probably explains why I’m sitting here tapping my thumb against the wheel.

This is fucking ridiculous.

It’s one date.

That’s it. One date. One chance to prove I’m not the version of me that stood in my doorway and said shit I’d rip out of my own throat if I could.

I should be calmer than this. I already got the yes. She agreed to come. That should be enough to calm me down, but if anything, it makes me more anxious, because now there’s actually something to lose.

I drag a hand through my hair, open the car door, and get out, leaning against it because sitting still another second feels impossible. But the minute the door of her apartment building opens, I’m already stepping forward before I even think about it, like some part of me still only knows how to move toward her.

And then Aurora walks outside, and every thought in my head disappears.

Holy fuck.

She’s wearing a long brown lace dress that hugs her body, and the heels only make her legs look longer, which makes me smile. I love how tall my girl is. Love that she never tries to make herself smaller. Gold hoops catch the light when she moves, and her blonde hair is down in loose curls over her shoulders, making her look so goddamn beautiful I just stand there staring at her.

I push off the car and start walking toward her, but stop after a couple of steps because if I keep going, I’m going to do something stupid, like haul her against me and forget every plan I had about taking tonight slow.

“You look…” My brain offers up about ten things at once.Stunning. Gorgeous. Like the love of my life. I swallow them all down and manage, “Beautiful.”

She lifts her chin and keeps walking toward me. “I know.”

A laugh slips out of me before I can stop it, and I press my tongue into my cheek while I shake my head.

I start toward the driver’s side, already pulling my keys from my pocket, but when I open my door and glance up, I realize she hasn’t moved. She’s still standing exactly where I left her, arms folded over her chest and one brow raised.

I lean over the roof of the car. “Is everything okay?”

She gives me a look. “I don’t go on dates with guys who don’t open the car door for me.”

I stare at her. “Are you joking?”

She shoots me a look. “Do I look like I’m joking?”

Of course.

Aurora has a talent for making me work for every little thing, and God help me, I love that about her. I shut my door, walkaround the front of the car, pull open the passenger side for her, and hold my hand out.

Her eyes drop to it, then lift back to my face. She leaves me standing there just long enough to make me feel like an idiot before she finally puts her hand in mine and lets me help her in.

The second she settles into the seat, her perfume hits me, and my brain immediately drags me back through every second I spent with her—not that I ever really stopped thinking about it.

I lean in to grab her seatbelt, and the second I do, I realize exactly how close I am.