Page 31 of Flashback for the Forward

I lifted one shoulder. “North, I suppose. San Francisco, or Sacramento maybe. I’m behind on my continuing education credits, but my teaching license is still valid. If I can crash at a women’s shelter up there for a bit until I find a job, I should be okay.”

“I can loan you the bus fare. Or . . .” He drew the word out slowly. “You could stay here with me.”

“Cole, I refuse to ruin your life the same way I’ve ruined mine.”

His blue gaze softened. “You could never ruin my life. Not when you’re the only thing that makes it worth living.”

My eyes slammed shut. “You can’t say things like that.”

“Why not? It’s the truth. I never stopped loving you, Bridget. Not for a single second in all the time we were apart.”

Tears leaked past my tightly sealed eyelids, and with emotion clogging my throat, I confessed, “I never stopped either.”

After hauling in a deep breath, Cole said, “If you want to leave, I won’t stop you. Just know that I would really like it if you stayed.”

He was offering me a choice—something I hadn’t been afforded in the past. And setting his own wishes aside in favor of mine was the only confirmation I needed that he hadn’t been lying when he said he still loved me.

But something in the back of my brain warned that it couldn’t be this easy. That I couldn’t just show up at my ex’s house—the same ex I was still very much in love with—and pick up right where we left off.

Or could we?

There was only one way to find out.

With a jerky nod, I rasped, “Okay. I’ll stay.”

His entire body sagged in relief. “I’m so happy to hear you say that.”

Despite my decision, I refused to let my guard down. Because if there was anything I’d learned from my experience with Aiden, it was that if it seemed too good to be true, it usually was.

Though I prayed with every fiber of my being that wouldn’t be the case with Cole.

I could feel his eyes on me as I stood at the sink washing the dishes by hand after breakfast.

Remaining focused on scrubbing the plate in my hand, I asked, “Is there a reason you’re staring?”

There was a deep hum in response. “Just thinking.”

“Thinking about what?”

His footsteps indicated he was moving closer, and I silently cursed myself for tensing up when he breached my personal space, only to retreat at my reaction.

“Sorry,” he muttered.

My chest heaved on a sigh as I wiped my soapy hands off on a towel before turning around. “It’s not you, Cole.”

Swallowing so hard that his Adam’s apple bobbed along the column of his throat, he nodded. “Yeah, I know.”

Less than twelve hours removed from running out on my abusive ex, I was still in survival mode. The threat of Aiden finding me loomed like a storm cloud, poised to unleash its fury. Even in a world where he was held accountable for his actions, never allowed to hurt me again, it was hard to imagine there would come a time when I didn’t flinch at a man—even Cole—getting too close to me.

In desperate need of a change of subject, I prompted, “So, you were thinking . . .”

Cole’s lips twitched. “That, as good as you look wearing my clothes, we should probably get you some of your own.”

I turned back to the sink. “As long as you don’t mind, I can make do with what you’ve already let me borrow.”

“I do mind, actually.”

“Oh.” The word came out on a shaky exhale.