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“Ok, so are you going to tell me about what’s going on with Cole?”
I spotted Cole walking across the parking lot toward the office. “I can’t. He’s on his way in. I’ll call you later—promise.”
She sighed. “All right, but I want to know what’s going on with you. I miss you.”
“I miss you too. We can talk later when he’s not around. Ok?”
“Ok, but you better call.” Mary Ellen sounded like she was pouting.
“I will. Bye.”
“Bye.”
I slid the phone in my back pocket as Cole entered the room. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to share my Cole story with Mary Ellen. I told her absolutely everything, but my North Carolina life seemed so far away right now. How could I explain Cole to her? In only five days, I felt like I had a whole new life, with new friends and the man I’d always crushed on.
I adjusted the new tank top I had bought this morning at Tassels, and brushed my bangs to the side. It would be nice to go to lunch together at Peabody’s. I was willing to risk Hank’s nosey questions to have a few minutes with Cole.
“Damn it,” he muttered. The doorknob had broken off in his hand.
“Too bad there’s not someone around here who could fix that,” I joked. I walked around the side of the desk to greet him with a kiss.
He threw the metal handle in a nearby trash can. “I have to run to the mainland for more supplies. I’ll be back later.” He brushed past me, grabbed a clipboard from behind my shoulder, and slammed the door behind him.
What just happened? I shook my head and fumbled with the doorknob to follow Cole. Something was bothering him—that I could tell. As annoyed as I was, I couldn’t stop myself from wanting to figure out what was upsetting him. Maybe he just needed to talk about it. I chased him down the sidewalk. He was several paces ahead of me.
“You want me to go with you? I can ride with, help you load up the cart? Maybe we could grab lunch. I’m starving.” I smiled, trying to sort through his mood and find the guy who had flirted with me this morning about a sneak peek fashion show.
Cole didn’t slow down. He climbed into his truck and started the ignition. “No, I don’t have time to play around, Kaitlyn. Just go to the beach or pool or something.” He slammed the door, and I stared in disbelief as he careened the truck onto Gulf Boulevard.
“That little shit,” I uttered the words into the Padre breeze.
I stormed into the office, banging the door behind me. My beautifully color-coordinated spreadsheets stared me in the face. I had just spent six hours organizing his numbers and making forecasts, and he treated me like that. He couldn’t spare thirty seconds to attempt basic manners? I shoved all the reports into the top drawer of the desk and marched into the afternoon heat. I was done helping him today.
I didn’t want to lie out at the pool or on the beach, and I didn’t want Cole to treat me like some kind of child that had gotten underfoot. He didn’t see me that way last night—at least it didn’t feel like he did. All I felt when he looked at me and kissed me was that, without him, I would probably lose all ability to breathe in and breathe out. I just didn’t realize how true that was until I saw him spin out of the Dunes’s parking lot. I was in deep—Texas-size deep.
18
Cole
How was I supposed to tell Kaitlyn I had an email from her brother? That the world we thought we lived in together was filled with consequences. There was a good chance I was going to lose my best friend when he got home.
And what came with that? What else did I lose because I couldn’t resist what I shouldn’t want? The Sinclair family? The only people who had accepted me like a son. I’d done an amazing job repaying them. I’d fucked their precious Kaitlyn every way I could come up with.
Welcome home, brother. I’ve defiled your sister.
I hit my hand on the steering wheel.
That’s exactly what he’d think. He knew my reputation. He knew I’d slept my way through college.
But this? I had no one to blame but myself. Yeah she thought I was a dick right now, but that was my thing. I shut down. It was better than blowing up at her. She hadn’t figured that out yet.
Ryan had apologized for being out of touch, but he had been out in the field. I didn’t think I could feel this guilty. I was a grown man. I should be able to sleep with the woman I wanted to be with. But everything about this situation went against the code I stood for.
Ryan hoped to be home in two months. I wrote a few lines back. I hadn’t mentioned Kaitlyn. Maybe that’s why the guilt felt stronger. I was breaking code and lying. Fuck.
I looked down when my phone rang. It was Amber.
“Hey. What’s going on? Grayson ok?”
