Page 48 of His Promise

I must look as stunned as I feel because when Colter glances at me, he laughs. “What?”

“Hey Margie, baby!” A woman with sleek black hair waves to Margie. “Can I get another?”

She turns to us and pats the table, her eyes meeting mine. “I’ll let you two talk. Let me know if you need anything, okay honey?”

“Sure.” I smile and nod. “Thanks so much for the…” My words trail when Margie dashes away again.

When I turn toward Colter he has a mischievous smile on his face.

“What are you smiling about?” I ask, pulling my mug closer to me. I run my finger over the cold surface and create a line in the condensation.

“You look so uncomfortable.”

Do I? I try to relax my shoulders without being so obvious and swipe a strand of hair out of my eyes.

“And my discomfort pleases you?”

“You know it does.” There’s a huskiness to his tone that has me turning my head toward him. The smile is mostly gone. “Don’t you remember when we met?”

Blood rushes into my cheeks. I pray I’m not as red as I feel, but with Colter’s laugh my hope dies. I spin the barstool and go to hop down.

Colter grips my arm, and I feel my muscles pull taught.

Hold still,my body screams on instinct.Hide. I let the old habit win for a few brief seconds before I turn to Colter and glare.

He releases my arm, his eyes flicking between his hand and my face. His lips sink into a frown. “What are you doing?”

“This was a mistake.” I plant my feet on the ground and push the stool in. “I’m going home.”

“Wait, I’m sorry.” Colter reaches toward me, but then thinks better of it and lets his hand fall. “I don’t actually like you being uncomfortable. I just… well, I think it’s cute.”

“Cute?”

“Not in an insulting way,” he clarifies.

“In what way then?”

My guard managed to lower tonight without me being conscious of it. I never would’ve agreed to going anywhere unnecessary with Colter, but tonight, I… I don’t know what happened tonight.

My stomach churns when our earlier conversation plays on a loop in my head. He knows about my husband, my past, my son. He knows about everything and has all the ammunition he needs to destroy me if he wanted to.

Why would I give him that?

Colter sighs and rubs the back of his neck. His muscular forearm bulges from his white button down, and I hate myself when my eyes zero in on it. My gaze lifts to the stubble on his face, grown out from a long day, and roams the expanse of his strong jaw.

He’s devastatingly handsome. Just like Devin was when I met him eleven years ago. He has the money Devin had then, too.

Am I falling for the Devil all over again? Is that what’s happening?

“Don’t leave,” Colter says, defeat in his voice. “I’ll stop.”

“Why? Why did you even bring me here?”

“Because I don’t want you to go home alone right now. It was a rough evening, just humor me and hang out until I know you’re okay.”

I told you I was okay!My eyes roll, and I ready myself to tell Colter not to worry about me. I’ve had rougher days. Much rougher. I have no problem taking care of myself, and I don’t need him to offer to ‘rescue me’. But I pause.

The look on his face doesn’t scream worry to me. It looks more like loneliness. There’s a hint of purple beneath his eyes that don’t show up underneath the spotlight he’s usually under. His eyes are cold, but not in the unfeeling way I’m used to seeing them. They’re lacking something… warmth, light, something.

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