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Cole’s phone rings and he curses.
“You better take that.” I turn away. I can’t look at him. That’s not the whole story, and we both know it. I’m not going to force it from him. He has to want to tell me. I don’t want Cole to leave. I want him to stay and be with me, comfort me, tell me over and over he loves me. I know he does, but I want the reassurance. He comes up behind me, putting his hands on my shoulders, resting his forehead against my hair.
“I love you, Kate. I’m sorry—if I could make what happened go away, I would. I will always be honest with you, no matter what. I will be home before midnight.”
“Promise?”
“Yes baby, I promise.” He kisses my hair. I listen as he walks up the stairs. The elevator dings.
“Cole,” I yell. But I’m too late. The doors close and he’s gone. “I love you.” I say to the empty room.
I grab the box of Honey Bunches of Oats; it’s the closest thing in this place to junk food. I curl up on the sofa, trying to think through everything. I want to call Laura, but I don’t want to rehash my conversation with Cole. Around ten, I decide to head to bed. I feel spent. I turn the bed down, take my clothes off, and crawl into it.
I hear Cole come into the bedroom. He takes a while, but soon enough I bed sags and the sheets ruffle. I’m all bundled up with the blankets up around my neck. He leans over, kissing my cheek, whispering he loves me. My heart melts. He doesn’t wake me up, like he has the past two nights. His leg brushes against mine, and I feel the cotton of his pajama pants. I silently laugh. The one night I crawl into bed with no clothes on is the night he doesn’t want to make love. Well, screw it, Cole is going to screw me. I roll over and sit up.
“Cole?” He rolls over, and I straddle him. “Cole.” I give him my sternest look.
“Kate.” He looks at me cautiously. I grab his hands, shoving them above his head. His arms are long, and I have to bend forward, bringing myself closer to him.
“I thought we agreed, no clothes in bed.” He opens his mouth, but I cover it with mine, sliding my tongue along his teeth and the roof of his mouth. Cole tries to roll us, but I stop him, pushing his hands back down on the bed. “Oh no. I’m on top tonight.”
“Cookie,” Cole growls, his tooth-paste ad smile stretching across his face.
CHAPTER TEN
I wake up to wet open-mouthed kisses on my back. I roll over, Cole doesn’t miss a beat, giving me a wet kiss on the lips. “You’re still here?”
“Yes, I don’t have any meetings until one.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really.”
I wrap my arms around him, pulling him in for another kiss. “Thank you.”
He just smiles. “Are you hungry? I ordered breakfast. Do you like French toast? I thought we would mix things up this morning.”
“Sounds good.” I move to get off the bed.
“No, wait here.” Cole kisses my cheek and crawls off the bed. He comes back with a tray of food, sitting it next to me. I try to pick up the silverware, but he beats me to it. I watch him cut the bread. “Here,” he says, holding the fork up to me, his other hand cupped underneath to catch the dripping butter and syrup.
“Cole, I…” but he puts the French toast up to my mouth. I stop talking and bite the food off the fork. This continues until the toast is gone.
“There’s fresh fruit.” Cole makes to get off the bed, but I stop him.
“Please, wait.” He sits back on the bed. I push the tray out of the way, and crawl onto his lap.
“I want to explain about yesterday.” He cocks an eyebrow at me, and I copy him. “I didn’t do it on purpose. I didn’t realize I needed security to sit here at the villa. When I finished working out, I got turned around. I ended up in the shopping mall. I was too proud to ask the sales lady how to get back. She made a big deal about verifying who I really was. Then I ended up at the spa. I thought I would just make an appointment for a pedicure. But again, when I told them who I was, they made this big deal about it. It was better than doing nothing up here in the villa. I didn’t think it’d be a big deal. I’m sorry I made you worry.” I kiss Cole lightly on the lips.
He cups my face, tangling his fingers in my hair. “After the thing with Olivia, I had Luke come back here to get you, so I could tell you. I had to take a conference call, or I would have come myself. When he called and said you weren’t here, I panicked. So many things went through my mind. Olivia had talked to you, or that you were gone, or that something bad had happened to you. Kate, you didn’t even take your phone with you. That’s not like you, you love that damn thing.”
“I know. I was in a huff over Olivia. I was mad. I didn’t mean too.” I wrap my arms around Cole, pressing myself into him. “I love you.”
“Oh god, Kate, I love you so much words fail me.”
“What are we going to do about Olivia? She seems determined to stop at nothing to break us up.”
“I’m not sure. I think she thinks she has nothing to lose anymore now that my dad is selling his shares. That she doesn’t need to care what he thinks. I don’t know what kind of relationship they have.”
