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Cole rakes a hand through his hair. “Yes, once.”
My eyes get wide. “You need to tell me!” I pound my fists into the cushiony table.
This time, he rakes both hands through his hair. “You’ll think I’m a bastard.”
“We all make mistakes.”
Cole sits up on the table next to me, taking my hand. He messages my hand with both of his for a few minutes before he starts talking. “Cooper and I had just bought a bar in Hunting Beach. He was running it and I was backing him. I’m not much of a drinker. I was a big drinker in college before my mom died, and occasionally, I’d get carried away. I like to drink, I just know how to pace myself. But on this particular night, I’d lost a business deal that cost me a couple of million dollars. I needed to decompress. I went to the bar and jumped behind it, working with Coop and drinking about as much as I was serving. Olivia was there with some friends. I recognized one woman she was with. We’d gone out a few times in college. Her name was Susan. She was getting married, so I gave them a few free rounds. All the other women, including Susan, couldn’t seem to get enough of Coop and me, but Olivia was standoffish and didn’t seem interested. She presented a challenge and I like challenges. So, for the rest of the night, I made it my goal to figure out Olivia’s game. Really, I just wanted her to realize she wanted me. She played hardball, she didn’t even seem to flinch. I made sure Susan gave me her number. The next night, I called and asked her to meet me back at the bar. She came, we did this for a week. I played her hard and every time we got together, I got a little closer to sealing the deal.
I can’t help make a face when he says this.
He gives me a sympathetic look and continues, “Friday night before we met at the bar, I got a business call about a problem with one of my overseas businesses. I called Olivia and told her I’d be late, but the problem turned out to be worse than I thought, and I had to fly to New York immediately. I tried calling Olivia again, but she didn’t answer.
“When I got back from New York, a week later. I didn’t bother calling her again. I figured the chase was over. I went to the bar to go over a few things with Cooper, and she showed up. I played my hand one last time, and she caved. I thought it was a bit easy, but I didn’t care. The next thing I knew, she started calling me to meet at the bar or go out to dinner. Things were busy for me. I was still doing a lot of cleanup and trying to get a few things squared away. I didn’t have time for her. But she made her presence known. One day, I got a gift basket, and she sent me a bouquet of flowers. I’ve never had a woman send me flowers,” Cole pauses and rubs the back of his head.
“What, tell me.”
“She sent me some pictures on her phone and left a few too many provocative voicemails. Towards the end of the week, I took a meeting with a marketing agency to get the ball rolling on a few investments I had. Turned out that Olivia worked for the agency. As the meeting was ending, Olivia asked if we were still on for dinner that night. It caught me off guard. I didn’t mind dating people I worked with, but I always, always, keep things professional in professional situations. She made an off the cuff remark about the night we had and plans for another. It unnerved me. I’ve always been the chaser, not the one being chased.
I can’t help the laugh that escapes. “You were unnerved? So does that mean if I had chased you, Mr. Holt, that you would have turned tail and ran?”
“No, Mrs. Holt.” Cole brings my hand to his lips, kissing it tenderly. “You had me from the moment you got in my Ferrari 458. If you had chased me, I would have surrendered without putting up a fight. Well, not too much of one. I would love to have seen you have to work just a little.”
“A little?” I pinch his side.
“You have captured my heart, and it’s yours forever.”
I fall in love with him over and over again when he says things like. I snuggle closer to him. “And I’m yours forever,” I say, kissing him on the cheek. “What happened after the meeting?”
Cole laughs. “I turned tail and ran. I talked to her in private and ended things, or so I thought. I had another meeting with the marketing firm, but Olivia wasn’t present. When I left the meeting, she ambushed me in the parking garage. Wanted to know why I was avoiding her, why I had asked to have her removed from the project. I told her that wasn’t my doing. She said she didn’t believe me. She begged for another chance, but I was officially freaked out. I said no and told her if she contacted me again that I would take legal action. It was shortly after that I started using Luke full time. Her last words to me were ‘you’ll be sorry, one day, you will beg me to take you back.’ The next time I saw her was about nine months later, hanging on the arm of my dad. When I confronted her, she said, ‘life was about to get very interesting for me.’ She wasn’t wrong.”
I climb off the table and then crawl into Cole’s lap. “You think Olivia has wanted to get back together with you? That she loves you?”
“No, I don’t think she loves me. I think she hates me. Sometimes I see the way she looks at my dad and I wonder about their relationship. She tells me repeatedly that I’ll come crawling back into her bed because she’ll give me no other choice. She wants vengeance. It’s not about love or sex, it’s about a woman scorned. If she takes me from you, then I will know her pain.”
I rub my hands over my face. “Did you ever say you were sorry?”
“What?”
“After she was with your dad, did you ever say, ‘Olivia, I’m sorry for what happened between us?’?”
“No.” It comes out through his teeth. “It may have been wrong to chase her, but she did the same back, and she has spent the last two years making my life miserable. I take her in stride for two reasons: she’s my father’s wife, and because I feel sorry for what I did. Words can’t take back what happened.”
“No, they can’t, but they can make a difference. My mother taught me that. Saying you are sorry doesn’t undo what’s been done, but eases the hurt and makes things right. You made a mistake, and you have borne that burden for too long. Maybe saying you’re sorry will ease it and make it better.” I rub my nose against Cole’s and then kiss him. “I love you. Can we get my hair fixed now?”
“No.”
“What? Why?”
“You need to tell me what Olivia was so upset about.”
I sigh, “I’m not telling you.”
Cole stands up, taking me with him. “Yes, you are!”
This makes me angry. I deserve some trust. “NO! How about you trust me for once?”
“This isn’t about trust, Kate, this is about Olivia being so upset that she attacked you over it.” Cole comes up to me, putting his hand on my cheek, lightly rubbing it. “You need to tell me, please.”
