Chapter Fourteen
Madison
Okay. It was official. The couch was the most uncomfortable thing to sleep on in the known universe. The amount I’d paid for the hellish thing, it should double as a hovercraft, let alone be usable as a bed.
I rubbed the tender spot at the juncture of my neck to relieve the hard knot my muscles had become. It didn’t help that Cole looked so damned relaxed when he emerged from my room.
“Good morning, Princess.” He made a play as if to ruffle my hair.
“Seriously?” I stabbed him with a glare, having already spent the good part of an hour straightening out my bedhead in the cramped guest bathroom. I pushed past him to get dressed—in my own damn room—and shut the door behind me.
Cole hadn’t even made the bed. I pressed my lips together when I surveyed the tangled mess of sheets, the dents in the pillows as if they’d gone several rounds with a certain sun-worn fist. Good. Hopefully his conscience had given him an uncomfortable night’s sleep. At least as bad as mine. Every time I’d closed my eyes, Cole had slid into my thoughts like butter, until I swore I could taste him, his scent seeping from my pores under cover of darkness.
I straightened out the bedclothes, my hands curling into the still-warm sheets. Infused with his heat. My pulse thudded hotly, making me want to slither into bed and wrap myself up like a cocoon. I brought the pillow up to my nose and drew in a breath.
It smelled of him. And me. A subtle blend of cinnamon and spice and longing. My nipples hardened and I pulled the pillow to my chest, subconsciously wriggling against it, enjoying the sharp tingle of pleasure. I needed more. Rocking forward, I slipped my fingers beneath the elastic of my panties, gliding through the wetness to find the silken nub of nerves.
“Aaaah.” Better. The heel of my hand pressed against my clit and I slid my fingers downward, deeper, working the tip of a finger inside.
My head fell back, earlier aches and pains forgotten as a swell of sensual pleasure buoyed me upward. I breathed deep, imagining it was Cole pushing into me, his hand rubbing my clitoris. The pillow fell to the floor as I worked my clit harder, a sheen of sweat enveloping me, my breath coming in short pants.
Felt. So. Good.
“You want coffee?” Cole called through the door.
I froze, yanked my hand from my pants, horrified at what I’d been doing. Ripping the sheets off the bed, I wadded them into a ball. Frustration fueled my anger and I slammed out the door, striding past Cole to dump the bedding in the laundry.
“What are you doing?” He wandered over to stand in the doorway.
Too close. I shoved my hands behind my back. I swore I could smell the musky scent of my desire. My lip curled as I breathed through my mouth.
“I’m not sleeping in those sheets tonight. Not after you’ve been in them.” I poured disdain into my voice, anything to draw his attention away from the flush of my cheeks, the stiff peaks of my nipples poking at the fabric of my shirt.
Cole’s eyes darkened. And not from desire. “You’re right. You won’t be sleeping in these,” he said, grabbing the bedding out of the hamper.
“Give those back!” I wrestled with the sheets.
Like a schoolyard bully, Cole held them out of reach. “I don’t think so. Didn’t you know? I’m staying another night.”
“What! No.” I screeched.
Which only made Cole grin harder. He leaned in to draw a finger along my jaw. “Aren’t you going to ask me why, Princess?” His voice dropped to a low, seductive rumble.
I fought to stop my eyes from closing, to halt my lips from nuzzling against the roughness of his palm.
I jerked away, half-choking on the answer. “N-no.”
His blue-eyed gaze met mine and for a split-second, his mask dropped.
“Because they smell of you.” A ring of honesty circled his words and he looked away.
I knew exactly how he felt, recalling my own earlier excursion into my panties. Lust that had been simmering below the surface, reignited. I looked up, expecting to see the smug little smile brushing at the corners of his lips…only to find nothing but the intensity of matching desire. His mouth softened. A mouth I knew was imminently, insatiably kissable.
I slammed my eyes shut.
“That’s just creepy,” I rasped, pulling on my dwindling willpower to push him away. I stumbled for the safety of my bedroom.
Low, sexy laughter dogged every step. “Tell yourself what you have to, but we both know what’s going on here.” His words chased me across the living room.
I hid behind my door, my heart pounding. Yes. I knew exactly what lay between us. Money. Power. Suspicion. For all Cole might fancy a repeat of the other night, the fact remained he couldn’t care less about me. He’d relegated me to the couch, had me cook dinner like a housemaid, all to humiliate me—to take me down a peg or two.
But he still wanted me. And despite everything I knew about Cole, it brought me a little comfort to know he didn’t hate me so much his desire had disappeared.
And underneath the brashness and innuendo, I had to admit, Cole was proving to be a good man. While it was hard to reconcile his behavior with me, his patient treatment of his prickly sister painted a different story.
I leaned my head against the door. All I had to do was survive one more night with Cole. For whatever reason, he’d given me the breathing space I needed to fix my life, so I didn’t have to run back to my mother. Or Logan. All I had to do was put on an outward show for one more night.
It shouldn’t be hard. I had spent a lifetime perfecting my act.
I straightened my shoulders and shook out the last of my tension. This was what I’d been born to do, to play the part and present myself as a calm, confident, well-bred woman. No matter my insides were jelly, set quivering every time Cole came within five feet. The trick was to remember no one else knew that except me.
I locked myself in the bathroom for a long, leisurely shower, taking my time to wash my hair and scrub down every inch of my body until it glowed with freshness. Only when I felt truly clean did I step out from under the water and build up the layers of my outward appearance. Each sweep of the brush boosted my confidence, each dab of lotion, every stroke of moisturizer against my skin. Until I oozed poise and composure from my perfectly exfoliated pores.
A pity it was wasted on an empty apartment.
I told myself it was a relief to be left on my own. I had never had sleepovers with girlfriends and Patricia wouldn’t be seen dead at anything less than five star. But as I looked around the room, it did seem empty. Despite the mess.
I bit back a smile. The Langford siblings knew how to fill a space, their belongings sprawled across my lounge as if they owned it, discarded wrappers and debris scattered on every available surface. But instead of irritation, I found myself humming as I wiped crumbs off the bench and put cushions back in the right place. Thank God I’d let the cleaner go last week. Danika wouldn’t have known what to do if she’d had to actually clean something.
With the apartment restored to reasonable order, I pulled out a blank notebook from my polished cherry wood desk. Cole had given me a job and I intended to do my best to fulfill it.
First, I spent an hour researching local trails and city walks, mapping out routes Jess could take in my area. Once I’d exhausted all of those possibilities, I considered other places of interest. There was a pool and mineral spa nearby that Jess might find therapeutic and my gym membership was alive for another six months. Jess could go as a plus one once I figured out her capabilities.
Something I needed to understand before I planned anything further. When Cole came home before Jess, it provided the perfect opportunity for me to discuss Jess’s physical limitations in private.
“What’s this?” Cole was surprised when I started reading through my notes and asking questions.
“You’re paying me to do a job,” I reminded him.
He raised his brow. “So there are things you take seriously besides handbags and shoes?”
The comment stung. “Don’t presume to know everything about me,” I said coldly.
The smile gave Cole away. “It’s okay. I get it.” He put up his hands, his expression sobering. “And I think it’s great the way you’re trying to stand on your own two feet.”
“This is hardly standing on my own two feet,” I scoffed.
“Oh, I don’t know.” He nodded towards the notebook. “I’d say you’re doing a thorough job.”
His gaze wandered over me for a second, more detailed appraisal. Awareness followed the path of his stare, heat flickering between us as if his fingers scorched a path across my skin. Something sparked in the depths of his ice-blue eyes, his stare slowly changing from thoughtful, to intrigued…to hunger. I felt it licking between my breasts, smoldering in my belly. I tightened my grip on my pen.
“Very thorough,” he purred.
His approval made me feel good. Desired. Deserving.
It felt good to be recognized as more than just a show pony. I clicked the nib of my pen in and out.
Cole edged closer, each small step intensifying my reaction to him, until I thought I’d explode into flames. Was he going to kiss me? God, I hoped he was going to kiss me. The pen stuck to suddenly clammy hands.
“Would you be just as meticulous in taking care of me?” he whispered.
Reality crashed in, extinguishing my desire in an icy cold wash. I struggled for breath, knowing Cole thought of me as an object to look out for his sister, but hell, if he could get a little extra thrown in…
“Madison?” The smile disappeared from Cole’s face.
My fingernails bit into the softness of my palm as I struggled to tamp down the hurt welling up like blood from a cut.
“Thank you for your offer,” I said, super-sweet. “I’m sure you can understand if I’m not interested in overtime. I have better things to do.”
Cole’s stare narrowed and his lips tightened into a frown. I didn’t wait around to hear his response. It was better to believe he was being an asshole.
I grabbed my gym bag from the closet and flew out of the apartment, feeling the burn of his attention all the way out of the door.
A few thousand miles on a treadmill would help. Because a part of me—a very big part—had wanted to say yes to Cole, regardless of what he thought.
I hit the gym hard, pounding out a harsh rhythm on the treadmill until sweat trickled between my breasts, tracking like tears down my cheeks. And while the exercise helped hold back the tide of sexual energy, it did nothing to extinguish the fire burning in my belly for a certain blond-haired devil.
The couch managed to make itself even more uncomfortable the second time around.
I shifted restlessly, trying to find an angle which supported my aching neck and kept the blood circulating to my feet. I was in the process of re-bunching my pillow for the third time when the door to my bedroom eased open. I froze mid-gather as Cole’s silhouette filled the doorway and slammed my eyes shut, pretending to sleep.
There was a slight rustle. A scuffle of feet on the carpet. Silence.
I slitted my eyelids open. Shit. I rocketed upward.
Cole stood not two feet away, his arms folded over his chest—his very naked chest—staring down at me. I clamped my mouth shut, swallowing back the soft moan of temptation and squeezed my eyes closed.
“You’re interrupting my sleep,” he stated.
“Then you shouldn’t have taken my beeee…argh.” The rest of my sentence never made it past my lips when Cole scooped me into his arms. “What are you doing?” I yelped.
“Shh.”
In the time it took for the shock to wear off and my limbs to start working again, Cole had reached my bedroom and dumped me on the bed. I scrambled to get off, but Cole was quick, diving after me, wrapping me in his arms and pulling me hard against him. His breath rasped in my hair, his heartbeat a wild tempo I could feel pulsing through my back.
What the… Was he…spooning me?
“Seriously. What are you doing?” My heart pounded and my voice rose. It wasn’t indignation. The heat of his body along my spine ignited fires in all kinds of interesting places. I renewed my efforts to escape and he slung a leg over the top of my thighs, pinning me down.
“I’m giving us both a good night’s sleep,” he said firmly. “Now hold still or you’ll stir things up.” Cole flexed his hips and the hard shaft of his cock pressed into my buttocks. I froze.
“That’s right. Settle down, or believe me, neither of us will get any rest.” His voice rumbled through my back, his words a dark promise I had no doubt he would fulfill.
Like that would help me relax. Too scared to move, I lay like a rock in Cole’s arms, trying to regulate my breathing to resemble anything normal. I couldn’t. Not with Cole virtually on top of me. The slightest touch of his skin against mine was like a mini explosion of heat, slivers of lust arcing through my belly every time he took a breath. My nipples ached to be touched, the rough press of his fingers a brand at my side. Two more inches and those same fingers would graze my breast. Ease the ache.
A small sigh escaped, refusing to be held in.
“What’s the matter now?” His grip on my hip tightened imperceptibly.
I stifled another sigh. He wanted a list?
“You’re on my side,” I hissed.
I could feel his smile in the darkness. And it riled me more.
“I’ll trade,” he offered, his fingers tapping out a tempting tattoo. “Switch sides for one kiss.”
I sank my teeth into my lower lip to stop the sound of my panting. Liquid heat prickled at my sex, hormones heading south to join the party, and I fought the urge to clamp my thighs together. Every movement, every breath was a reminder how much I wanted Cole. I bit down harder, concentrating on the sharpness of the pain until it was all I could feel.
“No way.” I croaked. “I’ll stay where I am, thank you very much.”
Cole gave a throaty chuckle and gathered me closer. “Wise choice, Princess. Now, go to sleep.”