Chapter Nine
Reese
One long week has passed since we arrived home, and I’ve been going to work like a zombie and locking myself into my condo at night, wallowing in my own misery. Why did I think I could have sex with Cole and still be friends?
Stupid, stupid girl.
I look at my suitcase, which is still lying on the floor in the front entrance. I haven’t even emptied it or washed the clothes that have Cole’s scent on them. Oh, God, how could I have messed things up so badly?
Forcing myself up from the sofa and away from the ice cream that has become my best friend over the last week, I pad across the room and unzip the suitcase. The shark diving video falls out.
“How the heck did this get in my bag?”
Okay, great, now I’m talking to myself. I’m in worse shape than I thought. I shake my head and look at the disc. Maybe the laundry could wait. I walk over to the DVD, pop the disc in, and reach for my ice cream as I plunk back down on my comfy sofa.
When Cole comes into view, my heart races. I watch the way he takes care of me, holds me in his arms when the shark comes close. Yeah, and that’s the reason I had to send him away. I’m not his responsibility, for God’s sake. The man has a life to live, one that doesn’t revolve around his chickenshit friend.
But when the camera zooms in on us, and I once again see something in Cole’s eyes, something that resembles want and desire, my heart punches into my throat. I grab the remote and rewind to the beginning of the scene, sure I’m seeing things again. But no. There it is, caught on camera. In my heart, I can tell the way he is looking at me goes well beyond friendship. If I didn’t know better, I’d say he was looking at me with love in his eyes. Not friendship love, but real love. The kind of love between two people who always put the other’s best interests first.
Holy shit.
I drop the spoonful of ice cream and jump up, my pulse pounding so hard in my neck I think I might pass out. Just then my phone pings and I run to it. Please be Cole.
My heart sinks when I see the text from my friend Kennedy.
Hey, what’s up?
My fingers fly over the screen.
Not much, you?
I’m in town to visit the family. Saw Cole at the airport.
Oh, God, he’s leaving. He’s really leaving. But why wouldn’t he? I told him to go away and that I didn’t want to discuss it anymore. Then again, why was he so damn happy on the plane? I thought it was because he was going to be heading back to Colorado soon. Now I just don’t get it.
I mentally curse myself for being cruel. What if there really is more going on between us? I should have opened up, told him the truth. I can’t let him go without doing that, without learning what he wants. I really should have told him how I felt, but I was too worried about our friendship, what was best for him. Maybe I had it all wrong.
I quickly text back.
Kennedy, I have to go.
Wait, you didn’t tell me about your trip.
With time of the utmost importance, I can’t give details, so I tell her, we’ll meet for coffee later.
One thing, did you and Cole finally do it? :)
Oh. My. God.
What? I text back.
Come on, Reese. This is me. I know you. Why do you think I sent him on the trip with you?
You set the trip up?
Yeah, I picked your name.
I shake my head, hardly able to believe this.
And you sent Cole because you thought I wanted to ‘do it’ with him?
Uh, yeah! And he wants to do it with you, too, so I knew it was time for you two to get together. You did get together, right?
Yes, I text back and grab my purse. I have no idea what time his fight leaves—I’ll check that in the cab—but right now I don’t have a minute to waste.
I run to the front door, quickly lock it behind me, and race down the stairs so fast I nearly trip and land on my face. As I wobble and grab the rail to balance myself, a strong arm goes around my waist. I’m about to say thanks when I realize who’s holding me.
“Where are you off to in such a hurry?”
“I…” I look past his shoulder and see a cab with the door still open. “I thought…”
Stormy blue eyes lock on mine. “You thought what?”
I choke back a big fat tear and burst out with, “I thought you’d left. Kennedy said she saw you at the airport.”
He arches a brow, his grin playful. “And…you were coming after me?”
I point to my condo. “The video…I saw…Cole…” I put my arms around him and lay my cheek against this chest. I don’t finish what I want to say because there is still some small part of me that isn’t sure what he feels.
He holds me to him, and my heart fills with love as his powerful heart beats against my face. I take a moment to breathe in his scent and take comfort in his strength, in the way he’s always been there to catch me. “I don’t want to lose you,” I say. “I don’t want to wreck what we have between us. I couldn’t handle it if we weren’t friends anymore.”
Or more…so much more.
“What makes you think you’re going to lose me, or that you’ve wrecked things?”
“I told you to go away. That I didn’t need you here.”
“Yeah, and that’s why we can’t be friends anymore, Reese.”
My heart misses a beat, and I try hard not to lose it in front of Cole. I nod like I totally understand and pull my face from his chest, doing my best not to cry.
He cups my chin and lifts it until we’re eye to eye. “Reese,” he says, “I thought I’d fucked everything up between us, but then I realized something very important.”
“You did? What?”
“Come with me, and I’ll show you.” He guides me to the cab, and I slide in. He gives the cabbie directions to a place in Queens, and I just give him a strange look.
“You want to show me something in Queens?”
“You’ll see,” he says.
I mainly sit in quiet. We both do, as the driver takes us all the way to Queens. I want to open up to Cole, tell him everything, but I don’t want to do it in front of the cabbie. A long while later, the cab stops in front of an older home—cute, but very run down.
“What are we doing here?” I ask.
Cole slides from the cab, and I follow him out. I glance up and down the street and see kids and dogs at a nearby park. “Do you know someone who lives here?”
“Yes.”
Who?”
“Me,” he answers.
My eyes go wide. “What are you talking about?”
“I bought this.” He shrugs one shoulder. “Thought I could fix it up. Working construction with my uncle hasn’t been so bad after all. I learned a few things.”
I shake my head. This is all coming at me so fast. “Cole, that’s amazing. But Colorado… I…”
He puts his hands on my shoulders and turns me. “See the garage?”
I nod.
“That would make a great clinic for you.” I blink at him and try to process what he’s saying. “There’s lots of space in the backyard, too. We could build that shelter, Bed and Barkfest.” He glances up and down the street. “Outside the city, across from a park. Perfect location, don’t you think? Took me all week to find it.”
With my thoughts still two pages behind, I shake my head and ask, “Cole what are you saying?”
“Remember I said I realized something?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, what I realized was that you love me.”
“I do love you,” I blurt out, unable to hold it in for one more second. “I didn’t know how to tell you. I was so worried about losing you as a friend.”
“I’ve loved you for a long time, but I didn’t realize our friendship went so much deeper until our trip to Africa,” he says, his voice low and soft. “I guess that’s why I was so miserable when you were with Jared that I couldn’t stay here, couldn’t watch you two together.”
“You…you love me?”
He laughs. “Fuck yeah, I love you. And that’s why we can’t go back to being just friends. When you told me to go away, it nearly killed me. But after making love to you that last night in the hotel, I realized what you were doing.”
He loves me.
My heart soars as my entire body trembles with happiness. When I’m able to breathe again, I say, “Cole,” as a tear falls down my cheek. I sniff, and he wipes it away.
“Hey, why are you crying?”
“I’m just…” My throat is so tight it’s hard to get the words out. “I can’t believe this is what you’ve been doing for the last week. When Kennedy said she saw you at the airport, I was so scared I’d lost you forever.”
“I was at the airport because I had to pick up my brother. He’s home for his upcoming high school reunion. I’ll probably put him to work on the house while he’s here.
At the mention of the house, I stiffen. Wait, I can’t let Cole stay here, working in a job he hates. “What about Colorado and your work? You love it so much.”
“Sure, it’s great. It’s a once in a lifetime adventure, and I’ve done it hundreds of times.” He pulls me in tighter. “But the only adventure I want now is with you.” He wags his finger between the two of us. “This is the once in a lifetime that I want, Reese. And it’s time I started my own company.”
“You always talked about that.”
“I’ve been researching. Lots of opportunities for guides on the Hudson River.”
I wriggle closer to him, and he drops a tender, slow, excruciatingly intimate kiss on my mouth. When he pulls back, I say, “What will you do in the off-season? There’s not as much to do here as there is in Colorado. Will you be bored if you’re not involved in some kind of adventure?”
“Bored? Hardly. And every day will be a new adventure taking care of our little ones.”
I grin and nod toward the backyard where he wants to build Bed and Barkfest. “You mean our rescue dogs?”
His blue eyes soften as they race over my face. “No, Reese,” he says, his thumb brushing my cheek so softly it turns me inside out. “I mean our kids. I want you to marry me. Have a family with me.”
My heart misses a beat. He wants to marry me. Have a family with me. “Cole.”
“Oh, and just so you know, I want a whole litter of little ones.”
I laugh, and he laughs with me. “That’s a lot of kids, Cole.”
“Yup, and I’ll be their stay-at-home daddy for the better part of the year.” He dips his head, and his lips close over mine. His kiss is imbued with so much love I’m sure my heart is going to explode.
“Cole?”
He inches back and looks at me, his grin crooked. “What? Still hate me?”
I laugh, everything between us so perfect that it’s hard to explain what I’m feeling. Instead of trying, I say, “I love you.”
His smile widens. “Yeah, I know, and it’s damn well time you told me that!”
I whack him and can’t help but laugh. “God, I hate you.”
He laughs with me. “Hate you, too.”
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