Cole

 

“Does this look all right?”

I turned and saw Eve standing in the doorway to our bedroom, modeling yet another outfit. “Absolutely,” I said with a grin. “But then again, I thought the last four outfits looked great too. What’s this all about?”

“I’m meeting the rest of your friends tonight—and their wives. I just want to make a good impression.”

I could only stare. Seriously? It amazed me how this beautiful, confident woman was suddenly feeling a little self-conscious and shy. Standing, I slowly walked across the room toward her. I didn’t stop until we were toe-to-toe. I put my hands on her waist and leaned my forehead against hers.

“Sweetheart, you are going to blow them all away no matter what you wear.”

“Oh stop,” she said softly, playfully. “I want to look nice without looking like I was trying too hard.”

The chuckle came out before I could stop it. I pulled back just in time to see her pout. Reaching up, I skimmed my knuckles across her cheek. “You’re beautiful,” I said as I looked at her. “Absolutely perfect.”

And it was the truth.

“Cole,” she said shyly.

How could she not know? Slowly, gently, I let my hands cup her face so she had no choice but to look at me. “It’s the truth, Eve. Every time I look at you—and it doesn’t matter if you’re dressed for an event or we’re sitting on the couch watching TV—you take my breath away.”

Her eyes went a little wide at my admission. “Oh.”

I scanned her face. It was burned in my memory, and yet I couldn’t ever seem to make myself stop looking at her. “I still can’t believe that someone like you could ever want someone like me.”

“You underestimate yourself. I think you’re pretty amazing too.”

And that made me smile. She was always saying things to build up my self-confidence. Me. The man who pretty much seemed like the most confident guy in the world to outsiders, still struggled with actually feeling it. It didn’t matter what she was doing—what was going on with her day—she always managed to find time to leave me a note or send me a text just to tell me she was proud of me or was thinking of me.

If it was possible, I think I actually blushed.

She started to step back. “I should probably finish getting—”

“I love you,” I blurted out.

She froze. “What?”

I had no idea I was even going to say that to her, and yet now that I had, it felt good. Right. “I said… I love you.” I took my own step back and looked down at my shoes. “You… you know you don’t have to say it back or anything.” I looked back up at her. “I just wanted you to know how I felt.”

A slow smile crossed her face as she closed the distance between us. “I love you too.”

It was the most natural thing in the world to pull her into my embrace and kiss her. I poured everything I felt for her into it and was rewarded with her matching me in enthusiasm. Reaching down, I began to hike up her skirt and back her up against the wall.

“Cole,” she said as she felt the wall behind her. “We can’t. Your friends—”

“Will completely understand,” I murmured, trailing kisses along the column of her throat, loving the sounds she was making.

“No,” she said and somehow managed to step away from me. “It took me a long time to find the right thing to wear, and I can’t have you messing that up.” She turned toward the bedroom and then gave me a sassy look over her shoulder. “But you can be damn sure I’ll let you mess me up when we get home later.”

Deal.

***

I thought it was going to be weird.

Actually, we all had.

Well, me, Levi, Declan, and Sebastian.

While we’d always enjoyed hanging out just the four of us, we also enjoyed just hanging out with our significant others. The thought of the eight of us going out just seemed… I don’t know… strange.

The bar we chose was one that we often went to. The only difference was that now we were in one of those big booths along the perimeter of the room rather than a small table near the middle. I guess it worked out better because Eve got recognized everywhere we went, and having a little privacy so she can enjoy her night was a definite good thing.

“Is this the first time you’re out without the baby?” Kristin asked Harper.

“Kind of. We’ve left him with my parents and with Levi’s so we can go out for dinner, but this time we’re letting my parents keep him overnight.” She turned and gave Levi a knowing smile. “We’re looking forward to having a night to ourselves.”

Levi laughed. “Don’t let her fool you. We’re looking forward to a good night’s sleep.” He took a drink of his beer. “I still can’t believe he wakes up so much and how disruptive he is.”

Harper elbowed him in the ribs. “Please. That’s because, when it’s your turn to get up, you make enough noise to wake up an army just so I’ll get up and help you!”

He didn’t even try to argue. “Guilty,” he said with a grin and draped his arm around his wife’s shoulders. “What about you guys?” he asked the group as a whole. “Who’s up next for this parenthood thing?”

“Hey, don’t go pushing your misery on the rest of us,” Sebastian said with a laugh of his own. “Our wedding is a month away, and we want to have some time to ourselves before we even think about kids.”

Ali nodded. “I’ve spent so many years taking care of my siblings that it’s going to be nice to just have a husband to take care of.”

“There’s not that much of a difference,” Kristin chimed in.

“Hey!” Declan declared, placing a hand over his heart as if he were wounded. “I take offense to that.”

“Oh, please,” she said. “I have a daughter and—”

“We,” he corrected. “We have a daughter.”

Kristin blushed. “Okay, we have a daughter. But dealing with you sometimes isn’t much different than dealing with Lily.”

Declan went to correct her, but we were all laughing and joking, and he soon realized that it was pointless to argue.

This was good. The laughter. The teasing. The lightness. For far too long we had all been too serious. Too focused on the past or on the complexity of cases we were working on. Which was what made me ask, “So what’s next on the calendar? What is everyone going to be working on?”

Levi put his drink down. “Actually, we’ve got a lot of strong applicants waiting for placement. We’ve got a decent bunch now and a fairly full caseload. I’m thinking that—if you’re all agreeable—we could quite easily step back into mentor positions. You know, not have to be working the cases directly.”

“So, what? We’re just sitting at desks now?” I asked. “That doesn’t seem right.”

Levi shrugged. “It doesn’t have to be that way. But with you being based in New York now, and Harper and I staying in Virginia, and Sebastian and Ali deciding to be in DC, it just seemed like we can branch out a little. We can work on training and really get this company to branch out in ways that others haven’t.”

Declan cleared his throat. “I, um, I noticed you didn’t mention Kristin and I during that whole thing.”

“I figured you’d want to tell them,” Levi said.

Looking at each of us before taking Kristin’s hand, Declan said, “Actually, Kristin and I are looking at moving up to New England. Getting a fresh start with our lives. So basically, I could start up a branch up there too.”

And then everyone was talking again.

“That will make it a little bit harder for us to get together for drinks,” I said.

“Yeah, but I think we’re all in a good place right now, and it will make the time when we actually can get together that much better,” Declan said.

“Here, here,” Levi and Sebastian added.

I knew it was the truth, but a part of me was a little sad. These were my friends, my brothers, my family. Ever since I had moved to New York to be with Eve, I had missed them—the time that we’d normally spend together. But it was time. Declan had the right idea. It was time for a fresh start, and maybe that all began with each of us learning to rely a little more on ourselves rather than one another.

Together we were great. Almost unstoppable.

But with the women who were now part of our lives?

We were the best.

We were home.

Placing my arm around Eve, I reached for my glass with my other hand. “I’d like to propose a toast.” I waited for everyone to raise their glasses. “To the future. We’ve traveled a long road together—not all of it was good—but I know that I am a better man for just knowing all of you.”

Before we could clink glasses, Sebastian cleared his throat. “To the business that has not only brought us financial security and success but also to the women we love.”

“And to the families we now have because of them,” Declan added.

As our glasses drew close, Levi stopped. “And to the man who really made all this possible.” He stopped as emotion clogged his throat. “To Gavin.”

“To Gavin.”