“And you think I would be an easy tumble in bed?” she asked, her voice rising with anger. “Because the guys told you I don’t date? That I haven’t looked at another guy since you left?”
“I wasn’t thinking that at all.” But it had given him hope. He wanted it to be a sign that he could fix the mess he’d made. That they shared a bond that couldn’t be broken.
“What are you thinking?”
He shoved his hand in his hair. “That I want to drag you into the backseat, rip off that insanely sexy dress and—”
“So you want me.”
“Yes.”
Angie didn’t look away. “Right now.”
“Yeah.” Immediately, if not sooner. He was rock-hard and had been the moment he saw her in that dress. There would be no foreplay and no lingering touches. It would be a hard and fast ride the moment he sank into her.
“And then what?” she asked. “What about tomorrow or the next day? How long do you plan to hang around until you walk away again?”
Cole stared at her. Didn’t she see that he was still crazy for her? That he wanted to try again. He wasn’t planning to walk away again. It nearly broke him the last time. He didn’t have the strength to do it again. “I’m here to stay.”
Angie crossed her arms. “Why?”
“It’s very simple.” He pointed at her. “I want you.” He pointed at himself. “You want me.”
Her mouth formed in a disbelieving smile. “That wasn’t enough before.”
He scoffed at that statement. “I’ve always wanted you. From the moment I met you.” He had seen her in the gym and had been immediately thunderstruck. He had tried to impress her with his strength and speed only to discover she was just as strong and fast as he was. If she thought that would scare him off, it had the opposite effect. He had been more intrigued than ever.
“But you went away and you stayed away,” she pointed out. “You didn’t contact me until you needed help on this case. Then you had to pretend to be hot for me. How do you think that makes me feel?”
“I have no idea what’s going through your mind. You are driving me crazy. What do you want from me?”
“I want the truth,” she said. “The whole truth.”
He looked into her eyes. “You are everything I want in a woman.”
She blinked, obviously not expecting to hear those words. “What do you want from me now?” she asked. “Forgiveness? Sex? Do you want to be friends with benefits?”
He held her gaze as the fear pulsed through him. It was too soon to say anything but he had to take the risk. “I want another chance.”
She lowered her gaze. “I don’t think I can do that again,” she whispered.
He held on to the steering wheel and squeezed as the pain rushed through him. “Because I made one mistake.”
“No, because I can’t be with a guy who won’t share his life.”
“I just did this morning,” he blurted out in frustration. He shared something about his past and it did not go well. “Look at what happened.”
“That was one time and you’re still holding back,” she accused. “You don’t trust me. Not enough.”
“That’s not true,” he insisted. “I trust you more than anyone I know.”
“You don’t trust me enough to talk about yourself. I don’t know about your past, I didn’t know about your dream of opening an agency and I don’t know how you feel about me. And I was with you for over a year.” She took a deep breath. “Cole, I’m done with this. This was a mistake.”
Cole closed his eyes as her words ripped through him. He was not a mistake. “Angie...”
“Just take me back to your office. I parked my car there,” Angie said. Her voice was dull and tired as she looked out the car window. “We got caught up in the pretense. Let’s forget this ever happened.”
12
AS COLE PARKED in the front of his office building, he felt the weight of this moment. He knew he had to do something or Angie would never be his again. Angie, the only woman he loved and if he were honest, still loved.
Angie had been the most loyal person he knew. She didn’t agree with everything he did, but she was there for him. She cheered him on when he needed encouragement and gave him advice when he asked. When he made a mistake, she called him on it. This was a woman he wanted at his side. Yet he never thought she would reach the point where she called it off. But he had found her limit.