Angie curled her arms and legs around Cole. She burrowed her head into his neck as he drove into her. She felt his desperation. The wildness poured through him. Cole let out a hoarse cry as he pulsed in her. He thrust one last time before he sank onto her.
Angie welcomed his weight and his heat. She welcomed him back into her heart. And this time, she wouldn’t let him go.
13
ANGIE WOKE UP with a start. She looked around, her heart pounding. The room was shadowy and quiet. It took her a second to realize that she was in Cole’s office. She was on the sofa with a soft fleece tucked around her.
She noticed her dress was lying still crumpled on the floor next to her heels. Cole’s clothes were gone. “Cole?” she called out. She waited but there was no response.
Slowly sitting up, Angie glanced at the windows. The shades were pulled down but she could tell by the shadows that it was wet and gloomy outside. She looked at the clock in the office and saw that it was early morning.
Where was Cole? She glanced at the closed door. It felt wrong waking up alone. She was used to rising in the early morning with him. They took their time getting out of bed, unwilling to break apart.
Don’t think about that. That is in the past, Angie reminded herself. And she wouldn’t read in to Cole’s absence, either. It wasn’t a big deal.
She wiggled into the bandage dress. Great, she thought as she combed her hair with her fingers. She stayed out all night the one time she wears a dress and heels. Now she gets to do the walk of shame.
I’ve done nothing to be ashamed about, Angie thought as she scooped up her shoes. She made love to Cole because she wanted to. She loved him and she wanted to be with him. Last night she felt closer to him than ever before.
Damn. She was still in love with him. She had been prepared to break it off because he wouldn’t let her get close. But last night gave her hope. He opened up and trusted her with his most painful secret.
Angie looked at the framed print of the family dinner and shook her head. She couldn’t imagine what Cole went through. She wanted to take that pain away and carry it for him. But the only thing she could do was offer him understanding and patience.
She wasn’t sure what her next move should be. Angie suspected that Cole would feel awkward with her. He’d revealed something he clearly wasn’t comfortable sharing. Nothing she said to him would make him believe he wasn’t responsible for his parents’ desertion. He’d left her a year ago because he thought it had only been a matter of time before she was going to leave him.
And she almost did last night. He knew it, too. Otherwise he wouldn’t have told her about his past. She knew she had to show him that she wasn’t going to leave. Not now, not when she finally understood why he was so private and why he kept pushing her away. He was waiting for her to see him as too much trouble and break up with him.
She strode into the waiting room barefoot just as she heard the key in the lock. Angie’s heart leaped and she smiled when Cole entered the office carrying two cups of coffee.
He skidded to a stop. “You’re up.”
“Morning.” She couldn’t contain the joy inside her. She felt gloriously, vibrantly alive. She took a step forward, ready to open her arms wide and greet him with a loving embrace and a long kiss.
“Here, this is for you.” He held out a coffee cup.
“Oh...” She stopped in midstep and slowly dropped her arms. Her chest tightened as she saw the hunted look in his eyes. He didn’t want to be here. Correction, she thought, as the joy fizzled, he didn’t want to be here with her. “Thanks.”
She was the one who felt awkward as she accepted the cup. She noticed how careful Cole was not to let their hands touch. She glanced up through her lashes but he wasn’t looking at her.
“Are you okay?” she asked quietly.
“Me? Yeah.” He held his coffee cup with both hands. “You?”
She knew he was ready to bolt. Whatever she did next was important. She had to tread carefully.
Angie stared at the cup as she turned it in her hands. “About the wedding rehearsal tonight...”
“I’m going.” His voice was harsh.
How did he know what she was going to say? “You don’t have to.”
“We made a deal,” he reminded her. “I’ll keep my side of the bargain.”
“But that was when you needed to look into Heidi’s accident,” she said. “The whole reason we pretended to be together was so you could get behind-the-scenes access. That’s no longer an issue.”