by Andrea Bills
Cole picked up his cell phone and dialed the woman from Infidelity.
“Mrs. Flores, it’s Cole Bennett. I need a favor.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Annie
The next morning, Annie squared her shoulders and set her mind to guarding herself against Cole before she ventured out for her morning coffee. Most mornings, Cole would already be up and gone, but occasionally he was still loitering about when she’d make her way into the kitchen. Annie prayed that he was already gone, so she wouldn’t have to face him yet.
Before she even made it all the way down the hallway, she knew he was still there. She could hear him clattering around in the kitchen.
Damn rotten luck.
Annie breezed into the kitchen and fixed herself coffee, all the while keeping her back to Cole. She could feel his eyes on her back. When she couldn’t put off facing him any longer, she turned and met his gaze; it was startling. He seemed sympathetic. Annie wasn’t sure how to take it.
“Good morning, my Annie.” He said.
The choice of endearment made her stomach flutter, but Annie immediately shook off the school girl feeling.
“Good morning.” She said, leaving out her typical counter endearment.
“Annie, I think we should talk about your little outburst yesterday.”
“Outburst?” She seethed.
Before their conversation could progress, Cole’s phone rang.
“Better get that; you wouldn’t want to keep anyone waiting.” She said, eluding to the woman she had convinced herself he had on the side.
She knew she was being a bit dramatic, but she didn’t care. Annie grabbed a muffin from the basket Cole kept on the countertop and headed back to her bedroom. She didn’t want to spend the day in her bedroom since she had been holed up in it most of the evening prior, but she would if it meant avoiding Cole. A minute later, Cole was banging on her door. She threw the door open, ready to continue their fight.
“We need to pack; we’re going to be heading to West Virginia this afternoon.”
“This afternoon? Why the rush?” She said, suddenly panicking.
“My assistant was able to clear my schedule for the next few days, and Barry is free. Pack what you need, and we’ll hit the road.”
“We’re going to drive?”
Trey had never drove down the street let alone made an almost seven-hour car ride himself. He would have flown and then rented a driver and car on the other end.
“Is that a problem? The closest airport to where your parents live is three hours away, so we might as well save ourselves a ride in the death mobile with wings and drive.”
Cole turned on foot and disappeared back down the hallway, leaving Annie stunned speechless. Cole was afraid of flying. The thought made Annie smile. Somehow it humanized him to her. He seemed too perfect and stable; knowing that he had an unreasonable fear of something that she didn’t find threatening at all made her feel better.
Annie grabbed her duffel bag and threw some clothes in it along with some of her essentials. Her mom would have anything else that she needed. Her parents. Annie had been so excited to see them, but knowing that they didn’t necessarily approve of her relationship with Cole made her nervous. Lying to them about her real arrangement with Cole would be hard enough, but then juggling knowing that they didn’t want her with him was too much for Annie; she would break. No way would she be able to keep her shit straight. Her mom was like a mind reader, and her dad always knew when she was lying before she’d even open her mouth.
She rushed down the hallway and ran smack into Cole as he came out of his bedroom.
“Whoa, you okay?” He asked, steadying her.
“No. Yes. Wait, I mean no. Are we getting a hotel?”
“I thought you wanted to stay with your parents?” Cole asked, his eyebrow raising in that sexy way it did whenever he was trying to figure her out.
“I do; I did. I just can’t lie to them. They’ll know we’re not actually together, and then I don’t know how I’ll explain you to them. They told me today they don’t think I should be dating you, so now there’s that. I just can’t handle all these moving pieces, Cole.” Annie rambled, not stopping to take a breath.
“Why don’t your parents want us dating?”
“We’re not dating.” Annie said.
“You know what I mean, Annie.”
“They think I’m spending too much time with boys and not enough time focused on my future. They’re right in a sense, but they don’t know the whole story. Without you—er, I mean—our arrangement, I don’t have a future.”
“It’ll be fine, Annie; your parents will love me, and they won’t suspect a thing.”
“Cole, I suck at lying. There’s no way I can stay there and lie to them.”
“Are you ready to go?”
“Yes.” She said unfazed by his quick change of topics.
“Alright let’s go.”
“What about my parents?”
“We have six hours and forty-five minutes to figure it out. I’m sure by then you’ll see that I’m right.” Cole said with a smirk that made Annie’s stomach flutter and her heart race.
Oh brother.
Maybe lying to her parents was going to be the least of her worries. Her plan to avoid Cole and put distance between them was going to be hard to carry out when she was stuck in the truck with him.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Cole
The first couple of hours of the truck ride were mostly silent. Annie had been right about not being able to lie. The woman wore every emotion on her sleeve. She had fluctuated between glaring at him and staring dreamily out of the window. Whatever she was thinking about, she was swinging like a pendulum to both sides of the spectrum.
Cole was silently waging his own internal battle. Mrs. Witt had texted him the information for a private detective in case Cole had plans to keep an eye on Trey. All the information that she had given him had led Cole to the same conclusion as Mrs. Witt: Trey Pennington wasn’t going to just roll over and take losing Annie without some sort of retaliation. Cole had set things in motion with a quick phone call while Annie had been in the restroom at their first stop.
The drive down to West Virginia consisted mostly of turnpikes and wide-open spaces. As they got out of the city, the views turned to soft rolling hills. Cole hadn’t been back to West Virginia since he had graduated college. Annie’s hometown was around an hour and a half southwest of Morgantown, though. From the bits and pieces she had told him, her town was nothing like the bustling college town.
Barry wouldn’t be arriving until the following day, which gave Cole and Annie the evening to spend with her family. Cole had never met a woman’s parents, mostly because he hadn’t ever really dated. Cole’s life had consisted of one-night stands. Sometimes he’d sleep with the same woman for several weeks, but he didn’t have time to invest in a relationship. Cole glanced over at Annie, who was back to glaring at him. It made him smile.
Annie was different. Not because of the Infidelity contract; Cole was man enough to admit that the contract had nothing to do with what was going on between them. Maybe that’s why she was glaring at him; because she was realizing the same thing. Whatever was between them was like gasoline to an open flame; it was inevitable and explosive. Cole had never made love to a woman; he simply had sex. With Annie, though, he knew she deserved more than that, but when he gave it to her, it had set his world on its axis. Fleeing from the bed directly after probably hadn’t been his finest hour, but he needed time alone to wrestle his feelings under control.
Annie’s phone rang, gifting Cole with a break from his own thoughts.
“Hey Mom.” Annie answered.
“Yeah, we should be there in just a couple hours actually.”
“Mom.” Annie whined.
“No Mom…but Mom…fine.”
Annie hung up the phone and let out a frustrated sigh.
“Your parents excited to meet me?” Cole a
sked, wiggling his eyebrows at her.
“You’re ornery. No, my mom is insisting on taking us out to eat tonight.”
“They don’t have to do that.”
“I know, especially since the only places to really go out to eat in my hometown are a local restaurant called The Fireside and a pizza place.”
“I think those both sound good.”
“It’s just my dad will insist on paying, and they can’t afford extras like this.”
“Problem solved, I’ll pay.”
“My dad would die of embarrassment if you paid. Besides my parents don’t like people who flaunt their money.”
Her comment shot through him like a bullet. Cole’s parents were the epitome of all that he despised, and one of their biggest flaws was just that: flaunting their money. The icing on the cake was that the money wasn’t even theirs; it was his grandfather’s while he had been alive, and now it was his foundation’s. The rage that had consumed Cole came back in full force for the first time since Annie had entered his life. He gripped the steering wheel while her comment played on repeat in his mind.
“Cole, I didn’t mean it like that. I know you wouldn’t mean to rub it in their face, but it would have that effect on them.”
Cole didn’t respond. He didn’t trust himself to say anything for a while. They stopped two more times before they got within an hour of Annie’s hometown. Her disposition had changed entirely the closer they got. He could feel the excitement rolling off her. She was sitting straight up staring out the window, as if she had never seen the scenery floating past them before. Her mood was contagious; Cole felt the chip on his shoulder once again ease.
“Is there a grocery store in town?”
“Yes, but it’s limited if there’s something specific you’re needing. There’s a Walmart right off the interstate exit we’ll take.”
“Does your dad have a grill?”
She shot him a look like he had just asked if a flamingo was pink. The things Annie had been through may have set her back slightly, but they hadn’t broken her. She showed Cole every day that she was a fighter.
“Right there’s the Walmart. Turn here!” Annie squealed, as Cole hit the brakes and quickly darted across the traffic.
“Jesus, woman; you need to learn how to give directions.” Cole grunted.
He pulled his truck into a parking spot, and they both jumped out. Annie seemed unfazed by his bluntness. She looked around the parking lot as if it were the Grand Canyon. The woman had grown up in the area, but if Cole didn’t know her, he would think it was her first time seeing it.
“Has it changed much?”
“No, not a bit. So, what are we here for?” She said with a bright smile.
“Steaks.”
Annie’s smile told him she had figured out his plan. She threw her arms around him and hugged him tight. Cole stiffened at first, unaccustomed to affection, especially in public, but Annie’s eagerness was quick to thaw his icy reception. He hugged her in return and even placed a soft kiss on top of her head. Annie pulled away, and where her warmth had just been felt cold. Once again not sure how to respond, Cole turned and headed into the store.
They gathered everything they needed in silence. Cole tried not to laugh when Annie insisted they buy reusable grocery bags. They loaded it in the backseat then jumped backed into the cab and ate up the final hour of the journey. Her town was tiny; there had been two stoplights on the main drag, but Cole thought that was being entirely too generous. Annie directed him where to go, and soon they were driving down a twisting, winding road. Annie had him make one more turn onto a gravel road. Cole felt like he was in a time warp.
Annie could barely stay seated while he drove down the gravel road. As soon as he parked the truck in front of her parents’ house, her door flew open and she raced across the yard to her parents’ welcoming arms. The scene brought up too many emotions for Cole to comprehend. He was sad because he couldn’t remember his parents ever caring for him that way. It also made him angry. Seeing Annie so happy eased away all the dark feelings though, giving way to happiness; his happiness for her and with her.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Annie
The entire trip had been dreamlike for Annie. When she had taken off for New York, she never dreamed she would return to her small town and see it as a safe haven. The closer they got to her town, and to her childhood home, Annie could barely contain her excitement. Everything looked the same, but Annie looked at it differently now. Instead of boring old Walmart and the same boring places to eat, she saw comfort and reliability.
Even though she had never looked down on the home she had grown up in, she would be lying if she didn’t admit that there were times she had wanted more from it. Maybe for it to be bigger or fancier, but now she knew that it was perfect. Her parents had filled it with love and memories. No matter where Annie went, or what she went through, she could show up and her parents would greet her with open arms.
Her mom released her just then, and her father immediately grabbed her up in a big bear hug. She hadn’t seen her parents in over a year, and the last time she had seen them was only for a few hours when they had met her halfway for dinner. When her dad released her, Annie stepped back and instantly became aware of Cole’s presence.
She turned and took him in against the setting of her parents’ country home. He was dressed casually in a pair of dark blue jeans and light blue t-shirt that made his blue eyes more vibrant. He looked good in anything he wore, but she liked him best when he was in a shirt and jeans. Not only did they emphasize his gorgeous body, but it made him seem younger and softer than usual.
Her father cleared his throat to get her attention. She blushed at being caught staring at him in front of her parents.
“Mom, Dad, this is Cole Bennett my umm…he’s uhh…” Annie felt her heart rate accelerate as she stumbled over herself.
“Boyfriend. I’m her boyfriend. It’s nice to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Longston.”
“Oh, for heavens sake, any man who makes our Annie blush and stutter should probably call us Mom and Dad.”
Annie jerked her head to her mom and then back to Cole. His expression looked dumbstruck, but she could read his body language. He seemed to wilt under the weight of her mom’s words. Annie still hadn’t heard the story of his parents, but she knew that Cole didn’t even call his own mother mom except when he was being sarcastic or snide.
“Whatcha got in that bag, son?” Her dad said, pointing to Cole’s grocery bags.
“We brought steaks. Annie said you all had a grill, and it’s been too long since I had a good grilled steak.” Cole said, his charming smile easily winning over Annie’s mom.
Annie giggled as her mom’s eyes popped. Her dad looked like he was debating on whether or not Annie and Cole had pulled a fast one on him or were being genuine. Cole’s years of persuasion must have won out because her dad slapped him on the back and started in on how amazing his grilling skills were. Annie breathed a sigh of relief.
Her mother, on the other hand, wasn’t so easily fooled by their story.
“You didn’t have to do that.” She whispered to Annie when her dad was out of ear shot.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Cole really likes steak cooked on a grill.” Annie said with a shrug.
“He’s cute.”
“I know.”
“He makes you smile.”
“He also makes me crazy.”
“Honey, only the best ones do. Come on now, I want to know what’s been keeping you so busy you haven’t been able to come visit for almost two years.”
Annie followed her mom inside. She was greeted with the scent of Pinesol and a cinnamon scented candle burning in the middle of the kitchen table. Cole was unpacking the food alongside her father on the far side of the kitchen. Cole towered over her father, his broad shoulders taking up most of the space. Annie had never thought her parents’ kitchen was small by any means, but seeing someone of Co
le’s size in it, made it seem tiny.
Even though they had spent the day in the car, Cole still looked like his perfect self. Annie felt like she looked rumpled and disheveled. Her curls were in one of their moods too: sticking out and being their terrible selves. Annie wasn’t sure why Karen had ever thought Annie was a good match for Cole. It must have just been the fact that Annie needed the protection of Cole’s name and clout that had caused Karen to put them together.
Annie did have to admit that the attraction they seemed to have for each other was strong. When they were touching or kissing was about the only time they got along. Any other time they usually ended up in some sort of argument. Annie couldn’t help but smile over the fact, though. Arguing with Cole was sometimes how they ended up kissing; he would kiss her to shut her up. Annie’s fingers glided over her lips.
Cole’s cell phone rang, startling all of them.
“Excuse me.” He said, before stepping back out on the front porch.
“Look at these steaks, Elaine.” Her dad whistled, as he unwrapped one.
“My, those look wonderful.”
“Where’s that seasoning I like so well, hun?” Her dad asked.
Her mom hurried over to her seasoning cabinet and started searching. Her mom’s seasoning cabinet was always overstocked. Annie found her mom’s slight hoarding habits endearing after being away from them for so long.
“What can I do to help?” Annie asked.
“Talk. We want to know how you’ve been.”
“Yeah, and what’s this about beard oil or whatever that brings you down here anyway?” Her dad added.
“Well, one of Cole’s business friends makes beard oil, and when I met him I made a joke about the fact that beards were plentiful down here. Next thing I know he’s inviting us to lunch to ask me to bring him to my home state, so he can do just that.”
“Wow! That’s impressive. How exciting!” Her mom said, now standing on her tippy toes and leaning well into her cabinet still searching for the missing seasoning.
