There was a long pause, and he wondered, if maybe, just maybe, she had gotten the point this time. But Cole should have known better. Just like always, Mara only saw what she wanted to see. Mara only heard what Mara wanted to hear.
“Cole, listen...when I say I’ve thought about things, I really mean it. I thought about it a lot. I wasn’t fair to you. I had been neglecting you while dealing with everything with the store and you felt lonely. You went someplace where you could get the attention you needed. That’s what all of this was about. I can forgive you. It’s okay.”
He closed his eyes. “How magnanimous of you. That’s great. We’re still over. Now, will you stop calling me?”
“How can you be like this? We were together for years. Doesn’t that mean anything to you?” Her voice was husky soft. “Don’t I mean anything to you?”
Shit. “Mara, can we just not go there?”
“See? You do still care. That’s why you don’t want to talk about this. You still love me.”
“No.” The last thing he wanted to do was hurt her. Yeah, they had been together for a while, had some good memories during those years. Although he didn’t love her anymore, those years did matter to him. But Cole knew Mara—if she thought, for even an instant, that they might have a chance, she’d keep hounding him. “Mara, I don’t love you. I’m sorry. I don’t know when it happened, but I don’t think there’s been any love between us for quite a while. And once you get past your wounded pride, I think you’re going to realize that you don’t love me either.”
“This is about her, isn’t it? That bitch. Were you cheating on me with her?” Mara snarled.
Aw, hell. “No. I didn’t start seeing her until the week after I broke it off with you.”
“A week. Wow. You waited a week. You dump your fiancée, and now you’re shacking it up with that cow. You fucking bastard—”
“That’s enough. You will not talk about her like that.”
“Why not?” Mara laughed. “Seriously, Cole. I would’ve thought you had better taste. She must give a really good blow job or something. But that’s okay. You’ll get bored with her sooner or later. You’ll get over this freakish fluke and you’ll want me back. Maybe, if you’re lucky, I’ll take you back. If, and that’s a really big if, baby. I hope for your sake it’s sooner rather than later. That bitch doesn’t deserve somebody like you. Don’t make me wait too long.”
“Yeah, you keep holding your breath on that, Mara. Here’s something to chew on—this isn’t a fluke. I think I’m falling in love with her. Do us both a favor, don’t call again.” With anger pulsing inside him, he ended the call and tossed the phone down. He bent over the counter, his fists braced on it.
He had known that wouldn’t be fun. He’d been right.
I think I’m falling in love with her...
Eyes closed, Rocki leaned against the arched entryway that separated the hallway from her kitchen. The brick felt rough against her bare arms, too rough, but she welcomed it. It reminded her she was awake. And fairly clearheaded. So what she had just heard wasn’t just a narcotic-induced hallucination, right?
All these years...a smile curled her lips. She had spent years wondering whether anybody could ever make her heart roll over in her chest again. And it had just happened.
Pushing off the wall, she took one slow step. Then another. Her legs wobbled a little at first but then steadied, and by the time she was halfway across the kitchen, she felt almost normal. Except for the stupid brace thing on her arm, and the pain throbbing there. And of course, her heart was racing. She was also shaking something awful. But it was that exciting kind of shaking—the sort of shakes you got right before you got on a roller coaster. Terrified and excited, all rolled into one.
Then Cole lifted his head. She stilled as he turned around, his whiskey-gold eyes meeting hers.
Catching her lip between her teeth, she stared at him. Fire burned in his gaze. Fire, need...and worry. Then he blinked, and everything disappeared, hidden behind a cool, blank mask. “Hey there.”
Hmmm. So that’s how he was going to play it. Cool and calm, hoping she hadn’t heard? Not likely. “That was an interesting phone call.”
“Ahh...you heard?”
“I did.”
“How much?”
Rocki smiled at him. Closing the distance between them, she leaned against him. Carefully, she rested her injured hand on the counter beside him and wrapped her other arm around him. “Oh, I heard enough. Tell me, did you mean that? Or were you just trying to get her to leave you alone?”
“You know, a lot of people would pretend they hadn’t overheard a conversation that was clearly intended to be private.” He tapped her on the nose with the tip of his finger. “Even if they are going to eavesdrop.”
“Yeah. I figure if I’m rude enough to eavesdrop, then I’ll be honest about it and not bother pretending I didn’t overhear. And you’re sidestepping the question.”
“No, I’m not. I’m just trying to figure out how to answer it without scaring you off.” He stroked a hand up her back, curved around her neck. “I really, really don’t want to do that, Rocki.”
“Maybe it hasn’t occurred to you yet, but I don’t scare that easily. Give me some credit, Stanton.” Man, she loved the way he touched her, loved the warmth of his hands. Loved the way he looked at her—it wasn’t just like she was beautiful, although she really appreciated that. He looked at her like she was something special, somebody special. He made her feel like she mattered. It made her heart turn over. No, he wasn’t scaring her at all. Easing closer, she pressed her mouth to his. “Now answer my question. Did you mean it?”
“Yeah, I did.” His free hand closed around her waist, his fingers kneading the muscles at the small of her back. “I know we’ve joked about rushing things. And I know it’s early. I’m not getting ready to pop the question or anything. I just...hell, Rocki. You do things to my head that I can’t even describe. From the moment I first laid eyes on you, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you. The more I’m around you, the more I need to be around you.”
Then he groaned and slammed his head back against the cabinet behind him. “And that’s probably not what you need to hear right now, considering what happened yesterday. I swear, I’m not going all stalker on you.”
“Cole, trust me. I’ve had a stalker—I know what they are.” Smiling, she rested her head on his shoulder. “Besides, didn’t we already talk about this? If we start feeling like we’re moving too fast, then we’ll slow down. Right now, I think we’re moving along just fine.”
The hand massaging her back stilled. “We are?”
“I think so.” Easing back, she lifted her head to look at him. “Everybody kept thinking that all these years, I never got serious about anybody because I was still mourning my husband. I do still miss him—and you need to understand that part of my heart will always belong to him. But I’ve never gotten involved with anybody else because I haven’t met another guy who could make my heart flip over.” She reached up and touched the tip of her finger to his mouth. “Until you. I took one look at you and everything stopped—I was aggravated as hell about it, because you were taken. But I’m not kidding. One look, Cole...and everything just stopped. And it feels right. If it feels right, how can it be too fast?”
“Rocki. Aw, hell.” He slid his hands up and cradled her face. “Everything logical says otherwise. You know that, right?”
She smirked. “Screw logic.”
“Hmm. I like that logic.” His mouth brushed against hers. “So I guess we’re going to rush things, huh?”
“Nah. It’s not rushing. We’re just moving at our own pace.”
“Now that sounds good.”
As his mouth came down more firmly on hers, Rocki wondered if she’d be able to talk him into moving at their own pace to the bedroom...in a bit. Right now, she just wanted to enjoy the moment. Wanted to enjoy him.
About
Shiloh Walker has been writing
since she was a kid. She fell in love with vampires with the book Bunnicula and has worked her way up to the more…ah…serious works of fiction. She loves reading and writing anything paranormal, anything fantasy, and nearly every kind of romance. Once upon a time she worked as a nurse, but now she writes full time and lives with her family in the Midwest. She writes romantic suspense and contemporary romance, and urban fantasy under her penname, J.C. Daniels. You can find her at Twitter or Facebook and read more about her work at her website. Sign up for her newsletter and have a chance to win a monthly giveaway.
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