“Nobody is out here.” The mansion was surrounded by acres of land—they could party naked out here and no one would ever notice. Willing to distract her, he lifted her on top of the hood and kissed her senseless. At least that was what he hoped he was doing. Soft moans were a good sign in his opinion. Kissing her neck down to the swell of her breasts, she eventually gave in to him. The moment of her surrender was apparent in her heavy sigh and the way she wrapped her legs around his hips so that their bodies were pressed tightly against each other.
He was painfully hard for her, a need raging inside of him that ate him up alive. Cole welcomed the feeling, welcomed anything Jasmine brought back into his life. With a growl, he nipped at her throat, demanding everything. Beneath him, her body relaxed until she lay back completely, her light brown hair like a halo around her head on the hood of the pickup truck. She was so damn beautiful.
Like an angel.
At the realization, his heart skipped a beat. How had he forgotten?
♥♥♥
Chapter 10
SINCE THEIR INTENSE get-together on top of the car, they hadn’t slept apart once for a week now. Every night Cole rocked her world. Hard. And so damn satisfying that solely thinking about him made her want him. Sometimes he even woke her in the middle of the night to take her again. Oh, Jasmine wasn’t complaining, not at all. Perhaps once or twice she’d been the one to wake him. It was just…his large frame pressed against her all night.…Mmm. Sex with Cole was like everything else with him—freaking intense.
While Jasmine generally didn’t like to be controlled or guys ordering her around because they would cage her creativity with it, in bed it was a whole different story. Having his heavy weight on top of her but feeling totally and utterly safe in this huge man’s hands was a great sensation. She could let herself fall. It was heaven. Also, he joked around more and more with her, even laughed out loud a few more times. If Jasmine didn’t watch out, she could crush on him—crush on him badly.
This morning he’d taken her in the shower; now the expression hot, steamy shower made sense to Jasmine. Afterward, he’d declared that she should take all the time she needed, and he would prepare breakfast. That was the thing about him—despite the first impression of an arrogant, demanding man, which he had made on her during the meeting at Hall & Son, Cole really wasn’t that bad. Sure, he was cocky from time to time, but he wasn’t a man who only took, took, took. No, in fact, he was pretty attentive, even caring.
Yep, crushing. Jasmine sighed helplessly—there was nothing she could do about it after he’d given her a whole week of deep conversation, great humor, laughter, fun, and good loving every night. Had it only been the sex, her heart wouldn’t have been involved, but she might actually like him. But what about after her job here was done? What about—quickly she stopped herself. A worry for another day. Now she needed to concentrate because they had finally cleaned out the first floor. Today the two of them would take in the empty rooms and exchange their ideas for the place.
After having dressed, Jasmine went downstairs. Before she entered the kitchen, she heard Cole’s deep voice. It wasn’t only the soft tone he used, but also the words as such, which made Jasmine stop dead in her tracks. Leaning against the wall of the hall, she waited to hear more.
“You’re hungry? I bet you are, baby boy.” Obviously, he was talking to her beloved little French bulldog. Only for the first time, Cole didn’t call him flea-ball.
“Here you go, and don’t tell your mommy, remember?” The gentle tone made her heart melt. Was he feeding Chester treats and demanding he not tell her? Quickly Jasmine raised her hand and pressed it against her lips to hide her giggles. The man had a soft spot for little Chester after all.
“Tasty, huh?” Jasmine pictured Chester chewing enthusiastically like he always did when he got special treats. “I know, I know, here’s another one. But that’s it, okay?” She heard a few steps, perhaps Cole making his way back to the stove? “Don’t look at me with those puppy eyes; that’s not fair.”
At that her grin grew so wide, it probably was plastered all over her face. Just then, she would have given everything to see this sweet side of Cole and not only hear it. But it was okay; his secret was safe with her. Taking in a few deep breaths, she tried to control her bright smile. Going with a hopefully neutral expression, she decided to save Cole from Chester’s deadly puppy eyes.
“Good morning!” she greeted when entering the kitchen. Both males immediately looked at her. The little dog was happy as ever, running toward her, butt wiggling, intending to give her a proper greeting. In contrast, Cole jumped a little. Ha, gotcha! Jasmine thought but didn’t let on. Also, Cole’s expression changed quickly; a slow smile spread on his face. Sigh-worthy. It immediately reminded her of how close they’d been this morning. All over her skin, goose bumps erupted. It only worsened when he knowingly smiled and pressed a kiss onto her lips.
“Morning, angel.” The deep timbre of his voice vibrated throughout her whole body.
“I still don’t get why you call me that,” she mumbled, trying to get a hold of her creative mind.
“You don’t have to,” he answered like every other time she’d asked him. “Breakfast is ready.” With that, he led her to the kitchen counter. Bacon, scrambled eggs, and pancakes already awaited them.
“You’re a god, you know that?” Wide-eyed, Jasmine took in all the delicious goods, which Cole must have prepared just for the two of them. See? Again he was providing her with one of these small but so important gestures of caring. Somewhere deep down, behind his scowl, beneath his dark stare, there was a good man. Somewhere on the road of life he had gotten lost. Jasmine wasn’t dumb, knew that something had happened, but that was okay. With that she could deal.
“A god? You tell me every night.” Grinning widely, he took a seat at the opposite side of the kitchen counter on one of the barstools.
Laughing, Jasmine called him a dickhead. Cole just grinned. This morning he seemed much happier than before, as if he was lighter. The heavy weight on his chest was lifting tiny bit by tiny bit. Smiling back, she got lost in his dark eyes for a second. Thankfully, the smell of the food was so good that it reminded her of eating instead of staring.
“How did the flea-ball lose his ear?” he asked after they’d started devouring the food.
“Flea-ball, really? You still call him that?” Raising an eyebrow, Jasmine did everything not to show her knowing grin. Earlier she’d suspected that he only wanted to annoy her; now she knew for sure. Why? He’d told her a few days ago how much he liked it when she was passionate about something. Was that his reason for baiting her?
“How did the flea-ball lose his ear, now?” he repeated, not blinking once, though only half an hour before, he’d called Chester his baby boy. Inwardly, Jasmine shook her head and grinned. Strange man. Why did she like him so much again?
“Whoever cut it off deserves a fucking beating.” His menacing growl immediately reminded her why. Touched by his anger, she stretched her arm out to lay her hand on his.
“He was born like that, Cole, just a genetic defect.” Promptly he turned his palm upside down; as a result, her hand now lay in his. Swiftly he closed his fingers around her much smaller hand.
“So that is why you found him in a dumpster?”
Quickly she looked up to the serious expression on his face. “You remember!” she exclaimed. At her arrival at the mansion, she’d mentioned it in anger. Never had she expected him to keep that in mind.
“I remember everything about you, Jasmine.” The grim lines around his lips grew a little deeper, the look in his eyes even darker. Was he saying more than she understood? Beneath his gaze, she felt her skin heating as if he was burning her. Like many times before, Jasmine got the feeling that he was seeing right into her head. This time she would have liked to turn the tables, at least get a glimpse of his thoughts.
“I…I think…” stuttering, she tried to distract herself, “…the breeder threw him
away because with one ear missing Chester isn’t worth the full price.”
“Fucking asshole,” was Cole’s reaction to her words. Apart from that, nothing changed, though—his gaze was still locked on hers. At least his fingers had begun to play with Jasmine’s, perhaps not intending to calm her, but doing so anyway.
“But Chester is okay now. He had a shitty start, but now everything is great.”
Grimly, Cole nodded. He led her hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to it. “You gave him that.”
A tiny smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. It was always the little things that made the difference in life, right? Momentarily, it was the feeling of Cole’s stubble on her hand. Gently she tugged at it until he let go of her fingers. Right after, Jasmine used the freedom to caress his jaw and cheekbones, taking in the feeling of his steadily growing beard.
“Why don’t you shave anymore?”
“So, it does bother you,” he stated. As he tried to move his head away, she pressed her palm against his left cheek a little more firmly.
“No.” To show him how serious she was, she raised her brows. “It just confuses me. That very first day you wore a suit and were cleanly shaven. You looked like you belonged on the cover of GQ—the perfect businessman.”
In reaction, he gave a dismissive sound.
“Now I’ve seen you in jeans…normal, and with stubble. I guess I’m just trying to figure out—who’s the real you?”
“Does anybody really know that?” At his dark question, he seemed so lost it robbed her of her breath.
Leaning a little further over the kitchen counter between them, she put her second hand against his face so that she was framing it. “I like the beard,” she assured him, even though what she really meant was that she liked the person whom Cole was becoming. The businessman had been stone-cold; the man in front of her in this very moment made her laugh and fall in lust with him—if not more.
Giving him a short but tender kiss, she relaxed back into her chair again. “So today the great planning begins!” Cheerily she winked at him. When he scoffed, she grinned. “Not a morning person?” she teased, though they both knew it was the other way around.
“Someday, I really should spank you.”
“So I better make sure to include a room with special toys in the new plan, right?” She clapped her hands. “I’ll get right to it!”
When she reached her goal of making him laugh, she immediately joined in. “You really are something, angel,” Cole mused, shaking his head.
“A woman perhaps?” Playing dumb she raised her brows suggestively.
“You better include that room—I will spank your ass.”
♥♥♥
Chapter 11
“NO, I DON’T like that idea.” For about the millionth time, Cole shook his head, blowing her off before she could even try and finish explaining her plan. Well, one of the many, many plans she’d come up with. It was the third day of planning, but they still hadn’t found common ground. In fact, he was driving Jasmine crazy.
Slowly but steadily, she got the feeling that Cole didn’t want to renovate. Or he did want to renovate but not change anything. Of course, they could build it up like it had been before the vandalism, renew the flooring and wallpaper, then be done with it. Initially, though, he’d come to Hall & Son to get some new ideas. Hell, he’d told Jasmine himself that he wanted her to make everything different. Only now, he seemed to struggle with making even the tiniest of changes.
Trying her best to keep her patience, Jasmine sighed. “Cole, I’m not sure if I can help you here,” she breathed out, shaking her head in surrender.
“What?” His head snapped in her direction. Apart from the clothes and the growing beard, he looked as tense again as the man she’d first met in the Hall & Son building. Every muscle rigid, his hands balled into fists. Like a caged tiger, he paced up and down in what used to be his living room but was now completely empty.
“I’m sorry, but I’m running out of ideas. So far, you’ve rejected everything I suggested. I can’t think of any more. Perhaps David …”
“David!” He immediately scoffed, cutting through her words. In the middle of the room, he came to a sudden stop. “David is not even half creative as you are.”
“Thanks, but I think he’s quite capable of doing his job.” Although it pleased Jasmine that Cole thought so highly of her, in her opinion creativity wasn’t the problem here. “I think something is bugging you badly, big guy.” She tried a light tone, only to watch his muscular frame tense up even more. Cautiously stepping close to him, she laid a hand on his arm. “If you want everything to be different, you have to let me.”
“I do want that; the ideas just are wrong.” At his harsh tone, she blinked up at him. A muscle beneath his left eye ticked. Still, she couldn’t back off now—they wouldn’t get any further with the renovations of the house if she didn’t say anything. Three days of spinning in a circle was enough.
“I presented you so many ideas, and still I’m pretty sure you don’t remember even one of them. You didn’t listen, you didn’t want to hear it.” Sympathetically Jasmine stroked up and down his arm. Perhaps she had never felt the pain of a divorce; that didn’t mean she couldn’t imagine how hard it must be to let it all go. A marriage normally didn’t start off badly—he probably had plenty of beautiful memories with his ex in this house. Even if the divorce had been messy, there obviously was still a lot of good stuff inside of these walls.
“No, it’s…” he cut himself off, swallowing hard, “…it’s just not right!” He became more and more agitated, ripped his arm free, and started pacing all over again.
“I think you need to let go, Cole, of whatever is bugging you. Otherwise we’ll never be able to renovate this place,” Jasmine explained in a low voice. It hurt to be rejected, but it hurt even more to see him so tense. Could a messy divorce really affect him so badly? He seemed totally off balance, as if the memories in his head hurt him.
They’d been sleeping together for over a week now and he’d held her closely every night. So yeah, Jasmine was jealous of the other woman who still held him captive, even though they obviously weren’t together anymore. In a way, it made her feel dirty, as if she’d slept with a married man. That wasn’t her style at all. The unwanted emotion angered her. That was his fault; Cole had made her feel that way.
“You know what? Perhaps I should just leave.” If he couldn’t change the badly damaged flooring because even that reminded him of his wife, he probably should try and get back together with her instead of sharing the bed with Jasmine! Angrier at that thought, she whirled around. Being a one-night or a fucking one-week stand didn’t sit well with her. Normally, she was a long-term relationship kind of girl—therefore, it hurt her to see Cole like that. Of course she also wanted to soothe him, but she couldn’t do both at the same time—flee and console him.
“I’ll leave and you call David; perhaps he has ideas which you see fit.” When she stepped away, her shoulders were rigid. Under no circumstances would she be the other woman.
“Jasmine, wait.” At his demand, she only shook her head. He might be dominant, but she was pigheaded as hell. Ha. “Jasmine.” He literally growled her name. Not a second later, he rushed past her to block her way with his tall frame.
“We both know it’s not about the ideas, Cole!” In her frustration, Jasmine helplessly threw her hands into the air. They’d been discussing one plan after another for three days. Not once had he said something like Okay, let’s work on that idea. No, he’d dismissed everything immediately. Jasmine was done. No matter what, there was nothing she could do. He wouldn’t let her. “It’s not the ideas, it’s your ex!” The truth came out angrily. On top of that, she bored one finger into his chest accusingly.
She was a big girl, could take a lot, but she wouldn’t let him treat her like that—fucking her, but thinking about his former wife. Because in that case, it really was just that. Fucking. Not lovemaking or even sleeping
together. It was just an outlet, while he missed another woman.
Thank you, but no, thank you.
In order to hide the hurt in her eyes, Jasmine quickly lowered her gaze. It was too late, though, tears already shimmered within them. Stupid, she cursed herself inwardly. It wasn’t like Cole had ever promised her anything. Only it had felt like…something.
While Cole’s hands embraced her face, feeling way too good on her skin, his words shocked her even more. “She’s not my ex,” he eventually said.
Prompt, blazing hot fury shot through her. The bastard had made her an adulterer? What the fuck? Where was his ring? There wasn’t even a white line on the otherwise bronzed skin of his finger. Did he do this often—cheat on his wife with business associates? In shock, her eyes widened; she’d never felt this filthy before.
“You’re a fucking asshole, you know that?” Sadly, her curse didn’t carry the anger she felt for him, but only the hurt and her sentence ended in a sob. That’s what you got for crushing and taking a leap for a strange, secluded man like him. Very likely he wasn’t isolated or lonely, but only seemed this mysterious because he’d been lying to her the whole time—trying to hide the fact that he was married.
Had Jasmine been helping to renovate a house in which he would have a family with his wife, where he would raise his children? All of this was so fucked up, the betrayal stung like hell. “Chester! Come quick!” was all she managed to say because her throat was closing in. More tears were threatening to come.
No! No, no, no, not in front of him! After his revelation, she couldn’t look at him anymore. Shaking her head hard, his hands fell away.
“Jasmine, wait a second, that wasn’t w…” he started, but she didn’t let him finish.
“Chester!” she squealed, feeling tears running down her face. God, she felt so stupid! After only a week and a half, she shouldn’t react this strongly toward him or his betrayal, but she did. Because everything with him was intense—not only his stare, but him making her laugh, him making her feel safe and treasured, him loving her every single night. But well, he probably had never done that, only had taken his pleasure, nothing more.
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