by Cassie Cross
Abigail had a sad, amused glint in her eyes.
“We lived out of our car. So, she left me that. I ended up selling it for a thousand dollars in order to pay for my college application fees and books. But I have a few little trinkets, things that remind me of her.”
Of course, Cole was asking specifically about money, because in his privileged world, that was a parent’s legacy: what kind of estate they left to their children. He felt like a damned fool for even having asked the question, but he wanted to know if she’d been taken care of.
“Trinkets?” he asked, anxiously waiting for any crumb of information she could give him about her earlier life.
“A pair of earrings,” she said, pointing to the diamond studs she was wearing. “A few notes and things that meant something to her.” Abigail looked as if she was escaping into a beautiful memory when she continued. “She always had this music box, when I was growing up. It was round and green,” she said, smiling. “There was a little frog and some dragonflies painted on the top, and when you opened it, it would play ‘Someone To Watch Over Me.’ I used to wind it up and fall asleep to the music.”
“Used to?” he asked. Realizing he hadn’t touched his food, he grabbed his hamburger and took a bite, even though he was no longer very hungry.
“A few of my boxes got lost between Cleveland and New York when I was moving,” she said, her voice wavering.
Christ, could anything more happen to this woman? Cole reached out and took her hand, caressing the soft skin on her palm with the pad of his thumb. When she squeezed his fingers, he made a silent promise that he was going to find that music box. How she was able to sit there and tell him this and still have the strength to stay upright, Cole didn’t know. His heart broke for her, but it was far outweighed by his admiration for her strength. He’d never known anyone like her.
“Where was your father?” Cole asked, then immediately regretted it. He couldn’t help his thirst for knowledge, but he was being nosy, and this was obviously a sensitive subject. But, Abigail surprised him once again.
Her smile was kind. “I wouldn’t have told you any of this if I minded the questions.” She pushed a fry around her plate, smearing ketchup along the edge. “I haven’t ever met him.”
This life of hers was so foreign to his own. He knew he was privileged, but he’d never truly felt the extent of it until he was sitting across from this amazing woman. “She would be proud of you. Your mother, I mean.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Many people in your position would’ve felt sorry for themselves and given up. You, you finished college at the top of your class, moved to New York, and now you’re following your dream.”
Abigail laughed as she swirled her straw in her drink.
“What?” Cole asked.
“I’m not following my dream.”
“You mean working for me isn’t your life’s goal?” Cole pressed his hand against his chest, pretending to be wounded.
“It’s up there,” she said, grinning. He was beginning to appreciate the strength behind that grin. “But not quite the pinnacle for me.”
“Then what is?” he asked. He wanted this piece of information more than any of the others.
“What, so you can fire me?”
“So I can help you reach it.” After being around Abigail for the past few days and learning what he’d learned about her over the past hour, those words didn’t surprise him, but they certainly surprised her.
“Honestly?”
“Yeah,” he replied, nodding.
“I want to own a candy store.” She almost looked embarrassed when she said it.
“A candy store?” He was surprised by her answer, to say the least.
“Gourmet candy. I like to make chocolate.”
“I didn’t know that. Why haven’t you ever brought any into the office?”
“I have,” she said, giving him a chastising look.
“I’ve never seen it.”
“I gave you a box at Christmas.” Even though she had every right to be angry that he didn’t remember, her good humor was evident in her smile. “You probably threw it away or gave it to someone to test for poison.”
Cole attempted a laugh, but it didn’t feel right. He’d been an ass to her. Occasionally it was to get under her skin, but sometimes it was because he was genuinely an ass. He was going to have to be better about that. Realizing he was still holding her hand, he gave it another squeeze.
“I apologize for that. I’d love to taste it some time.”
She nodded. “Sometimes I set up a stand in the Union Square Market on Saturdays.”
“So, if I want to try them, I’ll have to buy them?” Cole teased, smiling at her.
“Maybe,” she teased back. “Eat your burger.”
Cole winked at her as he took a bite, and the two of them ate and made small talk. At the end of the meal, when Cole was paying the check, Abigail asked him a question that truly floored him.
“Do you have any community centers in New York?” She fished in the bowl of candy by the register and picked out a swirly red peppermint.
“Yes,” he replied. “In Brooklyn. Why?”
She shrugged as she popped the candy in her mouth. “I liked spending time with the kids today, and I was thinking about how nice it would’ve been to have a place like that to go to when I was a kid. I think it would’ve helped me. I’d like to volunteer.”
Cole nodded slowly, taking in what she’d just said to him. “I’ll talk to Antonia; she runs the center.”
“Great.” Abby grinned at him before she turned and headed for the door.
He was watching her walk away from him when the realization hit him.
He was falling in love with her.
CHAPTER FOUR
COLE AND Abby stepped out into the crisp night air, both of them quiet as they walked down the sidewalk and back to their hotel. Abby, who was usually never at a loss for words, was having a difficult time coming up with light conversation after she’d just spilled her guts to Cole while they were eating. She never expected to want to tell him so much about herself. In the past, a part of her had worried that he would use that knowledge against her in some way, but that was before she paid attention to the kind of person he was.
During this trip—today especially—Abby had really begun to see Cole. She knew he would always have command of whatever room he walked into; that was part of who he was, what made him so successful. But now, she could see what was behind that unrelenting confidence. It wasn’t ego like she initially thought, although he certainly had that in spades. It was a genuine desire to do well with what he’d been given in life. He knew how lucky he was, and he didn’t want to take that for granted. But most importantly, he wanted to give the people who weren’t so lucky a chance at succeeding, too. It was such an admirable trait, and one that Abby probably never would’ve realized if she hadn’t come on this trip with him.
That desire in Cole was part of what had made Abby tell him the story of her past. The confession was even a bit easy for her, strangely enough. She wanted him to know everything that made her who she was, everything that made her tick. That was a rare thing for Abby, who was usually very reserved about her past. Because confessions like hers usually come with a price, and Abby could tell that Cole wasn’t sure exactly how to react to her now. What do you say to a woman who told you she lived in a car until her mother died when she was sixteen? The answer, at least in Cole’s case, was that he didn’t say anything at all.
Abby crossed her arms over her chest, rubbing her upper arms with her hands to generate some extra heat. The wind whipping off the lake made Chicago colder than New York, and she hadn’t thought to bring a jacket when she left the hotel earlier. It wasn’t long before Cole slipped his jacket over Abby’s shoulders. He pulled her closer to him, and she tucked herself under his arm, snuggling up to the warmth of his body. She turned her head and breathed in the smell of the collar of his jacket before
looking up at him for the first time since they left the diner.
“Thank you,” she said.
Cole smiled at her with sadness in his eyes. Sadness that made Abby’s heart sink.
She hated that look. She had spent most of her life on the receiving end of it, and that was why she so seldom told anyone about her mother. When she had decided to tell Cole, she had hoped that this would open up an easy understanding between the two of them, not make him treat her like a wounded bird.
Her anger and frustration grew as she and Cole approached the hotel, coming to a head when they were in the elevator and Abby glanced over and caught him looking at her with that sadness in his eyes again. She didn’t want to see that sadness ever again; all she wanted to see when he looked at her was that fire, the unbridled desire that always seemed to come out when he kissed her and couldn’t keep his hands off of her.
Abby was determined to do whatever she had to in order to see that look again.
Cole slipped the key card into the lock, and held the door for her as she walked inside. The second the door closed, Abby stood on the tips of her toes and pressed her lips against his, frantically trying to make things right again, to get them back to a more physical place in their relationship. Cole seemed surprised at first, but it only took a moment for his body to respond to her. His hands were everywhere: her neck, the small of her back, her ass. When they finally broke apart, Abby rested her forehead on Cole’s chest and worked at the button on his jeans.
“What are you doing?” he asked, breathless. “Not that I’m complaining, but…” He tilted her head up until their eyes met, and there was that look again, like he wanted to scoop her up in his arms and hold her.
Abby gripped Cole’s hoodie, needing something to hold onto while she said what she was going to say. Those crystal-blue eyes of his were flooded with uncertainty and watching her so intently that she didn’t know what to do with herself. She didn’t know if she would be able to get this out the way that she wanted to.
Abby took a deep breath, focusing on the way the soft cotton of his hoodie felt beneath her hands in order to distract herself from his perfect, beautiful face. Then she looked up at him, resolute.
“Don’t pity me,” she said, her words hard as stone.
He furrowed his brows. “I don’t pity you.”
He was a liar. “Yes you do,” she insisted. “I’ve seen that look enough to know what it is, and I hate seeing it on anyone’s face, especially yours. Nothing can change the past, Cole, so there’s no reason to be sad about it. Look how far I’ve come.” Cole’s hands wrapped around hers, and the warmth of his skin made it difficult for her to concentrate. “I’m so much better off than other people who grew up like I did, you know that. I want you to look at me the way you did in your office that night; like you can’t get enough of me, like nothing in the world could make you keep your hands off me. Not like this.”
Cole searched Abby’s eyes, taking in everything she’d just said, but it was too long for her. She reached forward and slid her hand along the crotch of his jeans, and his eyelids fluttered. He was already hard, just from one kiss. She cupped his erection and he bucked against her hand as his expression completely changed from pity to desire to absolute raging lust.
“Nothing in this world can make me keep my hands off of you.”
And for the first time since they left the diner, Abby liked the way Cole looked at her.
CHAPTER FIVE
IF ABIGAIL didn’t want Cole to look at her with pity in his eyes, she made it incredibly easy when she touched his cock like that.
This woman does things to me that no woman has ever done before. Cole didn’t mean that in the physical sense, although Abigail was exceptional in that area, but he wanted to let her get to know him, to show her parts of himself that he’d never let anyone else see. He wanted to crack himself open like a book and let Abigail read every single page of him. Everything he thought, everything he had ever done, everything he wanted to do; he wanted her to know all of it. But Cole would have to push that desire aside to make room for one of a more carnal nature, because when she put herself on offer the way she just did, he had no choice but to indulge himself.
Usually he liked to tease Abigail, make her wait until she was desperate for him, but tonight he didn’t take his time with undressing her or bother with seduction. He wanted her now. Needed her now, right here in this foyer. As if Abigail could sense his urgency, she peeled off her clothes, tossing them into a pile on the floor. Cole did the same, needing to quench the fire that burned for her inside of him, to ease the ache he felt for her body. When they were naked, Cole kissed Abigail and picked her up, then she wrapped her legs around his waist. He could feel the wetness of her desire against his cock and he kissed her again hungrily, his lips and tongue eager for her taste.
Bed? He couldn’t even wait to walk that fifty or so feet. Instead, he set her down on top of the table in the foyer, knocking over the antique vase that was there in the process.
Fuck it, he thought. I’ll pay whatever it costs.
Abigail laughed when the vase fell and she looked down at its cracked remnants on the floor. Cole brushed his fingers beneath her chin, bringing her gaze back to his. Then they kissed, their tongues moving perfectly against each other. Cole loved the way she tasted, always so sweet, even now. Like cream soda and salt and perfection.
As Cole ran his fingertips along the swell of Abigail’s breast, he felt a surge of possessiveness crash over him. Even though he’d felt something similar toward her a couple of days ago, the feeling was still foreign to him. He’d never really cared much what any of his other partners did once they were finished fucking. But with Abigail, he wanted her to keep coming back for him. He wanted to be the only one who was privileged enough to kiss her lips, lick her breasts, and be cloaked in the cape of her body. He wanted to be the only one who could make her wet, who could make her come.
“You’re mine,” Cole growled, pressing his lips against Abigail’s ear as he slid his fingers along her wet slit.
She drew in a sharp breath through her teeth, resting her head against the wall. She lifted her legs until her feet rested against the top of the table, giving Cole full access to her.
“I’m yours,” she breathed, wrapping her fingers around Cole’s wrist.
He’d never wanted to hear two words as much as he wanted to hear those, and they spurred him on as he slipped two fingers inside her. “No one else can make you feel like I do.”
“No one makes me feel like you do.” She exhaled a long breath as he curled his fingers, finding her G-Spot. Her eyes rolled back and she wrapped her arms around him, pulling him closer for a kiss. “No one.”
Abigail gently clasped her hand around Cole’s cock and slid the tip back and forth along the folds of her pussy, making him groan. She felt so good that he splayed his hands out across the table on either side of her hips and leaned forward, not confident in the ability of his legs to keep him upright any longer. He wanted, more than anything, to push into her and feel her along every centimeter of his cock, skin to skin, nothing between them. Cole had promised himself when he first began things with Abigail that he wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize her future, and in hindsight he supposed that he already had. He had to keep himself from thrusting, knowing it would be such a stupid thing to do. But he needed it so badly…
Abigail must’ve known what Cole was thinking, because she cupped his cheek with her hand as she leaned in very close and whispered, “I’m on the pill.”
Cole searched her eyes, those deep, rich, hazel eyes, and he knew that she wanted to feel him as badly as he wanted to feel her. Just to give him a little extra reassurance, she pushed her hips forward until the tip of his cock was enveloped in her soft warmth. Cole groaned, then slid the rest of the way in until he filled her to the hilt.
He could’ve stayed right there for the rest of his life and died a happy man.
“You’re heaven,” Cole whi
spered, unable to say anything else. He kissed Abigail’s neck, then slid out of her only so he could feel the exquisite pleasure of pushing back inside of her again. He thrust a few more times, relishing the velvety warmth of her, living for the sounds she made as he rubbed her clit with his thumb. Just when he was teetering on the edge of orgasm, Abigail stilled his hips.
“On the floor,” she said, eyeing the marble beneath them. Cole was game for anything she desired, so he reluctantly pulled out of her and lowered himself onto the cool stone. Before he knew her intimately, he would’ve never guessed that she was this kind of partner. He loved the way she took control and told him what she wanted, because whatever that was, he wanted to give it to her.
“Lie back,” Abigail told him, gently pushing Cole’s chest until he was prone on the floor. She straddled his hips, and not wanting to give her full control yet, he laced his fingers with hers and pulled her forward until her knees were on either side of his head. He brushed the inside of her thigh with his chin, knowing his stubble would tickle her.
Abigail squealed and wiggled her hips, taunting Cole. He parted her flesh with his fingers then laved his tongue along her clit. Abigail moaned, leaning back and resting her hands on Cole’s chest. He couldn’t get enough of her taste, her smell. Her hips were moving rhythmically to the tempo of his tongue, and he wrapped his arms around her hips so she couldn’t escape him. He sucked and licked her until her muscles tensed and weakened and she had to lean forward and rest her palms on the floor to hold herself up.
Cole grinned, satisfied, and when Abigail went to reciprocate, sliding her body down the length of his until her mouth was level with his cock, he was surprised by his next move.
“No,” he said, taking her hands and pulling her back up so that he could plant a kiss on her lips. It was a kiss that lingered, a kiss that made him want more. “I just want to be inside of you.” He’d never turned down head before and couldn’t make sense of it. He just knew that he needed to be as close to her as he could, and he needed it now.
