by Zoe York
Cole had run into Benji at lunch. He’d asked when Cole was coming to the house in a way that got him thinking. But going rounds with his thoughts wasn’t getting him anywhere. He needed to talk to Scarlett, and if this was the only way to do it, so be it.
He got out of the Buick and jangled the keys in his hand.
They shared something special. He’d thought they were on the same page. So what had happened?
If he wasn’t scared of losing her, he’d be pissed.
“Hey,” Benji called out.
Cole glanced to his left where Benji propped a long ladder against a tree bordering the gravel parking lot. Cole lifted his hand in a wave and started walking toward Benji. Maybe there was some intel he could provide Cole before he met Scarlett heads on.
Benji met him halfway in the shade of the large trees sheltering the hilltop.
“I was wondering when you’d show up,” Benji drawled.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Cole frowned.
“You know.” Benji grinned and shrugged.
“Actually, I don’t. That’s why I’m here. I don’t know what the hell is going on.”
“That’s what I thought. Women,” Benji said as though that explained it all.
“Where is she?”
“Still in the office last I saw. Good luck.” Benji backed away.
Cole set his eyes on the barn and felt the bite of anger mixed with hurt. He was going to get to the bottom of this. Scarlett was worth that. Seeing Cal and Eve, Cole had realized he wanted that. He hadn’t known for sure before seeing his brother happy and starting a family. If Cal could be happy, maybe Cole could to. With Scarlett if things went well.
Shadows clung to the east side of the building, hiding his approach. He paused on the doormat and studied Scarlett bent over the white wooden desk, a pencil in hand and three sheets of paper on three separate clip boards sitting in front of her. Her hair was up in a very messy bun. Bits had come loose. She wore a blue and white striped shirt. The neckline was so big it almost fell off one shoulder. The black bra strap was a stark contrast against her creamy skin.
What had she heard that had sent her running from him? What had she decided? Was it even something he did?
Cole pushed the door open and stepped inside.
“Hey, I’m—” She lifted her chin and her eyes widened, her lips parted.
He stood there, waiting for her to finish her sentence. Speak. Tell him off. Something.
“Cole,” she said after a pregnant pause. But that was all she said.
“That’s still my name. Or did you forget that? Maybe you forgot my phone number, too?” He tamped down on the growing frustration. There had to be a reason for this. Scarlett didn’t strike him as the callous kind of woman.
“I meant to call you.” She spread her hands. Her cheeks grew pink, the tips of ear ears red. “I just got busy.”
“Busy?”
“You don’t know how demanding weddings are.” Her dramatic sigh was too much. It rang of phoniness.
“I see.”
He couldn’t begin to know what had driven Scarlett to silence, what she was feeling or thinking. All he knew was himself.
“You couldn’t text, Hey, busy week. Catch up later?” He stepped around the desk, blocking her into the space.
Scarlett’s gaze darted at the door and she bit her lip again. Planning an escape?
“You’ve been intentionally ignoring me. I want to know why. If this,” he gestured to the space between them, “isn’t what you want, just tell me. Please? I know I’m not thinking straight right now. I’ve spent the last three days wondering what the hell I did and how to make it up to you, but I’m starting to think I didn’t do a damn thing. So, if you want me to stop, say so. Because unless you shut this down, I‘m going to try to figure this out.”
There was so much more he wanted to say. If she’d made up her mind, what was the point?
Since the moment he’d laid eyes on Scarlett, he’d felt the draw of her. It was at times intense and more than he’d bargained for, but he’d made up his mind. She had to want him back to make it work.
Scarlett just stared at him. She was almost all eyes now, they were so wide he could fall into them and be lost forever.
This didn’t feel right. Something was off and he couldn’t figure out what it was. He’d had this idea that if he showed up, it would all magically sort itself out one way or another, putting him out of his misery. But it hadn’t.
Cole took a step closer then knelt and placed a hand on her knee. She had one leg curled under her and her hands clasped tightly in her lap. He covered her hands with his and studied her.
What did he know?
She hadn’t dated in two years since the asshole. Like him, she’d tried to ignore what they had. It hadn’t worked for her either. She had been firm about boundaries though they’d crumbled in the face of desire.
Was that it? Her body wanted him but her head didn’t?
“Scarlett, I’m not going anywhere unless you tell me you don’t want to see me. I can’t promise you’ll never lay eyes on me. Ransom is a small town, but if you want me to leave you alone I will. I won’t want to.” He lifted her hands to his lips and kissed her knuckles one by one, all the while watching her face.
A little wrinkle developed between her brows. It grew deeper the more he kissed her.
“Baby, I don’t have a lot of answers, but what I can tell you is that I don’t know what happens next. I need you to help me figure that out. Talk to me. Tell me to fuck off or whatever you want.”
Scarlett blinked a few times, then a fat tear slid down her cheek, followed quickly by more.
“Shit.” Cole reached over and snagged a tissue from a nearby box. “Don’t cry. Don’t…”
He swiped at her cheek while she clutched his left hand as though it were a lifeline.
Screw this.
Cole pushed to his feet, scooped Scarlett up and sat with her cradled on his lap. He swiped at her cheeks, doing his best to dry her tears. They were coming faster than he could fight them. She buried her face against his neck and wrapped herself around him. His heart ached for her and he didn’t even know why.
After a few moments she seemed to catch her breath and her hold eased a tiny bit.
Outside the sun had completely set, plunging the world into darkness. It was just them.
“Scarlett? Baby?” He cupped her cheek and lifted her face so he could get a look at her. She didn’t meet his gaze and his heart fell.
This wasn’t what she wanted.
That had to be it.
Why else would she avoid him?
“I’m scared,” she finally said.
It was the last thing he’d expected her to say.
He stared at her down-turned face and wished he was an expert in Scarlett.
“Of me?” he asked.
“Of us.”
“Oh.” He stroked her back, his tension easing. “I get that. This has been intense.”
“It is. When I’m with you, it’s like…I forget everything else. I’m so swept up in the moment it’s like I’m powerless. I’m not, I know that, but I feel like the only option for me is you.”
“I feel the same way.” He stroked her back.
“And it doesn’t scare you?”
“Oh, it does, I just want you more than I’m afraid.” He smiled to cover up how much that fear was gnawing at him. “So, how did we get here?”
She sighed and splayed her hand against his chest, right over his heart. She owned that, did she know it yet? It was scary, big and unexpected, but damn it if he didn’t want to try.
“I got to thinking is all. How can this be real? How can this last? If we decide we want different things how will this end?”
“It ends a lot faster if you stop talking to me. You could have said all of this to me Tuesday.” He covered her hand at his chest and pressed it against him.
“I hadn’t realized it then. I was too caught up i
n…this. Us. I was overwhelmed.”
“What do you want, Scarlett? Do you want to work on this, or are you done?” Given what she’d been through with her ex, he couldn’t fault her for wanting to protect herself.
“I want this to work out, but I’m scared it won’t. I’m scared of how much it could hurt if it doesn’t.” She chuckled. “I’ve got that curse to watch out for and all.”
“But how good would it be if this does work?” The tight fist that had clenched on his insides relaxed a little and he sucked down a breath. He wasn’t ready to commit to the idea of kids. It was too soon for that talk, but his eyes were open to the possibility.
“I think I’m scared of that, too. I’m just—scared. It’s stupid. I’m sorry. I—”
“Baby. Sh.”
He gathered her to him, all the anger and fear gone out of him. He was asking her for everything she could give him. She was right to be afraid. He didn’t have the kind of history that inspired trust.
“You are not stupid. You are not cursed. And I’m scared, too. This is a lot for both of us. Just talk to me next time, okay? Even if it’s to tell me you need space. I don’t want to come home to another goodbye note.”
“Oh, God. I know. I’m sorry.” Scarlett nodded and swiped a hand at her cheek. “I thought about that last night and how I just—”
“It’s over. Just, don’t do it again, please? I didn’t like not hearing from you,” he said.
“I didn’t like not talking to you.”
“If you need me to back off, if you want space, tell me. I fucked that up with AK. We didn’t talk. If this, me and you, is going to work, you’ve got to talk to me.”
“I promise. And I’m sorry. Benji totally called me on being crazy last night. I’ve been trying to figure out how to start apologizing.”
“Maybe when I opened the door?”
“You looked angry. I panicked.”
“I was scared.” He kissed her cheek.
She wrinkled her nose. “I want to wash my face.”
He released his hold on her and helped her to her feet, then followed her through the second of two doors leading from the office. It let into a small room. One wall was glass with a table built into the wall. A long sofa stretched across the other side.
Scarlett ducked into a bathroom built onto the room.
“This is nice.” He took in the flowers and soft colors. “Bridal room?”
“Yeah.” The sink turned on. “How have you been? Did you have a better week?”
Crazy.
“Good.” He sat on the sofa and watched her drag a towelette across her face. The shirt was really a dress. The top was loose, then cinched in at her waist before flaring out in a loose skirt that fell to her knee. She was still barefoot, which made him smile for no reason. “Cal called me back.”
“He did?” Scarlet turned and stared at him, eyes wide.
“Yup.” Cole clasped his hands together. “I had dinner with him and his wife, Eve. They’re expecting a baby. They’re going to tell our sisters about me this weekend. The girls changed their names. That’s why it was next to impossible to find them.”
“You saw them already? How was it? How are they?” She tossed the rag in the bin and came to sit next to him on the sofa, legs curled under her.
“It was good. Some parts were sad, but mostly it was really good.”
“Why sad?”
“Because…” He shook his head. “The day they left I went to school, they stayed home sick, and when I asked Mom about them she told me CPS took them. That I was lucky I was in school. That doesn’t make any sense now that I look back on it. Turns out, she found someone willing to adopt all three.”
“Are you serious?” Scarlett reached for him and took his hand.
“Yeah. They grew up in Tennessee. Their adopted parents died a few years back, but by then Cal and Eve were married. They decided to all move here to be near Eve’s family. They’re happy. They’re good. The only way their life could be better was if their parents—their adopted ones—were still alive.”
“That’s amazing.” She squeezed his hand.
“Yeah. Cal had no idea there were more of us. He’s looking into trying to find our other brothers and sisters. He wants us to all do those DNA testing things in case they’re out there looking for us, too.” Cole had family now. Eve in particular seemed set on including him. She’d made sure to send him a link to a calendar that kept them all appraised of each other’s lives. There were already a half dozen holiday events scheduled.
“Are you happy you met them?”
“Hell yeah. I’m kicking myself for waiting this long. Think of all the time we lost out on.” He turned his head toward her. Cole had wanted her with him Tuesday. That was the only thing that hadn’t been perfect. “They’d like you.”
“I like them already.”
“Want to meet them?”
“Of course.”
“I’ll have to consult Eve’s calendar, but I’m pretty certain she already sent me like five dates to do dinner again.”
“Sounds really organized.”
“You have no idea. At one point Eve pulled out her with color tabs, highlighters and stickers. I wish you could have been there.”
“I’m sorry I wasn’t.” Scarlett ducked her head.
“Hey. Don’t do that.” He reached over and cupped her cheek. “I’m just glad we could talk it out.”
“Me, too.” A smile slowly spread across her face.
Cole couldn’t find it in him to be upset with the way the last few days had gone. He’d have liked for them to be on the same page, but he couldn’t find fault in rectifying their problems so easily. It gave him faith that, in the future, they could solve other problems in a similar fashion.
“Come here.” He slid his hand around to the back of her neck.
Scarlett leaned toward him, one side of her mouth hitching up
He kissed her, intending to keep it sweet. Light. But he was hungry. Three days of starvation and he couldn’t deal with it. Scarlett groaned and all the blood in his body went straight to his groin. He missed her moans, the way she felt when she clutched him tight.
She gripped his shoulder and the next thing he knew she’d straddled his lap. Her heat settled over his groin and she slid against him.
This wasn’t what he’d come over for. The smart thing to do would be to take it easy. Slow. And yet it had been days since he’d seen her. He wanted to be inside of her, to wrap himself up in her smell and taste her lips. Both of them.
But the intensity of what they had was exactly what had frightened her away from him.
“Scarlett.” Cole grasped her hands and pulled them off his chest.
She leaned forward, her breath coming in short pants, and kissed his cheek.
“We aren’t going to do this here like two lust drunk kids,” he said.
“But—”
“I want you, but I want to prove to you that you have a choice in this.” He lifted a hand and cupped her cheek. His dick was hard, pressed between them and throbbing. He wanted this, but he was playing a long game here. “Are you done for the day?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Then take me home with you.”
Scarlett studied him for a moment, then slid off his lap and onto her feet. She hooked her fingers in his and tugged him up after her. He followed her, flipping off the lights and waited for her to get her shoes on and grab her phone. Neither spoke as they exited the office and locked it up.
The crickets were out tonight, serenading them as they walked across the gravel and toward her house.
“Evening,” a deep voice called out.
Cole turned his head toward the two pickup trucks. Garth stood at the tailgate of the second one, bags in hand.
“Hey.” Scarlett waved.
The two men’s gaze locked for a moment. Garth’s brows were up, but there was no hostility there.
“Have a good night,” Cole said.
G
arth replied without missing a beat, “You, too.”
Scarlett chuckled but otherwise didn’t comment about her cousin. Cole hoped Garth was upholding his end of their bargain, but that was a topic for later.
“Has the pig been back?” he asked.
“No, I haven’t seen her since Friday.”
They climbed the stairs. She pushed the door to the house open and backed inside. A lamp had been left on in the living room on his left. It cast a nice glow, letting him see all of her. He shut the door then closed the distance between them.
She reached for him as he reached for her, both eager to pick up where they’d left off.
Her phone blared to life, ringing right in Cole’s ear.
Scarlett let go of him and frowned at the screen, then glanced at the window before answering it.
“What?” She stared out the window toward her cousin’s house.
Cole followed her gaze and saw Benji waving at them.
“Goodnight,” Scarlett said, then ended the call.
“Ever heard of curtains?” It wasn’t the first time Cole had noted the lack of window coverings.
“I like the sunlight in the morning.” She turned toward him, hand on her hip. More of her hair had fallen down and her dress sliding off that shoulder was giving him all kinds of ideas.
“Come here.” Cole held out his hand.
“Benji and Garth are right there.” Scarlett held up her hands.
“If they don’t want to see they shouldn’t watch.”
He grasped her by the wrist and pulled her toward him. She came willingly, a sparkle in her eye. He kissed her again and ignored his phone vibrating.
“I brought you home. Now what?” she whispered. The smile on her face was happy. He liked the flush in her cheeks, the way she looked at him. They made him think things about the future he hadn’t thought before.
“Have you eaten?” he asked.
“I can’t wait that long.” She took a step sideways, pulling him with her.
“I thought we were moving too fast.” He humored her, but only took the smallest of steps.
“I’m a woman. I’m a little crazy and full of contradictions.”
Food could wait. He was hungry for her.
He took her hand in his. She backed up the three steps leading to the little landing. He grinned and tugged on her. Too late she realized what he was doing. He caught her against his shoulder, whisking her off her feet.
