Songbird Caged

by Lisa Edward

  “Okay, you’ve behaved yourself very well, but I can see you want to say something to me. What is it?”

  He shook his head. “Don’t worry about it.”

  I took hold of his face in my hands, so he was looking at me. His emerald green eyes looked conflicted, like he wanted to say his piece, but he didn’t want to start another argument.

  Finally, he sighed. “I just don’t want you to lock yourself away for the next six months while you’re waiting for Hotshot to come home.”

  I smiled at him. “I’m not locking myself away. I’m going to stay here with you for a few days, and I’ll be working at the bar and going to the gym. I’ll still be doing all the things I normally do.”

  He rubbed his forehead with his hand. “Yeah, I don’t mean physically. I mean in here.” He reached his hand out, and tapped his fingers lightly on my chest. “Don’t close yourself off. I mean, I know you promised Hotshot you’d wait for him, but really, how well do you know the guy? What happens if you wait, and then when he comes back, you find he’s not the one for you? You could have missed your chance on someone who is right for you while you’re waiting for Mr Wrong.”

  What the hell was he talking about?

  I frowned at him. “So you want me to pretend to be single, and go out with random guys, just in case there’s someone better out there? Spoken like a true commitment-phobe, Cole.”

  “Tara, just—” He took hold of my shoulders so I couldn’t turn away. “—just keep yourself open to the possibility. That’s all I’m asking.”

  I was ready to leave, but he pulled me into his chest again, holding me prisoner in his strong embrace. I couldn’t fight him when he was so close. He smelled so good. His skin was so warm and smooth against my cheek. No matter how much I wanted to push him away, I instead ended up melting into him.

  “I think we’re better together when we don’t talk,” he whispered with a chuckle.

  “When we don’t talk about my relationship, you mean.”

  He chuckled again. “So, from now on, your relationship is off the list of topics open for discussion. Agreed?”

  Nodding against his chest, I felt his arms tighten around me even more.

  “I’ll see you tonight?”

  “As long as Kelli agrees, we’ll be here for dinner.”

  CONVINCING KELLI wasn’t as hard as I’d thought it would be. She wasn’t a huge fan of Cole’s, so the idea of living in his apartment for a week was certainly not on her bucket list. But the idea of cold showers appealed to her even less. I, on the other hand, couldn’t wait to pack my bags and hang out with him even more than I usually did.

  “Oh come on, Kell, it will be fun,” I said enthusiastically. “Not only is it a fantastic apartment, but it’s right on the beach, and within walking distance of the gym and work.”

  She rolled her eyes at me, but I wasn’t finished. “And, as an added bonus, we’ll have our own huge bathroom, with all the steaming-hot water we can use.”

  She laughed resignedly. “You drive a hard bargain, Tars, but we need to set some ground rules, okay?”

  We packed our bags while we worked out the conditions of our stay at Cole’s.

  “Firstly,” Kelli said, “you can’t mention that I’m pregnant. I want to make sure everything is okay before I tell anyone.”

  I agreed. It was up to Kelli to decide when she wanted to tell people.

  “So my condition is,” I said, sheepishly, “I don’t want Riley to know we’re staying with Cole, so you can’t tell Coop.”

  She tilted her head to the side, summing me up. “Do you feel guilty about staying with him? Because if you do, then maybe we shouldn’t go.”

  I twisted my face, thinking. Did I feel guilty? “No, I don’t feel guilty, I just don’t want him to worry about what’s going on here, when he should be concentrating on what’s going on over there.”

  She smiled, and gave me a hug. “Deal.”

  Great. So now we had that sorted out, we could head off. But Kelli had one more rule to follow.

  “Just so you know, I’ll be keeping an eye on Cole. If he so much as looks at you the wrong way, I’ll be moving out, and taking you with me.”

  I laughed at Kelli’s frankness. “Wow, is that it?”

  “No,” she said, her laugh joining mine. “I think he’s an arrogant, egotistical ass, who thinks he’s going to move you into his home and wear you down until you sleep with him, and I’m not going to let him.”

  I looked at her, with feigned surprise. “Why don’t you tell me what you really think?”

  We arrived at the building, and Phil immediately called the elevator for us, no questions asked. I introduced him to Kelli, and let him know that we would both be staying there for the next week. That little piece of information seemed to surprise Phil, even more than my name being added to the list earlier. He made a note of Kelli’s name on Cole’s growing list, and welcomed us both to the building.

  As soon as the elevator doors opened, the aroma of something spicy cooking in the kitchen greeted us. It smelled delicious, and I turned to Kelli, smiling broadly.

  Kelli looked at me, and rolled her eyes. “Don’t tell me he’s cooking for you now.”

  “He’s cooking for us, and I think it’s lovely that he’s making the effort.”

  Dropping my bags in the foyer, I headed in to find Cole.

  I was expecting to see Cole looking panicked or stressed, but he looked perfectly at home in the kitchen. He had a bottle of red wine open on the counter with two clean glasses waiting for us. That might be a problem for pregnant Kelli. He was chopping fresh herbs in between stirring a pot on the stove, and sipping his own glass of wine. Amongst everything that was going on, he was humming a tune to himself, and every now and then the hum would change to a whistle.

  Standing in the doorway, with my head resting against the doorjamb and arms crossed over my chest, I couldn’t help smiling as I observed him moving around the room. He caught sight of me out of the corner of his eye, and a huge grin spread over his face. Within three strides he was in front of me, scooping me up into him like we hadn’t seen each other in months, instead of only a few hours.

  “Ahem.” Kelli’s throat clearing interrupted my warm welcome, and I stepped back.

  “Hi, Kelli, welcome, I’m glad you decided to come.”

  I smirked, knowing Cole liked Kelli about as much as she liked him. But bless him for trying to be nice to her. He was doing it for my benefit. If he offended her and she left, I would have to leave, too. I was praying they could bury the hatchet and make an effort to get along.

  Kelli looked at me with one eyebrow raised, but turned to Cole and forced a smile. “Thank you for inviting me. You have a lovely apartment.”

  Wow, what was going on, and who were these people?

  Cole went to pour us each a glass of wine, but Kelli declined. Cole’s jaw clenched for the briefest of seconds before he relaxed it again.

  “Don’t mind Kelli,” I said to him as I took a sip of mine. “She’s trying to do, like, a detox-type thing at the moment, so no alcohol.” I shrugged at Kelli. It was the best excuse I could come up with at such short notice, to get her out of drinking for the entire time we were staying there.

  “Well, dinner will be ready in about twenty minutes. Do you want to choose a room, and unpack your bags?”

  Cole went to the foyer to get our bags and carried them down the hallway towards the bedrooms. I knew his room was the one at the end. Along the hallway, there were another two bedrooms with a shared bathroom in between.

  “Which one’s your room, Cole?” Kelli asked as we stood in the hallway.

  He indicated to the one at the end with a nod of his head.

  “Right, I’ll take this one,” she said, and marched off to the room right next to Cole’s, leaving me with the room the furthest away from his. I chuckled. She would be polite, but she was no pushover.

  Cole rolled his eyes at me, making me bite my lip to keep a st
raight face. He took our bags into our rooms, and then headed back to the kitchen.

  A few moments later, as I was unpacking my clothes and putting them into the drawers and wardrobe, I heard Kelli walk past, purposefully. It was unlike her to be so quick at unpacking. Maybe she was going to unpack later.

  Oh, crap! I dropped my remaining clothes on the bed, and raced out towards the kitchen. She’s not unpacking later, she’s cornering Cole in the kitchen while I’m not there.

  I reached the end of the hallway, and stopped. Kelli was laying down the law for Cole, and as much as I wanted to intervene, I wanted more to hear how he would handle it.

  “I know what you’re up to,” she was lecturing, “and I’m going to be watching. If you so much as put a foot out of place with Tara, we will be out of here so fast it will make your head spin.”

  I raised my eyebrows, not having realised just how against him she was.

  “You may have her fooled with your charm and good looks, but I’m warning you, I’ll be sleeping with one eye open, buddy.”

  I was just about to interrupt when I heard Cole’s voice. It was low, and just as aggressive as Kelli’s.

  “Well, let me tell you something. I don’t want you here. So while you’re in my home, you will play by my rules.” His voice was quiet, but I could hear he was trying to control his anger.

  “Well riddle me this, then, Batman.” Kelli was at her sarcastic best. “If you don’t want me around, then what am I doing here?” I could just picture Kelli standing there with her arms folded over her chest, one eyebrow raised.

  “Because Tara wouldn’t stay here unless I let you stay here, too. You seem to be some sort of package deal.”

  “And why was it so important to have Tara here?”

  There was a long pause, and I was starting to think Cole wasn’t going to answer her at all.

  “Because I don’t think Tara should have to sleep on a lumpy couch and have cold showers when I have plenty of room.”

  Okay, that was a good excuse.

  “Is that the only reason?” Obviously, Kelli wasn’t happy with his reasoning though.

  “I don’t need to explain myself to you, Kelli. I invited Tara to stay here, which to me was the logical solution. She spends a lot of time here anyway, so why not just move in?”

  “Move in! How much time does she spend here?”

  Uh-oh! That was enough of that conversation.

  I quickly left my hiding spot and scurried over to where they were standing. They were facing each other, arms folded. Despite the height and size difference, Kelli’s stance was just as threatening as Cole’s.

  “So, is everything okay then?” I asked, knowing perfectly well it wasn’t. “Are we playing nicely, children? Or will there be pistols at dawn?”

  Cole grunted at me, and went back to stirring his pot. Kelli gave him one last evil eye before turning on her heel, and heading down the hallway to her room.

  Cole looked over his shoulder at me after Kelli had left the room. “She’s going to be a frigging nightmare to live with. You do realise that, don’t you?”

  I knew he was right. Going over to him, I wrapped my arms around his waist from behind. “Yep, but I’m worth it,” I joked, and kissed him on the back.

  He chuckled. “Yes, you are. But I may need to open a few more bottles of red to help me get through it.”

  Dinner was delicious. Well, at least I thought so.

  I loved spicy food, and so did Cole, so he had made a chilli with extra chilli. After every couple of bites, we sipped our wine to cool our mouths down. By the end of dinner, the bottle was empty.

  Kelli, however, was not enjoying it so much. She preferred less heat. A lot less heat.

  She struggled to get halfway through her dinner before giving up entirely, and drinking three tall glasses of water.

  Cole was watching her, his eyes betraying the humour he found in her situation, as she fanned herself and turned bright red. I knew he would be more lenient towards her if he knew she was pregnant, but I had been sworn to secrecy, so my hands were tied.

  Clearing the table, I signalled to Kelli to follow me. Once we were in the kitchen, I raided the fridge and poured her a huge glass of milk. When her face and chest had returned to their normal colour, we went back into the living room.

  “Thank you for dinner,” I said to Cole. I had really enjoyed it; I wasn’t just being polite.

  “No problem, I know how much you like your spicy food.” He rested his hand on my knee as he spoke and gave it a little squeeze. It was an innocent enough gesture, but Kelli was interpreting every movement and blowing it out of proportion.

  I noticed her glaring at Cole, so I casually lifted his hand and moved it back to his own lap. He looked at Kelli for a moment, then back down at his hand, which was now resting on his thigh. He reached out and took my hand, holding it firmly so I couldn’t wriggle out of his grasp.

  He looked back up at Kelli. “My home, my rules.”

  She glared at him. “My friend, my rules.”

  “Enough already, you two!”

  They both stopped glaring at each other and spun around to look at me. I refused to take sides in this. I needed to be diplomatic.

  “Kelli. Cole hasn’t done anything that Marcus or Jason wouldn’t do. They both hug hello and goodbye, and hold hands sometimes with both you and me. It’s not a big deal, okay?”

  Kelli half-snorted at me, but eventually nodded her head.

  Cole was in my peripheral vision, the corner of his mouth twitching just waiting to spread into a triumphant grin.

  “And Cole.” I turned to him. “Yes, it is your home, but if something makes Kelli uncomfortable, you need to take it into consideration. If she doesn’t feel comfortable here, she will leave.”

  The grin that was starting to spread over his face vanished. He thought about it for a moment, and then nodded.

  “So, children, play nicely, or I will go home and leave the two of you here to kill each other.”

  Standing, I headed for the door. “I’m going to soak in the bath, and then I’m going to bed. I’ll leave you two here to get to know each other a bit better.”

  They were both scowling at me now.

  I sighed. “You’re my two best friends. It would mean a lot to me if you could at least tolerate each other.”

  I SOAKED in the bath until the water turned cold, then emptied some water out and topped it up with more hot water. While the bath at my apartment was full-size, the tub in Cole’s bathroom was huge and deep, and so relaxing.

  I didn’t know if he always had the bathroom stocked with supplies, but there was bubble bath, bath oil, and fragrant creamy soaps. By the time I climbed out of the tub, I smelt and felt like I’d been at a day spa.

  Pulling on my striped boy-leg shorts and little singlet top, I jumped into bed and snuggled into the most perfect mattress, pulling a light fluffy quilt over me.

  There was a knock on the door and my heart skipped a beat, before I called out to “come in”.

  It was Kelli. She came in and sat on the edge of the bed.

  “I’ve had a talk to Cole,” she started, and I internally rolled my eyes—God, now what? “And he has promised not to pay you any late night visits.” She looked at me pointedly. “I’m assuming I can expect the same promise from you.”

  “Kelli!” I exclaimed, not really that surprised that she would say something like that. “Of course I’m not going into Cole’s room. What are we, sixteen year olds on a school camp?”

  “Okay, I was just checking. I saw you two together tonight; I mean really saw you together, for the first time. You are so alike in so many ways, it’s scary. You finish each other’s sentences, you laugh at the same silly jokes that aren’t really funny. It worries me, you being here with him.”

  Sitting up, I gave her a reassuring hug. She may be a bit overprotective sometimes, but her heart was always in the right place.

  Putting my hand over my heart, I jokingly sa
id, “I, Tara O’Connell, do solemnly swear that I will not creep up the hallway to Cole’s bedroom in the middle of the night.” I let my hand drop back into my lap. “Are you happy now?”

  She laughed, finally seeming at ease with this unfamiliar living arrangement. “Yes, I’m happy now. Thank you.”

  She stood up and headed back to the door. “I’ll see you at work tomorrow. I don’t think I’ll be getting up to go to the gym, okay?”

  “That’s fine, Kell.” I knew Kelli’s morning sickness was at its worst as soon as she woke up, so didn’t expect her to be working out.

  We said our goodnights, and Kelli closed the door behind her. Then I lay there, staring at the ceiling.

  I assumed Cole had already gone to bed. I couldn’t hear any noise coming from the living room, but I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not. Maybe he had gone out to blow off some steam, while I was in the bath.

  Just as I was debating whether or not to go get a glass of water, I heard someone walk past my closed door. I checked the clock; it was now 1:30am, and sleep was in no hurry to greet me.

  I tiptoed down the hall and found Cole in the kitchen, in the process of making himself a hot chocolate.

  “So, you couldn’t sleep either,” I said, grabbing a cup out for myself.

  “No, must have something to do with having a hot girl that I’m not allowed to touch, staying here.”

  He was running his emerald eyes over me appreciatively, and I took the opportunity to check him out, too. He was in CK boxer shorts, which sat dangerously low on his hips, and nothing else. His body was amazing, truly a work of art. I would never grow tired of looking at it.

  “Well, I’m glad you’re getting on better with Kelli then, if you think she’s hot.” I grinned at him, and he swatted my backside with the palm of his hand, making me yelp.

  “Don’t even joke about that,” he said, rolling his eyes. “She’s the crankiest person I’ve ever met. But I’ll make an effort for you.”

  He reached over and took hold of my hand, pulling me towards him. “But, what she doesn’t know …” he said, as he wrapped his arms around me. She wasn’t there to watch, so I wrapped my arms around his neck and melted into his embrace.