by Diana Nixon
“The way you are saying this makes me think I’m not the first girl you are trying to save. What was her name?”
I thought for a moment, not sure if I wanted to discuss my ex-wife with Jazmine.
“Carol,” I said finally. “Her name was Carol.”
“What happened to her?”
“Something no girl should ever go through.” I clenched my teeth at the memory of the day I met my future wife. “She just moved to New York, but without money, she couldn’t afford a good place to live. And neither could I. We turned out to be neighbors. Her tiny apartment was next to mine. One night, when I was home getting ready for my university exams, I heard a noise coming from behind the wall. It sounded like someone was breaking things. I didn’t know anything about Carol back then, so I thought it wasn’t my business. But when she cried so loud I could hear it even through the music playing in my apartment, I knew she was in trouble. I hurried to find out what was going on. Turned out her brother and his friends were there too, dead drunk. They came for money that she stole from her dad to come to New York. No one knew where she was, but her brother somehow managed to find her. One of his friends hit her in the face and she fell onto the coffee table and broke it with her back. The other guy was there to hold her when the one who hit her was about to…” I paused and cursed, still feeling so angry because of what the bastards were about to do to her.
“Did you stop them?” Jazmine asked.
“I did.”
She breathed a sigh of relief. “Good.” Then she touched my hand and rubbed it gently. “You are a good man, Cole. Too bad my sister doesn’t want to see it.”
“Speaking of the devil… What do you know about Harlee’s boyfriends?”
“Boyfriends?” She laughed. “I wouldn’t call any of them her boyfriend. What she usually does is share dinner with a good-looking stranger and if he’s lucky enough to get a kiss from her, it means she will consider the idea of going out with him one more time. If no, the guy doesn’t stand a chance.”
“And what if the kiss happens before the date does?”
Jaz furrowed her brows, then looked at me and smiled. “You kissed her already… Not a bad start at all. Maybe this is exactly what she needs – a man who doesn’t ask for permission but takes what he wants and where he wants it.”
I laughed. “I’ll tell her you are my team now.”
“Don’t. Or she will never talk to me again.”
“Okay, it’s just between you and me then.” I parked at the entrance to the house where Romeo’s party was supposed to happen. “Ready?” I asked her.
She nodded.
“Wait here,” I said before she would get out of the car.
She watched me leave the car and walk around it to open the door for her.
“You can’t be serious.” She took my offered hand.
“He’s watching us, so be a good girl and play it.”
She looked behind me and smiled. “Just look at his face!”
“Hope it’s green enough for him to learn this lesson – I know where to find you if anything happens. And I’ll make sure he knows I’m really good at hooking a right to his jaw, if needed.”
“Thank you, Cole.”
“You are welcome, Princess. Now go have fun. And tell Romeo to keep his hands to himself.”
“I will.” She quickly kissed me on the cheek and hurried away.
I waited for her to greet Romeo, who looked way too troubled about my arrival. He asked something and nodded in my direction. Jazmine, who was a great actress, waved at me and sent me an air kiss for a good-bye.
“Just a good friend of mine,” she said to Romeo. I watched the two of them go inside the house, and then I got back into the car and sped up to get to my own party that promised to be interesting…
***
By the time I got home, the guests started to arrive. I watched Harlee greet them and I couldn’t but admit how stunning she was. Wearing my gift, with her long hair in a high ponytail, she looked both fragile and as sexy as hell. No doubt, she was going to give me blue balls tonight.
Red definitely looked good on her. Her shining lips called for me, and it took all of my self-control not to run up to her and claim her lips. God, I never thought I would miss anyone as much as I used to miss Carol when she wasn’t around.
But right now, I felt like my whole world was spinning around Harlee. Her porcelain skin glowed, and her cheeks were covered with a light blush.
Sweet and intoxicating, I thought still watching her.
I couldn’t believe my desire to lock her in my arms hadn’t lessened since the last time we met. On the contrary – I wanted to kidnap her, right away, and lock her in my embrace forever.
She couldn’t see me now, and I felt like a spy watching his next prey.
Something about this woman pulled me closer to her, and I seemed to be unable to resist it. I wanted to be as close to her as possible. Skin to skin, lip to lip, hip to hip…
“Cole!”
I turned around and saw Vivian walking to me. She was holding hands with a man who looked a lot older than her, and I thought it was her husband. I never met him in person, but I knew they ruled over the magazine together.
“Vivian,” I kissed her on both cheeks.
“Meet my husband, Lloyd,” she said.
“Nice to meet you.” I shook his hand.
“Likewise, Mr. Griffin. It’s a beautiful house you have.”
“Thank you.”
“Harlee did a great job organizing the party.” Vivian waved at someone I couldn’t see and excused herself, leaving us to talk to each other.
I asked her husband if he wanted to share a drink with me, and together we went to the bar that was now in my barbecue area.
When passing by Harlee, I nodded approvingly at her dress, but she ignored me and kept talking to one of the guests. I knew she was probably a little angry at me, because knowing her, I knew she would put on the damn dress just to prove that she was not the coward I called her.
As soon as she was done talking to the guest, she joined Mr. Thompson and me at the bar.
“Can I have a word with you, Cole?”
My companion hurried to give us some space. “I’ll go find my wife,” he said, smiling politely at Harlee.
“You just scared the poor man away.”
“I did not. You heard him – he needed to find his wife.”
“I’m glad to see that you’ve listened to my advice.” My eyes dropped to her cleavage. There was no bra under the red silk. Perfect.
Harlee crossed her arms, as if too ashamed to admit that she knew exactly what I was referring to.
“I’ve already seen everything I wanted to see,” I whispered. “No need to hide it.”
She smiled at one of the guests passing by us and said through her clenched teeth, “If you don’t want me to spill my champagne on your pants, better stop trying to tick me off.”
“I will gladly take my pants off for you, no need to spill anything on them, baby.”
Just then, my flirtatious mood changed, and I felt my whole body froze in anger.
Carol walked through the glass door that opened to the bar. She was wearing a knee-length gold dress and black stilettos that she had always been so obsessed with buying. Her lips were as red as ever, and she looked a little bored, as if she were here because she had to be here tonight.
As predicted, she wasn’t alone, but with her soon-to-be husband. She didn’t expect to see me here, so when our eyes met across the distance, I could almost taste the fear that ran through her blood. As if I was going to make a scene and humiliate her in front of her date.
“Excuse me, Harlee. I need to say ‘Hello’ to someone.” I put my drink on the bar stand and walked up to Carol.
“Cole,” she said as cold as ever. “What a surprise to see you here tonight.”
“Why? This is my house. My presence shouldn’t surprise you.”
“Your house?” She looked arou
nd, as if trying to figure out if what she knew about me fit into the picture of what she could see. “Nice.”
“Thank you.”
“It’s a perfect place for your family, Mr. Griffin.” I looked at Carol’s fiancé and smiled as fucking politely as possible.
“Thank you. It will be. When I have a family to share it with.” I left behind the fact that it was built for a family that I was hoping to have with Carol. I didn’t want her to think I kept the house because I couldn’t take her out of my heart.
Carol spoke to the man, “Baby, could you bring me a drink, please?”
“Of course.” He kissed her hand and left for the bar.
“I didn’t know you owned a property in the city.”
I smirked. “Of course, you didn’t. You broke up with me even before I managed to tell you anything about my plans for the future.”
She didn’t seem to be affected by my words. “How long exactly have you been living here?”
“I don’t live here. Someone else does.”
And just then, the someone else did something that I never expected her to do.
“Honey, is everything all right?” Harlee took me by the hand and placed a soft kiss on my cheek.
First, I thought it was just a joke.
“Harlee Bennet,” she said to Carol. “And you are…”
Carol’s face turned into a stone. “I’m Cole’s wife.”
“Ex-wife,” Harlee corrected her.
Carol didn’t comment on that.
Then Harlee spoke to me again, “Have you offered our guest a drink?”
“I’m fine, thank you,” Carol hurried to reply.
“Good. Then make yourself at home. Cole and I have so many things to do tonight. Right, baby?” Harlee put her palm on my cheek, and her lips – to mine.
Wow…
Then she pulled me away from Carol and I didn’t know if the sudden lack of air in my lungs was caused by Carol’s murderous look glued to Harlee or by the unexpected kiss that somehow overshadowed everything that made me have this damn party in the first place.
“What was that for?” I asked Harlee when she and I were far enough from Carol and she couldn’t hear us.
“You looked like a lost puppy who needed help.”
“And you decided to rescue me?”
“Like my friend Willow said – I always loved bringing homeless puppies.”
I laughed. Like really laughed. For the first time today that at the very beginning felt like one of the hardest days to live through.
“I don’t mind being your pet. Especially if that means you will finally let me sleep in your bedroom.”
She punched my ribs playfully. “Not gonna happen. Unless I’m too drunk to show you the door of course.”
“Really? Now I know what to do to make you change your mind.”
“Again – not gonna happen. I never drink a lot.”
“Or I might come up with another excuse to get into your room and stay there for as long as I want to.”
“Can we talk about something other than you getting into my panties, please?”
“From what this dress allows, I don’t think getting there would be a problem.”
“Harlee, doll, do you know where…” A woman of Harlee’s age walked up to us and smiled. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt anything.”
“You aren’t interrupting,” Harlee hurried to say. “Are you okay, does anything hurt?”
The stranger was heavily pregnant, but it didn’t change the fact that she was quite attractive, with shoulder-length black curly hair and dark-brown eyes that in the dim light looked almost black.
“Everything’s fine. I was looking for Vivian. One of the reporters wants to ask her a few questions.”
I looked around my back yard. “There she is!”
But the woman ignored my words. “Willow Young,” she introduced herself.
“Cole Griffin.”
“I’ve heard so much about you, Mr. Griffin.”
“Really? I hope it was something good.”
“I wish it was the opposite. But Harlee wouldn’t stop saying how lucky she is for living in your house.”
I gave Harlee my best smile. “I’m lucky to have her here.”
Willow hurried to leave us alone. “Will talk to you later,” she said to Harlee. “It was nice to meet you. Mr. Griffin.”
“For you I’m Cole.”
“Nice.” She winked at Harlee and left.
“See? She’s the second person who calls me nice. It means something good. Don’t you think so?”
“It’s because you showed her and Jazmine your best side, and not the opposite.”
I leaned closer and whispered into her ear, “Trust me, baby, you are the only girl here whom I wanna show all of my best sides. Not that you haven’t seen one of them already. How about we go upstairs, and I show you the rest?”
“Shut up. Better tell me, how’s Jazmine?”
“She’s fine. Probably enjoying the party.”
“Have you seen that guy – Romeo?”
“I have.”
“And?”
“And he wasn’t thrilled about the idea of sharing Jazmine with me. I might be wrong about him after all. Maybe he’s not as much of a lost cause as I thought he was.”
“Unlike you.”
I made a face. “Will I ever get a compliment from you? Your sister said you like men wearing tuxedos.”
“She lied.”
“Why would she do that?”
“Because I know what men wearing expensive tuxedos promise. And I don’t want it.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” I said, letting my eyes slip down her dress. “Either your sister was right, and the view of a tux on me does turn you on, or your hardened nipples like the view of that old man over there chewing his canape.”
Her eyes followed mine and we both giggled.
“You are disgusting, Cole Griffin.”
“But you are still in love with me, Harlee Bennet.”
***
CHAPTER 9
Harlee
“But you are still in love with me, Harlee Bennet.”
The words that were supposed to sound like a joke echoed in my head and wouldn’t let me go.
I had been watching Cole the entire night. Everyone wanted to be closer to him, to talk to him, to touch him occasionally – especially women. But none of them saw what I could see in him. A man whose heart was still bleeding for the woman who dared to betray his pure love for her. I knew he still had feelings for Carol. Nothing about him would give it away, but I knew what to look for. As well as I didn’t like the way he was watching her – as if he still wanted to be with her, as if she still meant so much to him, he couldn’t breathe freely without her.
I didn’t like it at all. Why? I had no idea…
This night was all about revenge. I knew it even before Cole showed up, dressed up like the man of my best fantasies and saying things that would make any woman lose the remnants of her rational thinking.
This night was a stab in the back. And Cole was the one who threw the knife and let it fly across the room where his ex-wife was lost in the embrace of her fiancé.
This night was a revelation of so many things… The things that I never knew I was capable of feeling.
I felt completely naked under the look of the eyes that I missed so much. After three weeks of dirty messages and occasional calls, I was lost. Lost to everything and everyone, but this very man whose presence made my heart pound faster in my chest. I would never say it out loud, but the fact remained – every fiber of me longed for Cole and for him only. It scared me.
The dress had nothing to do with how I felt in his presence. There was something else, something so much more than my desire to cover my more than provoking outfit with a coat; something so much larger than what other men had ever made me feel.
A part of me was freaking out to admit it when the other part – the one that didn’t g
ive a shit about tomorrow – wanted nothing less than a full surrender.
Which would mean listening to the promises Cole once said I would love hearing from him. And maybe, just maybe, I would say yes to whatever would follow all of the above.
“Is everything all right?” I didn’t hear Cole come closer to me, so when he touched my lower back, I almost jumped out of my shoes.
“Yes. Why?” I didn’t like the burning feeling where his hand was touching my bare skin. Or maybe I liked it too much to play it cool.
“You look sad. I hope it’s not because I did something wrong?”
I forced a smile. “Surprisingly, no.”
His eyes searched mine. “Then what is it? And just don’t tell me it’s nothing because I know something’s bothering you.”
There were so many things I wanted to tell him. She doesn’t deserve you. You are better than this. It’s time to move on… But I said none.
My eyes met those of dark brown that belonged to the woman I knew I would never become for Cole.
Still, I couldn’t let her win this game.
I looked at Cole, whose questioning gaze was still focused on me, as if he were trying to read the thoughts running through my head. Then I leaned into him, mentally sending to hell the consequences of what I was about to do, and let my fears fly away…
My fingers reached for the back of his neck; my lips devoured his.
It was nothing like the kiss I gave him when Carol was with us. It was a completely different kiss and it had nothing to do with her, or anyone else in the house.
It was just between him and me.
His warmth enveloped me. I had dived into his embrace that all of a sudden became a response to my kiss – strong and gentle and welcoming.
It was as if there was no one else around us. At this moment of sweet connection only the two of us mattered.
Must he be so perfect? Ran at the back of my mind. Everything about him was perfect. The way he looked like, the way he walked, the way he smelled – God, he smelled amazing. I wasn’t sure if it was his cologne of his natural scent that was calling for me.
My palms rested on his chest, and his were at my back, moving slowly up and down my skin, leaving fiery marks everywhere they touched me.
