An Unconditional Love (BWWM Romance Book 1)

by Shanade White

  When Cole had seen the bed, he’d raised his eyes at her, a naughty question clearly just waiting to come out. “Just so you know, I wasn’t thinking about you when I bought this. I’ve spent too many night sleeping on the ground not to have a true appreciation for a big, soft, bed.”

  “Hmm, doesn’t mean that we can’t put it to other uses besides sleeping. I can think of quite a few right now.” He said, crossing the living room and shutting the door then turning the lock.

  “You’re terrible.” Lauren laughed when he scooped her up in his arms and carried her back to the bedroom. She was touched to see that he’d made the bed, including all the pillows she’d bought.

  The next week was spent working on the text of the blog, by far the most difficult part of the process for Lauren because she had to open herself up to the world. A process that was more difficult when she didn’t have an adventure to hide behind. She struggled until she realized that she needed to approach this as if it was one of her adventures.

  From that moment on, it was easy to find the right things to say. Of course her love life was never mentioned in the blog, but the rest of her life quickly became an open book. Beth was thrilled with what Lauren had written, sure that together with the pictures, they’d draw in an audience. It would also help that they’d spent some money on clever advertising that would draw attention to the blog.

  Suddenly after working so hard for the last few weeks Lauren found herself with time on her hands. Cole had a meeting in the city and had invited her to go with him, but the wicker furniture, which was the only thing missing from the apartment, was going to be delivered the next day so she’d stayed home.

  Honestly, she was looking forward to some time alone. As much as she loved being with Cole, she hadn’t had a minute alone since she’d moved back to Prospect. Stuffing some lunch and a few supplies in a backpack, she found a trail and started hiking. Her leg was much better she realized as she hiked, probably due to the fact that except for a few crazy days, she’d done her physical therapy religiously.

  She was still out of shape, but now that things would be settling down, there would be time to get herself back in shape. She’d have to be in the best shape of her life if she was going to climb Everest. Suddenly, it struck her that she hadn’t thought about Everest in weeks, at one time it had been the only thing she could think about, but now she had Cole and the blog, not to mention a lot of new friends who wanted her time as well.

  When, she wondered, had she forgotten about her ultimate goal? She’d wanted this for so long, but now it just didn’t seem as important as it had back then. That made her a little bit nervous, so she made a promise to herself that she’d get her plans back on track, just as soon as the blog went live.

  After an afternoon of hiking, she had a big dinner and fell asleep before it was even dark. The physical exertion had taken more out of her than she’d anticipated, another sign that she wasn’t in the best of shape. She woke the next morning sore and stiff, after a hot shower and some breakfast she took a couple of pain relievers and climbed back into bed.

  She fell back to sleep clutching the pillow that Cole used when he stayed the night, it smelled like him. It was shocking to discover that she missed him more than she thought she would. After all he’d only been gone a little over a day.

  She awoke hours later to loud knocking on her door. She stumbled out of bed, looking in the mirror as she passed, shocked to see her hair was a tangled mess. But it had to be Sadie at the door, no one else would have knocked so insistently. She flung open the door, ready to yell at Sadie for banging on her door, but found that it wasn’t Sadie.

  Standing on her door step was Mandy of all people. She took one look at Lauren and said, “I must have the wrong address, you look nothing like the woman who was with Cole at the restaurant in Seattle.”

  Lauren tried to flatten her hair with her hands, her heart practically beating out of her chest. She recognized Mandy and wondered what the woman was doing here. It had been clear all those weeks ago that Cole still disliked her. Had that somehow changed? Was he sneaking around with her behind Lauren’s back?

  Shaking her head at the stupid conclusions her brain had jumped to. “What do you want?” She said, crossing her arms over her chest and blocking the doorway.

  Mandy wasn’t about to let Lauren control the conversation, she used her body to push her way into the apartment. “This is where you live? You don’t even have any furniture. What a joke. Cole’s just playing with you, he’s probably just bored and looking for a little fun.”

  Lauren was determined to ignore Mandy’s attempt to upset her. “What do you want?” She asked again.

  “I just wanted to warn you, that’s all. Cole’s going to get tired of slumming it with you and come back to me. It’s just a matter of time, so don’t get too comfortable in his house, it’s never going to be yours.”

  “Who says I want it to be mine?” Lauren asked, familiar with the way bullies operated.

  “Everyone knows you’ve got your eyes on his money, don’t play games with me.”

  “Think what you want, right now I want you to get out of my house.” Lauren said, advancing on Mandy.

  “Oh, I’m leaving, this place depresses me. But just a little warning, there are going to be a lot of people out there who won’t like your blog. Be prepared for some ugly things to be posted. Don’t you just love the internet, people can say just about anything they want. Even better, once started it’s pretty hard to stop. Have a nice day.”

  Lauren just stood in the middle of the room, Mandy’s words echoing in her head. It was true that a few well-placed negative comments could make her blog a colossal failure. The worst part was that it would be easy to do.

  Her first instinct was to call Cole, but she’d lectured him on letting people do their jobs, so she called Beth. Beth didn’t seem to be as worried as Lauren thought she should be, but she was the expert so Lauren had to trust her judgment.

  “What are we going to do? I was already nervous about the blog going live, but now I’m terrified. We’ve worked so hard to make this great and Mandy could destroy that in a second.”

  “Don’t be silly, we’ll just block any negative comments that she tries to post. And if she tries to use other sources to damage us, all it’s going to do is bring more people to the blog. Once they see it, they’ll know that what she’s posted isn’t true.”

  “I hope you know what you’re talking about, this is killing me.” Lauren said, close to tears.

  “You have to trust me on this. Who knows more about this, Mandy or me?” Beth asked.

  “I’m sure you do.” Lauren finally said, calming down.

  “I have an idea. Why don’t you get away for a few days, disappear until the blog’s been live for a few days, then you won’t see Mandy’s plan unfold, only the result. I promise you it’s going to backfire on her.”

  “Beth, that’s the best idea I’ve heard in a while. But what about Cole, I better call him and tell him what’s going on. I can’t leave without telling him.”

  “As far as I know Cole should be arriving back in Prospect soon, he called me from the road. I would guess that he’ll go straight to your house.”

  “I don’t know about that. He’ll probably stop there first.”

  “Let’s just see.” Beth said, laughing. “Cole’s a different person since he met you. He’s been more willing to let all of us do our jobs without hovering like he usually does. I should thank you for that.”

  “Me?”

  “Oh, yes. It’s definitely you.” Beth said with conviction in her voice.

  Lauren hung up the phone convinced that Beth was wrong, but within minutes she heard Cole’s car pull up in the alley. She walked over to the window and sure enough there he was climbing the stairs. She met him at the door and started pouring out her story, not even breathing and she rattled on.

  “Hey, slow down a little and start from the begin
ning.” He said, pulling her into the kitchen and sitting her down on a chair.

  Lauren started again, going more slowly this time. By the time she’d finished, Cole was angrier than she’d ever seen him. “I’m going to take care of this personally, that woman has given me enough grief.”

  As upset as Lauren was, this was the perfect opportunity for Cole to step back and let his people do what he’d trained them to do. “I love the fact that you want to take her down personally, but I think Beth has things well under control. You should let her do her job, come with me.”

  “Where are you going?” Cole said, panic in his voice.

  “Beth suggested that I disappear for a while, you know until she’s beaten Mandy at her own game. You should come. I’d love to show you how wonderful the outdoors can be.”

  “I know what you’re trying to do, but how can I walk away when it’s you involved?”

  “Cole, I know that Beth can handle this and I need you with me.” Lauren said, knowing that she was playing dirty.

  Cole’s anger immediately deflated, all thoughts of Mandy and the mess she was creating disappeared when he heard those words. He knew what it had cost Lauren to say them and no way was he going to say no.

  “You win, but we’re going to need some equipment.” He finally said.

  Lauren jumped to her feet and hugged him, more excited then she’d ever been to be heading off into the wilderness.

  Chapter 10

  They left that night, after a quick stop at the hardware store in town. Cole called ahead and Mr. Slaughter had most of what they needed ready to go. Lauren made a few quick trips up and down the aisles, adding a few things she wouldn’t want to be without, then they headed out in her truck.

  They were almost out of town when his phone rang, it was the shop calling to tell him that they’d had a hacking attempt. Lauren knew how devastating a breech in their security could be so she turned around and headed back to town, then up the mountain to the shop.

  “I’m sorry, I know it’s probably just Mandy up to her tricks, but we have a lot of people depending on us, I can’t just walk away.”

  Lauren was disappointed, but knew that it was important that Cole be involved if it wasn’t Mandy. “It’s okay. There’ll be other times.” She said, trying to sound up-beat about the turn of events.

  “I’ll still be there. Just let me deal with this and I’ll meet you. I know where you’re going, I’ll join you before you even miss me.”

  Lauren doubted that she’d see Cole, once at the shop, she doubted that he’d be able to pull himself away again. But instead of voicing her thoughts she said, “I’ll be waiting.” Then kissed him, just in case he forgot what he was missing.

  She drove away, feeling a little let down about the way things had turned out, but still excited to heading into the wilderness, she’d missed being in the outdoors more than she realized. The creek where they’d planned to camp wasn’t far from Prospect so she was able to make it well before dark.

  As the sun set she built a fire, pleased with the speed that she’d been able to set up camp. The new tent was perfect and Mr. Slaughter had picked the best gear he had to offer. The night was clear and the stars were shining. She was trying to decide what to have for dinner, when she heard a noise in the trees.

  Wild animals weren’t uncommon in the woods, it could be anything from a bear to a rabbit, but it was making a lot of noise. Lauren never entered the woods without some kind of weapon on hand and for this trip the weapon of choice was a shot gun. Another excellent choice made by Mr. Slaughter.

  She grabbed the gun and a flash light and headed in the direction of the noise. She’d had plenty of experience with wild animals and knew that scaring them away was usually all that was required. Still, an abundance of caution is part of why she was still alive, so she put the gun to her shoulder just in case.

  As the crashing in the trees got closer, her adrenalin began pumping through her veins and she began to wish that Cole was with her. But to her surprise it wasn’t a bear or any other animal raiding her camp, it was Cole. He’d obviously had someone drop him at the bottom of the trail and hiked into camp.

  “Wow, this isn’t quite the reception I expected.” He said, when he saw her, gun raised.

  Lauren quickly lowered the gun and switched the safety on. “I didn’t expect you to come crashing through the woods in the middle of the night.”

  “I told you I’d be here as soon as I could. You were right by the way, everything was well under control when I got there. It was Mandy trying to crash our system, she must have hired someone to do it. The tech guys are hot on the hacker’s trial and I have a feeling the culprit isn’t going to be willing to protect Mandy if it means going to jail.”

  “You walked away?” Lauren asked, shocked.

  “Yeah and I left my cell phone behind.” He said, gently taking the gun from her hands and setting it down against a rock.

  “I’m speechless.” She said, her eyes meeting his in the firelight.

  “Good, because talking isn’t what was on my mind on the way up here.” Cole said, taking her hand and leading her to the tent.

  *****

  The next morning they hiked around the mountain, then spent the afternoon fishing for their dinner. Lauren cooked their catch along with some potatoes on the fire and they enjoyed a feast. “Everything always tastes better in the mountains.” Lauren said, eating the last few bites of her food.

  Lauren was pleased when they finally banked the fire and headed off to bed, Cole had adapted to the experience quickly and really seemed to be enjoying himself. She was looking forward to many more trips like this one in the future. She went to sleep wrapped in Cole’s arms, thinking about how nice it was to have someone to share her love of the outdoor with.

  It rained all night, but Cole and Lauren were snug in the tent, which proved to be completely watertight. It was still raining the next morning, so they quickly put together some breakfast and ate it by the fire, then climbed back into the tent. Lauren was fine with a lazy day, again it seemed like yesterday had tired her out more than it should have, but she chalked it up to the fact that she’d had a lot going on lately.

  When the rain finally stopped and they climbed out of the tent, Lauren still felt bad, she was still exhausted even after sleeping all day. She tried to ignore the feeling but found that she couldn’t even summon the energy to build a fire. Cole noticed and voiced his concern, but she assured him that she was fine.

  But the next morning the exhaustion was still with her and she couldn’t ignore it any longer. “Cole, I still don’t feel good, maybe we should head back. I think I’m getting sick.”

  He took one look at Lauren and began breaking camp. They were home in only a few hours, Lauren tucked into Cole’s bed at his house where he’d insisted that he could care for her better. Lauren had given in, lacking the energy to fight with him.

  “Get some sleep, I’ll bring you something for dinner in a little bit.” Cole said, kissing her on the forehead.

  “You don’t have to wait on me. I can get up and get something to eat. I’m not that sick. It’s probably just a cold coming on.” She said, embarrassed to have caused such a stir.

  “Don’t worry about it, but just remember this when I’m sick.” He said, winking at her.

  “Oh, so that’s how this works.”

  “Yep, I take care of you and you take care of me. But I have to warn you, I’m a big baby when I’m sick.” He said, then disappeared down the hallway.

  Lauren wanted to protest further, but she was really tired and Cole’s bed was so comfortable. She knew that the blog was going to go live tomorrow and being sick wasn’t how she wanted to celebrate the accomplishment. Maybe some more sleep would help her beat this thing, she though as she drifted off to sleep.

  By the next morning, Lauren thought that she felt better and insisted on getting out of bed. She’d spent the night wrapped in Cole’s ar
ms and that alone had fostered a sense of wellbeing. It bothered her a little bit that she’d gotten so used to sleeping with Cole, but the count down for the blog release was running and she wanted to be there when the button was pushed to make it live, so she pushed her concerns to the back of her mind.

  After breakfast they headed over to the shop, Lauren was anxious to see the blog go live. She did feel better this morning, not entirely herself, but better. She knew that Cole was watching her closely, his concern warming her heart, but at the same time making her feel nervous. It was a new experience to have someone besides Sadie worrying about her, but it was also a bit annoying.

  When they were in the car, he asked again if she was feeling okay and she lost her temper. “I’m fine. You need to stop worrying about me. I’m a grown woman.” She snapped.

  Cole was silent for a few minutes and she felt bad, but before she could apologize he pulled the car over and turned to her. “I’m sorry. I know you’re a gown woman, but you still don’t look like you feel good.”

  Lauren wasn’t about to admit that he was right, but one look at his worried expression took away all her anger. “Well, you’re kind of right. I still don’t feel good, but I’m better than yesterday. I really want to see this happen.” She said, taking his hand in hers.

  “Okay, but if you’re not better tomorrow I’m taking you to the doctor whether you like it or not.”

  Lauren hated doctors, had ever since her mother had gotten sick. There was no way she was going to let Cole drag her to the doctor for a virus or stress. She was firmly convinced that once the blog was launched and some of her stress was gone, she’d get better.

  They arrived at the shop just as the blog went live, everyone was excited to see how it would go and they were all pleased by the end of the day to see they’d had over a thousand views. Beth was ecstatic and suggested a celebration dinner, but Lauren was so tired all she wanted to do was go home and go to bed.

  Cole again insisted that she stay at his house, and after a quick dinner, tucked her into bed. Once she was comfortable he climbed in beside her and pulled her into his arms. Within minutes she was sound asleep. Cole laid there listening to Lauren breathing, he was really beginning to become worried about her. It just wasn’t normal to be this tired, and she’d been that way for days now.