"I thought you said there'd be cameras," Cole whispered, still checking out my face.
"There are," I whispered. "Tyson's over there in the bushes with at least one camera pointed at us. He's probably double-fisting it with still shots and video."
This made Cole let out a little laugh, and the sight of it made me feel warm and gooey. He kept me wrapped in his arms, which only added to that feeling. I couldn’t believe I was with him again. What a whirlwind.
"I think we've got multiple angles, going," I said, since I could see someone else in the courtyard videoing or taking pictures with their phone.
"What's that mean?" Cole asked since he obviously wasn't thinking about cameras.
"It means Tyson's not the only one out here with a camera."
"Speaking of Tyson," Cole said, furrowing his eyebrows at me.
I smiled, knowing he was referring to the hand-holding. I loved his protectiveness. "I was nervous," I whispered. "He was trying to calm me down."
"Why were you nervous?" he asked sweetly.
No one could hear our whispered conversation, but I still felt a little guarded out there in broad daylight. I glanced down shyly.
"Why you nervous, Livy." Cole said, in that perfect Cajun accent.
"To see you," I said vulnerably.
"Look at me, boo," he said.
I glanced at him. His dark eyes seemed to go on forever. The word boo coming out of his mouth in reference to me left me speechless again. My heart felt like it might rattle right out of my chest.
"You can love me, you know," he said as a statement.
I smiled. "I can?"
He nodded.
"What about you?" I asked.
"What about me?"
"Can you love me?"
"Yep," he said.
His eyes roamed over my face, and mine roamed over his. Our mutual desire to kiss was palpable in the air between us. "I'm not kissing you in front of all these people," he said, reading my mind.
"I know," I whispered. "It's awkward, I’m sorry."
"It's not awkward," he said. "I don't care who's watching us right now. I'm just not sharing you when I get to kiss you right."
A gut-wrenching wave of desire made me take an shaky breath. I wasn't sure what he considered "kissing me right", but I wanted it to happen.
"We've got to give them a little something," I whispered. "Tyson's taking pictures for a—"
Before I could finish my sentence, Cole leaned forward placing his lips right on mine. He only left them there for a second before pulling back with a gorgeous, easy smile.
"What?" he asked.
"I was just saying Tyson is taking—"
Again, he leaned forward to kiss me, smiling as he broke contact.
"I'm in Louisiana," I said dazedly.
"I know. So am I."
"You live here."
"So can you."
I smiled. "I feel crazy," I said, since it was the truth.
"Me too."
"I guess if both of us are crazy maybe we cancel each other out."
"What's next?" he asked. "Is your camera man gonna follow us around for the rest of our lives?"
I shrugged and smiled at him regretfully. "No, but he'd like to for the rest of the night if you're not totally opposed to it. He leaves in the morning, and he wanted to get a few shots of us hanging out if that's okay. He's discrete. It'll be more like he's just chillin' with us, and he'll take some photos as an afterthought."
"That lens doesn't look like an afterthought," Cole said, glancing at Tyson who was now walking toward us. "What about you?" Cole asked, looking back at me before Tyson reached us. "You're not leaving in the morning, are you?"
"Three days," I said. "I know it was last minute. I'm sorry if—"
"I wish it was longer," Cole said, cutting me off before Tyson walked up to us.
My nerves were really on edge, and now that I had been settled in his arms for a few minutes, I was finally able to relax. He had his arm around my back, and I stood next to him with my hand on his chest. I had been standing like that the whole time, but I was so nervous I hadn't been able to appreciate the feel of his muscular chest underneath my fingertips. There was warmth radiating off of him even through his shirt.
"You two are just about the sweetest things I've ever seen. I thought this whole thing would be cute, and good for the channel or whatever, but you two are…" he hesitated, looking back and forth between Cole and me. "You two might actually be in love, I think." He was wearing an expression that said he didn't even believe the words coming out of his own mouth, which made me laugh.
"We might actually be, Tyson," Cole said.
Tyson regarded him with that same stunned expression as he nodded. "I think you might," he agreed.
Chapter 15
We rode up to the fifteenth floor, which was where my suite was located. Once we got inside, Cole looked around the room, wearing an amused expression like he couldn’t quite believe how nice it was.
"You should see the balcony," Tyson said, gesturing to the window as he moved around us.
Cole and I walked toward the balcony so he could take a look.
"I'll want to get a few shots of you two out there," Tyson said, taking his camera bag from off his shoulder so he could set it next to him on the couch.
"That's fine," I said. "Just let us know before you start."
"What? You mean I can't stalk you from the windows?"
"You just stalked us from the bushes," Cole said, opening the door to take a look at the sprawling balcony. "You've got to be kidding me," he said as he took in the view.
"I thought you were rich," Tyson said, looking genuinely confused by the fact that Cole was impressed.
"That doesn’t mean I stay in hotels like this. I mean, maybe one of the rooms downstairs, but this is..." he trailed off.
"This is nice," Tyson said. "But you should see some of the other places we stay."
The conversation was making me feel shy, so I ushered Cole out the door. We moved toward the edge of the balcony, taking in the view of the city. "What do you think about going to a Cajun dance tonight?" I asked.
He had his hands in his pockets when he turned to face me with a smile. "What do you think about going to a Cajun dance?" Cole asked, with a teasing grin.
I reached out and pinched his arm. "I don't know. I met a girl named Michelle. She said her dad's in a real-deal Cajun band, and they're playing tonight. She told me I could wear those worn out cowboy boots that were in the closet, and I'd fit right in."
"This room comes with worn out cowboy boots in the closet?" Cole asked, looking a little curious.
I laughed. "My sister had a few things brought over for me. Michelle looked at it and said I should put on the boots if I come check out her dad's band."
"And, who'd you say Michelle was?"
"She came over to help me with my hair. There's a lot of fuss with getting it to look like windblown and tousled like this."
He tilted his head and really took his time looking me over. "You're beautiful," he said. It seemed as if he took pleasure in looking at me, but the scrutiny made me feel nervous and giddy.
"I think you're beautiful, too," I said since I was a huge goober. I glanced down timidly as I stepped forward to stand next to him.
He reached out to grab my hand and I held onto his, feeling relieved for the physical contact. "Do you want to come meet my new little cousin?" he asked. "The hospital's only a few miles from here. I was thinking we could ditch Tyson for a few minutes so you could come meet him."
"Was he just born yesterday?" I asked.
Cole nodded and smiled. "And he's cute."
"Let's do it," I said.
"Then we'll come back here, get your friend, and go to that Cajun dance you know all about."
Tyson easily agreed to stay back while Cole and I ventured to the hospital alone. He said he needed to get some uploading and editing done, anyway, so it worked out. We promised to pick up som
e food on our way back to the hotel so we could eat dinner before checking out the live music.
Cole and I rode to the hospital in his truck—a Chevy just like he said. It was immaculate on the inside, like I knew it would be based on his personality. I was so happy to see him that I stared at him the entire time we drove. We were talking the whole time, so I wasn't just randomly staring, but still, I was staring, and I was pretty shameless about it.
Cole knew right where to go when we got inside the hospital. He even recognized one of the ladies at the nurses' station, and they spoke to each other by name. He knocked gently a couple of times before slowly opening the door to his cousin's room.
"Who's that?" I heard a woman's voice ask.
"Cole."
"Cole!" at least two other voices said.
"And Olivia," he said, reaching back to grab my hand as we walked down the short hallway and into the open room.
"Olivia!" a woman said. She was standing near the foot of the bed and she approached us with open arms. She bypassed Cole and came directly to me. It wasn't a barely-there hug like I was used to. She squeezed me tightly like we were long lost friends. I went with it, and squeezed her back, wondering absentmindedly if I had ever even hugged my own mother like that. She pulled back to stare at me. She was an inch or two shorter than me with brown hair that was pulled back into a ponytail. "Oh, Cole, she's absolutely stunning," she said, still looking at me.
I smiled and glanced downward once it registered what she was saying.
"I know, Mom."
I glanced at Cole.
"This is my mom, Debbie," he said.
"Debbie Martin. Cole's mom. And Cam, too, but he's not here right now. You and I talked on the phone the other day, remember?"
I nodded and smiled, letting her know I did indeed remember our conversation.
"I'm Cole's dad," said a gentleman said from the other side of the room.
I glanced at him and he smiled.
"Steve."
I waved and smiled at him. "Olivia. Or Liv," I added as an afterthought.
Several people in the room said, "Hello Liv!" or "Hello, Olivia!" at the same time—at least three or four of them greeted me all at once.
I continued waving and smiling as I glanced around at them. Cole came to stand behind me wrapping his arm around me so that he could introduce everyone by pointing to them. He started with his finger aimed at the girl on our left. "My cousin, Wynn," he said. He pointed to the next person. "My aunt, Kathy, Uncle Mitch, Alex, the new mom, obviously." He paused to let everyone laugh since the woman he pointed to was in the hospital bed holding the baby. She waved and smiled at me and I did the same. Cole pointed at the person next to her. "Alex's husband, Jacob. That's the baby's dad." (Another pause for some laughter.) "That's my dad, Steve, who you met, and of course my mom, Debbie."
"We're missing Amelia and Cam," Kathy said.
"Amelia's gonna be upset about missing you," Alex said, looking directly at me.
Everyone in the room took a second to agree with her that Amelia would be sad she wasn't here.
"She'll meet her tomorrow if we all go to Nana's for lunch," Cole said. He had already run the idea past me in the truck, so it didn't surprise me to hear him mention it.
"We'll bring you a plate," Kathy promised Alex, who had her lip out like she'd miss Nana's cooking since she was stuck in the hospital.
"She used to cook every Sunday," Debbie explained to me. "Now she just does it once a month or so. But we're all big fans of her roast. Kathy and I can't quite get ours like Nana's."
"Kathy's is pretty close," Mitch said, bragging on his wife.
Debbie rolled her eyes at him, causing those of us who could see her to laugh.
We stood around the hospital room, talking to his family for about ten minutes. My brother and his wife had two young children, so I had some recent experience with newborns. I held baby Lane who was perfect and adorable, and I told his parents so. I could see that everyone loved how much I doted over the baby. They were proud of him, and loved me for loving him.
This spoke to me on a level deeper than it perhaps should have, but it made me feel warm and fuzzy at the thought of these people being the ones who care about my future offspring. I knew it was really soon to be having those sorts of thoughts, but that was honestly what was going through my head as I watched them respond to the way I held that baby. They were all so sweet and friendly that I felt like I was instantly part of the family—like they were acting the same around me as they were before I ever came in.
"Where y'all headed?" Cole's mom asked, as we hugged her goodbye.
"Rock and Bowl," Cole said.
"That's where Wynn's goin'," Kathy said.
Cole had told me about his cousin, Wynn, being a singer in a band, but I was distracted and hadn't even thought to ask her about the venue we were headed to that evening.
"I'm waiting for Claire. She wanted to see the baby, and then we're going up there."
"Lil' Bobby and the Zydeco Shakes," Kathy said, explaining to everyone else in the room what we were talking about.
"You could have come with us," I said, since I already liked Wynn and felt comfortable with her.
She smiled. "That would be fun. Claire's on her way, though. We'll meet you guys over there."
"We weren't gonna head over there till later tonight," Cole said.
"We're gonna get dinner and hang out in my room for a little while," I said. "If you want to come by there, we'll all ride to the show together."
Wynn shifted to look at Cole, and I glanced over my shoulder to see him smiling and nodding at her.
"You guys should come by there," he said. "You'll love her room."
"Where are you staying?" Wynn asked.
"At the Ritz," I said.
"In the Penthouse suite," Cole said.
"I've been up there," Wynn said. "You talk about nice."
"Come see us," I said. "We'll ride over there together."
Cole and I picked up some dinner on the way to the hotel, and we shared it with Tyson, who made all sorts of dramatic faces demonstrating how tasty it was. He loved spicy foods, and said more than once that he might be in Heaven in Louisiana.
Wynn and her friend, Claire got there not long after we finished eating. There had been chocolates and pastries waiting for us in the room, and Wynn and Clare were happy to help eat some of them. We drank coffee and chilled on the balcony for a little while before heading to the venue.
Wynn was artsy and had a dry-witted sense of humor similar to Cole's. Tyson thought she and Claire were both adorable and was happy to have more color and texture for his photos. They hung out with us in my room for a little while before we followed each other to the concert.
The girls were musicians, and had actually played the venue one time. They explained that it was a bowling alley combined with a dance hall, so I should have been prepared, but I must not have been picturing it correctly, because it was much cooler than I expected. It was an old fashioned dance hall with wood floors and high ceilings almost like a big barn. The lighting was dim, but I loved the multi-colored lights that were strung from the ceiling. The band was in full swing, and I felt shocked by the atmosphere. I had to stand there and take it all in. I stopped, looking out at the massive dance floor. Michelle had called it "a dance" but I hadn't expected to see so many people out there doing that. I had been in some packed clubs before, but this was different. I felt like I'd gone back in time.
"It's called the Jitterbug," Cole said, standing next to me and putting his hand on the small of my back.
"The dance?" I asked, leaning up to speak close to his ear since it was really loud in there.
"We're gonna go hook up with Ryan and them," Wynn said.
Cole and I both nodded at her as she headed across the dance floor with Claire.
"Can you do it?" I asked.
"I better be able to," Cole said smiling. "There's not much to it. You just jitter this way and bug tha
t way."
"Oh is that all?" I asked, laughing.
"Yeah, you just…" He trailed off, coming to stand behind me. We were at the back of the crowd, standing where we weren't in anybody's way. Cole took me into his arms, with my back situated against his chest. He leaned down to speak close to my ear. "There's nothing to it," he said. He moved his shoulders this way and then that way with the loose, jankety rhythm of the song. Back and forth, he guided with me in his arms. He was right on cue with the music, and I smiled, feeling silly for being proud that he had good rhythm. I giggled as he rocked with me in his arms. I leaned to the side so I could stare up at him, and he glanced at me with a smile. Somewhere in the back of my mind, it registered that Tyson was probably taking a picture of us, but it really didn't matter to me.
The atmosphere was amazing. It was a sight unlike any other. I'd never heard traditional Zydeco singing, and seeing it performed live with a dance floor full of people was so surprising. I could see why the dance they were doing was called the Jitterbug since that's what it looked like—Cole had been right about that.
The next song was introduced by a man who spoke mostly French as a waltz, and we watched as the pairs of dancers locked arms began moving around the floor in a circular motion. I held Cole's arms securely in place around my mid-section, swaying as we watched the action, and feeling like there was no place in the world I'd rather be.
"I'll go out there with you if you want to dance," he said.
I almost agreed, but I decided to take a second to think about it. I would normally have said 'yes' because that's what Estela and I were all about—having new experiences, trying new things. I was tempted to agree out of habit, and then I realized what I really wanted was to watch this one from the sidelines. I loved that the decision was mine to make. I figured I'd want to try my hand at Cajun dancing sooner or later, but for now, I was content to watch the action from the comfort of my man's arms.
Dear California (Martin Family Book 2) Page 10
