by Layla Hagen
“With Isabelle?”
“No, she said that usually it’s best if the counselor is a stranger. It’s been... I’ve healed, you know. Through my work and the counseling sessions. I’ve made peace with what happened. But moving on, opening up, dating is different. It’s harder. I’m scared, and I’m not even sure why. Losing someone leaves deep marks...”
I took her face in my hands, shifting closer. “Baby, we’ll go at your pace. We’ll just take everything as it comes.”
She smiled, biting her lip. “That sounds good. I can do that.”
Just then, the waiter came with breakfast, interrupting us, laying six small plates of food on the table. Laney dug into the food with the same excitement as in Rome. I couldn’t even fathom that this person who was so positive and optimistic had experienced such a loss. The server kept bringing new plates as soon as we cleared the ones in front of us. We devoured the enormous amount of food relatively quickly.
“So, I believe you promised pampering today. Proper pampering.” She laughed, her eyes happy again.
“I’m a man of my word. I’m going to follow through.”
She batted her eyelashes, smiling. “Care to share what happens after breakfast?”
“See, that’s the thing. I have to change the plan.”
“Why?”
I shifted closer to her again, touching her jaw, moving up to her cheek. “Because it involved taking you home, giving you a foot rub.”
Her pupils dilated. “Go on.”
“Wanted to extend that offer to a full-body treatment.”
“Perfect. When can we start?”
“Laney...”
She pouted. “I don’t like that tone. I feel like I’m about to be refused a bone after you dangled it in front of me.”
“I just don’t want things to... get out of hand.”
“Oooh.” She instantly blushed, licking her lower lip. I couldn’t hold back and claimed her mouth, exploring her deeply. I threaded my fingers in her hair, devouring every sigh she gave me. With every lash of my tongue, Laney’s breath became shorter, faster. She tasted like honey and strawberries, and I couldn’t get enough. But I paused the kiss.
“I know what you mean about things getting out of hand,” Laney said.
“You’re tired.” I remembered how guarded she’d been in Rome.
“And corruptible.” Her eyes were warm. “You really are looking out for me.”
“Yes. I want you to be sure, to trust me completely.” I wanted to touch and explore her, but first, I wanted to make sure she was ready for all that.
I twined a strand of her hair in my fingers, speaking against her cheek. “You taste like honey. I love it. I can’t stop fantasizing about spreading honey all over you, licking you everywhere.”
She shuddered against me. I barely kept from claiming her mouth again.
“Cole! That’s your idea of taking it slow?”
“No. Sorry. Got way ahead of myself. Want to stay here? I’m sure we can find other interesting things on the menu. I can start on that foot rub.”
“And I can’t even fall asleep on you because we’re in a public place. You’re a genius.” I caught her smile before she hid her face in my chest. “I like you, charmer. A lot.”
“I haven’t even started charming you.”
I was used to always doing things at my own pace. I was used to the world accommodating me—at least when it came to business—not the other way round. But now, it was all about her. I wanted to give her exactly what she needed.
Chapter Thirteen
Cole
“Everyone, if we push through, we’ll have everything ready by the submission deadline.”
That statement earned me skeptical glances from my team. Since deciding that we were going forward with the Centenarian submission, everyone was under a lot of additional stress.
“I’m right here with you for every step of the way. Anything you have doubts about, forward it to me immediately. We need to move fast. I’m always reachable, even when I’m not in the office.”
I liked leading by example. When we were on a tight schedule, I burned the midnight oil just like everyone else—but sometimes I did it from my loft, because spending too many hours in the same room drove me mad.
They nodded, grudgingly, and left my office. I went to Hunter’s. I stopped in the doorway, knocking at the open door.
“Spoke with the team. They’re going to work until late tonight.”
“Gave them one of your motivational speeches?”
“Not one of my best, but it worked anyway.”
“You’re good at them. Better than I am.”
Hunter and I had different leadership styles. We also had different motivations. He wanted to clear his dad’s name. He’d run a real estate business decades ago that went bankrupt. It was one of the reasons why we also did projects that weren’t very profitable, like the Centenarian. I respected that. My motivation was simpler. I wanted to build something I could be proud of and make sure everyone I cared about was financially secure.
“I’m gonna work from my loft this evening, monitor everything right until the deadline at midnight. Want to join me?”
“Can’t,” he said. “I’ve blocked tonight for Josie.”
“No problem. I’ve got this. Let’s head to the meeting room. Ryker, Josie, and Tess will be here in a few minutes for the working lunch.”
He raised a brow. “What, no giving me shit?”
“Let’s go.”
I used to crack jokes whenever he’d said this in the past, but now I understood the need to actually block time. Before meeting Laney, I’d thought Wall Street analysts had draconian schedules. Now I knew that doctors had the worst working times. Since our breakfast on Saturday, Laney and I had mainly communicated through messages. Twice I went to the hospital on her short lunch breaks. On the way back to the meeting room, I texted Laney, knowing it was her lunch time.
Cole: What are you having today?
Laney: Skipping main course. Just chocolate cake.
Cole: I’d love to taste that... on you.
Laney: All food makes you think about naughty stuff?
Cole: It’s not the food. It’s you.
Laney: YOU CANNOT MAKE ME BLUSH DURING MY SHIFT
Cole: You’re on your break now ;)
Laney: Break’s over now. BUT if you insist on writing dirty things, do it. Will brighten my day when I check my phone later.
Cole: At your service. Be it dirty texts or... very dirty texts.
I put my phone in my back pocket as Hunter and I entered the meeting room. This working lunch had a different setup. Since Skye couldn’t join us physically, she’d just tuned in using FaceTime. We had some important issues to discuss about the upcoming gala. Plus, we all thought she could use our company, even through a camera. Hunter and I started by going through the list of additional donors we’d convinced to participate at the last minute. Bringing in heavy hitters was our primary job, while Ryker, Tess, and Skye took care of organizing the events.
“Okay, I have to tinker with the seating arrangements, but we actually have enough newcomers to set up a new table,” Skye said. It had been one week since she’d been discharged and ordered to bed rest, and she was already impatient.
“Should you be doing this stuff at all?” I asked.
“What do you mean?” Skye replied.
“A ton of things can actually get your blood pressure up. Like getting annoyed. You don’t need to get out of bed for that. Your laptop is enough. Or your phone.” I just wanted to know that my sister and my nephew were going to be okay. That was my only wish.
“Gee, why don’t you just confiscate all of them?”
“I’m gonna have a word with Rob.”
“No, you will not. He’s pacing around like a lion in a cage anyway.”
“I like him even more than before.”
“Look, I spoke to Mom, and she said that she had this issue with all four pregnancies,
so it runs in the family.”
Fantastic. I was going to have a word with Mom. Knowing Mom, she probably told Skye she’d just walked it off. I loved that the women in my family were strong and resilient, but I was hoping they’d learn to take it slow when a doctor told them as much.
“Anyway, she said that she didn’t really follow the advice.”
I groaned. Damn. I knew it.
“Skye, please tell me you will follow it.”
“Of course I will. It’s different. I am a bit older than Mom was for any of her pregnancies. Anyway, I always ask Laney when I’m in doubt about something.”
“You’re in contact with her?” That was news to me.
Skye nodded. “She’s very sweet, responding to my panicked messages no matter when I send them. She said I can text her any time, but I bet the poor woman didn’t think I’d literally do it all the time.”
Laney had done that for Skye? She hadn’t mentioned it to me. Damn, that woman surprised me every day.
“Aww... look at the cute expression on his face,” Tess said. “We haven’t seen that before, have we? It suits you.”
“I am not cute,” I said seriously.
“Well, I think Laney disagrees with you,” Skye replied. Everyone at the table had shit-eating grins.
“Would you say cute translates to him forsaking his eternal bachelor status?” Tess asked Josie in a fake whisper.
“I vote yes.” That came from Hunter.
“So do I,” Ryker added.
Hunter crossed his arms, flashing me a smug expression. “Man, I’m enjoying this so much. Remember how much fun you made of me when I broke out of the bachelor pack?”
“Vividly.”
“Don’t be mean to him,” Josie said. “Circumstances change. People change.”
Hunter cocked a brow at his wife. Josie didn’t back down one bit.
“Sorry, husband. You’re ganging up on poor Cole. I feel the need to take his side. Someone has to.”
“Lovely to know that I can count on you, Josie. Unlike my own blood.”
“Who said anything about sides? We’re all just having a bit of fun,” Tess said.
“At my expense.”
I looked at Josie, barely able to suppress a smile. “In their defense, I kind of deserve it. By the way, does anyone think that we spend far too much of our working lunches not working on the galas? They’re running too smoothly. Maybe we need a new challenge, don’t you think?”
There was a chorus of no. Even Skye joined in, and we all burst out laughing. Yeah, things in my family usually worked out this way. We met for one thing and got derailed by another topic that somehow just kept snowballing. But these lunches were immensely helpful to make sure we didn’t fall out of touch with each other.
It was only too easy to get caught up in the grind of daily life and speak on the phone once in a blue moon. Gathering for lunch was an excellent opportunity to butt in each other’s lives. Not everyone liked that, but I appreciated it. Sometimes you were too close to your own problems, and it helped to have the family’s perspective. We knew each other so well that nonverbal cues were enough to pick up if something wasn’t okay.
Right now, for example, Skye was telling us how she was filling her endless hours. Her tone was extra cheerful, which clued me in that she was trying to convince herself as much as us.
After she hung up, I exchanged a glance with Tess. So I hadn’t been the only one noticing Skye’s restlessness. That would translate into misery soon enough. Skye was a doer. She had this incessant need to be productive.
“What would you guys say we move these working lunches to Skye’s place?” I asked out of the blue. “She’s gonna get restless fast. I mean... I guess we’d make them working dinners, because we can’t just up and leave in the middle of the day, but maybe we can find an evening where we all have time.”
“Sure, we could do that,” Ryker said. “That way Heather and Avery could also come.”
Hunter looked at Josie, who nodded.
“We’re in. I thought Skye sounded jaded,” Hunter said. “Now, should we order lunch?”
Usually we ate as soon as the working lunch began, but this time, we’d wanted to get the gala details out of the way first. Our assistants brought a selection of food from nearby restaurants in no time.
Tess straightened up, running a hand through her hair. “By the way, I wanted to tell you something. Gala related. Gabriel Lyons wants a mediation meeting.”
“What?” I exploded. I wasn’t the only one. Hunter and Ryker were just as pissed. Tess had emailed us all with the issue last week, so they knew he was making irrational demands, but honestly, we’d never thought he would have the audacity to actually go forward with this.
“I’m gonna go and represent all of us,” Tess said. “I’ll keep you informed, but I don’t think all of us should go. Would make us seem too eager.”
“I agree,” Hunter said. “But don’t go on your own either.”
“I’ll come too,” I said.
That fucker. This was my doing. I’d brought this guy on, and now he was giving us headaches. I wanted to fix this as soon as possible.
“I’ll be there too,” Josie said.
“You think we need a lawyer for a mediation?” Tess asked.
“Better to cover our bases,” I said.
Josie nodded. “Exactly. Plus, he’ll know you’re ready for anything if you have a lawyer with you.”
“Then it’s all settled,” Tess said. “No reason to keep getting upset about this. Let’s enjoy the lunch.”
I hadn’t even touched my food. I opened the lid of the container, eating automatically. I wasn’t hungry anymore, just pissed.
In the meantime, I texted Laney.
Cole: Just heard that Skye’s been messaging you. Thanks for looking after her.
When I looked up from the phone, Tess was grinning from ear to ear.
“So, since the gala stuff is out of the way and we’re done with food, can we officially switch to giving-Cole-shit time?” she asked.
Hunter nodded. “Forgot a very important piece of information. He didn’t give me any shit today when I said I’m blocking the evening for my wife.”
Josie whistled loudly. “Wow. Didn’t think this day would come.”
I just made myself comfortable in my seat. Pushing the mediation issue to the back of my mind, I grinned at the group. This was part of our dynamic, and I enjoyed the hell out of it.
After our working lunch, I went straight back to my office. Laney hadn’t answered, but that wasn’t new. She only checked her phone sporadically, so I was surprised when she called only an hour later.
“Hey. Have a few free minutes and thought I’d call rather than text.”
“Always happy to hear from you. Thanks again for looking after Skye.”
“No problem. Better to ask me than Google. That always leads to panic. I like Skye.”
“She likes you too.”
“I found out that talking about you is the fastest way to sidetrack her when she’s worried.”
“You’re a fast learner. What exactly did you tell her?”
I was very curious.
“Like I’d tell you. Muahaha.”
I leaned back in my chair. “You’re really not going to tell me?”
“Nope.”
“You do know I’m gonna get it out of you next time I see you, right?”
“I don’t doubt that. The less details I give you, the more creative you get.”
“Fucking hell. That just makes me want to carry you out of that hospital, straight to my loft.”
“Why don’t you?”
I swallowed hard, completely thrown by her suggestion. I could already feel her soft body pressing against me while I lifted her. My palm would fit perfectly over her round, perky ass while I held her in place.
“I have a deadline tonight. I need to focus.”
“And you think that my being around would be... counterproductive?
”
“Damn right it would.”
She giggled in the phone. “Am I bad for enjoying that?”
“Not at all. But when we spend time together, I want my focus to be all on you.”
“Oh, Cole. The things you say. Wait a second, I just got a message. Maybe a nurse... no, it’s the delivery service. Crap, crap, crap.”
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s Mom’s birthday and I wanted to send her flowers. I always do. And now the delivery service said they didn’t actually register my order. I need to find another service, and I also need to meet the chief in five minutes...”
She was too damn adorable, fretting like that.
“Give me her address. I’ll handle it.”
“Wow. Really? You’d do that?”
“’Course. Can’t let your mom think you’ve forgotten.”
“I’ll text it to you right away. Thank you, thank you, thank you. You’ve just saved the day, mister. I want to repay you. Do you have anything in mind that would work?”
“Many things. Many.” I cleared my throat, but that didn’t clear the dirty images in my mind.
Laney got my drift because I heard her sharp intake of breath. “Oh. Want to maybe share that tonight with me after my shift?”
“I can’t. I have a deadline tonight. But I want to see you soon, Laney. Really spend time with you. More than the fifteen-minute lunch breaks.”
“I want that too.” She sounded breathless. “So, my shift tomorrow is shorter. Want to meet after?”
“Hell, yes.”
She laughed into the phone. “Love that enthusiasm. Shoot, got to go. Arrived at the chief’s office.”
“Go get him. See you tomorrow. I’m getting even more enthusiastic just thinking about those many things I want as reward for saving the day.”
Chapter Fourteen
Laney
For the rest of the day, Cole and I texted whenever I had a free moment. I couldn’t get over that giddiness skittering all over my skin whenever I had a new message from him. I’d been afraid that after our outing last week, my undependable heart might raise some walls. The opposite was happening. I needed to see him. This time, I was determined to actually be awake and full of energy when I met him, so I was happy we were meeting after a shorter shift.
