“Hey,” I say to him.
Finally, he leans back in his chair and looks up at me. I don’t know what I am thinking. I’ve never done this before in my life, but I fall into his lap, looping my arms around his neck. He doesn’t have a choice; his hands go to my waist and hips, gripping on to me.
I look right into his eyes. “Those women are stupid. You know that, right?”
Surprise lights up his eyes. “I know that. I don’t care what they think about me.”
I turn my head to the side. “Okay, so why’d you turn your chair away from me?”
I’ve always been known as the person that tells it like it is. Subtlety is not my strong point. His arms tighten on me. “Honestly?”
I nod at him. “Absolutely.”
“For a second there, when you were talking to me, I forgot about my face.” He tips his head to the table of women. “They reminded me.”
I look over my shoulder at our obvious audience. The women act like they’re watching a soap opera, wondering what’s going to happen next. Because I can’t resist, I turn back to Cole and do the unthinkable. I lift my hand and caress the marred skin of his cheek. I can feel his body stiffen underneath me and not in a good way. I’m sure no one touches him there. But I can’t go another second without doing it. Reaching in, I whisper to him, “I think you have a beautiful face.” And then I touch my lips softly to his cheek. I feel his chest expand as he sucks in a breath, but I don’t move. I kiss him softly until I feel him move his hands up my sides, across my shoulders and then the nape of my neck. He pulls back from me, but I still don’t move. I’m hypnotized by the look on his face. There’s wonder, desire, and maybe even a little fear.
When he just keeps looking at me, I wonder if I pushed too far. I wiggle in his lap and start to get up, but he breathily tells me, “Stay.”
I freeze until he looks at my lips, and his words free me. “Can I kiss you, Hope?”
I nod, licking my lips, waiting for his touch.
When he leans in, I meet him halfway, and the moment our lips touch, I feel a pull in my lower belly. I lean in closer, breathing him in. His kiss is savage. It’s like he hasn’t had any air to breathe, and now I’m his lifeline. He takes everything I give, and when his tongue plunges into my mouth, a moan escapes me. I rub my legs together, wanting to ease the friction between my legs. His hands go to my hips to still me, and a guttural groan leaves his mouth as he pulls away from me. We’re both breathing raggedly, and I lean my forehead against his, unable to do anything else.
Only then does the music and the noise fill my head. For a second, I forgot where I was.
“I don’t pay you to whore around,” Mack, my boss, says from somewhere behind me.
Cole’s hold on me tightens, and his face morphs in front of me. The desire that was in his eyes only moments ago turns to rage. He stands up with me still in his arms and moves me behind him. His buddies, who must have seen it all, are now standing next to me.
Cole starts to walk toward Mack, and Mack is so stupid he just stands there and smirks. I reach out for Cole to stop him, but one of his friends puts his hand on my shoulder. I look back at him, and he’s shaking his head. “No, let him go. He needs to do this.”
I want to argue with him, but there’s something in his face that tells me I shouldn’t. Finally, I nod helplessly and turn back to Cole as he approaches my boss.
Cole towers over him, and I can’t hear what he’s saying, but I can tell he’s mad. I can’t see Mack, not until he’s backing away and slithers behind the bar. The usually mouthy man is quiet, subdued now.
Cole turns back to me and his friends. They are all clapping him on the back and while one has his attention, I ask the man that stopped me, “What did I miss?”
His big beefy hand touches my shoulder again. “You’re the first person we’ve seen him show any emotion for in over a year. He’s back.”
His smile is contagious, and I smile back at him. Not just for Cole, but the fact that he has friends like this that obviously care about him.
The man’s face falls instantly, and he drops his hand from my shoulder. I want to question him until I feel Cole’s chest at my back and he’s pulling me against him. I turn in his arms and smile up at him. “You want to get out of here?”
Surprise fills his face, but he nods his head immediately. “I have to get my purse,” I tell him, patting my hand across his hard chest.
I start to walk away from him, but he grabs on to my hand, lacing our fingers together. He waves at his friends, and they’re all smiles as they tell us goodbye. He walks me over to the bar, and I grab my purse from the back. I don’t even tell Mack I’m leaving. If I worked anywhere else, I would probably be out of a job for just leaving like this. But not here. Mack can’t seem to keep employees. Sure, he’ll give me a hard time when I show up at my next shift. But he won’t fire me.
As we walk toward the exit, I wave at the women that were at the table next to Cole. Now, instead of laughter and disgust, I see longing on their faces.
He stops when we get next to what I assume is his truck and I ask him, “What did you say to my boss?”
He shrugs his shoulders, opening the door. Then he picks me up and sets me in the seat. He’s pulling the seatbelt around me, and when it snaps, he says, “I told him I’d bury him if he talked about you like that again.”
I start to laugh but stop suddenly. He’s not joking. I see the sincerity on his face. He means it. He would actually bury him for the way he talked to me. I swallow, overcome with the span of emotions tonight has held.
I cup his jaw, brushing my thumb across his cheek. I’d go home with this man in an instant. He’s the complete package, a real man. But I also don’t want him to think I’m easy. “So where do you want to go?”
He seems to think about it before his eyes light up. “I know just the place.”
3
Cole
She deserves to be taken to a fancy restaurant. She deserves to be showed off. But I can’t make myself do it. I’ve avoided most public places for a year now and can’t just show up at a restaurant tonight. It about killed me walking into the dingy bar; I couldn’t imagine a brightly lit restaurant. No thanks. I walk around to the driver’s side of my truck, get in, and pull out my phone. “Do you like Italian?”
“Yum. Yes,” she says, smiling at me.
“What would you like?” I question her.
She looks at the phone and then back up at me. I don’t know how to explain to her that I can’t take her to a restaurant. I can’t do that to her because I know all the stares we would get. I may not be comfortable with it, so I know I don’t want to subject her to it.
I’m about to tell her when she just smiles at me. “Uh, I’ll have whatever you’re having.”
I type out a text, hit send, and then put my phone away. I drive us down the block and ask her about herself. She tells me about how she’s going to school to become a nurse. I find out that she’s an only child and she still lives at home with her mom and dad. She’s embarrassed about it, I can tell. “I’m twenty-five years old, so I know I should be on my own by now, but I’m trying to pay off school as I go and it’s easier to save money this way.”