Chapter 18 Better Together
BETTER TOGETHER
Favorite way to spend a free day?
Cole: If I had a free day, I’d spend it catching up on work.
Bridget: Jesus, Finley’s not interviewing us for a job here. I’d spend an hour each with my nieces and nephews, and we’d gorge on popcorn and watch all their favorite Disney movies.
COLE
Like my dreams turned corporeal, Bridget was standing on the beach in front of our hotel when I returned from my run.
I could make out the shadow of that infernal bikini under the loose linen dress that teased the tops of her thighs.
Eyes closed, she let the ocean breeze stroke her palms as the pink sunrise gilded her back.
Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and the ends danced around her head, kissing her shoulders and cheeks.
I’d never been jealous of hair before, but this was my new reality.
I slowed to a walk and tried to regulate my breathing, so I didn’t huff up to her like a bull. I’d felt as angry as one last night when she’d shut her door in my face, laughing that I’d called us inevitable.
I’d show her inevitable. By the end of the weekend, she’d be begging for me.
In fact, I shouldn’t have walked up to her. I should’ve skirted her and made her find me later at the resort. It was too late to swerve, and there was nowhere to hide on the beach that hadn’t yet filled up with families. Besides, she’d already opened her eyes and spotted me.
Gone was last night’s wicked grin. She looked relaxed in a way I’d never seen her. All the lines smoothed from her face. Was that a…happy smile?
“Good morning,” she said. Her gaze dipped briefly to my sweaty chest, and I stood straighter to show off my pecs. Her eyes shot back to my face, but she didn’t blink, as if a staring contest could make me forget she’d checked me out.
“Good morning.” With my heart still thumping from my run, it wasn’t quite a purr, but there was enough smugness in my tone that her lip curled.
“I was…I’m going for a walk.” She looked in the direction I’d come from.
“I’ll go with you.” The words stampeded out of my mouth, but I managed to keep the wince off my face. What happened to making her beg, genius? Hands on my hips, I looked away, pretending I didn’t care.
She was kind enough to give me an out. “No, thanks. It wouldn’t be appropriate for me to walk with you while you’re not wearing a shirt.”
My brain had gone offline. I pulled the T-shirt out from where I’d tucked it in the waistband of my sweat shorts. “We hung out at the pool all day yesterday. I was shirtless then.”
She stared at the dark clouds over the ocean as I tugged on my shirt. “It was inappropriate then too. I’m growing and learning. You should try it sometime.”
“So we’re back to this?” I said lightly as I trudged through the sand. I didn’t have to turn my head to know she walked beside me.
“Back to what?” She stopped, and I doubled back to wait for her to tug off her flip-flops.
When she was barefoot, we proceeded side by side in the soft sand. “The sniping,” I said. “The competition.”
“That’s what we should be doing. We’re competitors. Anything else is off-limits.”
“Now that’s where you’re wrong.” I glanced down at her. “We may be competitors, but that makes us peers. Nothing in the code of conduct forbids a romantic relationship between equals.” She’d goaded me into displaying my neediness, and I hated it. Though not as much as I hated her side-eye.
“A ‘romantic relationship’? Is that what you want? Like, flowers and dates and shit?”
What did I want, aside from permission to touch her skin and kiss her lips the way the breeze did right now? Fuck, I wished I’d spent less time dreaming about what it’d feel like to kiss those berry lips and more time examining my feelings that weren’t lust.
But I was famous for thinking on my feet. “I don’t need flowers, thanks.” I smirked when she laughed. “I’ll buy you flowers, if you want them. But I’m not trying to woo you. All I want to do is give you what you so desperately want.”
“‘Desperately want’? Hardly,” she scoffed.
“I saw you checking out my dick print.”
Her cheeks went scarlet. “Those shorts are highly unsuitable in a work setting.”
“So is that tease of a swimsuit. So thank fuck we’re not at work. It’s a national holiday, and we’re on the goddamn beach, Bridget. In a foreign country. The team went home. This is about you and me. In fact, this is a date.”
She drifted closer to the hard-packed sand where the waves cascaded in. “What are you talking about? We ran into each other by accident.”
“Does your dating profile say you like walks on the beach?”
She grimaced. “Doesn’t everyone’s?”
I gripped her hand and pulled her to a stop as a line of tiny crabs scuttled in front of us. When they passed, she didn’t shake off my hand. “Because a walk on the beach is the perfect date, especially if the person you’re walking with is an excellent conversationalist like me.”
“Your humility is unparalleled.”
“It’s not the only thing about me that’s unparalleled.”
She ripped her hand out of mine and glared at me. “I can’t believe I almost kissed you the other night.”
“I can’t believe you stopped. We’re going to be amazing together, just like at work.”
She started walking again, angling closer to the water until foam curled around her feet. “We’re not amazing at work. We fight all the time. You thought this retreat was a terrible idea. Though…” She frowned. “As it turned out, it wasn’t so great. We both missed Thanksgiving with our families.”
“I’m not sorry.”
“Really?” She dipped her chin.
“It gave me a chance to get to know you. After this, we’re going to be more in sync at work. Like those guys.” I pointed at a flock of pelicans swooping over the waves. They danced in the wind like ballerinas, skimming over the water, then banking and climbing until they dove simultaneously.
“You won’t fight me on every decision?”
I hadn’t fought her on every decision, had I? “Now that I understand you better, I’ll know what you’re trying to achieve and can propose a solution that gets us both what we want and benefits the company.” I held out my hand, palm up.
She hesitated. “You’re impulsive and…and merciless.”
“Maybe in bed,” I joked. When she didn’t smile, I said, “Wait. You’re serious?”
“You fired Vance, Lenny, and Nasir your first week at the company to make a point.”
“To make a point? You seriously think that poorly of me?” I let my hand drop to my side.
“You don’t trust me, and I guess that’s fair, but I’m not the monster you think I am.
” Starting to walk again, I said, “I fired them because they were creating a hostile work environment.” Briefly, I told her about their sexist comments over dinner at the offsite.
She blinked her eyes wide. “Really? They always seemed…fine.”
As she thought about it, I watched her expression change from puzzlement to anger to resignation. “I guess they had a vibe, especially Vance and Lenny. But they never said anything misogynistic to me.”
“Didn’t they? Or did they, and you ignored it because you hear shit like that all the time? Like how Stan made only you go to that anger management course?”
Her lips twitched to the side. “Noticed that, did you?”
Something twinged in my chest. “I should’ve said something when he did it.”
“But it benefited you, so you didn’t.”
Shame. That was what had gotten out its tiny knife and was carving its signature on my lungs. “Yes. I’m sorry, Bridget.”
She planted her feet in the sand, and the wind whipped her ponytail around her head.
“I wouldn’t change a thing about my career so far.
I’ve learned so much and had so many opportunities to grow, but I’ve also had a lot of experiences that weren’t great.
Being told I was too aggressive when I asked for what I wanted, or shrill when I complained, or not dynamic enough when I sat back and listened.
A lot of women my age and older have gotten too used to those types of comments.
Many of them gave up. I was too stubborn to stop.
I kept going despite the obstacles. It meant I had to ignore some of the blatant sexism I experienced. ”
“Like when you deserved a promotion to CEO, and they made you share it with me.”
She pursed her lips. “I guess you deserve it too.”
“Only with you beside me.”
She narrowed her eyes as if she were trying to read the intent behind what I’d said. “Seriously?”
“I mean it.” I needed her social intelligence, her imagination, her passion. Her skills complemented my intensity and analysis.
“Are you for real?” She tapped her lips with her fingertips.
“I only say what’s true, Bridget. I’ve never wanted to share control of anything. But now I see we’re better together.” I stepped closer until only a couple of inches separated our bodies. When she tipped back her head to look into my eyes, I landed my fingers on her jaw. “We could be so good.”
She closed her eyes and leaned into my hand. In a moment, she’d surrender, and I’d finally get that kiss we’d both been aching for.
Her eyes flew open, and she took two steps back toward the water. “Jesus, I almost fell for it!” She whirled around until her back was to me, and she rested her hands on her head.
With three steps, I was between her and the waves. Water swirled around my ankles and sucked at my toes. I didn’t touch her. “Fell for what?”
“You! For the bullshit you’re shoveling. You don’t want me. You want what I can give you. My connections. My skills. You’re trying to Nigerian-prince me!”
“I’m…what?” She’d broken my brain. Or something else. I rubbed the twinge under my breastbone.
“I might be older than you, and lonely, but I’m not falling for this romantic nonsense. You’ll seduce me so I’ll do what you want, then you’ll fuck me over at work.”
“Bridget, please.” I sank to my knees in the foamy water. Until the moment she’d rejected me, I didn’t know how serious I was. “I meant every word I said. I have no ulterior motive. If I didn’t care about you, would I be here right now?”
Slowly, she shook her head. “You should be home with your daughter.”
I held out my hands. “But I’m not.”
“This can’t be real,” she muttered.
I waited, palms up.
Finally, finally, she laid her small hands in mine. Her usually perfect nail polish was chipped from our adventures this week. I rubbed the backs with my thumbs and gazed up into eyes the color of the ocean.
“Get up,” she said, tugging my hands.
I sprang to my feet and leaned over her. The wind whipped her ponytail around us, and I captured it in my hand and pressed it to her nape. “Can I kiss you, Bridget?”
Her eyes darted left and right, but I brought my other hand to her cheek to focus her attention on me. “No one we know is here,” I said. “No one but us will know it happened. Will you give us a chance?”
Her gaze was pinned to mine. The roar of the waves, the lash of the wind, the screaming of the seagulls faded. She placed her hand on my chest, not pushing me away, but anchoring us together. Her lips parted, and her tongue darted out to wet the lower one.
“Kiss me, Bridget,” I muttered.
Her fingers curled into my T-shirt, and she tugged on it. I let her pull me down until our lips hovered a breath apart. I didn’t want to have to ask again, but I would. I’d beg her if I had to. I opened my mouth to plead with her.
She rose onto her toes and pressed her lips to mine.
Her lips were soft and plush like I’d imagined.
But the rest was so much more. Exactly as she’d done in our office, she staked her claim.
She pressed and invaded with her lips and tongue.
And as she’d done with this trip, she curled her palm around my neck and captured me, holding me to her.
I was a willing captive, taking what she gave me and giving it right back.
I groaned into her mouth as I welcomed her tongue with a caress of my own.
Spots danced behind my eyelids. I needed to breathe, but I didn’t want to change anything about this mind-blowing kiss.
If Bridget didn’t need to stop, neither did I.
Ignoring the taps on my head and shoulders, I delved in for more, releasing my hold on her hair to run my hand down her back.
Her dress clung to her, and I traced the shape of her bikini top.
Let the seagulls peck me to death. I was going to figure out how the ruffled thing was put together and what it might reveal.
Bridget wrenched her lips off mine, her chest heaving. “I think…” She tipped her face up. “It’s raining.”
“Is it?” I murmured into her wet cheek, where I laid a row of kisses down to her neck.
“It is. Pretty hard too.”
“No, that’s me.” I pressed my hips into hers so she could feel how I wanted her.
“Cole.” Gently, she pushed on my chest until I stepped back.
It was only then that I noticed the rain-soaked strands of her hair sticking to her face, and her thin dress plastered to her skin.
She shivered, and I wished I had one dry article of clothing to shelter her, but I was drenched too. “Let’s go back.”
I’d have paid every dollar in my bank account to sink back into the minute before we’d sensed the rain, but that moment was gone. I clutched her hand. “Come on.”