Chapter Four
Lori
Cole is still on his knee in front of me, tension radiating off of him. I reach out and run my fingers over the stubble of his jaw. “Talk to me. We’re supposed to share everything now, remember?”
“We do, Lori. I’m also supposed to be the person that makes you feel safe and protected.”
“I didn’t marry you to feel safe and protected, Cole.”
“But it’s a need you have and if you’re denying that, I’ll just claim it for you. That need is why you didn’t trust me at first.”
“Cole,” I breathe out, this man delivering so many feelings in me so very easily. “God, I love you, husband, but I don’t need you to make me feel safe and protected and yet you do. Because the thing about life is, that when you have someone you know will endure the bad with you and make it better, you do feel safe and protected. I do—”
He presses his lips to mine, his hand at the back of my head, and there is tenderness and passion in this kiss. There is love. There is just so much. When his lips part from mine, he strokes my hair behind my ear. “Just move a little closer to me if the ground feels like it’s falling. Okay?”
“Yes, but I need to say something that I fear is at work here. My father is why I didn’t trust you at first. He was my hero that was flawed. I’m still accepting that but I don’t want you to think that I need you to be perfect. I’m afraid I’ve made you feel that way.”
“No,” he says. “I get it. I know the hell he left you to clean up.” He kisses my hand. “Perhaps we’re dealing with my demons now, not yours.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means I have you now. I’m not going to let anyone take you from me.”
Realization hits me, Cole was far more alone when we found each other than I was. His parents are gone. He has no siblings. And yet this man was all in with me from the beginning. I made him fight for us. He did. So very perfectly.
He pushes off his knee, and sits on the bed beside me and takes me down on the mattress, the two of us lying side by side, facing each other. “Here’s what I’m going to say to you before we head home. I’m going to be a bulldog about protecting you. You’ll call it controlling. You might even be right. We’ll fight. And we will talk, and then fuck it out. Deal?”
My lips curve, tenderness filling me at just how honest he’s been with me. “The best deal ever.”
It’s almost twenty-four hours later, near sunset, when our plane touches down in New York City but that sexy encounter with Cole that turned tormented has been lingering in my mind. Actually, I’m pretty sure the entire encounter was driven by torment. I even believe that spanking was driven by his need to escape, not mine, or maybe both of us needed the escape.
Cole has remained edgy, his mood darker than usual, despite him touching me often, despite gentleness and love in his eyes when he looks at me. He’s still fretting and while I don’t deny he’s told me the truth about what awaits us here in the city, I think he’s got a gut feeling gnawing at him. And the man has an incredible gut feeling or he wouldn’t be the all-star attorney that he is. Which is exactly why the minute we’re taxiing on the runway, I dial my mother. “How are things?” I ask, fearful that trouble in the form of protestors or who knows what else might have found her.
“Glorious,” she says, a smile in her voice. “This place Cole rented for us is incredible. He really shouldn’t have done this. He’s too generous, honey.”
My heart warms with the knowledge that Cole has gone all-out for my mother, though it’s not surprising to me at all. “He is,” I say, my eyes meeting Cole’s, his warm with a mix of affection and curiosity.
He arches a brow that says, “I am what?” no words needed. Often, Cole communicates with me with no words needed and I love this about him and us.
I smile and cut my gaze, intentionally leaving him guessing. “I need to go, mom,” I say, “but call if you need us.”
“Us,” she murmurs. “I love the way you are an us with that man.”
“Me too, actually,” I say, amazed that she has latched onto the same word that I have, and about how much my life, and hers, has changed in less than a year.
“Love you,” she says.
“Love you, too.”
We disconnect as the plane pulls into the hangar. “I am what?” Cole asks, taking my hand.
“Arrogant. Good looking. Impossibly stubborn.” I smile. “Generous. Driven. Everything. She says the place you have her staying at is incredible.”
“That would be our weekend home that your mother has now officially seen before you.”
I blanch. “What? Weekend home?”
“That’s right,” he confirms. “A client hooked me up with the property when I was still in Houston. I rent it out for a hefty fee, but now we can claim it as ours. Now we have a reason to head out there and escape the city.”
“My mother?”
“No,” he rejects quickly. “I don’t want to risk dragging the press out there. I was talking about us. We’re the reason.”
And just like that, once again, he’s giving me a reason to smile, not fret. “Cole, I just want you to know—”
His phone buzzes with a text and he grimaces. “And we’re back. They found me.” He leans in and kisses me. “Save that thought for when we’re alone and naked.” He kisses me again quickly and answers the line. “What’s up, Ashley?”
He listens a minute and I don’t miss the subtle tension in his body. “Okay. How the hell does this even happen?” Another pause. “Right. Yes.” He disconnects and looks at me. “Somehow our arrival got out to the press. Savage is back in New York. He and some guy named Smith are waiting inside to escort us home.”
“My God. This is nuts. How often do you go through this?”
“Most cases aren’t televised and followed by the country, like our last one,” he says. “The good news is that everyone wants you after one of these wins. The bad news is that everyone wants you after one of these wins. It’ll pass quickly, but we’ve been out of reach. The press and naysayers need their moment. Which is why I build a security service into our fees on cases like these.” He leans in and kisses me. “I’ll just keep you extra close for the next week. I have more than a few office fantasies we have yet to act out.” He doesn’t give me time to respond. Instead, he unhooks my seatbelt and grips my waist with a gentle squeeze. “Let’s go home and get naked, fuck, and then sleep for twelve hours.”
“Yes, please, to all,” I say, my weary body warming with the idea of finally being back home with this man. He kisses me, unhooks his seatbelt and stands up, offering me his hand.
We start walking down the ramp when his phone buzzes with a text and his jaw sets hard. “More trouble in the Houston office.” He shoves his phone into his pocket. “I need to fix that mess once and for all. It shouldn’t be this damn hard to run a satellite office.”
“More power struggles with the partners?”
“Yes. Rumors of some sort of hostile takeover yet again.”
I stop walking. “You have to get on a plane and go there now. You have to deal with this.”
“We have clients coming in tomorrow to see us,” he says.
“I’ll handle it. Trust me to handle it.” Several people walk around us.
Cole kisses me and wraps his arm around my shoulders, setting us back in motion. “I do, but if I’m forced to go to Houston this week, it will not be good for those tempting fate.” His phone rings again and he glances at the number. “Savage,” he tells me, taking the call.
The two of them arrange where to meet and by the time they hang up, we’re approaching baggage claim. We exit the main airport to find Savage waiting for us, and every time I see the man I think of a woodsman, complete with a plaid shirt and ax. Except he never has a plaid shirt and ax. He’s just big, broad, with a goatee, and a scar down his cheek, and definitely dangerous looking.
“How the fuck was Rome?” he asks when we stop in front of him.
I laugh. “Paris,” I correct.
“Right,” he says. “I don’t like Paris. The women eat snails and raw meat. Hard to kiss a woman that has that shit in their mouths.”
Cole and I both laugh. “You are a piece of work, man,” Cole murmurs. “How bad is the press?”
“Not here,” he says. “Because we tricked them into thinking you were on a private jet at another location. Don’t ask how. We’re just that good.”
“I need to go to the ladies’ room,” I say. “Am I safe to go?”
“All is clear here in baggage claim,” Savage says. “Just come right back. No detours.”
I nod, relieved that the situation isn’t one that requires escorts to the bathroom. Obviously, Cole was just on edge on our way home, feeling all kinds of things that he’s not used to feeling. I kiss his cheek and follow the bathroom sign. Thankfully there isn’t a line and I quickly do my thing, wash up and head for the door when suddenly, a burly man is in the bathroom, stalking toward me.
I scream and turn to run, but there is nowhere to go but a wall or a stall where I will end up trapped.