9. Bridget
Bridget
By the time the latching of the front door reached my ears, I’d already worked myself into a tizzy, pacing the kitchen and convincing myself that it was a terrible idea to have come here.
“Bridget?” Cole’s cautious voice called out from nearby.
“I have to go,” I blurted.
There were quiet footsteps as he moved closer. “Go? Go where?”
“Anywhere but here. I can’t stay.”
“Why don’t you slow down and take a breath?” he coaxed. “Tell me why you have the sudden urge to flee.”
Throwing my arms wide, I cried, “How can you ask me that after I freaked out so badly that I pulled a knife on a child? A child, Cole!”
He pulled in a deep breath. “You were caught off guard when you were already maxed out on anxiety. You didn’t mean Maisie any harm.”
When I’d heard those heavy footsteps on approach, I was convinced Aiden had found a way past Cole, and I reacted purely on instinct. As a result, I’d probably scarred that teenage girl for life.
I scoffed, disgusted with myself. “I’m too fucked up after everything Aiden put me through. I need to leave San Diego.”
There was just the not-so-little problem of being dead broke standing in my way. But maybe Cole could help with that.
“Can I borrow just enough money for a bus ticket? I promise once I get back on my feet, I’ll pay you back.”
His brow furrowed. “Will you tell me where you’re thinking of heading?”
I lifted one shoulder. “North, I suppose. San Francisco, or Sacramento maybe. I’m behind on my continuing education credits, but my teaching license is still valid. If I can crash at a women’s shelter up there for a bit until I find a job, I should be okay.”
“I can loan you the bus fare. Or . . .” He drew the word out slowly. “You could stay here with me.”
“Cole, I refuse to ruin your life the same way I’ve ruined mine.”
His blue gaze softened. “You could never ruin my life. Not when you’re the only thing that makes it worth living.”
My eyes slammed shut. “You can’t say things like that.”
“Why not? It’s the truth. I never stopped loving you, Bridget. Not for a single second in all the time we were apart.”
Tears leaked past my tightly sealed eyelids, and with emotion clogging my throat, I confessed, “I never stopped either.”
After hauling in a deep breath, Cole said, “If you want to leave, I won’t stop you. Just know that I would really like it if you stayed.”
He was offering me a choice—something I hadn’t been afforded in the past. And setting his own wishes aside in favor of mine was the only confirmation I needed that he hadn’t been lying when he said he still loved me.
But something in the back of my brain warned that it couldn’t be this easy. That I couldn’t just show up at my ex’s house—the same ex I was still very much in love with—and pick up right where we left off.
Or could we?
There was only one way to find out.
With a jerky nod, I rasped, “Okay. I’ll stay.”
His entire body sagged in relief. “I’m so happy to hear you say that.”
Despite my decision, I refused to let my guard down. Because if there was anything I’d learned from my experience with Aiden, it was that if it seemed too good to be true, it usually was.
Though I prayed with every fiber of my being that wouldn’t be the case with Cole.
I could feel his eyes on me as I stood at the sink washing the dishes by hand after breakfast.
Remaining focused on scrubbing the plate in my hand, I asked, “Is there a reason you’re staring?”
There was a deep hum in response. “Just thinking.”
“Thinking about what?”
His footsteps indicated he was moving closer, and I silently cursed myself for tensing up when he breached my personal space, only to retreat at my reaction.
“Sorry,” he muttered.
My chest heaved on a sigh as I wiped my soapy hands off on a towel before turning around. “It’s not you, Cole.”
Swallowing so hard that his Adam’s apple bobbed along the column of his throat, he nodded. “Yeah, I know.”
Less than twelve hours removed from running out on my abusive ex, I was still in survival mode.
The threat of Aiden finding me loomed like a storm cloud, poised to unleash its fury.
Even in a world where he was held accountable for his actions, never allowed to hurt me again, it was hard to imagine there would come a time when I didn’t flinch at a man—even Cole—getting too close to me.
In desperate need of a change of subject, I prompted, “So, you were thinking . . .”
Cole’s lips twitched. “That, as good as you look wearing my clothes, we should probably get you some of your own.”
I turned back to the sink. “As long as you don’t mind, I can make do with what you’ve already let me borrow.”
“I do mind, actually.”
“Oh.” The word came out on a shaky exhale.
“Bridget, look at me,” he commanded softly.
My lower lip wobbled, and I blinked furiously to keep the tears at bay. “I’d really rather not.”
“Please, beautiful?”
Spinning around slowly, I sucked in a sharp breath when he reached out to tuck a stray strand of hair behind my ear, a shiver running down my spine as his fingertips grazed the side of my neck.
“I want you to be comfortable,” Cole explained.
I tugged on the hem of the oversized T-shirt. “I am.”
He arched a doubtful eyebrow. “Are you forgetting that I can read you like a book? Why don’t we cut the bullshit and you tell me what’s really bothering you?”
Heat flooded my cheeks. “I, uh, haven’t worked in years.”
Forehead creased, Cole cocked his head to the side. “You’ve already told me that.”
God, was he really going to make me spell it out for him?
“I don’t have any money,” I blurted, embarrassed to my core that I was coming to him at the lowest point of my life.
“And I have more than I could possibly spend in a lifetime. If it wasn’t clear when I took you in last night, I’ll spell it out for you: I want to take care of you, Bridget.”
The past few years had rewired my brain to believe that accepting financial support from a man came with strings attached. And I outright refused to go down that path again.
But the simple fact of the matter was that money made the world go round. Without it, I had very few options.
A solution came to mind.
“Would you be willing to give me a job?”
Cole’s dark eyebrows furrowed. “A job? Doing what?”
“Housekeeper? Cook? Personal assistant? Whatever you need.”
He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Bridget, we’ve been over this. You’re my guest and—”
“I can’t just take your money. I need to earn it.”
Lips twisted to the side, he considered what I was asking before giving a single dip of his chin. “Okay.”
A relieved rush of air flew past my lips. “Thank you.”
“In the meantime . . .” Mid-thought, he left the room.
Curious, I followed, only to catch him grabbing his wallet from a table near what I could only assume was the door to the garage.
Pulling out a credit card, he extended it toward me. “Buy what you need today, and we can call it an advance on your first ‘paycheck.’” That final word was accompanied by the use of air quotes with his free hand.
Cue the flaming face again.
Toeing the ground, I confessed, “I don’t have a phone.”
Cole blinked at me. “He didn’t let you have one?”
“He did, but I left it behind so he wouldn’t be able to track where I went.”
He hauled in a deep breath. “Okay. First order of business is a new phone, then.”
Not wanting to dig myself a hole so deep I’d never work my way out of it, I said, “A used one is just fine.”
There was a split second when it looked as though he was going to argue, but he must’ve thought better of it because he replied with an “All right.” He placed the credit card back into his wallet.
“I’d prefer you have one today since the Surf is headed out of town tomorrow.
” My lungs seized at that information. “So, I’ll need to run out later. Will you be okay here alone?”
No, but what other choice did I have? I sure as shit couldn’t go to the cell phone store with him, not when Aiden had access to CCTV footage within the city limits and was undoubtedly searching for me.
If he hadn’t shown up at Cole’s house by now, odds were that he didn’t know I was here, making this the safest place for me in all of San Diego.
Still, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I should have fled his jurisdiction when I had the chance.
I only prayed that wouldn’t prove to be a fatal mistake.