Chapter 11
POV: Abby?
I stared at myself in the mirror for what felt like unreasonably long.
The yellow dress fit…perfectly.
He picked out my size with a single glance.
It hugged all the right curves, it was a touch longer than I usually wore, but the color and style were extremely flattering.
I bit my lip as I looked over myself once more.
Long blonde hair cascaded down my back in perfect waves, black mascara coated my lashes, pink pouty lips. Cole would go crazy.
But as I glanced at the dress, I knew what it really symbolized to him. Control. Marking his territory. Claiming me as his.
But the truth was, I didn’t mind it. Not one bit.
In fact, I liked it.
Luckily, I didn’t have an opening shift today, so I arrived on time at 6 pm sharp, and as I swung open the front door just an inch, peeking into the crowd, hoping to see him, but he was nowhere to be found.
I frowned.
Of course, he was playing with my mind all along.
And then I realized this was probably another control thing with him.
I sighed, dropping my bag in the office and promised myself that I shouldn’t let it bother me.
Cole was Cole, and if he was trying to stir something up before he even arrived, just to see me flustered and all hot and bothered when he eventually did, then I wouldn’t let him win.
Not this time.
So, I did what I needed to—I decided to make the best of it.
I decided to take a shot of Jamison. It went down as expected, rough. I immediately drank a cup of water then tossed it into the bar sink.
I decided that what’s another after the taste of one already stung in my mouth?
So, I took another shot and another, until I was feeling all hot and woozy. Until I felt light in my boots.
And still no sign of Cole.
Figures, I muttered to myself.
A cowboy hat at the end of the bar waved me down for a drink.
“What are you drinking?” I asked, half tipsy, half irritated at Cole.
He was sort of cute. Big smile. Toothpick hanging at the corner of his mouth. Fresh cowboy hat.
Tourist. I knew it already.
But still, I smiled back, as he glanced over my face then dropped his gaze down to my boobs.
“What are you drinking, sweetheart?” he drawled. His accent must be southern, Alabaman, Texan, something like that.
“Not from around here, are you?” I cocked an eyebrow.
He sent me a wink. “How could you tell, sweetheart?”
Enough of the sweetheart, I thought, but it was sort of cute, and I was tipsy, and I was also sort of hoping that Cole would walk in and see him flirting with me.
“I can always tell the tourists apart from the locals,” I winked back. “So what will it be?”
He studied my chest again for a moment before slowly dragging his gaze back up to my face finally. “A seven up and whiskey.”
I almost laughed, almost.
What kind of cowboy, even a fake one, thinks of ordering that?
“Right away,” I chuckled softly as I walked away.
By the time I brought the drink back and set it in front of him, he was back to staring at my chest again.
Like clockwork, I thought.
But still no Cole in sight.
So I figured why not, let’s have some fun with it.
I poured two shots of jamison and pushed one forward to the tourist.
He knew he couldn’t refuse it.
The shot hit me worse than the others. I should’ve been used to the taste, I should’ve even been used to the way it burned, but I wasn’t.
Then like clockwork, like the stars were finally falling into place, the door opened and in Cole walked.
But I was too tipsy to stop there.
And when I’m tipsy, I make bad decisions. Life altering ones.
So, that explains why I made the next decision.
Our gazes connected and I sent him a smile, a knowing smile, one that read “you made me wait”.
I turned to the tourist, a big smile on my face, when his eyes were somewhere else like before, and said, “Wanna dance?”
At first he thought about it, surprised by my offer, then eventually nodded and got to his feet.
“Dad, I’m taking a break!” I called out to the kitchen area.
I walked around the other end of the bar, keeping my eyes on Cole as I did and let the tourist grab my hand and lead me out to the dance floor.
I knew it wasn’t a good idea. In fact, I knew it was probably one of the worst ideas I’ve ever had.
But I did it anyway, laughing and smiling and letting him twirl me around the dance floor until I felt dizzy.
I guess I wasn’t prepared for what came next.
A cold hand on my wrist, twisting me and pulling me towards…him.
The tourist tried to mouth off but Cole just gave him one single look that screamed, ‘don’t fuck with me’. And he didn’t. Instead, he backed away with his hands up and ran far away from the dance floor, leaving me with my captor.
“Let go of me!” I seethed.
Cole’s lips were so stiff and the rest of his face was so emotionless it was frightening.
I tried to wriggle out of his grasp but it was no use. “Let go of me I said!”
Instead Cole did the exact opposite. He yanked me towards the door, before my dad could see, and through the dancefloor’s crowd, with only a few people turning their heads to look at us, as his hand never let go of my wrist.
“What’s wrong with you?” I yelled at him, trying to break free.
“What’s wrong with me?” I could hear the sound of his teeth grinding together as he spoke.
“Yes!” I screamed, almost spitting in his face as I did.
He laughed but there was no humor to it. “What do you think you’re doing, Abby?”
“Dancing,” I shrugged, tugging at his grasp again.
“Dancing,” his jaw ticked as he said the word. “That guy did not want to dance with you, Abby.”
“I know that, Cole,” I replied, trying to step on his boot but he yanked me closer to him, causing me to lose my balance.
“Stop behaving like a child.”
I scoffed. “Look who’s talking! I’m not your property! I don’t belong to you!”
Uh-oh.
Within seconds, Cole pulled me into his chest and wrapped his hand around my waist, holding me in place. “Yes, you do.”
Then without another word, he let me go, leaving me standing on the sidewalk, speechless, as my father watched from the other side of the window.
“Real mature!” I called out, stomping my feet and slamming the door behind me. “Not tonight, dad,” I replied, breezing past him and back behind the bar.
Dad knew better than to lecture me at least.
Because internally, I was lecturing myself.
I knew what I was doing instigating Cole, but I did it anyway. I knew of the consequences, I knew how he would behave and I knew that it would leave things between us more confusing than before, but I still did it anyway.
Because the truth was, I liked hearing that I belonged to him.