Chapter 17
Chapter seventeen
Grace
Iwoke up to the scent of coffee and sandalwood.
“Mmm,” I murmured as my sleepy eyes fluttered open.
Sitting beside me on the bed was a man who could very well be the man of my dreams. A realization that should’ve scared me but didn’t freak me out at all.
“Morning, sweetheart,” Cole cooed, bending down to kiss me.
I pushed up on my elbows to meet him, but at the last second turned away, Cole’s kiss finding my cheek.
“What the fuck?” he swore, obviously annoyed he hadn’t gotten what he wanted.
“Morning breath. I haven’t brushed my teeth yet,” I explained, covering my mouth with my hand.
Cole batted my hand away. “Sweetheart, do I need to remind you that less than twelve hours ago my tongue was buried in your pussy as I devoured you.”
His crude words burned my cheeks with embarrassment. I remembered all right. How could I forget? It was no wonder I was dragging my ass this morning. The man had kept me up all night and when I did manage to finally fall asleep, we woke only a few short hours later for another round.
“Cole!” I admonished.
“Kiss me properly, Grace,” he commanded, and like the little puppet I was, I didn’t argue.
Our kiss escalated and Cole pinned me to the bed. When he broke for air, I lifted my hips. I could feel his hardness pressing into me through his jeans.
“What time is it?” I asked, noticing the sunlight flooding into the room.
“Just after nine,” Cole replied, rolling off me and sitting on the edge of the bed.
“After nine! I slept in. Why didn’t you wake me?” I panicked, sitting up and letting the sheet fall away. It wasn’t until I saw Cole’s eyes widen that I realized what I’d done. As the sheet had dropped away, it had exposed my naked boobs, and now the man was hypnotized.
“You needed your sleep,” Cole mumbled, reaching out and trailing his finger along my arm leaving the flesh goose pebbled.
“Well, someone did keep me up all night with his antics,” I threw back at him only to earn myself a wide grin. The man was pleased with himself all right. Every muscle in my body ached, and I was starving, but there was a a sense of happiness I hadn’t felt in a long time.
“Guilty as charged,” he declared.
“You’re dressed,” I pointed out.
“I’ve already been out. Thought I’d come and check on you, make sure I didn’t kill you last night with my … antics,” Cole offered smugly.
“You’ve been out already? Cole, you should’ve woken me.” I felt guilty. Cole had had as little sleep as I, yet he was already up, dressed, and hard at work.
“It’s fine. But I do have a favor to ask,” Cole asked nervously, rubbing the back of his neck and looking everywhere but at me.
“What do you need? And if you say me bent over with my ass in the air, you’re going to be very disappointed. My vagina needs a break. She hasn’t seen this much action since …”
I never got to finish my sentence. Cole slammed his lips down over mine in a bruising kiss.
When he pulled back, he held my chin between his thumb and forefinger. “I don’t want to hear about the other boys who’ve seen you naked, Grace.”
His possessive demand sent a shiver down my spine. “Boys?”
“Well, they sure as shit weren’t men if they let you go,” Cole growled.
“I was going to say my battery-operated boyfriend, but …”
“Yeah, well, you won’t need that either. Not while I’m around.”
My heart pounded. My head spun. I was trying not to read too much into his words, but my mind was running away with me.
The idea of forever with this man had already crept in once or twice, but then he went and said things like that, and I almost dropped to my knees and begged him to ask me to stay.
Gulping down my emotions, I forced myself to focus. “Okay, back to the topic at hand. You said you needed a favor?”
“Yeah, I do. But if you’re too busy or don’t want to …” Cole’s babbling was adorable. He actually thought I might turn him down.
“Cole,” I tried to center him. I put my hand on his thigh and his eyes snapped to mine. “What do you need?”
“You know how I told you yesterday we lost a cow but the calf survived?”
“Please tell me that it’s still alive?” I practically pleaded. The last thing I wanted to talk about first thing in the morning was a dead baby cow.
“Yeah. She’s fine. But she’s hungry.”
“She doesn’t have a momma.”
“Poddy calves are usually bottle fed, but it takes time …”
“And I’m going to do it,” I declared. “Let me grab a shower real quick then you can show me what to do.”
I bounced out of bed, ignoring the fact that I was naked as I danced across the bedroom into the bathroom.
It wasn’t until I looked in the mirror that I saw what a disaster I looked.
Talk about completely fucked. My hair was standing on end and resembled more of a bird's nest than an actual hairstyle. With a shake of my head, I turned away from my reflection and started the shower. I had a cute little calf depending on me and I wasn’t about to let her down.
Quickly, I finished up and was just stepping onto the bathmat when I heard my phone.
“Grace, that’s yours,” Cole called out.
“Can you grab it? It’s probably Gabriella or Georgia. Just tell them I’ll call them back,” I asked as I tipped my head upside down and dried my hair.
As soon as I was dry, I padded into the bedroom and started rummaging through my overnight bag sitting on the chair in the corner. Living out of a suitcase, or in my case, a duffle bag, wasn’t my favorite way to live, but I wasn’t complaining either. Being with Cole made it worth it.
I was just pulling on my panties when Cole appeared with a scowl on his face.
“Geez, what did Georgia say to you?” I teased as I reached for my bra.
“Who said it was Gabriella or Georgia?”
“I did. Gabriella can be a pain in the ass, but she doesn’t elicit that kind of reaction. Not just from a phone call anyway.”
“It wasn’t Georgia.”
“Cole,” I started to worry. “Who was on the phone?”
I set my hands on my hips and stared at him, waiting for his answer.
“Ben. He wants you to call him back.”
I gulped down my unease, but Cole pushed on.
“Apparently, he’s been calling and messaging you but hasn’t heard back. Is that true?” Cole asked pointedly as he tossed my phone on the bed between us. I stared down at it. It looked like a bomb just taunting us both, waiting to explode.
“Yes.”
“What does he want, Grace?”
“I don't know,” I answered honestly.
“You don’t know?”
“No Cole. I don't know. I don’t know because I didn’t read his messages or answer his calls. I don’t know because I haven’t spoken to him and I don’t particularly want to, okay?” I snapped. I’d let my frustration get the better of me and I snapped.
“Why not?”
Oh my god! Five minutes ago my day had started as a good day. I had coffee waiting, a hot man wanting to kiss me, and a cute calf who needed me. Now I was arguing over my ex-boss who fucked me over and hung me out to dry.
“Because all right. He screwed me over. He promised he’d take care of me and he didn’t. He didn’t fight for me. Hell, he didn’t even show up for me. So no, Cole, I’m not in a hurry to talk to the man who let me down and let his minions run me out of a job I loved.”
Cole prowled toward me. His jaw was set and there were wrinkles between his eyes. “Grace?”
“What?” I huffed already exasperated with this day and this conversation.
“Ben fucked up. He lost the best thing that could’ve happened to him. But I’m not Ben …”
“I know you’re not,” I declared, unable to stop myself from rolling my eyes.
“And if you want me to call him back and tell him to fuck off, just say the word,” Cole offered.
I sighed heavily and let the fight go out of me. Cole stopped in front of me, and I reached for him. With my hands on his hips, I let my forehead rest against the center of his chest. Cole smelt like home.
I gazed up at him, under no illusions that there weren’t stars in my eyes. “You really would do that, wouldn’t you?”
“In a heartbeat,” Cole declared without missing a beat. “You just tell me what you need. I got you, sweetheart.”
I burrowed against him, letting the warmth of his embrace cocoon me like a safety blanket. Cole bent down and kissed the top of my head. We must have looked like an odd couple. Cole in his green plaid shirt and Wranglers and me in my underwear.
“Coffee.”
“Excuse me?”
“You told me to tell you what I need and what I need more than anything right now is coffee.” I smiled, wanting to forget the last twenty minutes and start the day again.
“That I can do. You get dressed, and I’ll go make you one,” Cole instructed with another kiss on the forehead before vanishing out the door leaving me to find some clothes.
Ten minutes later, my to-go cup in hand, we strode toward the barn.
“You know the last time we were in here …”
“Get that thought right out of your mind, Mr. Flanigan. I’m here to feed a sweet little cow not to roll around in the hay with some farmer,” I told him.
“Oh, come on. You didn’t complain last time,” Cole countered, nudging me with his shoulder.
“You weren’t the one who ended up with a rash on their ass,” I reminded him.
“Fine. You ruin all my fun.” He pouted before smacking my ass.
“Oh, poor Cole. If you think I should feel sorry for you, you’re very much mistaken. If I remember correctly, you had more than enough fun last night,” I reminded him, still surprised I wasn’t walking funny.
“Oh, I remember. Trust me.” He winked as he led me into the barn toward one of the stalls at the back.
Curled in the corner asleep was the most adorable cow I’d ever seen. She was jet black with long lashes. And she was all skinny legs and bones.
“Oh my god,” I gushed quietly, not wanting to wake her.
Cole explained to me what needed to happen.
She was a poddy calf, her mother had died due to complications with the birth.
Now she had to be hand raised so we didn’t lose her too.
Cole showed me how to make up the milk and fit the teet to the bottle to feed her.
Eventually, she’d be big enough to fend for herself and she’d be able to join the herd, but for now, she needed our help. My help.
“Think you’ll be okay?”
“I got it,” I promised him knowing there was no way I was going to let this beautiful creature down.
Cole stepped back and I opened the gate and made my way into the stall. At first, she shied away from me, but slowly, curiosity got the better of her and she edged closer, and before long she was sucking the teet greedily.
“You good?” Cole asked from his position, leaning against the gate, looking like every girl’s cowboy fantasy.
“We’re good,” I assured him, turning back to focus on the task at hand.
“I’ll leave you to it. Call if you need anything,” Cole reminded me before heading out of the barn leaving me to do farmer things on my own.