Chapter 12
JULES
“We were thinking,” Delaney said as the four of us sat at a table outside the closest café to the hotel, “of maybe staying in Florence for the night.”
I darted my eyes to Cole, but he was back to his normal self.
I hated that a part of me was looking for something in his expression…
something I wasn’t even willing to name.
When I woke up, his bed had already been made with no sign of him until, a half hour later, a sweaty Cole returned from a run.
We’d exchanged “good mornings” as if we hadn’t stayed up half the night talking.
His was the kind of tone a man used when he’d decided last night was a mistake.
I left the room and got some steps in before meeting Parker and Delaney here at our pre-arranged eight o’clock meeting time.
Life without a phone really was a bitch, but strangely liberating too.
“By the time we finish at the consulate,” Parker continued, “it’ll be late afternoon. Mind as well explore the city a bit and then come back tomorrow.”
It made sense, obviously. I’d been thinking along those same lines since we got the appointment yesterday. Twenty-four hours ago, I’d have agreed. But now?
“I’ve been there,” Cole said with a sip of espresso, “and am happy to come back here instead after dinner. Up to you.” He finally looked at me.
I couldn’t tell if he was more handsome with or without his glasses, now that I’d seen both.
But Cole did look pretty damn hot as he peered at me with that “I’m an Ivy League school history professor” look.
More importantly, it turned out he was actually a human being too.
Who knew?
He opened the door. It was dangerous, but I stepped inside anyway. “I have too,” I said. “And wouldn’t mind exploring Cinque Terre a bit more. But you guys should totally stay. Florence is one of the most incredible cities in the world.”
Not even a glance at me, so I concentrated on Delaney instead. So far, she didn’t seem to find it strange I was willing to hang back with Cole rather than accompany her and Parker in Florence.
“I’ve heard that,” she said. “And am kind of excited now. I wonder if we’ll get a chance to see the David.”
I shook my head, pretending to ignore Cole as studiously as he ignored me.
It was ridiculous, how hard we were each pretending the other wasn’t there.
“Incredible, but also incredibly busy. Even in the off-season, the line is around the church. Tomorrow you could, for sure. But not today. You guys also can’t miss Pitti Palace. ”
“And Bobli Gardens,” Cole added. “Talk about off-the-charts wealth. The Medici practically wrote the playbook for Western power structures.” At Parker’s confused look, he added, “Pitti Palace was basically their flex. They bought it from a rival family just so they could renovate it into the biggest, most ridiculous show of wealth in Europe. And the gardens were their private backyard. Political meetings, secret deals, power brokering… it all happened out there.”
Parker blinked. “How do you know that?”
Cole shrugged, like this was basic math and not Renaissance intrigue. “I’ve been before.”
“You have?” Parker asked. “When?”
Cole’s jaw tightened just slightly. “Years ago. Research trip.”
“For what? You never told us you came to Italy.”
He tapped his spoon against the tiny espresso cup, a quiet stalling tactic. “It wasn’t a big deal. I needed space. Took a sabbatical semester, did some museum archives, stayed in Florence awhile.” He didn’t look at either of us as he added, “Didn’t seem worth mentioning.”
Parker looked as if he’d just learned Cole had a secret double life. And maybe he did?
But there was something in the way he said it—something careful and tucked away—that hit my chest like a stone.
A man like Cole didn’t take spontaneous sabbaticals. Or forget to tell his friends who he talked to all the time.
Not unless he was running from something.
“When?” Parker pressed, clearly not letting Cole’s partial explanations stand.
Ignoring the fact that his friend obviously didn’t want to talk about it, Parker waited. Delaney and I did too.
“First semester of my second year. We were all just settling into our jobs and new lives and weren’t in constant contact then.”
Parker did some mental math. “Mason didn’t notice?”
“Mason,” Delaney whispered to me, though the boys could obviously hear, “was working as an NYPD cop at the time so he and Cole were both in the city.”
I knew that, which made it even more a surprise Mason had no idea Cole was in Italy.
“I didn’t spend the whole semester there,” he said to Parker. “Just a few weeks. Anyway, you should go. Might need more than a day though.”
Parker continued to look at him strangely. Cole, for his part, seemed unaffected.
“So what do you think?” Delaney asked him.
“I guess the big question is,” I said, “are we keeping our original flights home? You guys only booked one way, right?”
“Right.” Parker took a bite of croissant.
“So do we even come back here?” Delaney asked Parker. “Florence is closer to Milan. But,” she added hastily, “I don’t want to abandon you here.”
“I’ve got her.” Cole’s emotionless statement took all three of us by surprise. He addressed me. “I know you’re worried about not having a credit card.”
Oh. That’s what he meant.
“Sugar mama over here,” Delaney teased.
“I’m happy to front you for the rest of the trip. And explore the towns here. Once you guys have passports in hand, if there are still seats on your flight home, we’ll grab seats on those. And meet you the night before, like you guys planned, in Milan.”
Me and Cole. Alone for four days in Cinque Terre.
What could go wrong?
“You sure?” I asked, already knowing the answer. He wouldn’t have offered otherwise. Cole thought things through, thoroughly. That much was clear.
“Yep,” he said, offering no other hint about what he was really thinking.
Delaney was giving me “the look.” Girl code for the same question Cole had asked, but without saying a word.
Was I sure? Just the opposite of Cole, I usually didn’t think things through, preferring to follow my gut.
It got me into a lot of trouble, but that was a trade-off I was willing to make.
Those “glimmers” of possibility had also brought me a lot of joy too.
“Okay.” I met Delaney’s worried look, reassuring her.
“I really would rather come back here. Florence is amazing, but I’ve been there twice already and would love to explore all the towns here, especially since this is where my family is from.
If Cole doesn’t mind being my sugar daddy for a few days…
” Oops. Had to walk that one back. “Kidding, of course,” I said to him. “It’s totally just a loan.”
“Totally.” He mimicked my tone, making Parker and Delaney laugh.
“Let’s do it. And we’ll meet you for a final night in Milan,” I said to Delaney. “Just like we planned.”
“You’re positive?”
She didn’t believe me. And wouldn’t, unless I could talk to her alone.
“Are you finished?” I asked, Delaney’s empty coffee cup and croissant crumbs answering for her. Before waiting for an answer, I jumped up. “Now that that’s settled, you guys finish up. Delaney and I are going to soak in a few minutes of sea views before we head out.”
I was halfway to the promenade when Delaney caught up with me, her red hair streaming behind her like some sort of sea nymph.
“You fit in perfectly here,” I said as we approached one of two empty benches. I sat and drew in a deep breath. “I could live here.”
“With that view?” she teased. “Pretty sure anyone could. I’ve never seen so many shades of blue and green before.”
Four more days wasn’t enough.
“So what the hell’s going on?”
Delaney was nothing if not blunt.
“Good question. I honestly thought Cole was a pompous prick and had no idea what the guys saw in him.”
“Thought? As in past tense?”
This is where it got tricky. I turned to her, tucking my leg into me on the bench.
“I’m not fully convinced he isn’t a pompous prick, but he’s also clever, and funny, in a strange sort of way.
And last night, while we were lying in bed, we talked in the dark until…
I don’t know… maybe three o’clock or so. ”
Her expression was exactly what I expected it to be.
“In the morning?”
Ignoring the question, I forged ahead. “I mean, obviously he’s hot as hell, and you should see him without his shirt. Jesus, Mary and Joseph.”
Delaney’s jaw dropped.
“You aren’t seriously telling me you’re attracted to Cole Ford? You hate the guy.”
“Hate’s a strong word.”
“He’s as different from you as they get.” She tried a different angle.
“Clearly.”
“And lives in the city.”
She gave me a poignant look. The only guy I’d dated even semi-recently also lived in Manhattan. Not that I was considering Cole as potential dating material. But it was ironic.
“Rocco is…” I stopped. Was what? A great guy who I dated who wanted to take things more seriously, something I had been, in theory, ready for. And he’d even mentioned not wanting to live in the city permanently. But there had been something… missing. “Besides the point.”
“Uh huh,” she said, clearly unconvinced. “Maybe we shouldn’t leave you here.”
“Delaney,” I said firmly. “It’s nothing, at the moment. Just…” I shrugged. “Something to keep an open mind to. More importantly, I wanted to get you alone so you knew for sure I really am fine if you guys stay in Florence. This trip got totally turned on its head, so let’s make the most of it.”
Delaney’s frown told me she wasn’t convinced. “By staying here with Cole?”
“Why not?”
When she opened her mouth to give me the likely million answers to that question, I stopped her.
“That was rhetorical.”
She blew out air as if deflated. “I don’t like it.”
So I asked her the one question I’d been pondering all morning. “Do you trust your fiancé to make good judgments about who to have as his close friends?”
I’d asked myself that before today, but always just brushed it off, thinking the guys just had some college-born history with Cole they couldn’t shrug off. But there was more to it, clearly. And Parker did have good judgment. The proof of that was sitting with me on this bench.
“I guess.”
“Not a resounding show of support for poor Parker, but I’ll take it. Trust me.”
“It’s not you I don’t trust,” she said quietly. I’d have asked what she meant by that, but a part of me didn’t want to know.