Chapter Ten #2
Larson said nothing, only shook his head and looked at Colton.
I felt like I’d completely failed as I looked at Colton, wondering what had happened once I’d left.
I could only imagine, since he was right—the man had done nothing but antagonize him when I’d been present.
He hadn’t been nice to me either, and there were a few times I was going to step in and say something, but Colton appeared to have it under control. I guess I’d been wrong.
I swallowed hard and straightened my back, digging deep inside myself. I already felt like a bus had hit me after my conversation with Mark. I had one hell of a headache, and I truly wasn’t in the mood for this shit, but I sucked it up.
“Mr. Larson, I apologize. As you’ve seen, I’m normally much more attentive and on point than I was tonight.
I can assure you I am taking this task seriously and will strive to do better.
I will contest that Colton isn’t lying. Mr. Martins was incredibly rude most of the evening, and I was going to step in at one point and have Pamela reassign his seat, but Colton seemed to have things under control.
Apparently, something must have happened on my last bathroom trip, and for that I’m sorry I wasn’t here to support him.
So, to prove to you just how serious I am about fixing Mr. Fox’s career, I’ll cover the outstanding donation tonight, so he isn’t short on his goal. ”
I knew I had more than enough in my emergency budget from the firm and that if it meant saving face for Kerry and Image Hackers, I’d do anything. I’d just pay back the account over time from each paycheck.
Without waiting for another word, I sat down and dug into my purse, feeling around for my corporate checkbook, when I heard Larson clear his throat.
“Miss Cooper, thank you, but that won’t be necessary. My apologies.”
“Yeah, Emma, no need. I’ll cover it,” Colton added, placing his hand on my shoulder. “I really should make a donation. It will help with everything.”
I looked at both of them and shook my head. “No, I insist,” I said, not taking no for an answer, and wrote out a check, signing and dating it, handing it to Larson.
Colton didn’t say a word the entire way home, and neither did I.
We both exited the truck, and I waited while he unlocked the front door.
He surprised me when he held the door open, waiting for me to enter the house instead of barging in first like he usually did.
He placed his keys on the small table against the wall, like always, and kicked his shoes off.
I slipped my heels off, then sat down on the couch. I wasn’t used to wearing such high heels, and after two nights of wearing them, my feet were killing me. I rubbed my right foot, letting a soft moan escape as I dug my fingers into my foot.
“Sorry about tonight.”
“Don’t be. It was my fault.”
“No, it wasn’t. I’ll repay you,” Colton muttered as he took his suit jacket off and laid it over the back of the chair before sitting down beside me on the couch.
“Don’t worry about it. I think you did the best you could tonight, given the circumstances. Not that you didn’t try.”
“How would you know?” he questioned, tapping my leg.
“What?” I questioned, looking at him.
“Give me your foot,” he said.
I shook my head.
“Give me your foot,” he insisted, locking eyes with me.
When I knew he would not let up, I shifted in my seat, straightened my leg, and placed my foot in his lap.
His large hands wrapped around my foot, enveloping it.
He then dug his fingers into my foot, hitting all the right spots with just the right amount of pressure, resulting in a tingling sensation that moved through my body.
“So how would you know?” he questioned again.
“How would I know what?” I murmured, opening my eyes.
God, his hands felt amazing, better than anything I’d ever felt, and he was only rubbing my feet.
“How would you know I did the best I could tonight?”
“What is that supposed to mean?” I frowned.
“Well, to be honest, it appeared that you had your focus on something else tonight. I could have been an absolute asshole to each one of those people, and you’d never know the difference.”
“Yes, I would.”
“Right, between Mark and his harassing ways and your trip to the bathroom, it was like you weren’t even there. What’s going on between the two of you?”
He sat there, rubbing my foot, waiting for me to answer him as if he were entitled to know everything that was going on in my personal life, which I’d already made it very clear he had no right to know anything about.
When I didn’t answer him, he stopped working my foot, placed his elbows on his knees, and leaned forward.
“You don’t deserve to be treated the way he is treating you.”
“How do you know how he is treating me?” I questioned.
“Well, I read one of his messages over your shoulder, but I also heard how he spoke to you on the phone that first night.”
“What?” I gasped.
“I didn’t look on purpose. I came over to you with a drink and saw it.”
I couldn’t get angry. It wasn’t like he’d gone snooping.
We both grew quiet. As much as I didn’t want to lean on someone, I knew I needed to, and while maybe he wasn’t the smartest choice, he was here.
I was about to say something when I felt Colton’s hand on my leg, this time his touch tender, unlike earlier.
I looked down at his hand and then over at him.
I could already feel the tears building as we sat there staring at one another.
“Dammit,” I muttered under my breath. “Don’t cry, don’t cry, don’t cry.”
I blew out a shaky breath as a tear finally slipped down my cheek.
“You’re probably going to hate me even more than you already do, but I lied to you when I first arrived.” I sniffled.
“About?”
“My happy relationship,” I said, lifting my eyes to his.
“Well, I may just be some dumb hockey player in your eyes, but I do know what a happy relationship sounds like, and I hate to break it to you but—”
“You don’t need to. I already know. We split about three weeks ago, right when I got assigned to your case.”
“And you want him back?” Colton asked quietly.
I shrugged. “When I think about all the good times we shared, yes, of course, I want them back. I’d love to have my happily ever after. However, with Mark, sadly the bad times outweigh all the good.”
I did not know why I was telling him this. I’d never even told Chantal these things. It had to be the alcohol. Then it was as if something released inside of me and the tears fell, my entire body shaking as I sat there, my face in my hands, and cried.
I felt him shift on the couch, moving closer, pulling me against him. When the tears finally stopped and I lifted my head, I felt him place his fingers under my chin, lifting my head so he could look me in the eye.
“Emma, if all you can remember are the bad times, and you must search for the good, then it’s not worth it. I’ve heard his voice through the phone, the things he says… You don’t deserve to be treated that way.”
“He didn’t always treat me like that,” I whispered.
The moment I stopped speaking, he leaned forward and placed his mouth on mine. The moment our lips touched, I closed my eyes and felt my body weaken, the same way it used to when we were younger. The moment he pulled away, all I wanted was to feel his lips on mine again.
“He should never treat you the way. You’d see the difference if you were mine. I’d treat you like gold.”
He leaned forward and kissed me again, and when I felt him rub his thumb against my cheek, I opened my eyes. I had to look away from those glass-blue eyes, because if I continued to look into them, I’d be his forever, and I wasn’t here to be his. I was here to help him fix things.
“I know, but I’m not yours,” I whispered. “We tried that once upon a time.”
The moment the words left my mouth, and I saw the look in his eyes, I wanted to take them back. I hadn’t said them for any other reason than to remind myself that we weren’t together.
I brought my hand to his cheek, leaning in and bringing my lips to his one last time. When I broke away from him, his eyes lingered on me.
“We have an early morning, so I think I’m going to go to bed,” I said.
I got up from where I was sitting, leaving him in the dark, and began making my way down the hall, trying to figure out what had just happened. It was as if I wanted the punishment of tasting him one last time. I was halfway down the hall when I heard him clear his throat.
“Emma?”
“Yeah?”
“Did you get yourself a room for next week?”
I stopped in my tracks and closed my eyes as panic and worry filled me as my mind spun. I could feel my heart beating hard in my chest, not only from the kiss we’d just shared but from the reminder I didn’t have a room.
“No,” I said, my voice cracking.
“What are you going to do? Where are you going to stay?” his deep voice asked.
I turned around and looked at him now standing in the room, a bit of light coming through the window from the streetlight cast him in a bit of light.
It took me by surprise how handsome he looked in the dark room, the way the light came in through the large front window and hit his eyes.
The stream of light stressed some of his best features, and I realized that the tingling sensation that had washed through me when he’d kissed me had more to do with how attracted I still was to him than anything else. I swallowed hard.
“I guess you are going to have a roommate, if you’ll have me. You told me you had plenty of room.”
He didn’t move; he said nothing; he just sat there staring at me as I stared back.
“Good night, Colton,” I said.
It took everything in me to tear my eyes from him and make my way down the hall where I opened the door to my room when I heard his voice.
“Night, Emma.”