Chapter 13
Lauren
Cole: You got your protein in for today?
I smiled as I looked down at the text on Wednesday night.
I’d spent my first three mornings waking up early to get to Cole’s place for my fitness coaching.
And honestly, that was exactly what Cole was doing for me.
He wasn’t just teaching me a balance between cardio and resistance training so my body composition would improve.
Cole had been showing me how much more there was to being fit than just my weight.
In fact, he was insistent that I stop looking at conventional BMI charts and telling myself that I was overweight.
It just so happened that he had a fancy machine in his gym that measured body composition, and after we’d used it, he’d convinced me to change up my diet during the week.
He was determined to make me stop eating salads all the time and counting calories. Cole wanted me to focus on my protein intake to build some lean muscle.
I had to admit, the guy knew his fitness science, and it all made more sense to me once he’d shared some of his nutrition knowledge with me.
So yeah, he had me counting macros and getting to my goal for protein every day to change my body composition instead of getting to a predetermined weight.
The new fitness routine he’d put together for me kicked my butt every morning.
Since I’d started a combination of resistance and cardio, I was using muscles I didn’t know that I had.
To be honest, Cole made sure I was comfortable with the workout I was doing.
It was more me pushing myself than Cole working me overly hard.
Me: Done. I reached my goal after dinner tonight.
Cole: Good job. You’re going to start noticing the difference eventually. See you in the morning? Or do you feel like you need a break?
I frowned.
Yeah, I was a little sore, but I’d actually miss going to Cole’s in the morning if I didn’t go.
He made sure that he split what muscle groups I was working on every day to give some of them a rest.
I was getting used to seeing Cole every morning, and I looked forward to it.
Okay, I probably looked forward to seeing him a little too much every morning, but I’d managed to keep my emotions and lust in check.
After our dance at The Mug And Jug, I had a very long talk with myself about the dangers of lusting after Cole Remington.
Besides, I thought it was pretty obvious that he really wasn’t lusting after me.
He was supportive and good to me when I showed up at his ranch in the mornings, but he seemed even more distant than he’d been last Saturday.
Me: No break. I’m just getting started. I might be limping a little in the morning, but I’ll be there.
Cole: If you’re limping, you’ll be sitting on the sidelines, drinking a protein shake tomorrow.
I smiled. He might be a little wary of relationships, but the guy always seemed to be looking out for my best interests.
Me: It was a joke. I’m sore, but that’s to be expected since I’ve never really focused on strength training.
Cole: A little sore is okay. Hurting is bullshit. We’ll see how you feel when you get here in the morning.
I rolled my eyes because I could almost hear him grumbling that comment in his usual, bossy baritone.
“You seem pretty engrossed in that text conversation,” Reese teased from her position on Hannah’s sofa.
I put my phone on my lap and looked up guiltily. “Sorry,” I mumbled.
I looked from Reese to Hannah, and then at Anna.
We were all gathered at Hannah’s house for a girls’ night so we could catch up.
The four of us tried to get together as often as possible to just chat and have some girl talk.
Kaleb, Tanner, and Devon were all hanging out at Devon’s place.
Hannah’s daughter, Winter, was sleeping peacefully upstairs in the nursery.
“Don’t apologize,” Hannah said mischievously. “Just tell us who you’re talking to.”
I chuckled.
I’d grown so close to these three women that they’d become like the sisters I’d never had.
I’d never had friends like these three, and I was very aware of just how lucky I was to call them all my friends.
Granted, it had taken me a while to get used to being close friends with Anna because of her pop star status. I’d been a huge fan before I’d met her personally. But it hadn’t taken me long to realize that she was a woman with exactly the same emotions, needs, and wants as the rest of us.
“It’s Cole,” I confessed. “I told you all that he’s helping me get in shape. He’s almost like a personal trainer right now. He’s made me realize that my diet is just as important as exercise if I want to change my body composition. He was just checking up on my protein intake.”
Reese snorted loudly from her spot in a comfortable recliner next to mine. “He’s checking out more than your protein intake,” she said playfully. “I saw you two dancing together on Saturday, and I saw the way he watched you all night. That man wants to get you naked so badly he can’t stand it.”
Anna swallowed a sip of her wine and grinned from her seat near Hannah on the sofa. “Sorry, but I have to agree. He was almost desperate to make sure that you never left his sight. Cole might play it cool and act like a jerk sometimes, but he’s not indifferent when it comes to you.”
“That’s…crazy,” I sputtered. “I can’t even call Cole a friend yet.”
“Oh, sweetie,” Anna said with a sly smile. “I don’t think he’s really interested in being your friend .”
I shook my head. “Cole Remington is not lusting after me.”
“I think you’re wrong,” Hannah said earnestly. “I wasn’t there, but Tanner thinks Cole is interested. He’s just not sure that his cousin is going to do anything about it.”
I gaped at the three women, utterly speechless.
Tanner said that?
“The question is…are you lusting after Cole?” Reese asked.
I’d never lied to any of these women, and I didn’t plan on starting to do it now.
“I wish I could believe that Cole feels that way,” I said with a sigh. “I’m attracted to him in a way that I’ve never been attracted to guy before. Honestly, I don’t understand it. I’m not really very experienced, but I’ve never understood the big hype about sex.”
I watched as the three women exchanged puzzled looks before Reese asked, “Lauren, exactly how inexperienced are you?”
I let out a long breath. “Really inexperienced. I tried it once with a guy who actually dated me a little longer than a month. We were both geeks, but he was a nice guy, and I was tired of being a twenty-seven-year-old virgin. It was an awkward, painful experience. I don’t think he was very experienced, either.
It was pretty horrible. We never went out again after that night, and I was convinced that sex was really no big deal.
I didn’t need it, and I definitely didn’t enjoy it.
That one night cured me of my curiosity about sex. ”
The women were all silent for a moment before Reese finally spoke softly. “You had a bad first experience, Lauren. Sex is a big deal when you meet the right guy. Someday you’re going to meet a man who completely rocks your world and changes your mind.”
Anna and Hannah nodded their agreement.
I grinned sheepishly. “I guess I’ll have to take your word on that.”
“Trust us,” Anna said solemnly. “It will happen. But the chemistry has to be there.”
“Is that what’s happening with Cole?” I asked curiously. “Am I finally feeling that chemistry?”
It was almost a relief to be able to talk to these women about my previous sexual experience…or lack of experience.
“Do you want to get him naked?” Hannah asked quietly.
I nodded. “In the worst way.”
“That’s what’s happening,” Anna confirmed.
“I’m not sure I like feeling this way,” I said, feeling like an idiot because I was thirty-one years old and still hadn’t really figured out the whole sex thing. “I’m a numbers and logic woman. I deal with realistic things. Lusting after Cole doesn’t really make sense. We barely know each other.”
“Sometimes that chemistry doesn’t make sense,” Reese told me. “I certainly didn’t plan on lusting after a guy like Devon.”
“Kaleb and I never made sense, either,” Anna said with a sigh.
“It was always there between me and Tanner,” Hannah said. “It never died, even when we weren’t together, which really seems illogical.”
“I’m hoping it will go away after I’ve been around Cole for a while,” I admitted. “I like him. I want to be his friend.”
“That won’t work,” Anna warned. “I tried it with Kaleb. We have that crazy chemistry. It was hopeless.”
“Ditto with Devon,” Reese confessed. “It’s really hard to be friends with a guy when you want to tear his clothes off.
And if that intense chemistry is really there, it’s not just going to fade away.
Especially if he wants the same thing. Look, I know you don’t really believe that Cole has the hots for you, but he does.
He hides it well, but one of these days, he’s going to let his guard down with you, Lauren. ”
I shook my head slowly. “I’m not so sure about that. I don’t think he ever lets anyone in completely.”
“I used to think that he’d never let anyone in,” Reese mused. “But I’m starting to think he just needs the right woman he can trust and a little bit of time.”
“I don’t want to get my hopes up and start thinking that Cole and I could ever be more than friends,” I said hesitantly.
“Then don’t if you’re not comfortable with it,” Hannah advised. “Just enjoy his company and see what happens.”
“I’d like to see it happen,” Reese shared. “But I also don’t want to see you get hurt, Lauren. Cole has a heart, but he’s pretty rough around the edges.”
“He’s had to be tough,” I replied. “He never would have made it through his childhood if he wasn’t. I don’t think he’s ever learned to trust anyone except Asher.”
“If he’s ever going to learn to trust someone else, I think it’s going to be you,” Hannah said.
God, I hoped she was right.
I wasn’t so sure that Cole was truly attracted to me, but gaining his trust was starting to mean more to me every single day.
The man needed someone he could trust.
He needed to see that the entire town didn’t think he was a murderer.
I desperately wanted to see him be reunited with the rest of his family, who was more than willing to accept him and care about him.
More than anything, Cole Remington deserved some peace, and I was determined to help him find it.