Chapter 5 #2
“I’m not judging! I’m celebrating! But also, yes, please come help me because I’m drowning.”
I hung up as Cole walked through the door carrying bags that smelled like bacon and heaven.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“The foundation doing our grant wants a site visit today. My rescue is a disaster. I have to go.”
Cole set down the bags. “Okay. Let’s go.”
I blinked. “What?”
“You heard me.” He grabbed his shirt from the floor. “Let’s go.”
“Cole, you don’t have to.”
“Autumn.” He crossed to me, cupped my face. “You need help. I’m helping. End of discussion.”
“You have a show tonight.”
“At eight. It’s not even nine in the morning.” He kissed my forehead. “Besides, I grew up on a farm. I know my way around animals and manual labor. Put me to work.”
Heat flooded my body at those last three words.
His grin turned wicked. “Dirty thoughts later. Rescue now.”
Eli met us at the door, wild-eyed and frantic. “Oh thank God. Wait.” He stared at Cole. “Why is the musician here?”
“I’m helping.” Cole rolled up his sleeves. “Let’s go.”
“Can you lift heavy things?”
“Farm boy. Try me.”
Eli’s eyes went wide. “The fifty-pound dog food bags are in storage. We need them moved to the feed room. There’s like twenty of them.”
“On it.” Cole disappeared down the hallway.
Eli grabbed my arm. “Is he real? Like, actually real?”
“Apparently.”
“I might be in love with him.”
“I can see why.”
For the next two hours, Cole worked his ass off.
Those jeans stretched across his backside while he hauled kibble as if the bags weighed nothing. Sweat soaked through his shirt. It clung to his shoulders, his back, every muscle I’d explored last night.
He mucked out kennels without complaint. Scrubbed floors on his hands and knees. Organized the supply closet with the efficiency of someone who’d done hard labor his entire life.
I tried to focus on my own tasks.
Failed completely.
“Where do you want these?” He held two twenty-pound bags of cat litter, one in each hand, barely straining.
My brain short-circuited somewhere between his flexing forearms and the damp hair curling at his temples.
“Autumn?”
“Storage closet. Left side.”
He flashed a smile. Walked away.
Eli appeared at my elbow. “You’re drooling.”
“I am not.”
“You absolutely are. Also, if you don’t lock that down, I will.”
“He’s just so…” I gestured vaguely at Cole’s retreating form.
“Hot? Competent? Willing to shovel literal shit for you?”
“All of it.”
Cole emerged from the storage closet, wiping his hands on his jeans. “What’s next?”
“The cat isolation room.” Eli’s expression turned grim. “Fair warning. We have a new intake named Salem. He’s feral, aggressive, and has already sent two volunteers to urgent care.”
“I can handle a cat.”
“This isn’t a cat. This is a demon in a fur coat.”
Cole grinned. “Even better.”
We walked to the isolation room at the back of the building. Salem crouched in the corner of his kennel, black as midnight, green eyes blazing with pure hatred.
He hissed at Eli.
“See? Demon spawn.” Eli backed away. “I’m not going near him.”
Cole knelt in front of the kennel. Slowly. His movements were careful and non-threatening.
Salem’s hiss intensified. His back arched.
“Hey there, buddy.” Cole’s voice went soft. Gentle. “Rough time, huh? I get it. World’s pretty scary when people keep letting you down.”
The cat’s ears flicked forward. Just slightly.
“I grew up with barn cats. Feral, mean, half-wild things that’d take your hand off if you moved wrong.” Cole settled into a crouch. “But you know what? They just needed someone to be patient. To prove the world wasn’t all bad.”
Salem stopped hissing.
I grabbed Eli’s arm. “Is he?”
“Shh.” Eli glanced at me.
Cole started humming. Low and soft. Some melody I didn’t recognize.
Salem’s tail stopped lashing.
“That’s it.” Cole’s smile was pure warmth. “You’re just scared. Angry at everyone who hurt you. I’ve been there, buddy.”
He reached for the kennel door. Moved slow. Opened it just a crack.
Didn’t reach inside.
Just sat there, humming the same gentle melody.
Salem crept forward. One tentative paw. Then another.
He sniffed Cole’s hand through the opening.
Didn’t bite.
Didn’t swipe.
“Holy shit,” Eli whispered.
Salem head-butted Cole’s palm. Let him scratch behind his ears through the gap.
“Good boy.” Cole’s voice was nothing but warmth. “See? Not everyone’s going to hurt you. Wish I could take you on the road with me.”
My chest tightened. I pressed my hand to my heart.
This man. This gorgeous, kind, impossibly patient man who hauled dog food and sang to feral cats and looked at me like I mattered.
I was in so much trouble.
Cole closed the kennel gently. Salem curled into a ball, already looking less murderous.
“He’ll come around. Just needs time and consistency.” He stood, turned to us. “What else can I do?”
Eli stared. “The demon spawn likes you.”
“Animals know good people,” I said.
Cole’s eyes found mine. Held.
The moment stretched between us. Warm and loaded with everything we weren’t saying.
“Financial backer arrives in thirty minutes.” Eli clapped his hands. “Cole, you should probably...”
“I’ll grab coffee and wait in my car. Don’t want to complicate things.” He kissed my temple. His lips lingered. “You’ve got this, beautiful.”
Then, he was gone.
Eli turned to me. “Marry him.”
“Shut up.” I glared.
“I’m serious. Put a ring on that man before someone else realizes what you’ve got.”
I turned toward the doorway. “Help me make this place look presentable.”
But I was smiling.
Because Cole had shown up. For me and my messy, chaotic, beautiful world.
And I’d never wanted him more.