Chapter 15
Cole
Telling Nora the truth should’ve changed something. Instead, a week later, we barely talked unless the inn gave us a reason.
She’d listened without defending Gregory and hadn’t pushed me for the records either. Those should’ve counted as good signs.
I still kept waiting for her to choose her family. Gregory was her father, and I was the guy telling her he’d lied to her for seven years.
I wanted her to choose me. Hell, I wanted a lot more than another night.
It was almost Friday again. Most of the work on the inn was done, and I knew it wouldn’t be long before the job was over and she’d be out of sight. Normally, getting this close to the end of a job felt good. This one felt like a countdown.
Earlier that week, Nora and I had gone over Ellen’s old reception counter.
“I want to save it,” she said. “As much of it as we can.”
“The top, maybe. The frame’s split. That has to go.”
“For safety?”
“Yeah.”
“Then replace it. Keep the top if it’s sound.”
She nodded and moved on. Still, Gregory’s voice came back as clear as it had been seven years ago.
Make it work.
Nora had listened. He hadn’t. She’d wanted the counter, I’d told her it wasn’t safe, and that had been the end of it. No argument. She’d just changed the plan.
* * *
Saturday night came, and I sat on my porch with not much to do. It was looking like an early night, but sleep was the furthest thing from my mind. I looked up the street toward where Nora lived, and all I could think about was last week, when I’d walked over and stopped her from going out with Don.
It had been a week since I kissed her, a week since I felt the soft tug of her pussy around my cock. I still remembered every single detail of that night. How she smelled, how her skin felt under mine, each soft gasp, each erotic scream.
Thinking about it now made my cock stir. I missed her, and I hated that Gregory had screwed me seven years ago and was somehow still doing it. Now more than ever.
I sighed heavily, got up from my chair, and headed toward my truck. Jen’s always did the trick. Maybe a few bottles of beer would put me right back on track.
I headed over. As soon as I stepped inside the bar, people stopped to look. Apparently, Misty Pines was running short on gossip, and the altercation between Don and me was still the talk of the town.
I ignored the looks and whispering and headed to the counter, where Jen greeted me with a smile.
“If it isn’t Misty Pines’s local celebrity,” she said with a grin. “You signing autographs now?”
I scoffed. “These people need to do something better with their time,” I muttered. “Preferably somewhere else.”
She chuckled. “You’re right about that. So, Nora Adams, huh?”
I raised a brow. “Not you too.”
She shrugged. “I was standing right here.”
“Nothing’s going on between Nora and me.”
Jen glanced toward the door. “Funny. You keep checking that door.”
“I’m not waiting for her.”
She smiled. “I didn’t say you were.”
I drank instead of answering. A week ago, Nora had been in my bed. Since then, I’d kept every conversation between us about the inn. I wanted her again, and staying away was getting harder.
“Speak of the devil,” Jen said, raising a brow as her gaze moved toward the door.
My pulse raced when I saw Nora with Harper. They were both smiling. Her hair was down over her shoulders, and the dress fit every curve I’d spent a week trying not to think about. My cock stirred anyway.
“Don’t cause a scene,” Jen said.
I snapped my gaze back to her and found her smiling as she went to serve someone else.
“My beer,” I called before she wandered too far.
“Oh, I forgot.” She poured me one and winked as she handed it over. “Keep your eyes on that.”
I took a long gulp before my gaze shifted back to Nora and Harper, seated in a corner. They were already talking while looking over the menu.
A week of distance had done exactly nothing. I couldn’t take my eyes off Nora.