Chapter 12
No Promises
Sienna lost track of time.
Maybe they'd been sitting there for an hour.
Maybe less.
Neither spoke.
They sat side by side overlooking the ocean, both too emotionally exhausted to attempt a conversation.
Eventually, the throbbing in Sienna's leg became impossible to ignore.
She shifted and slowly pushed herself to her feet.
Cole immediately stood.
"Let me help."
"I'm fine."
"Sienna."
She sighed.
Arguing required energy she no longer had.
"What do you need?"
"Aspirin. There's some in the medicine cabinet upstairs."
"I'll get it."
Cole disappeared inside.
Sienna followed more slowly and headed toward the kitchen. She poured herself a generous glass of wine while she waited.
Having Cole inside her home felt strange.
Not bad.
Just strange.
For almost a year, this house had been hers alone. Her refuge. The place where she'd rebuilt herself after everything fell apart.
Now Cole Bennett was upstairs searching through her medicine cabinet.
Sienna took a long sip.
Maybe wine would help.
Cole returned with two tablets and a glass of water.
"You should probably have that leg looked at."
Sienna accepted the pills.
"There's a clinic in town."
"We can go in the morning."
Her eyes flicked toward him at the word.
We.
She swallowed the aspirin with the water, then reached for her wine.
"Thank you."
Cole watched her carefully.
"Does it hurt badly?"
"I've had worse."
He knew that.
They both did.
Sienna didn't want to talk about Atlanta again.
Not tonight.
She set down her glass.
"I'm going to take a bath."
Cole nodded.
Sienna hesitated.
"Would you like to stay for dinner?"
His expression changed.
Surprise first.
Then something softer.
"I'd like that."
Sienna immediately questioned why she'd asked.
But she didn't take it back.
"I can run into town and get something."
"You don't have to."
"I need to change anyway."
Cole looked down at the clothes he'd worn to the wedding.
"And I could use some air."
Sienna nodded.
"Okay."
"I'll come back."
Those three words landed harder than he probably realized.
Sienna looked at him.
Cole seemed to understand.
"I mean it."
"Okay."
She wanted to believe him.
That was the problem.
Cole left.
Sienna remained in the kitchen for several seconds staring at the door.
Part of her genuinely wondered whether she'd ever see him again.
* * *
Cole walked back toward his villa with one thought repeating in his mind.
I'll come back.
Such a simple promise.
Yet after what he'd done to her, he understood why it mattered.
He'd been scheduled to fly back to the States the following day.
That wasn't happening anymore.
Not unless Sienna asked him to leave.
He would call the airline in the morning.
By the time he reached the villa, Pit and Nicole were nowhere to be found.
Probably exactly where newlyweds were supposed to be.
Cole showered quickly and changed.
While searching through his suitcase for his phone, he noticed a message from Pit.
I'll be MIA with my bride for the next few days. I hope you get your shit together and make things right with Sen before you go back to Montana.
Cole read it twice.
Then shook his head.
Typical Pit.
No subtlety whatsoever.
He put the phone in his pocket and headed into town.
Most places were beginning to close for the evening.
Cole was starting to wonder what exactly he planned to feed Sienna when he spotted Johanna.
"Hey."
She smiled when she recognized him.
"Mr. Cole."
"I'm in trouble."
Johanna laughed.
"With Sienna?"
"Is it that obvious?"
"Very."
Cole rubbed the back of his neck.
"I told her I'd bring dinner."
"Ah."
"And apparently everything closes early around here."
Johanna considered him for a moment.
"Come."
"Where?"
"You want food or not?"
Cole followed.
For the first time all evening, he felt slightly hopeful.
At least he wouldn't be returning empty-handed.
* * *
Sienna sank deeper into the bath.
A hot towel covered her eyes.
She'd cried enough that the fabric had essentially become a tissue.
How was she supposed to forgive Cole?
Could she?
Did she even want to?
She reached blindly toward the glass of Cabernet sitting nearby and took another sip.
Every time she thought she had an answer, another emotion took its place.
Anger.
Love.
Resentment.
Desire.
Pain.
She hated that all of them still existed at once.
Eventually, the glass was empty.
Sienna removed the towel from her face and looked at it.
"Great."
She climbed out of the tub.
Her leg hurt less, although she wasn't sure whether that had more to do with the bath, the aspirin, or the wine.
Probably the wine.
She dried herself and dressed in loose black pants and a matching tank top.
When she returned downstairs, she checked the time.
Cole had been gone longer than she expected.
Of course he had.
Sienna walked into the kitchen.
Maybe she'd been stupid to think—
A knock sounded.
She stopped.
Then walked toward the door.
Cole stood on the other side.
One hand held a large bag of food.
The other held a bouquet of flowers.
Sienna stared.
"Part of me didn't think you'd actually come back."
The words were sharper than she'd intended.
Cole's face reflected the sting.
He stepped inside.
"I said I would."
"I know."
He placed the food on the counter and held out the flowers.
"I know this isn't much."
Sienna took them.
"They reminded me of you."
She looked down.
They were the same flowers she'd worn in her hair at the wedding.
Her expression softened despite herself.
"They're beautiful."
Cole smiled faintly.
Sienna brought them to her nose and inhaled before searching for a vase.
Behind her, Cole began unpacking several containers of food across the granite island.
Sienna found a vase and filled it with water.
When she returned, Cole was studying the unfamiliar spread.
"Would you like some wine?"
"I'm good."
He glanced toward her glass.
"Water's fine."
Sienna poured one for him.
They sat on opposite sides of the island.
Cole opened one container.
Then another.
Finally, he looked at her.
"How exactly am I supposed to eat this?"
Sienna laughed.
"Seriously?"
"I'm from Montana."
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"Nothing. Help me."
Still smiling, Sienna stood.
She picked up one of the small pieces of flatbread and leaned across the island.
Cole immediately caught the familiar scent of her shampoo.
Sienna scooped some of the seasoned meat into the bread and folded it.
"Like this."
She handed it to him.
The filling started falling out.
Cole tried catching it.
Sienna grabbed the other side.
Their hands collided.
The food nearly hit the counter.
A giggle escaped her.
Cole smiled.
God, he'd missed that sound.
They finally managed to save the food.
Sienna returned to her seat.
The lightness disappeared almost as quickly as it had arrived.
She studied him while he ate.
He looked different from the man she remembered.
His hair was longer.
Facial hair covered his jaw.
Dark circles sat beneath his eyes.
And judging by the speed at which he was eating, she suspected proper meals hadn't been a priority lately.
"When are you flying home?"
Cole looked up.
"Tomorrow."
Sienna's chest tightened.
He deliberately didn't mention that he was considering changing the flight.
"Well..."
She picked at her food.
"I guess that doesn't leave us much time."
Neither addressed what exactly she meant by that.
Sienna took another sip of wine.
Part of her wanted to forget the past altogether.
Forget the arguments.
Forget Atlanta.
Forget forgiveness.
A much less rational part of her simply wanted to fuck him again.
Once.
For old times' sake.
She nearly laughed at herself.
One year of meditation and therapy, and apparently Cole Bennett could still reduce her thoughts to that.
"So what have you been doing for the past year?"
Cole wiped his mouth with a napkin.
"I went back to Montana after Pit was released."
"Great Falls?"
He nodded.
"I have a house by the lake."
"Big?"
"No."
Sienna smiled.
"Of course not."
"What does that mean?"
"You don't strike me as someone who needs much."
Cole considered it.
"Small house. Dock. Water. It's enough."
Sienna could picture it far too easily.
Cole alone beside a lake.
Quiet.
Isolated.
Much like her life here.
"Have you worked?"
Cole looked away.
"Any celebrity clients? Interesting stories?"
"No."
Sienna waited.
Cole put down his fork.
"I haven't worked since Atlanta."
Her expression changed.
"At all?"
"No."
"Why?"
He stared at the counter.
There was no easy answer.
Being an agent had once defined him.
He'd spent his life hunting threats, solving problems, protecting people.
After Atlanta, he'd walked away from all of it.
"I don't know."
Sienna watched him.
Maybe they had more in common than she'd realized.
"What about you?" Cole asked.
She laughed.
"What?"
"As if you don't already know what I've been doing."
Cole looked genuinely confused.
"I don't own a television."
Sienna stared at him.
Then burst out laughing.
Cole frowned.
"Why is that funny?"
"You really don't know?"
"Know what?"
Her laughter slowly faded.
"Wow."
"What?"
Sienna looked into her wine.
"After James was shot, the media had a field day."
Cole went still.
"I was everywhere."
She took another drink.
"News. Entertainment shows. Tabloids. Apparently, I was America's favorite disaster for a while."
"Sienna..."
"I ended up in the hospital."
Cole's face drained of color.
She looked directly at him.
"I nearly had a nervous breakdown."
He stopped eating.
Sienna hated the satisfaction she felt at seeing the pain on his face.
But some small, wounded part of her had wanted him to know.
Wanted him to understand what leaving had done.
"Sienna, I..."
"What?"
Cole couldn't find the words.
Her eyes filled.
"I was really falling for you."
The statement was quiet.
That somehow made it worse.
Cole's chest tightened.
Sienna looked down.
"I think that's why it hurt so much."
He pushed his plate away.
"I don't know how to make this right."
"You can't."
"I know."
Sienna looked at him.
Cole's voice shook slightly.
"I know apologizing doesn't undo anything."
He ran a hand over his face.
"I can't change the way I treated you. I can't change what you went through afterward."
Sienna remained silent.
"I've spent a year hating myself."
Her expression hardened slightly.
"For leaving?"
"For everything."
Cole looked at her.
"For not seeing Keith sooner. For sending Pit to the arena instead of going myself."
"Cole—"
"It should've been me."
Sienna stared at him.
"What?"
"I should've been the one who got shot."
Something ugly inside her reacted before the compassionate part could stop it.
"Maybe you're right."
Silence.
The moment the words left her mouth, Sienna regretted them.
Cole's face changed.
She finished her wine and stood.
"I need air."
She walked outside onto the deck.
Cole remained inside.
He could've let her go.
Instead, after several moments, he followed.
Sienna stood near the railing facing the water.
Moonlight outlined her silhouette.
Cole stopped several feet behind her.
"I was thinking about postponing my flight."
Sienna closed her eyes.
He continued.
"I don't want to leave like this."
She didn't turn.
"I know we missed our chance."
That hurt.
Cole swallowed.
"And I'm not asking you to forgive me."
Sienna opened her eyes.
"I don't expect that."
He stepped slightly closer.
"But I'd like to get to a place where maybe..."
He hesitated.
"We could be friends."
Sienna almost laughed.
Friends.
As if that word could possibly contain everything between them.
Her mind told her to send him away.
Her heart begged her not to.
For once, she tried to listen to both.
"No promises, Cole."
He waited.
Sienna finally turned halfway toward him.
"But if you decide to stay, you can come back tomorrow."
Cole's expression softened.
"Beyond that, I don't know."
"Okay."
"That's all I'm offering."
"I know."
Cole moved closer.
For one brief moment, Sienna thought he might kiss her.
Part of her wanted him to.
Instead, he gently pressed his lips against the back of her hair.
"Good night, Sienna."
"Good night."
Cole walked inside.
A few seconds later, she heard the front door close.
Only then did Sienna turn.
She lowered herself into one of the chairs overlooking the ocean.
Cole was staying.
She wasn’t sure whether she could forgive him.
She wasn’t sure whether she could trust him again.
But for the first time in a year, the thought of tomorrow didn’t feel quite so frightening.
Sienna turned back toward the ocean and let herself breathe.
Maybe that was a beginning.