Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
Piper woke to an empty bed and a sinking heart.
Rolling to her back, she brushed her hair from her face. Idiot. She’d thought after this last week, after last night…
Her phone rang beside her, and she jumped. Grabbing it off the bedside table, she quickly answered it. “Hello.”
“Miss West, it’s Daniel Taylor.” Okay, this guy was starting to freak her the hell out. “Please…don’t hang up. I wanted to let you know my buyer’s still interested.”
“Well, that’s too bad because, like I’ve already told you, I’m not.”
“Just hear me out.” There was a bite to his voice, an abruptness that made goose bumps lift on her arms. The man was getting impatient with her. Annoyed that she wouldn’t sell.
“You’re wasting your time; I won’t change my mind.” She hung up.
This was getting crazy; the man was relentless.
Rolling out of bed, she tried to forget the encounter as she dragged on her robe.
She was just glad it hadn’t been Rusty calling to grill her for information.
Cole told her last night that Reid knew they were seeing each other.
He’d promised to keep it to himself, and though he was the kind of man to keep his word, she couldn’t help but worry.
She shuffled out to the kitchen for a much needed caffeine injection.
Her thoughts scattered, and she stopped in her tracks when she saw Cole’s wide, bare back. He’d taken time to pull on jeans, but nothing else, and the soft denim cupped his delectable butt in a way that made her mouth go dry. Even the man’s bare feet were sexy.
He was hunched over, messing with the coffee machine, the muscles in his shoulders and back moving in a way that made her want to run her hands all over him.
Play it cool, Piper. She’d nearly given too much away last night.
She’d stupidly thought they were making progress, that even though he’d told her he didn’t want more, that maybe that was where they were heading.
When he’d pulled his hand away from hers, it’d hurt.
Of course he’d pulled away. She totally understood why he had.
Still, she’d let her emotions get the better of her, and she’d nearly ruined everything.
That was her problem. Not his.
Ignoring the urge to run at him, jump on his back, and hang onto him like a limpet, she moved casually into the kitchen. “Want some help?”
His shoulders stiffened slightly before he turned to her, gaze roaming over her body. Something was different this morning. He’d lost the lightness she’d seen in him over this last week. That glimpse of the old Cole. Her Cole. “I’ve got it.”
She moved up behind him, and nerves spiked through her when she got close.
It was silly after everything they’d done together, to each other this last week.
But she felt a distance radiating from him that hadn’t been there before.
The man could be skittish at times, and there was still that fear in the back of her mind that if she pushed too hard, too fast, he’d bolt.
Was this distance because of her reaction when he’d dropped her hand last night? Was he worried she was getting too emotionally involved?
Shoving down her uncertainty, she reached for him.
The muscles under her palm bunched when she made contact, but she didn’t pull back.
She smoothed her hand over his skin, the texture like rough silk.
His body was covered in so many scars, the majority she guessed from his car accident.
A thick one ran down his right side, and she traced it with her finger.
“Your accident…it left you with a lot of scars.”
“Yeah.” His voice was rougher than usual, but he didn’t pull away when she began tracing the others.
“Do they cause you any pain?” she whispered.
“Not anymore. It’s just my leg that still gives me trouble.” He shrugged, a slight shudder moving through him. “I got off light.”
He still had his back to her, hands now braced on the bench, causing the muscles in his arms and back to flex.
She wanted to wrap her arms around his waist and beg him not to withdraw into himself, to stay with her.
She wanted to offer comfort, because the man could try to hide it, but she could see he was hurting.
Maybe not physically so much anymore, but she’d known him nearly her whole life, and what she saw when she looked in his eyes…
Pain.
There was just so much pain, so much grief, sometimes she barely recognized him.
“What happened…that day?” She rested her hands on his hips, and he turned to face her. “You can talk to me, Cole, about anything. You know that, right?”
He slid his hands up the sides of her neck, into her hair. “It was a rough time in my life, Pipe. A time I’d rather not talk about.”
He stared down at her but said nothing more.
Subject closed. He softened his refusal by brushing his lips over hers, mouth lingering for a few seconds, holding her to him almost desperately before he pulled away.
It was the sweetest, most agonized kiss he’d ever given her. Then he let her go and moved away.
She wanted to reach for him again, but he didn’t want that, she could see it in the way he held himself, the way he could barely meet her gaze.
What was going on?
Didn’t he know he could trust her? That he could tell her anything?
She opened her mouth to say something, anything, but his phone started ringing.
He pulled it from his back pocket and stared down at the screen, a troubled expression transformed his face.
The hard lines got deeper, sharper somehow.
He closed his eyes for a split second, then shook his head and ended the call, shoving it back in his pocket.
“Is that the same person who called last night? Is something wrong?” He hadn’t been the same since the call in her room.
He’d ended that one without answering it as well.
The difference between the man who made love to her outside under the stars and the man standing in her kitchen now were polar opposites.
It was like the time they’d spent together hadn’t happened. He’d reverted to the way he was when he first moved back. Closed off and distant.
He ignored her question. “I have to go.” He limped to her bedroom, then came out a minute later wearing his T-shirt and boots. He kissed her on the top of the head like he always used to. “I’ll see you…soon.”
Then he walked out the front door.
Piper pulled into the parking lot under West Security and scanned the reserved spots for Cole’s car.
There.
She’d spent the last two nights wondering what was going on.
If she’d done something wrong. Had Reid finding out about their relationship freaked him out?
Maybe he’d changed his mind about what they were doing—or was something else going on with him?
She hadn’t seen him since he walked out of her kitchen the day after her barbecue.
He’d texted to say he was working late and not to expect him, but she knew there was something more going on.
And yeah, she deserved more than the cold shoulder.
More from the man she was sleeping with—or at least had been sleeping with—than being frozen out.
Something was bothering him, and she was sure it had to do with the phone calls he’d received and ignored while he was at her place.
They weren’t just lovers, they were friends, and the thought that he was hurting, maybe suffering on his own, was too much to bear.
All her instincts told her he needed her.
He hadn’t come to her, and it didn’t look like he’d been to his apartment, unless he was coming home late at night and leaving early.
He could try all he liked, but she refused to let him shut her out. Not now. Not anymore.
Climbing out of her car, she shoved her keys in her jeans pocket and walked to the elevator. West Security’s offices were located on the fifth floor. They also occupied the floor below, where they stored the majority of their hardware and had a surveillance area set up.
She’d never been here herself, but Deke had answered her many questions when she’d subtly grilled him about the place after Cole started working for him.
She hit the button for the fifth floor, and a few seconds later the doors slid open.
She stepped out, doing her best to ignore the nerves assaulting her.
The room had several desks, and there were people bustling around or on the phones. The waiting area was to the left of the elevator, made up of a large, plush-looking couch and a coffee table. All high-end and very tasteful.
Piper stood there for a minute, trying to imagine Cole in a place like this. It wasn’t easy. Nice suit, fancy office. Yeah, she’d seen him in his suits, of course, but seeing him in this environment. Weird.
He seemed too rough around the edges for a place like this.
She spotted a sign on the wall. A little arrow pointing to the right: COLE BLACK.
Yep. Totally weird.
By all accounts, he’d fitted in easily, had turned the dwindling business around.
So what did she know? Deke couldn’t be happier with the way Cole ran the place.
And the man himself seemed to be happy with his new position.
Well, she guessed he was happy. That’s all she could do since the infuriating pain in the ass told her nothing.
Shoving her hands in her pockets, she approached the woman sitting behind the reception desk. Cole’s name was on the door behind her. “Hi, I’d like to see Cole…ah, Mr. Black, if he’s available?”
The woman gave Piper a slow up and down, and Piper had the urge to stand up a little straighter and run her hands over her hair to smooth it.
She’d changed out of her work boots and put on a clean top.
Maybe her jeans were a little rough. She glanced down and saw some serious grease stains.
Shit. Her face heated. Okay, a lot rough.
“I’m sorry, but Mr. Black’s out to lunch. Would you like to leave him a message?”