Chapter 15 #2
“No. It’s fine…I’ll just…” She waved a hand toward the elevator. “I’ll give him a call or something later.”
Then, spinning on her heel, she walked back the way she’d come and pressed the button on the elevator to take her down to the underground parking lot.
What had she been thinking? This had been a seriously stupid idea.
Cole wouldn’t appreciate her coming to his place of work.
Putting him on the spot like that. Like he’d open up and have some deep and meaningful discussion with her here.
Great idea, moron.
The doors slid open, and she lifted her gaze from her yellow flip-flops.
Cole stepped out, and her lips tugged up at the corners, the reaction immediate, despite her misgivings about coming. The man had that effect on her, always had. He hadn’t seen her yet, was smiling down at someone, deep in conversation.
Piper’s thrill at seeing him vanished when she spotted the woman with him.
Tall and willowy, long, dark hair, sleek down her back.
She was wearing skinny jeans and a fitted shirt, displaying her perfect figure.
Cole’s arm slid along her shoulders, hand lightly cupping her upper arm.
The woman leaned in, a bright smile on her stunning face.
Piper stood frozen for a split second, not sure what to do—until an all-consuming urge to run the other way kicked in.
She spun around. “Oomph!” And ran right into someone.
The man grunted, and all the techy gear in his arms, expensive-looking crap, went flying and made loud, crunchy, shattering noises as it bounced off a desk and landed on the floor.
“Oh God, I’m so sorry!” She cringed inwardly and dropped to her knees, picking up the pieces of whatever it was he’d been carrying. “I’ll pay for it. Just tell me how much, and I’ll pay whatever the damages are.”
“Piper?”
Her hand stilled, but she didn’t turn around. Please, just walk away. Take your date and walk the other way.
“What’s going on?” His voice was closer.
Crawling under the nearest desk and covering her head with a paper bag seemed like an excellent idea right then. But since that wasn’t an option, she climbed to her feet and handed what she had in her hands to the flustered-looking man beside her. “Sorry, again.”
“Piper.” Now Cole sounded like he was getting pissed. “Is there something wrong? What are you doing here?”
Slowly, she turned to face him and had to make a conscious effort not to recoil at the sight of him with another woman. Well, the mystery of where he’d been the last two nights was solved.
He was still a couple feet away and made no move to come closer. The brunette stood at his side, staring at Piper with round, questioning eyes. He didn’t introduce her, and Piper’s gaze went back to his arm, still locked around the other woman’s shoulders.
“Um…” She dragged her gaze away and focused on his face.
He stared down at her, jaw tight, the muscle there jumping several times.
He was annoyed, no, scratch that, he was angry.
She was cramping his style. He had no desire to talk to her, let alone see her.
He’d communicated that by ignoring her the last two days, and she’d been too stupid to take the hint.
And as for sleeping with her—well, it seemed someone else had now filled that position.
Someone thin and perfect. And someone who wasn’t his best friend’s kid sister.
Time to leave, before she made even more of a fool out of herself. “Sorry. I, ah…I need to go.”
“Piper…”
“I was just dropping a car off to someone.” It was a big fat lie, and they both knew it.
He was standing in her path, and she pointed to the elevator.
“I need to…” She ducked her head, rushing past, and almost collapsed with relief when the doors slid open as she approached.
She climbed in, shoved her hands in her pockets, and kept her head down.
The last thing she wanted was for him to see how much he’d hurt her.
And she definitely didn’t want the woman he was with to see the angry tears she could no longer hold back running down her face.
She had no right to them. No right to feel a thing.
She didn’t even have a right to question him, did she?
That wasn’t part of the deal. He’d told her under no uncertain terms that what they were doing was casual.
Just sex. He wasn’t interested in a commitment of any kind.
She’d stupidly assumed she meant more to him than that.
Could she be more naive?
No wonder her family thought she was incapable of taking care of herself.
This was the story of her life. Second best to someone hotter, slimmer, prettier. Still, of all people, she’d never believed Cole would do that to her.
Stupid, sad, desperate Piper. Always going after the wrong man. Only good enough to fill in time until someone better came along.
The door slid open, and she rushed out. She was at her car when she heard the stairwell door open. “Piper, wait.”
She spun around. Cole stood there, leaning heavily on the door frame, a hand to his leg, face pinched in pain.
“Please, just…will you let me explain?” He pushed off the wall, his limp more pronounced than usual. He must have run down all five flights of stairs.
“I wouldn’t want to hold you up from whatever the hell you were doing…or should I say whoever you were doing?” She crossed her arms as he got closer. She didn’t want to hear what he had to say. If he wanted to end it, she’d much prefer he did it by text or email, face to face she couldn’t handle.
“Piper…”
“Don’t sweat it, Cole. What we were doing, it was just sex, right?”
He recoiled—actually rocked back on his heels like she’d struck him. He shoved a hand through his hair, expression tortured.
She couldn’t bear to look at him. Gripping the sides of her shirt, she hugged herself tighter. “You don’t owe me anything. You’re off the hook.”
“Piper…”
“Save it.” She turned to walk away, but he grabbed her shoulder, turning her back to face him.
“Please, Pipe. Will you hear me out?”
He watched her closely, and she hated that he could more than likely see the way her eyes shone. She shook her head. “I don’t want—”
“I’m not sleeping with anyone else,” he said in a rush. “You’re the only woman I’ve been with since before my accident.”
Piper stilled, stupid hope firing through her for a split second. “You haven’t been sleeping at your apartment and, despite what everyone thinks, I’m not stupid.”
He moved in closer and held her gaze. He looked in pain, but not from his leg. It was something else. Her belly dipped. “What’s going on, Cole?”
“Her name’s Kate.” He looked out across the parking lot, and she barely recognized him, his features rearranged in a way she’d never seen before.
God, it hurt to look at him. “She’s my ex-partner’s widow.
” He looked back and brushed his thumb over her cheek.
“And I have been home, just working long hours.”
She bit her lip. “Oh.” The tension in her body eased. “I ah…assumed…”
“Yeah,” he said gently.
“Your partner? Was he in the accident with you?”
He looked down at her, his blue eyes lost, empty. “Yes. We were in pursuit of another vehicle. A truck pulled out in front of us.” He flinched, as if he were watching it play out in his head. “He didn’t make it.”
Oh God. “You were driving?”
Jaw clenched, he nodded. “Yes.”
She winced, the horror over what he must have been though slicing through her. “Oh…I…” She didn’t know what to say. What could she say? She hated that she never knew, that Cole had never told her. That Deke had never told her he’d lost his partner.
He took a step back. “I have to go. Kate’s waiting. I promised I’d take her and Davey to lunch.”
“Davey?”
“Kate’s son.”
She hugged herself tighter. “Of course, then you need to go. I don’t want to hold you up.”
He stared at her, gaze searching hers for the longest time. She waited for him to say something, anything. Instead, he lifted his hand like he was going to touch her but stopped himself, letting it drop to his side. “Good-bye, Piper.”
Then he turned and walked back toward the elevator. She watched him go, heart heavy, and with what sounded a lot like a final good-bye ringing in her ears. It hurt like hell. His partner’s death had affected him deeply, that was obvious. He was still struggling with it a year after it happened.
But that didn’t explain why he was suddenly pulling away from her.
Why he was shutting her out.