Page 12 of Tempted Hearts
Cole and “kind of nice” weren’t two phrases I typically associated together.
Uptight prick? Sure. Kind of nice? Not so much.
Groaning, I reached for an olive, popping it into my mouth and turning toward the Ligurian Sea. Focusing on a sailboat and the deep blue and turquoise green water, I took a sip of wine.
“Jules?”
“Uh huh,” I took a deep breath. Box breathing, my therapist called it. In for four, hold for four?—
“The fact that you’re doing your breathing thing isn’t exactly encouraging.”
Out for four.
“He’s not that bad. I mean, some women actually think he’s cute.”
I pictured Cole in my mind. He wasn’t cute. He was gorgeous. Cheekbones for days. Dark-rimmed glasses and outfits that screamed “college professor” despite his perfect face. It was the kind of dichotomy that I could easily explore in a story.
If I were to write him into a story.
Which I wouldn’t do because then I’d need to think about him.
“Cute in a serial killer kind of way.”
Delaney laughed. “Now you’re just being dramatic.”
It wasn’t the first time I’d been accused of that, but if the shoe fit…
“It’s fine,” I said, my calm having returned. It was hard to be annoyed with that view. And, of course, when the whole thing was my fault. “I still can’t believe I left it.”
“Jules,” Delaney chastised. “We’ve gone over this a hundred times. I didn’t notice either. It was an accident.” She coupled a piece of salami andparmigiano-reggianoand piled them together. “Could have happened to anyone. Besides, I was the one who insisted on taking our passports. That was so dumb.”
“It wasn’t dumb.” I grabbed a piece of salami too. “If we decided to take the train back, we might have needed them.”
Delaney picked up her phone. “What the hell?” She stood.
“What’s going on?”
Looking toward the direction of the train station, she stood on her tiptoes and peered into the crowd of tourists making their way toward and past us, heading into town.
“Parker just texted. He said they just got off the train and are making their way toward the hotel. I didn’t expect them so soon.”
The very path we were on which was how we noticed this spot in the first place.
As we waited, I thought maybe we’d missed them. But just as I took a deep sip of wine, expecting to need some liquid courage facing not one, but two people who just got on a last-minute international flight because of my stupid mistake, they appeared.
Delaney was already running toward them as I watched Cole approach. If he wasn’t with Parker in his jeans and tee, Cole could have fit in with the locals. He was dressed more like a European in navy pants and a white button down, though his sleeves were rolled up.
I would ignore that little annoying fact. But as he came toward me, I suddenly couldn’t look at anything but his forearms. As expected, he looked at me as if I were an idiot. Full of disapproval. No doubt the perfect Cole Ford would never do anything as stupid as losing his passport. And phone. And wallet.
“Have to say, I didn’t expect this.”
While Delaney talked a mile a minute to Parker, Cole took her seat, lifted up a piece of cheese and popped it into his mouth.
Why did he have to show up with rolled sleeves?
“This?” I asked, faking a calm I didn’t feel. If I could have jumped into the ocean right about now, I would have. Unfortunately, it was a little too far away to be a feasible escape plan. Though I did chuckle a bit at the thought.
“I imagined you with smudged mascara in an off-the-shoulder sweatshirt on your bed with Delaney sprawled across it in despair.”
