Page 63 of Tempted Hearts
We’d been back from Italy less than a week, and this wasn’t the first time she’d circled the truth without naming it. I hadn’t volunteered much. Partly because she’d warned me. Mostly because admitting she’d been right felt like tempting fate.
“Yes,” I said lightly. “My scene. It’s a killer. No pun intended.”
Delaney didn’t smile.
Instead, she lifted her coffee mug slowly, deliberately, eyes never leaving mine, and took a long sip. Something about the way she did it sparked an idea. For a bubbly redhead, she looked faintly murderous.
“What?” I asked. “Nothing happened. There’s nothing between us. I’m fine.”
“That’s getting harder and harder to believe. I know you, Jules. And you haven’t been yourself since we got back.”
She wasn’t wrong. And she wasn’t the only one who’d noticed.
I stared at my bagel. “I don’t know what to say except… somehow, I ended up liking him.”
Jules placed her mug on the table with a sharp clink, loud enough that the couple beside us glanced over. The Coffee Cabin was packed, locals and tourists blended together in a steady hum of conversation.
“That was aggressive,” she said mildly. “I wish you’d said something sooner. Because it was completely obvious. And for the record, Cole’s being just as tight-lipped with Parker as you are with me.”
My head snapped up. “They talked about me?”
She rolled her eyes. “The fact that you care and you’re looking at me like that right now tells me all I need to know. So go ahead. Spill.”
I did.
Well, almost everything.
I told her how surprised I’d been by my attraction to him. How different he was once you got past the polished exterior. I told her about the boat ride I’d previously dismissed as just a really nice day.
And then I told her about the kiss.
The kiss that kept me awake at night. The one I could still feel if I closed my eyes. That brief, devastating moment that told me, despite my best efforts, I’d begun to fall for the completely wrong man.
Delaney listened without interrupting, then sighed. “Okay. This is a five-alarm fire. I know Cole’s reputation. And I know you. You’re not a one-night-stand girl. From what I’ve heard, he very much is.”
I took a bite of my bagel, smiling faintly. “He’s a one-night-stand girl?”
She snorted. “You’re impossible.”
“He told me as much,” I admitted. “We talked about relationships. He practically tried to scare me away. Which should’ve worked. If my brain were functioning.”
“Hey, ladies.”
Mae O’Malley slid up beside our table, a bakery box tucked under her arm. “Uh-oh. I didn’t mean to interrupt something serious. I’m just dropping off some pastries I’m testing.”
“No worries,” I said, scooting over and patting the bench beside me. “Join us.”
She hesitated, glancing between us. “You sure?”
“Absolutely.”
Mae sat, her gaze flicking briefly to Delaney, who gave the tiniest nod. If anyone understood how fast things could spiral with the wrong man, it was Mae. Beck had been openly a ladies’ man until his childhood sweetheart returned. Once they figured things out, it was game over.
That didn’t mean my story would end the same way.
“So,” I said slowly, turning to Mae, “I was just telling Delaney that I accidentally, and very involuntarily?—”
“She’s in love with Cole,” Delaney announced.
