Page 135 of Shelter
He’d carried me to his bedroom for the second night in a row.
And with that memory clear in my mind, I was about to face Flora. I’d called Mama to tell her that since Alberta had gone camping with Ross, we should go ahead and invite the Whitehursts after all. She’d been over the moon about the prospect. So much so, she’d called Cole the instant she hung up with me. He’d had a hell of a time staying composed long enough to accept her invitation.
But if we showed up together in one car, Mama would notice.
“Why?” Cole asked, buttoning up another dress shirt, this one a lovely robin’s egg blue that set off his eyes. “She’ll know what’s up soon enough.”
I wrinkled my nose. “She doesn’t need to know I spent the weekend here.”
Cole tilted his head back and laughed at the ceiling. “You mean I shouldn’t tell her I’ve been lusting after you since that day I readJane Eyreto you while you sat across from me in that orange bikini?”
I blinked. “Y-you remember the orange bikini?”
A wicked chuckle escaped him as he crossed the room to me. “Vividly,” he purred. “It tortured me. It invaded my dreams for years. And now you’ve gone and added a little black one with teal stripes.”
I stared at him for a minute. “Yeah, you probably shouldn’t tell Flora that.”
Cole laughed again, but he settled his hands at my hips and tugged me closer to him. “Why are you so nervous? You said yourself that Flora would be thrilled.”
“Oh, she’ll be thrilled,” I stressed, wagging my eyebrows. “This’ll be like winning the lottery.”
This time Cole blew out an amused breath and shook his head. “Be serious.”
“I am! She thinks the world of you, Cole.” I wasn’t telling him anything he didn’t already know. She’d watched him grow up, putting his mother and sister ahead of himself, stepping in front of his father’s fists, taking Ava with him wherever he went so she’d be safe. He was a hero to Mama. “And if this doesn’t work out, it won’t be you she blames.” I said it half-joking.
Sort of.
Cole dropped his head until his gaze was level with mine. “I have two things to say about that. One: This is going to work out. You’re stuck with me. I’m sorry, but you have no choice.” His teasing words made me smile in spite of myself. “And two: Flora thinks the world ofyou,too. I know she’s tough on you. She always has been, but you should hear the way she talks about you. You’d blush like a rose.”
He brushed the back of his fingers against my cheek, summoning a blush as if by magic.
“Besides, if — in some impossible, alternate universe scenario — this didn’t work out, Ava would heap the blame entirely on me.” Cole shrugged. “She’d probably throw a dumpster and a Port-o-let on there as well.”
I giggled, grateful for Ava’s allegiance. “Well, you should ride with her to Mama’s,” I said, stepping into my ballet flats. I still needed to do my makeup, and then I’d leave a few minutes ahead of them.
But at my comment, a frown crossed Cole’s brow. “She left. She texted to say she was hitting a yoga class before lunch, and she’d meet us a Flora’s.” I watched his frown deepen. “Are there even yoga classes on Sunday morning?”
I blinked. “Well… I’m sure there are. She wouldn’t say she was going if there weren’t.”
He winced, looking guilty. “I’m doing it again.”
“It’s okay,” I said, draping my arms around his neck. “Be patient. The longer she’s steady and sober, the easier this will get.”
I hoped I was right. Cole had always carried the weight of the world on his shoulders. He deserved to lay those burdens down. But as I tried to soothe him, stroking my hands up and down his back, I wondered if he ever would.
But then he rested his forehead against mine with a moan. “I love when you do that,” he murmured.
“What?”
“Touch me.”
I smiled, bringing my hands up to his shoulders and massaging them. “Here?”
“Mmm… anywhere.”
Giggling, I lifted up and pressed a kiss to his lowered cheek. “You’re easy to please.”
Cole shook his head. “No, I’m not,” he argued gently. “I’m pretty demanding. It’s Sunday. The weekend’s almost over, and I’m already thinking of ways to get you to stay.”
