Page 86 of Bargaining

The guard’s voice reverberated through the space again. “Everybody move out, please. Keep moving forward.”

I shot Cole a look. “Time to go?”

He glanced at his watch. “Not us. We’ve got five minutes.”

Bodies filtered around us to the exit. “What do you mean?”

“We’ve got five minutes in here after the crowd clears out before the guard lets anyone else in. Needless to say, I also asked the guard if he’d be so kind as to shut the fuck up.”

The realization dawned on me. It was too crazy to be true. “How much?”

He ran his thumb around his lips, but said nothing.

“You bribed the guard. How much? How is that even possible?”

“‘Bribe’ is an ugly word.” Cole glanced at his watch again. “We struck a deal on favorable terms. Don’t think about it. Just enjoy it while it lasts. I’m only sorry I couldn’t get you longer, but then I’d have to bribe the pope, and I imagine he’s a more upstanding kind of bloke. At least, that’s what it claims on Wikipedia.”

I watched the last person leave and turned back to Cole in shock. “I can’t believe you pulled this off.”

He pressed a kiss on my temple. “Savor it. It’s all yours.”

With no people, the space was vast and soaring. The tight feeling of compression around my lungs eased off. Ditching my backpack on the floor, I dropped to my knees and lay on my back. Cold marble kissed the length of my spine, and I pressed my palms flat at my sides, drinking in the images I’d been obsessed with as a child. My heart pounded in the stillness. There was so much life in the frescoes. Everything was in motion. A fizzy energy buzzed inside of me. The beauty hit me like a freight train.

I was a little girl in the woods. Cole sat on a mossy rock next to our bikes, cross-legged, watching me. Sunlight pierced the canopy and splayed light over my easel. A carpet of bluebells sprang from the earth, and the colors and shapes held me transfixed. My paintbrush moved across the white page in confident violet strokes. And I had the deepest sense that I was exactly where I was supposed to be, doing exactly what I’d been born to do.

Cole’s finger touched mine, sparking me to life, bringing me back to myself. A lightness and warmth like I’d never knownfilled me. My face was wet with tears. I couldn’t speak. I could barely breathe. He turned his face toward me. I couldn’t judge his expression, because I couldn’t tear my gaze away from the ceiling. I stared up at the almost-touching fingertips of God and Adam. The moment before creation.

A quiet revelation wrapped around my heart. In among the duty and responsibility of caring so deeply for someone else, my life had become small. I didn’t begrudge that. I’d wanted to be with my dad when he needed me. It had mattered. But I had to figure out what came next. I missed Dad so terribly, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t try and open my arms to the world, to create, to laugh, to travel, to have adventures. To work on making my life ... bigger.

Another tear slipped down my cheek. “It’s amazing ...” I opened my mouth and closed it again. “I hoped it would be.”

Cole wrapped his fingers around my hand. His whisper was low in my ear. “Is it wrong that you’re probably lying here having a profound experience, and I’m thinking about all the dirty things I’d like to do to you in here? I don’t know how much I’d have to pay the guard to turn the other way.”

I whacked him lightly on the arm. My laughter echoed around the cavernous space. “Yes. It’s very wrong. You’re a sex maniac. It’s a chapel. Look at the ceiling. Behold the enduring greatness. Stop thinking with your dick. There’s no way we’re fucking in here.”

“Spoilsport.” He squeezed my hand. “The problem is it doesn’t matter what’s in a room, all I ever want to look at is you.”

I turned my head to gaze at him. His eyes locked with mine, and I couldn’t tear myself away, not even to the ceiling.Behold the enduring greatness. Stop thinking with your heart. Your poor, stupid heart.Footsteps and chatter brought me back to my senses. Tourists began to swarm in again.

The guard’s voice rang out. “Shh. Quiet, please.”

Cole sighed. “Looks like our five minutes is up.”

“I can’t believe you did that for me.”

He stood and offered me his hand. Pulling me to my feet, he gave me a relaxed smile. “I told you, Mrs. Ackroyd. You marry me, I make your life better.”

Chapter 39

Charlotte

I dragged the heavy white train behind me and stepped out of the bedroom in my wedding dress. Cole was sitting on the couch, dressed in a smart suit for dinner. His dark hair was still damp from the shower. I held out my arms, feeling self-conscious. Maybe this had been a silly idea. “You said you wanted me in the wedding dress.”

Pocketing his phone, Cole swallowed and sat upright. His gaze raked over me boldly. “Jesus. Look at you.”

Heat seared my cheeks as I fumbled with the seam at the back of the dress. “I can’t reach the buttons at the back. It’s not on properly.”

“I wouldn’t worry. It’s not staying on for long.” He stood and beckoned me with a finger. His voice was rough. “Come here.”