“Cole, I appreciate everything you’vedone but this isn’t your concern. I don’t expect, nor do I want, any type ofprotection. Whatever obligation you feel toward me, it’s not necessary.”
“You think its obligation that Ifeel?” he growled.
“I don’t know what it is that you feel,and frankly, the visit I got at work tonight just confirmed that I don’t wantto know,” I replied harshly. Okay, maybe this was the point where I realizedthat having this conversation half asleep was a bad idea. My snarky side seemedto be wide awake, though.
“I heard about that. It’s been dealtwith,” he replied without hesitation.
I laughed. “Something tells me there’smore than one of those girls waiting in the wings. Were you planning onchartering a blimp to broadcast some type of message?” I asked sarcastically.“She was classy by the way, good to know what your type is.”
He chuckled unaffected by the bite ofmy words. “If you didn’t care what it is that I feel, then you wouldn’t give ashit. From the sound of your voice it seems that she got you all riled up. Andfrom what Connie said, it was a sight to see, too. So from where I sit, you’rejust denying the inevitable with your suit of armordarlin’,”he drawled.
I scowled that he had me pegged.
“I’m surprisingly patient, so you cankeep up this act a while longer if you’d like, though I really don’t see thepoint.”
“God, you are infuriating,” I seethed.
He chuckled, his deep voice sending awave of tingles straight to my groin in a way I wished I could deny. “Yeah butyou like it, all of it,” he replied arrogantly.
God, Isodid. Dammit.
“Are you going to keep goading me orare you going to let me sleep?” I demanded.
“You set the alarm? Lock the doors?”he asked, his tone softer now.
“Yes,” I sighed.
“Okay then. I’ll pick you up at sixtomorrow night.”
“Wait, what?” I demanded.
“Already checked with Connie, I knowyou don’t have to work. You and I are going out. I would tell you what to wear,but I’m sure anything you chose will be sexy as hell. Nightdarlin’,”he murmured before he hung up.
“Gah!” Heclearly wasn’t accepting my brush off and I wasn’t entirely certain what to doabout that. The man drove me absolutely crazy, in every way.
Chapter Four
I considered standing Cole up, Ireally did. But then I thought about everything he’d already done for me, and Icouldn’t go through with it. And if I was being honest with myself, I wasthrilled at the prospect of spending more time with him. It wasofficial,I was a glutton for punishment.
After some guesswork and lots of inputfrom Kat the next evening, I settled on tight, dark blue jeans and my greenfitted blouse that hugged my curves and made my eyes pop. I finished it offwith my high heeled sandals. It was an outfit that would work in almost anysetting, which was pretty much what I had to go for. I left my long hair downand a bit wild. To complete the look, I applied black eyeliner and my blushcolored lipstick for a bit of color.
“You look smoking,” Kat assured mewith a grin when I twirled for her.
“For someone who makes you so irritatedyou sure do seem excited to see him,” she teased.
“Shut it,” I warned.
“Why are you still trying to push thepoor guy away?” she asked innocently. “Ever since you discovered that you guyshave a shared history, I thought you might be a bit more open to the idea,” sheadded.
The truth was that I’d considered thisfact as well. It was true that having a shared history and having talked to hisfather did make me trust him more. But that didn’t mean he still wasn’t aseasoned womanizer. I was now more intent on protecting my heart than worryingabout my safety. And I told Kat as much.
She smiled sympathetically. “Honey,sometimes wegottajust put ourselves out there,” sheencouraged.
“Yeah, well that hasn’t always workedout so well for me,” I grumbled.
“First time for everything,” she grinnedas we heard his bike rumble to a stop in front of our place.
A knock at the door came moments later,and I opened it to find Cole looking beautiful as always on the other side. Hewore his typical uniform—a leather jacket, jeans, and motorcycle boots.He looked good enough to eat. His eyes drifted leisurely over my figure beforehe cocked a brow and held out a woman’s leather jacket.