“Natalie,” he said, voice dark and gritty. “We have to do something.”
The word we floated between us, a slip I didn’t dare acknowledge.
Cole cleared his throat. “The guy is unhinged. You need to be careful.”
“I know.” I shoved the cell into my handbag.
“What are you doing to protect yourself?”
“Security won’t let him into our building at work. He can’t get into my apartment building. I haven’t seen him in days.” I stared at the table, my words falling weak.
“We offer self-defense courses at the gym. Why don’t you come in? Take a class. See how you like it.” He gripped my elbow and gave it a squeeze. “Hell. Bring Lacey. You two can get the friends and family discount.”
“Yeah. Maybe,” I mumbled, moving just enough to break contact. Even though the gesture was innocent, his touch ignited an unholy flame under my skin. “Might be a good idea.”
“Good.” He nodded, seemingly satisfied. “Good,” he repeated, then tugged his wallet out of his back pocket and dropped a handful of bills on the table. “Did you walk or drive?”
“I walked.”
“Okay, then.” Again his fingers wrapped around my arm. “I’ll walk you home.”
“That’s not necessary. It’s—”
“I’m walking you home,” he interrupted, scooting me toward the door, leaving no room for argument.
Cole kept the conversation light, though I noticed he was on alert, keeping an eye on our surroundings, staying close, too close, our arms brushing, shoulders bumping.
We reached my building and I turned to thank my hero for the day but, dear Lord, the man smelled delicious and looked downright edible. I hadn’t eaten all afternoon, and I couldn’t manage one single word for fear of drooling all over his feet.
Shoving his hands in his front pockets, he asked, “Should I walk you up?”
Walk me up. See me in. Tear off my clothes. Take me against my front door.
“No. That’s not necessary.” The words traveled up my throat like oatmeal through a straw.
Cole stared for a long hard spell, then his brows furrowed.
He leaned closer. I hadn’t the strength to back away, to stop what I sensed was coming, because I wanted the freight train that was Cole Adams to come at me full throttle, pulverize me, leave me dead but wholly satisfied.
Indecision pained his face, wrinkles bunching between his brows, a snarl forming on his lips. Closer still, he came, and my heart punched through my chest to steal the man that should be mine. The man that was not and never would be mine.
His hand landed on my neck. My fingers rose to his chest. Push or pull? Life or death? God, I wanted those lips. That body. That brain. Those dimples.
“Don’t move,” he said, his lips sinfully close to mine, moist from his tongue.
Move? His touch rendered me immobile. His heat, his scent, his quickening pulse beneath my fingertips, spellbinding. Heavy breaths hit my face.
The intimacy was wrong.
I was wrong.
Because he was right.
Right for me.
Right now.
Right for eternity.
I raised my chin to accept his mouth, a sigh escaping, or maybe that was the last of my conscience.
“Aren’t you a little devil,” he rasped, jerking away. “Got you.” He straightened, held his hand up.
On the tip of his finger, a tiny brown beetle shimmied back and forth, then spread his wings and buzzed away.
“Oh.” My chest deflated. My stomach sank. A blowtorch scorched my cheeks.
“He was caught in your hair.” He assessed my eyes, then my cheeks, then my mouth. “You okay?”
No. I was fucked in so many ways. All of them caused by the man that stood too damn close. Who smiled too damn bright.
He looked down at my hand, the offending appendage that still rested on his chest.
Our eyes locked, and a groan rose in his chest. I slunk back a step, my arm falling to my side.
“Natalie.” He swallowed. Looked over my shoulder. “I...um...”
“Nats?” A familiar, angry voice drew my attention to the man approaching on the sidewalk.
Holden wore a scowl, his features sharper than the last time I’d seen him. He wore black running pants, a black jacket zipped to his neck, and a black beanie, his hair now reaching almost to his shoulders.
Cole stepped in front of me, a vibrating wall of testosterone, an impenetrable shield between me and any threat.
“Baby,” Holden pleaded, though I couldn’t see him, only Cole’s back. “I’m not here to cause trouble. Just want to talk.”
“She’s got nothing to say to you.” Cole’s voice vibrated the surrounding air.
“I think that’s her decision,” Holden countered, eerily calm.
“Natalie,” Cole said over his shoulder, “your call.”
Obviously, I was not in the right frame of mind to make any judgement call. “I just want to go to bed.” I turned, keyed the number pad, and pushed the door open the moment it buzzed. As I escaped behind the glass, I threw over my shoulder, “Holden. You bother me again, you’re going to jail.” An empty threat since I hadn’t filed a restraining order. But I would. First thing in the morning.
It wasn’t until I’d reached the elevator that I realized Cole had followed me inside. It wasn’t until we reached my door that he said, “You thought I was going to kiss you.”
I died a thousand deaths right then and there.
“Yes.” I stared at the keys in my hand, then swallowed my shame and forced my gaze upward.
“I love Victoria,” he said, though I could swear, he winced, his gaze sliding to something over my shoulder before hitting me hard.
“I know.” All the men did. And none of them survived unscathed.
“We’re getting married soon.”
God. Was he trying to torture me? “I know that, too.”
“I hate cheaters.” Such conviction in his voice.
“Me, too,” I threw back with all honesty. Every boyfriend I’d had in high school had cheated on me with…guess who? Victoria.
Raking a hand through his hair, he murmured, “But you were going to let me kiss you.”
“Because I’m a terrible person.”
He didn’t try to convince me otherwise, instead announcing, “I should go.”
“I think that’s a good idea.”
With a nod, he took a
