“We got it, sweetheart.” He nodded over his shoulder. “Look who came home early.”
Behind Ellis came another tumbling display of bright presents donned with ribbons and bows. A stuffed bear fell out of one bag, and a denim clad leg lifted to catch the toy on the top of his booted foot. He balanced. Hobbled. Caught his balance again.
“Cole!” Lacey ran to the rescue and snatched the toy, then one bag from his arms before rising on her toes to kiss his cheek.
My skin prickled, and I lifted the baby to my shoulder, certain the chubby little angel could shield me from such cruel beauty.
Cole stood, arms full, face red from the cold, taller and broader than when I’d seen him last. He smirked at something Ellis said and scanned the room, his mirth faltering when he spotted me on the sofa.
“Natalie.” His gaze softened, a slow melt like brown sugar stirred into warm butter, sweet and decadent, and making my mouth water.
“Hey,” I managed, though casual seemed an insult. He’d been inside me. He’d held my heart in his fist and squeezed the bloody thing dry before I’d snatched it back. Yet, when he looked at me that way, there wasn’t a thing in the world I wouldn’t lay at his feet, my battered heart included.
What a dangerous predicament. The man only lost his wife a few months ago. His emotions couldn’t be trusted any more than mine.
Ellis dropped his load of bags by the Christmas tree, then relieved Cole of his bundles.
“I thought you weren’t coming home until after New Year’s,” Lacey said, pushing Cole to the left so she could close the door.
He grunted a response that I couldn’t make out, and Lacey’s eyes widened. She shot me a glance, then shared a conspiratorial, wordless communication with Ellis.
Cole hadn’t stopped staring, our gazes locked in a painful, yet necessary, exchange. Certain that everyone could hear the thump, thump, thump in my chest, and afraid of giving away my unstable state of emotions, I blurted, “I think the little guy needs a new diaper,” and made a mad dash for the nursery.
Leon’s diaper wasn’t soiled, but I changed him anyway, stalling. Searching for my backbone. Cole was downstairs.
Cole had trimmed his hair and shaved, and the dark ghosts no longer haunted his eyes.
Cole still had the power to break me.
My godson started to cry. I swaddled him and moved to the window. Lacey’s view was almost as nice as mine. Where she had the city skyline in the distance, my condo boasted a view of Lake Willow and the surrounding mountains.
Leon fussed, so I bounced and hummed while watching the rain fall from dark clouds, and soon the little angel was sound asleep, his weight heavy and fulfilling in my arms.
The door opened and closed behind me. No need to look. Soul deep, I recognized his aura, my body buzzing, coming alive.
“Merry Christmas, Natalie.” Cold fingers brushed the hair from my neck. Warm lips grazed the sensitive spot below my ear, melting me skin to bone, leaving me warm and gooey, and wanting.
“Cole,” left my lips on a soft plea when I should’ve moved away or told him not to touch me that way. He had no right, yet nothing had ever felt so damn right.
He moved around me and stole the infant from my arms, his dimples popping as he took a good look at the boy, and oh, God, my legs turned to wet noodles at the sight. He cradled Leon like he was the most precious gift. When he kissed the little button nose, I almost fainted, the rush of hormones maddening and flooding my body with heat.
Before the moment passed, I slipped my phone out of my bra and snapped a pic.
“What’s with you and the pictures?” he asked, his focus still on Leon. “You don’t post on social media. I checked.”
Tucking my cell away, I admitted, “I take one a day of something that makes me happy.”
His broad shoulders stretched under his black sweater as he laid the baby in the crib, drawing my attention to his slim waist and round, tight ass.
Was there anything more appealing than a man caring for a child?
Dimples. Dimples were better, especially the two aimed my way. Cole turned on the baby monitor, grabbed my hand, and pulled me into the hallway. The second the door closed, Cole spun me until my back was to the wall. He captured my face in both palms, and his tongue darted out to wet his lips before he hit me with a toe-curling kiss.
There was not one single moment when I hesitated, or questioned, or recoiled. When we were joined, there wasn’t room for wariness, there was just us, heart and soul, the rest of the world a canvas for us to paint our future.
Cole pulled away, panting, and adjusted his crotch. I was thankful for the solid wall to hold me steady.
The doorbell rang. Guests were arriving.
“I missed you,” he rasped, devouring me with a heated gaze.
“Me, too,” I whispered.
“Stay with me tonight.”
“I can’t,” I said, though my words held no conviction.
“Why?” The bastard smirked. He knew he had me.
So many reasons. I hadn’t shaved. My Jockey undergarments were made for comfort, not sexy time. I hadn’t found a gym since moving to Whisper Springs, and I’d had a torrid affair with the buffalo burgers at my favorite diner. Cole wouldn’t care what I wore. The ten pounds I’d gained wouldn’t matter. But having him and leaving him again would destroy me. I could have given him any excuse. Instead, I whispered, “You know why.”
To which he responded, “Only thing I know is that the world feels right when you’re with me.”
Oh, my heart. I was doomed. “One night,” I conceded, then to shield my battered soul said, “Our last night. We can’t keep doing this.”
“Yes, we can.”
“Cole, please. Stop.”
“Stop what?” He planted his palms on either side of my head,
