“Who’s here?” Mom cozied up to my left, the hem of her full skirt brushing against my bare leg.
“Cole Adams,” Dad said, pointing, and then…oh, shit. Waving.
Yes. Waving.
We’d been spotted.
I had no choice but to stand wedged between my parents with a fake smile pasted on my face, choking on the bile rising in my throat while Cole came our way, his hand on the back of the woman at his side.
I studied the grooves in the white marble. How did they keep the floor so clean?
“Natalie.”
Oh, God. That voice. Thick and warm, like melted caramel. I was toast. I couldn’t look. I couldn’t let them witness my crumbling dignity.
“Linda. Charles.” Cole cleared his throat. “I’d like you to meet my mother, Felicia.”
“Oh,” I whispered, smiling, feeling ten thousand pounds lighter and one hundred percent the fool.
A horrid gasp came from my mother, so loud I jumped, spilling wine over my fingers, but not on my new Armani dress, thank you Jesus.
“Felicia?” Mom shoved her glass of wine into my free hand and threw her arms around Cole’s mom.
Felicia laughed, then bellowed, “Linda? Is it really you?”
I met Cole’s beautiful, dreamy eyes, all the more spellbinding under the blue lighting, and I knew I needed to fight the hypnotic pull, but I couldn’t remember why.
Before I could say hi, or apologize for my mom’s behavior, or peel the two women apart, Cole snatched the drinks from my hand, set them on the table behind him, and caught me in his arms, sweeping me back to the dance floor.
An old, airy tune played, and he pulled me close, cinching my waist with one arm, securing my hand with his other. He’d clearly had lessons because we swayed and twirled through the crowd, and even with my two left feet, we didn’t so much as brush against another couple.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, breathless and so turned on by the friction between our bodies I could barely feel my legs.
“My dad and your uncle go way back. Remember?”
Oh, yes. I’d met his father on the street all those months ago.
His lips grazed my ear, eliciting a shiver. “And I knew you’d be here.”
Heaven help me. I tripped, his voice, his confession making me dizzy. That strong arm of his held my weight, then tightened, securing our bodies.
On a twirl, I caught sight of our moms, now sitting at a table with their arms around each other, each of them dabbing tissues under their eyes.
“What do you suppose is happening between our mothers right now?”
“No clue,” he said, his lips dangerously close to mine. “How have you been?”
I dodged, avoiding any accidental lips-locks. “Do you think we should find out how they know each other?”
“I don’t want to talk about my mom while you’re in my arms.”
“Aren’t you worried?” I stretched my neck to see over his shoulder. “What could they be talking about?”
He had the audacity to laugh. “They’re planning our wedding. Plotting grandchildren.”
“But they’re—”
His lips covered mine in a hard, no-holds-barred kiss, those strong hands holding me rock solid against his steel frame in the middle of the dance floor in front of my uncle’s family, friends, and colleagues.
Was everyone staring? Oh, God. I couldn’t open my eyes. I couldn’t move, breathe, or think straight because Cole held me like he owned me, claiming me in public for the world to see.
He broke the kiss. Solemn eyes met mine. “You’re not kissing me back.”
“I can’t,” I said, staring at his full lips.
“You want to.”
God, those dimples. “It hurts too much when I have to stop.”
“Because you want us as much as I do.”
“Let’s not talk about this right now. Not here.” I pulled free and skirted through the crowd toward our mothers.
Mom’s head was down, her face pressed close to Felicia’s. When she saw me, she jumped to her feet. “Natalie.”
Hiding my ebbing tears, I dodged the table. “Be right back, Mom.” Like a coward—a lovesick coward—I headed toward the ladies room but instead smacked nose to chest into my Dad.
“Natalie,” he said, voice stern, grip steady. “You need to hear this.” He turned me to face Mom, and by the look on her face, I knew, undoubtably, that my life was about to take a major turn.
Cole now stood behind his mother, hand on her shoulder but all of his attention on me.
Mom and Felicia held hands. “Felicia is the woman from the hospital.” Mom wiggled in her stilettos like an excited child. “From the day you were born. The photo. This is her.”
“No.”
Felicia nodded.
“No.” I looked between the two women, then to Cole, then to my mother. “Mom. You said his name was Caleb.”
“I got it wrong. I was in labor you know, then on pain pills, sleep deprived, and well…Cole. Caleb. Close enough.”
I shot a questioning glance Cole’s way. Dad squeezed my shoulders and whispered, “What do you know? Soulmates,” before letting go.
The room faded into millions of blurry raindrops, the only clear point Cole’s gorgeous face. “When is your birthday?”
“March first.”
Same as mine.
“Where were you born?”
Brows pinched, he said, “Seattle.”
“What hospital?”
“Seattle Memorial.” He stepped closer. “Why?”
“I have to go.”
“Wait. What’s happening right now?”
I turned to flee but heard Felicia say, “Natalie is the baby I always told you about. From the day you were born.”
Cole
Natalie was the one.
My grandfather had told me so.
My mother had told me so.
The fates had just slapped me upside the head with that brilliant, well-timed gift.
She was the one, and she was running away.
Not again. Never again.
“Natalie, wait.” I followed behind, far enough to give her space, close enough to keep her from disappearing. “Just wait a minute. Where the hell are you going?”
Slowing her pace, she said over her shoulder, “I need to think.”
“What’s there to think about?” She was mine. She’d always been mine.
She stopped so fast I damn near
