“Wow. You own all of this?”
His chest swelled with pride. “Yeah. I bought it a couple of years ago.”
She was in awe. “It’s pretty impressive.” Cole was rich. He was filthy, stinking rich. She knew he had money but not like this. While it was great that he seemed to have achieved all of his goals, it also made her feel all the more like a failure.
Cole got out of the car with their food and walked around to open her door. He reached into the backseat to grab her overnight bag. All Jade could think about was why on earth was he doing this for her? Why did he want her in his life? There was nothing she could offer him that would remotely measure up to all of his wealth and the life he must be living now. She was becoming more and more apprehensive about this situation.
He reached out to grab her hand; mainly because Jade hadn’t been very steady on her feet, but also because he still couldn’t believe she was real. Cricket was actually at his home. Cole knew if she had any other choice she wouldn’t be, but was still thankful everything worked out the way it had. “Are you ready to go inside?”
She stared at his hand. A million thoughts ran through her head. All of which led back to her inner voice telling her she was making the biggest mistake of her life. Well, not quite the biggest. That honor went to Kevin and their marriage. Jade continued to hesitate. Was this really her only option? Or, in some twisted way, did she want to be here with Cole. Jade didn’t know, but in the end she put her hand in his. Tentative eyes looked up into his. “As ready as I’ll ever be.” The moment his hand closed around hers the tingle she knew was hidden just under the surface went up her arm. If she were honest, that feeling was what she was the most afraid of.
Chapter 7
Cole showed Jade to her room. For some odd reason, he was nervous. When he had it decorated, somewhere in the back of his mind he’d thought of her. Slowly, he turned the knob and pushed the door open. “If you don’t like this room, there are four others you can choose from. I just thought you might be more comfortable here.”
Jade looked around. To start, it was almost the size of the two-bedroom unit she shared with Katrina! It was like a mini apartment. On one side, the room boasted a four poster king sized bed, cherry wood, with tons of pillows covering it. She turned to him. “Think there are enough pillows on the bed?”
Cole was still holding his breath not sure if she liked the room or not. He smiled slightly. “If I remember correctly, you always seemed to take over a bed and hog all of the pillows. Figured this way, you’d have enough of your own.”
She was somewhat surprised. “You remembered that?”
“I don’t think I’ve forgotten too much. I’m sure if I have you’ll remind me.”
Jade continued to admire the room. She turned around in a circle trying to take it all in. He was right, it seemed he hadn’t forgotten much. She couldn’t have dreamed up a room better than this. Yellow had always been a favorite color of hers, and sure enough, different shades of yellow were everywhere. Cole put her bag on one of several wing-backed chairs. He decided to take control of the mini tour. He pointed to his right. “There are a couple of tv’s in here. There’s one over there in the living room area. And then, there is one right here.” He picked up a remote from the stand next to her bed. When he pressed a button on it, a television rose up out of a decorative box that sat at the foot of the bed.
“Wow. That’s cool. I’ve only ever seen one like this on television.” A slight frown appeared on her face. “There are a lot of windows in here.”
“Right. The sunlight is incredible in the morning on this side of the house. However, I installed privacy windows. You can see out clearly, but anyone who manages to get on the property can’t see in. If the windows bother you, press this button on the remote. It opens and closes the window shades.”
Jade nodded. She would definitely use that.
Cole continued on with the tour. “Let me show you the bathroom.” He grabbed her hand and pulled her behind him. “This is your bathroom.”
Jade spoke more to herself than to him. “It looks like a spa in here. I could escape from everything.”
“There is also a walk-in closet on the side.”
Sarcastically joking to herself Jade put her hand over her stomach. “All that’s missing is a television over the tub.”
“Do you want one? I can have someone install it tomorrow.”
“God no. I was just kidding, Cole.”
“I only want you to be comfortable while you’re here.” He hesitated. “Do you like it? The room I mean.”
Jade loved it. How could she not? But, she refused to let him think material things could make up for the greatest disappointment of her life. She answered coolly. “It’s…nice. This or the streets. So, I can’t complain.” Jade stifled an imaginary yawn. “Cole, I’m pretty wiped. Think I
