Cole(25)

Everything melted inside me, and I had no idea what I’d picked to wear until I was stepping back into the elevator and hitting the lobby button. I glanced down, and my hand went to my hair. I’d put on an outfit Sia once chose for me. She’d laid it out on my dresser, saying I needed to dress sexier, and it had stayed there for two weeks. I looked in the mirrored wall to see my hair. It was pulled up in a messy braid, similar to last Friday’s lunch. Sia would’ve approved.

The elevator came to a stop, lurching in sync with my stomach.

A date—I wasn’t ready.

I reached inside my purse and found my wedding ring. I didn’t put it on, but I held it. Some of the nerves calmed inside. Then the doors slid open, and I looked up.

It wasn’t how good Cole looked that gave me pause. It was the look in his eyes when he saw me. It’d been so long since a man looked at me like that, like I was breathtaking to him, like he wanted to protect me, take me to bed, and laugh all night, all at the same time. I felt beautiful as Cole took in the sight of me. The feeling washed over me. I blinked back a tear, held my breath.

Liam… I missed him with an impossible heaviness.

Then I could hear him whispering, “Whatever this guy’s going to say, I agree. You look stunning, Addison.” He would’ve leaned in to kiss me. “I love you. Live your happy, Addy.”

It felt so real—feeling him, hearing him. Live your happy.

The heaviness lifted, and I stepped from the elevator, my head high as I walked toward Cole.

He drank me in. “You look beautiful.”

It was a simple dress, a simple sweater, but with the black boots Sia had picked, and I knew my getup made me look sexy, too. Thank you, Sia, I thought as Cole held out his hand for me and I took it, feeling his fingers close around mine.

Ken was waiting by the door. He held it open for us, pushing out toward the street. He nodded as we passed. “Have a fun evening, Mr.—”

Cole shot him a look.

“Cole and Miss Addison,” he finished.

I turned to give him a reproach for the ‘Miss’ part, but Cole led me quickly around a black SUV and opened the passenger door. I got inside and waited until he’d rounded the back to get in the driver’s seat.

“You drive yourself?”

He started the engine. “Hell yeah, I do. You didn’t think I would?” He turned into traffic, and his wolfish grin showed me another side of this mystery man. He loved driving. No, it was more than that, but I couldn’t pinpoint exactly what.

“For some reason I thought you’d have a driver.”

“Ah.” His hand moved over the steering wheel. He leaned back, keeping one hand there and resting the other on the stick shift. “You’re right. I normally would have a driver, but this week has been my vacation from regular life. That means no driver. I get to do it myself. And driving a stick shift—” He changed gears. “—is a rush all its own.”

He was dangerous. He was strong. And now, he loved adrenaline. Cole was everything Liam hadn’t been. “You like the rush,” I mused.

He moved between cars and glanced over at me.

“Is that in all aspects of life?” I asked.

His eyes narrowed, but he didn’t reply. I saw the corner of his mouth lift up. Then we switched lanes again and came to an intersection. The faint grin was gone by then, and he turned onto another road before sliding to a halt in front of a brick building. He unclipped his seat belt. He didn’t get out, not even when the valet opened his door. He watched me. “Does that unnerve you? The rush?”

My mouth dried. “Maybe in some aspects of life.”

His eyebrow lifted. “Like the bedroom?”

My eyes widened. “You were bold when you said this was a date, and now you’re bringing up the bedroom? Maybe you get a rush from making women uncomfortable?”

He was too close, too soon. I’d lashed out, and I regretted it, but I wasn’t used to this. Cole was honest, but maybe too honest? That didn’t sit right with me.

He didn’t reply, not at first. He continued to watch me, studying me, then he said, softly, “I don’t enjoy making women uncomfortable, but I also know you’re not uncomfortable. I enjoy being honest, so here’s my honesty right now.” He paused, making sure I looked right back at him. “I’m not interested in being your friend.”

O—Oh!

My pulse sped up, faster than it already was, and his gaze lingered a moment longer before he got out of the car. A second valet driver opened my door. I couldn’t move, not at first. I didn’t think my legs could hold me. When I did, Cole was waiting for me, and I rested my hand on his arm. He steadied me, and my God, I hated that while I liked it so much.