Cole(34)

Once I got back to my place, the waiting began.

As time passed, I began to wonder if he’d follow through. Maybe he just wanted to get away without any awkwardness. But I couldn’t deny that I wanted him to call. I wanted to see him again, and I hoped I wasn’t being stupid at the same time.

Halfway through the afternoon, I realized he might not have my number. I tried to shove that aside, but figured he knew where I lived, but probably not my number. I should go with Sia and Jake. I wasn’t going to wait here in case he rang my floor. Literally.

That worked. My decision was made…for thirty minutes.

Then my mind started whirring again.

Did he have my number? Something told me he could find it.

Cole knew Dorian.

Ken had called him Cole the night before.

I had to know.

I was moving to the elevator before I realized what I was doing. Hitting the lobby button, my heart raced.

When the doors opened, I didn’t step outside. I looked up, and Ken was there. He looked too.

“Does he have my phone number?” I asked, straight to the point.

He nodded once. “He does.”

No other questions asked; no other answers needed.

I nodded in thanks and hit my floor again. I leaned back and closed my eyes. I felt like a nervouås school girl. Was this how dating was? How hooking up felt? I had a new sympathy for Sia.

The elevator stopped, and I started to get off, not looking at the floor number.

Dawn stood in front of me, her arms crossed over her chest.

I stepped back, my eyes flicking to the lights. She’d called the elevator.

“Did you tell?” she asked.

Annoyance flared in me. I jerked forward, hitting the button to make the doors close as I said, “No. Consider yourself lucky, okay? You owe me.”

She let out a breath of relief, and jerked her head in a shaky nod.

“But if you don’t leave ‘em alone, I will.”





Four o’clock came and went with no word from Cole.

Five o’clock.

Five thirty, and I needed something to do, so I checked my email. Not much there. I scrolled over most until I saw one from my realtor.



Addison, I’ve been in touch with a lawyer representing Liam’s family. Can you give my office a call? We should plan a meeting.

--Heather, Coldwater Realty Services



I frowned. That didn’t sound good, but maybe his family wanted to buy the house? Maybe they were upset I was selling it in the first place. We weren’t close. His mother had never wanted us together. For the first year we dated, she brought another woman along every time she met Liam for a meal. They were always the same: older twenties or early thirties, single, beautiful. A few were co-workers. A few were daughters of her friends. One woman was in her walking club.

Liam’s dad hadn’t been much better.

The first year he’d hit on me himself. The last couple years, he’d ignored me and only talked to Liam at get-togethers. Liam’s older sister was married, lived in the suburbs, and kept asking when we were going to have kids, but her interest never felt like it was genuine. There was a younger brother, too, but I never met him. He lived in San Francisco and never came home to visit, not the entire time I was with Liam.

I put my realtor’s email on the I Really Don’t Want To Deal list. It’d be nice to see Heather, but anything about Liam’s family brought my walls up and claws out.

And I’d officially been distracted for ten minutes.

I watched the clock. Six o’clock came and went, and I’d officially had enough. I went out for dinner and drinks with Sia and Jake. Despite the urge to check my phone and constant effort to keep my thoughts on the conversation, not on a certain person who hadn’t called yet, the evening was similar as our last time there. Well, except there was much less kissing. I figured Jake and Sia were holding hands under the table. They’d stop talking suddenly and share a look, one of those dreamy kinds, but other than that, it was an enjoyable dinner.

At the end when we asked for our bill, none came. Each of us took turns asking, but we all got the same response. It was on the house.

Sia was fine with it. Jake wasn’t.

His eyebrows furrowed together, and I could see his wheels spinning. He wanted to know what was going on. A nagging voice kept saying Cole’s name in the back of my mind, but that didn’t make sense either. Cole said he knew the owner of that other restaurant, but I remembered how he’d walked into Gianni’s with his friends. They knew the place like they ran it, like it was a second home to them. That didn’t make sense either. I’d just brought up the restaurant with him last night, and my lunch date with Sia had been taken care of the week before.

“Maybe we should hold off going there?” We were nearing home, but I paused. Sia and Jake both stopped and looked at me. Sia gave me a blank expression. I added, “I mean, until we know why. Unless it doesn’t bother you.”