Surrender My Love(21)
“Cole,” she whispered. How should a woman respond when a man said something so beautifully romantic that she wanted to wrap it up in a pretty ribbon and set it on a shelf to revisit a million times over her lifetime? I want to go home with you, too, but I’m too scared of what tomorrow will bring? Or next week? Or next month? I should take tonight and run, preserve it forever, and let you move on to a woman without a tainted past?
He lifted her chin with his index finger and smiled again. Did he know how his smile made her insides go squishy? Could he see it in her eyes? And if so, did it bother him or turn him on?
“I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”
It would be easy to go home with Cole, to wake up in his arms and pretend that if her past became the talk of the town, he really would stand up for her. But she couldn’t expect anyone to do that, despite what he’d said. For her own safety she needed to preserve the strength and hard shell she’d developed before coming to Peaceful Harbor.
She went with silence and a smile instead of responding as they continued walking along the quiet road, passing Chelsea’s Boutique, Jazzy Joe’s Café, and a number of other dark, closed stores. A dog barked in the distance, and every so often a car drove past. As they neared the bar, she remembered the scene with Kenna, and her stomach clenched. She tried to tell herself that it wasn’t jealousy she was feeling, but a normal emotion anyone would have if the guy they were out with was kissed by a woman.
Yeah, that’s called jealousy.
She tried to distract herself from the unfamiliar emotion. “Tell me about your brothers. I know Nate owns the restaurant and Sam owns a rafting company. Is that right?”
“Yes,” he said as they crossed another street and walked through the parking lot of Tap It. “He rents boats, but he also takes people out on wilderness excursions. It’s pretty cool. When Ty’s in town, he hangs with Sammy a lot.”
“I’ve never been rafting. It sounds fun.”
“Really? Never?” His brows furrowed.
“Towson isn’t really a river town,” she said. “We have the harbor nearby, but between school, then working full-time, there wasn’t much time for other stuff. I had hoped to do some fun things once I was settled in my career, but then I was dating Chris, and…life got in the way.”
“What else besides rafting did you hope to do?” He stopped beneath a light by the front of the restaurant.
“Well, river rafting wasn’t on my list, but it does sound fun. The things I wanted to do probably seem silly because they aren’t very outlandish. There are things I haven’t done since I was a little girl, like hiking up a mountain and having a picnic. And then there are things I’ve simply never done, like seeing an outdoor concert.”
“I know they have outdoor concerts in Towson.”
“Yes, but I’ve never been. Oh, and one day I’m going to learn to play the guitar.”
“The guitar.” He shook his head. “Seriously?”
“Yes!” She laughed. “See? My wish list is boring, isn’t it?”
“Not at all. I happen to be a pretty good guitar player, and I’d be happy to teach you.”
“Right. Of course you are. Is there anything you don’t do?”
He laughed. “Yes. I don’t lie, cheat, or steal.”
She rolled her eyes and wondered when it would rain on the Cole parade.
“My mom made us all learn an instrument when we were younger, probably to keep us out of trouble. Anyway, I’m pretty good at the guitar. I’d be happy to teach you.”
His mom. He’d had such a solid upbringing. Maybe there would be no raining on this parade after all. She’d seen the outcome of his parents’ efforts in five of their six children, and she felt like the luckiest girl on earth.
“I’d like that. Is there anything you’ve always wanted to do but haven’t accomplished?”
He tugged her in closer and said, “There are lots of things I have yet to accomplish.” Lowering his lips to a breath away, he said, “I’ve never kissed you right here beneath the moonlight, in front of this restaurant, after making love to you on my boat.” He sealed his lips over hers in a sensual, dreamy kiss that left her breathless. “Now I have.”
As they walked into the restaurant, Cole asked, “Do you have plans tomorrow?”
Her pulse tripped with hope. “I’m working at Mr. B’s until seven.”
“Can you pencil me in at seven thirty?”
There was nothing she’d rather do.
Chapter Eleven
MONDAYS WERE ALWAYS crazy at Cole’s medical office, and fitting in Elsie Hood, the gymnast, meant rescheduling patients and bringing his last patient of the day in during his lunch break in order to free up that appointment for Elsie. He didn’t mind long hours or taking extra time with patients; in fact, the time with patients was something he tried never to skimp on. But tonight he had a date with Leesa, and that changed everything. He checked his watch and hoped he’d make it out of work by six.
Shannon had called him earlier in the day to tell him how much she’d enjoyed getting to know Leesa—and to pry him for details about their date. He’d taken the opportunity to enlist her help with a surprise he’d planned for Leesa. He smiled to himself thinking about how he hadn’t had to spill a single detail about their date. His sister said she’d heard his excitement in his voice.
Now, as he walked toward an exam room to meet his newest patient, just thinking about seeing Leesa again made his body thrum with desire.
Jon came out of another exam room in his white lab coat. He put a patient chart in the holder by the door and smirked at Cole. “You’d better get that freshly fucked grin off your face before you go in there.”
Cole scrubbed a hand over his mouth, trying to put on his game face. Epic fail. The contented grin was there to stay.
“I’ve never seen you like this,” Jon said with amusement in his eyes.
“I’ve never felt like this.”
“You seeing her again tonight?” Jon lifted his eyes as a nurse came out of another exam room. She pointed to the door, indicating that Jon had a patient waiting. He held up one finger to the nurse as Cole answered.
“I hope to. So you might as well get used to the look.” Cole reached for the doorknob.
An hour later Cole had examined Elsie Hood, a confident, determined fifteen-year-old gymnast with the most obnoxious father and silent mother Cole had ever come across. He sat across from Ann and Martin Hood, no longer smiling or thinking of Leesa, but consumed by the well-being of his new patient.
Martin was a paper-thin, diminutive man who’d probably never played a sport in his life. He had a nasal voice, beady, ratlike eyes, and kept a firm grip on the arm of the chair where he sat between his wife and daughter, opposite Cole. “If the tests show this spondo…”
“Spondylolysis, which means a defect of the vertebra. In Elsie’s case,” Cole explained, “I think she has a pars fracture, or more specifically, a fracture in the pars interarticularis of the vertebral arch. But we need to get X-rays and a bone scan done to confirm the diagnosis.”
Elsie had her mother’s green eyes and flame-red hair. A spray of freckles peppered her nose and cheeks, and Cole noticed that she hadn’t looked at her father the entire visit. Even when her father spoke to her, she kept her eyes on her mother, or Cole, or on her lap, which in Cole’s mind confirmed his greatest concern. She was either fearful of her father or worried about disappointing him. He’d seen it a hundred times with young athletes with overbearing parents. They either homed in on their parents, holding eye contact too long, stiffening under their assessing gazes, or addressing them with a coldness that should never be present between a loving parent and their child. Cole had been lucky in that regard. His father hadn’t taken sports nearly as seriously as he had. It had been his own determination and drive that had fueled his need to propel himself to all-star status, and having an overbearing coach had fed into his obsessive need to be the best. The right coach would have helped him learn to back off. God knew his parents had tried time and time again. But Cole had been a stubborn teenager, and as with medicine, he’d been determined to be the best and hadn’t let on to his coach or his parents how badly he’d been injured until it was too late.
Now, as he took in the worried look in Elsie’s eyes, he wondered if she’d been experiencing pain for longer than she’d let on. Each time he’d asked, her parents had answered for her. The tests would reveal the truth, and he hoped to hell he was wrong.
“And the treatment?” Ann asked.
“That will depend on what the tests reveal, but if Elsie has only recently been experiencing pain, and if it is indeed a pars fracture, then we’ll try rest from exercise and anti-inflammatories for a few weeks. Many times with kids Elsie’s age, that’s enough to allow their bones to heal.”
“Rest from exercise?” Martin snapped. “She’s an Olympic contender. She can’t take a few weeks off now.”
Cole bit back his disdain for parents who put anything above their children’s health and put on his most professional face. “Yes, Mr. Hood, I understand that she is an Olympic contender, which is a magnificent achievement.” He smiled at Elsie and said, “You should be very proud of yourself, Elsie. Not many adults have the determination and drive that you show at such a young age.”