Cole: Red, Hot & Blue, Book 5 (7 page)

A single sob wracked her body, before the full-on tirade of hysterical crying overtook her.

Cole gathered her in his arms as she shook with tears, gasping for breath.

His mouth covered hers, followed quickly by his tongue. Her traitorous mouth responded and her tongue met his. She wrapped her arms around the back of Cole’s head as he pulled her hips closer to him.

He lifted her and sat her on the counter then stepped between her legs.

“I’ve never stopped thinking about you, wanting you. For ten years I wanted two things. Answers and you. I’m not leaving here until I get both.”

Lizzie shook her head. “I gave you answers. I’ve told you everything. I swear.”

“I believe you and I understand. I’m not angry at you anymore. You gave me an answer, now give me the rest. I want you. In my life and in my bed.” He pulled back to look at her with eyes barely focused. Then crashed back into her with a powerfully possessive kiss.

She melted against him. Her hands crept beneath his T-shirt and she remembered the hard feel of his body. Copying her, he slid his hands beneath her tank top and didn’t stop until he’d slipped beneath her bra and found her nipples.

He groaned and broke away again. “Not now. Not like this. I want to do this right this time, Lizzie. I’ve waited too long.”

“Okay. When?” She couldn’t think enough to say anything more.

“First we date, but nothing else, nothing physical, for one month. Then we see what happens.”

Lizzie’s brow rose. “Date. After we’ve already had sex and a baby together? Aren’t we doing things a little backward?”

Cole shrugged. “Better late than never.”

He moved back from her. “Go get changed into something pretty. I’m taking you to dinner tonight for our first date.”

“Okay.” She couldn’t stop the smile that crossed her lips. Maybe dating wouldn’t be a bad idea after all. She hopped off the counter.

As she walked down the hall to her room Cole called after her, “Nothing too sexy, please.”

“Why not?” Not that she owned anything sexy, but still.

“Since I promised myself I won’t touch you for a month, you’re going to have to help me. So pretty is fine, but not sexy. Got it?”

She shot him a glance over her shoulder. “We’ll see.”

Tomorrow she’d definitely have to do some shopping.

Chapter Seven

One month later, Cole and Lizzie stumbled into the kitchen, pawing at each other. They were both at the breaking point.

“How long do we have?” Cole’s hands moved up her ribcage.

“Maybe an hour?” Lizzie gasped as he bent and bit her breast through her shirt. “My parents are at the charity auction.”

Cole moved on to run his tongue over her throat. “What about Mikey?”

“He’s with Bobby, but it doesn’t take that long to eat at the diner.”

“I should have given him money for a movie.” He hoisted Lizzie up against him. Her legs wrapped around his back, then he carried her all the way to her bedroom at the other end of the house.

Depositing her on the bed, he flipped on the window air conditioner to cool the near stifling room, then closed the door to the hall. When he stood in front of her and stripped naked, she finally saw him in all his glory. They may have made a baby together, but she’d never actually seen him totally naked.

He knelt on the bed unashamed and began to undress her. Being summer, there weren’t many clothes to remove, so it didn’t take all that long before she was naked too and trembling. She’d never seen him naked, but far more importantly, he had never seen her either. She was nervous about that. She wasn’t eighteen anymore. He didn’t seem to care.

Cole lay down next to her and ran hands and kisses up and down her body. “You are so beautiful.”

She blushed and shook her head. “I’ve had a baby. Things tend to move around and never go back.” As she said that, she tried to support her sideways-sliding boobs by squeezing her arms closer to her sides.

Smiling at her, he shook his head. “No. You are beautiful. Every inch.” He took one nipple in his mouth, apparently not caring what breastfeeding Mikey had done to her former perkiness.

Lizzie pressed her head into the pillow and closed her eyes, enjoying Cole’s touch a hell of a lot more now than she had ten years before. She wasn’t sure if he had gotten better, or if she’d just gotten older, but she was pretty sure that making love to the adult Cole would be nothing like it had been with the teenage one.

He worked his way down her body until he finally slid his hands between her thighs. His mouth soon followed his hands. Shocked at what he could make her feel, she cried out as he worked her. She lifted her hips off the bed as the pleasure coiled inside her. There had been thirty days of what amounted to mental foreplay leading up to this moment, each leaving her wanting him more. She was poised and ready to break.

Cole sucked on her core and wave upon wave of an incredible orgasm struck her. She was absolutely correct in her prediction, adult Cole knew what he was doing and adult Lizzie, not having been with anyone in a very, very long time, appreciated it. She was breathless when she finally grabbed his head and pulled him up.

Level with her, he stroked her face, then shook his head. “It couldn’t have been very good that first time, was it?”

She laughed. “I was too inexperienced to know.”

“Lizzie, I plan on spending the rest of my life making it up to you.”

“Shhh. Talk later. Love me now.”

“Okay.” He smiled and then covered her mouth with his.

This time, unlike ten years ago, Cole had a condom in the pocket of his jeans. Lizzie breathed a sigh of relief that he had remembered protection, because she was embarrassed to admit, she hadn’t even considered it. It seemed her brain had stopped working once their clothes had come off.

Covered, he slid into her. A visible shudder ran through him. “Ah, God. Lizzie.”

He braced over her with two strong arms. With every stroke, she watched the emotions cross his face.

“You are so beautiful. I love you. I always have.” Between each thrust, he said one thing more incredible than the last.

She felt her composure crack at the words she’d dreamed of her entire life and tears welled in her eyes. Cole held still and shook his head.

He wiped the moisture from her cheeks. “Shhh. Don’t cry. I love you.”

“Why?” Her voice was choked by tears.

“Why do I love you?” He frowned.

“Yes.” She nodded. “Is it because of Mikey?”

He shook his head adamantly. “No, Lizzie. I loved you long before I knew about Mikey. I’m only sorry I never told you back then.”

“I love you too.”

“Thank God. Does that mean I don’t have to stop?” Still buried deep inside her, he looked a bit devilish. She could feel their conversation hadn’t done anything to diminish his desire.

She laughed and wiped away her tears. “No. In fact, I wouldn’t mind if you went a little faster.”

He grinned. “I’d love to.”

Cole did what she asked, stroking into her as he stared into her eyes. Seeing the emotion on his face was nearly overwhelming in combination with him loving her.

Her body, neglected so long, tightened and broke again with an orgasm that shook him into one of his own. As she clung to him, he held her tighter and they rode the waves together.

When both of their breathing had finally calmed, Cole cupped her face. “Marry me, Lizzie.”

Her eyes opened wide. “Why?”

He laughed. “Again you’re asking me why? Because I love you, that’s why.”

“It’s not because of Mikey?” She feared her insecurities would always be a part of her.

Cole shook his head. “No. Not because of Mikey. It’s because I can’t live without you. I want you with me every day and every night, that’s why. I want to grow old with you and make more babies with you. Hopefully the next one will look a little bit like you for a change.” He smiled at that.

She looked up at him through her tears. “Do you always talk so much when you make love?”

He glanced down to where they were still joined. “We had a lot of talking to do. You can be real good at avoiding conversations you don’t want to have. I figured this way you couldn’t get away. And you still haven’t answered my question. Lizzie Barton, will you marry me?”

Lizzie smiled. “Yes, Cole Ryan. I’ll marry you.”

There was a rustling in the hallway and a whoop of joy came through the door.

Lizzie felt like she wanted to crawl under the mattress. Her cheeks grew warm. “Mikey heard us,” she mouthed.

“If there is a certain almost-ten-year-old out there who doesn’t want to be grounded for the rest of his life, he had better back away from the door right now,” Cole yelled over his shoulder, looking a little red-faced himself.

“Yes, Dad.” Mikey’s muffled response came from out in the hall.

Cole’s mouth was hanging open as he looked down at Lizzie. “He called me Dad.”

She smiled. “I know.”

“Wow. It’s been one hell of a day.” Cole blew out a breath. He pulled out of Lizzie and reached for the quilt folded on the end of the bed. He covered her with it. After disposing of the condom in the trash next to the bed, he grabbed and pulled on his boxers and jeans. “Tomorrow, I’m getting a lock for that door.”

She laughed. “That’s probably a good idea.”

He grinned wider. “Get dressed, woman. We have things to do. We have a wedding to plan. You have classes at the local college to sign up for.”

“What?” She frowned.

He continued, ignoring her. “You have to get that teaching degree you’ve put off and tomorrow I’m going to call the principal at the school. I heard today the high school baseball team is currently without a head coach. I’m thinking I might be good at that. That plan okay with you?”

“Yeah, it’s just fine.” She nodded as he sat again.

Cole grabbed her hand and brought it to his lips. “Good. Oh and I almost forgot.” He pulled a small square box out of his pocket and handed it to her.

With trembling hands, she opened it and stared down at the tiny diamond ring inside.

“It’s so small because it’s a promise ring. I bought it for you with my first check after I’d gotten to training camp. You know, back before you dumped me. It was to let you know I wanted to be with you even though we were apart. I could never bear to part with it, so I’ve kept it all this time.”

Lizzie was shaking so badly she could barely hold the ring box.

“So you see, I always wanted to be with you.” Cole took her trembling hands in his.

Tears streamed down her face unchecked. “I wasted ten years we could have been together.”

He shook his head. “No, Lizzie. I tried to think about it like that and stay angry with you, but the more I considered it, the more I realized something. We were both so young then, and life on the road is hard on wives. On the team, I saw a lot of marriages fail. I honestly can’t guarantee we would have made it then. But now that we’re older…”

“You think we really have a shot?”

“I know we do.” Cole gathered her in his arms.

“Cole, next time you ask me the most important question of my life, can you make sure I have some clothes on?”

He laughed. “Sure. I’ll get you a bigger ring and I’ll make sure you have at least underwear on when I give it to you and ask you to marry me again.”

“Oh no, you won’t.”

He shrugged. “Okay, naked it is then.”

“No, I mean you will not get me a bigger ring.” She took the diamond ring out of the box and slipped it on. “This one is perfect.”

He kissed her hand just above the ring. “We’ll see. But I do know one thing, you and Mikey have made my life perfect.”

“We’ll see how perfect you think life is when you move in here and have to wait on line for the bathroom.”

Cole frowned. “Aren’t we going to move out once we’re married?”

Lizzie shook her head. “I’ll only move if it’s walking or biking distance from here. I want Mikey to be able to see his grandparents and uncle anytime he wants.”

“Um, I don’t know about that.” Cole pursed his lips and glanced at the ceiling. She smacked his arm and he grinned. “Only teasing you. I’ll see what I can do.”

“Really?”

He nodded. “Really. On one condition.”

“What’s that?” Lizzie was skeptically cautious.

“In spite of what just happened here in your parents’ house and the fact that we already have a child together, I do have too much respect for your family to just move in and start sharing your bed until after we’re married.”

She nodded. “Okay. So when are you thinking?”

“I guess tomorrow is too soon. How about next week?”

“Next week?” Her voice rose to a squeak.

He squeezed her hand in his. “Please, Lizzie. You’ve made me wait too long already.”

She rolled her eyes. “Are you going to throw guilt at me every time you want something?”

“I don’t know. Is it working?”

She scowled and made him wait before saying, “Okay. Next week it is, but not because of your guilt trip. Because I want to.”

He smiled. “Good. Now we better get dressed and get out there. I can only imagine what Mikey is telling everybody.”

Lizzie shook her head. “Exactly twice I’ve had sex with you, Cole Ryan. The first time I got pregnant. The second time I got caught by my son. What’s next?”

Cole winked and scooped her into his arms. “That’s the beauty of making love with me, sweetie pie. It’s just one surprise after the next.”

Lizzie ran her hands over his still bare chest. “At least I won’t get bored.”

“No, my darling wife-to-be, you surely won’t.”

He captured both of her hands and kissed them. Then he pushed off the bed and bent to retrieve his shirt. “More touching like that and I’ll be in no shape to go out and face your family. Get dressed. I’ll see you outside.”

“Why? Am I too tempting naked.” She let the quilt slip down to her waist.

Hand on the doorknob, Cole swallowed hard. “Let’s see if we can move that date up to tomorrow.”

Epilogue

It wasn’t the next day, but at least it was the next week when Cole stood in the vestibule of the church, trembling in his tuxedo.

Bobby and Mikey, his two best men, stood beside him.