Veronica had been pissed. In retrospect, he couldn’t blame her. He’d thrown her clothes
at her while he dressed and told her to make sure she was gone by the time he got
back. He could’ve been more gracious. He could’ve at least driven her back to her
car at the bar, but the panicked need to get to Katie wouldn’t let him.
He tried to pinpoint the emotion. Was it fear? Hell, he knew fear. Fear was being
left alone to support your family and run a destitute horse ranch. Fear was holding
your mother’s dried, cracked hands and stroking her chemo-thinned hair. Fear was watching
your baby sister turn from an innocent, hopeful child to an angry, desperate adult,
bent on pushing everyone away.
No, this was different, this was . . . deeper. Primal. This feeling had a life of
its own. This rattled in his bones and clamored in his brain.
No. No. No.
He couldn’t believe in a world that would hurt Katie, couldn’t live without the small
ray of light she brought to his gray existence.
Cole remembered the look in Katie’s eyes, and the look in Scott’s. His stomach tightened.
When Katie had told him where she was, he couldn’t get there fast enough, blowing
through every stop sign between them.
There, in the harsh circle of the streetlight, a lone girl sat hunched over. Her bare
legs were hugged close to her chest, forehead bowed low to her knees. Cole took his
first real breath since he’d picked up his phone, because he recognized the rounded
curve of that back, the shade of that hair.
Cole slowed the truck and pulled alongside the curb. Leaning over, he flung the passenger
door open. The interior light clicked on and the dim glow bathed Katie. She didn’t
move. He waited a breath, and then swallowed. “Katie, get in.”
Her head rose. Her face had been rubbed free of makeup except for the thick smudges
of black under her eyes. Her hair had broken free of its clasp, taking with it the
previous look of sex kitten, and replacing it with that of a disheveled waif. She
looked even younger than seventeen, and he wondered why on earth she was in such a
hurry to grow up.
“Come on, honey. Let’s go.”
She nodded, unfolded herself and slid into the truck. They drove in silence. He would’ve
loved to have left it at that, loved to have left a complicated situation alone. But
Cole had to know. With the intimacy of night feeding his courage, he drew a breath.
“Are you okay? Did he . . . are you hurt?”
“No.” She shook her head. “No, I’m fine. Just . . . just humiliated.” Katie flipped
down the visor mirror and started to wipe the mascara from underneath her eyes.
Cole cut her a quick glance to determine if what she said was true. Her face, always
an open book to him, told the truth, and now the coiled knot in his stomach eased
somewhat.
“What possessed you to leave the Prom in the first place?” he snapped, anger riding
hard after relief. Cole fought to rein in his temper. If he didn’t watch it, he’d
find himself giving Scott an altogether different type of orthodontic treatment.
Katie opened the glove box and rifled through until she found some napkins—napkins
she’d placed in there during their frequent jaunts to the Tasty Freeze. She wiped
her eyes and blew her nose. “I was stupid. Is that what you want me to say? I was
stupid and angry. I wanted to make you jealous, but it didn’t work.”
Cole tightened his grip on the steering wheel. His knuckles bleached white against
the worn black leather. She had said it. Actually spoken the words out loud. He’d
known of course; Katie was anything but subtle. Still, vocalizing
this
changed things, and it couldn’t be unsaid.
He stared straight ahead. He wouldn’t look at her. “You’re seventeen, Katie.”
Damn, that wasn’t what he’d wanted to say. He should’ve said she was like a sister
to him, and that their relationship could never be anything different. But his mind
was lagging behind his mouth tonight.
“I won’t always be.” Katie’s voice was quiet in the dark, but he heard the whisper
of hope just the same. He knew the Harris family. Hell, he’d known Katie all her life.
She wasn’t stubborn as a rule, but when her heart became involved, she could make
a mule seem easygoing.
He took a deep breath. They needed to have this talk, but he had desperately avoided
it. He didn’t want to see her face, didn’t want to watch her eyes grow wide and wet
like liquid amber, reminding him of his favorite whiskey. And they would, because
what he was going to say would hurt her. But life was hard; doing the right thing
was never easy.
So instead, Cole trained his eyes ahead and watched the double white lines snake their
way through the twists and turns on the black pavement.
“Katie, this isn’t going to happen. Me and you aren’t meant to be together like that.
I love you, but you’re like my sister. There’s nothing more.” He ground his teeth
at the thought of his next words, but spoke them anyway. “You’ll find someone. Some
great guy who’ll fall in love with you and sweep you off your feet. And one day, all
I’ll be is a balding old guy you had a crush on once.”
Cole took a chance and threw her a smile, trying to convey the humor she would see
in this when she was older. It was the wrong thing to do. Katie turned to face him,
skin pale and almost translucent in the dim light. Her face open, eyes innocent, and
he knew in an instant that she’d seen through him. She always had.
“Is that the angle you’re going with? That I don’t know what I want? That I’m too
young, and you think of me like a sister?”
Well hell, what did she want him to say? That was the truth,
had
to be the truth. There could be nothing else between them. He had too much respect
for James, and too much love for Katie to have anything cheap between them. And Christ,
she was only seventeen. Besides, who knew
anything
at seventeen?
An uncomfortable hush filled the truck. Katie had inherited her father’s gift of negotiation.
Damn the Harris silence. And why was he sweating? He was the adult here.
She turned straight ahead, letting him off the hook. Her body closed in on itself,
jaw set. “Okay, if that’s the way you want it.”
Maybe in some secret place in his heart that wasn’t what he wanted, but damn it .
. . That’s the way it was going to be.
Chapter 9
The gravel crunched under the slow roll of the tires as Cole pulled the truck up to
the front of his house. He should’ve driven Katie home, made sure she got to her house
okay, but Katie insisted. Told him she hadn’t wanted to have
that
conversation with her dad tonight. That tomorrow would be soon enough for the interrogation.
Besides, Cole had his own plans. He was going to have a very pointed discussion with
Scott. In the meantime, Katie promised to stay clear of that boy. And from the look
he threw her, she knew he was serious.
Cole shut off the truck, and in the absence of the chugging motor, the inside of the
cab quieted. “Are you sure you don’t want me to take you home?” Cole still felt uneasy
about letting her walk alone, even the short distance between their two homes.
Katie shook her head. “No, I’ll be fine. It’s better this way.”
He got out of the truck, walked around, and opened her door. Katie settled her wrap
over her shoulders and slid out. Cole leaned against the truck, determined to watch
her make her way to her front porch.
Katie winced, then bent down and took off her high-heeled shoes. She hooked the straps
over her fingers and shot the broken shoe a look of disgust. “What a waste of money.
I won’t be wearing these again.”
And just like that, Cole’s faith in God was restored, because what he needed to remember
was pigtails, freckles, sunburned cheeks, and not,
not
those damn shoes that would be running through his fantasies for weeks. And so yep,
God was helping him out since Cole didn’t want to see those shoes and how they seemed
to make her legs look very long and very—
stop it
.
He closed his eyes for a quick breath, and scrubbed his hand over his face. What was
wrong with him? He wasn’t thinking clearly. His brain must be overtired, overworked,
and undersexed. Not trusting himself, he punched his fists into his pockets and stared
down at his own scuffed boots.
Go home, Katie. Go home.
As if hearing his thoughts, Katie lingered. He never could bend her to his will. “Thank
you, Cole. I don’t want you to think I’m ungrateful. I really appreciate your coming
to get me.”
She stepped closer and folded her arms around his neck in a friendly hug. It was a
simple embrace, one they’d done hundreds of times. A cheek-to-cheek air kiss, then
she’d pull away and go back to her house, and the night would be over.
Later, he wouldn’t be able to pinpoint what possessed him. Later, he’d blame it on
the beer, the cheap whiskey, the lack of sleep.
Or maybe it was her hair. Her head was tucked just so into the nape of his neck with
wayward strands blowing and tickling his cheek. He tilted his head a bit closer. It
was a small thing, the subtlest movement, and yet, when he breathed in the sweet scent
of her, the earth moved.
She was fresh like rain, but more complex than that. Her fragrance reminded him of
Texas. Open skies and warm sun, with a bite of rich soil and grass underneath.
Katie stiffened. Her body grew taut against his chest. She slowly pulled back and
gazed into his face. Her eyes widened and lips parted on a sigh. “I knew it. I wasn’t
wrong. You feel it too.”
One second she was looking at him and the next she was flush up against him, and he
didn’t know if his hands were there to steady her or to pull her closer. Her lips
were on his, soft and—dammit—open. He meant to tell her
no
, but she touched his tongue with a hesitant flick of her own. If the scent of her
was his weakness, then her flavor was his one-way ticket to hell.
With the burn of vodka and the coolness of her tears on his tongue, he palmed the
back of her neck, angled her head for his mouth, and took them deeper.
Cole was kissing her. Oh God, he was finally kissing her. It was like she’d been thirsty
for so long she’d forgotten what it felt like to drink. The relief, sweet and hot
as he framed her face, flowed through her like water.
How she loved his hands. She’d stared at them when he wasn’t looking, dreamt of them
when she lay in her bed. She’d never thought to know the feel of his hands against
her cheeks. They weren’t soft like the trail of her own fingers along her flesh, but
rough and calloused from work. She’d had no idea the gentle scrape of his palms on
her face or the solid plane of him against her breasts was something she would crave.
But her body knew. Her bones burned with a deep knowledge of what she wanted. Her
muscles melted with the need to succumb. And this was Cole. This was home. She let
go, and trusted her heart.
Katie grasped handfuls of his hair and pulled him closer. But it wasn’t enough. Her
skirt bunched up around her leg as her knee rose high along his hip. She reached for
his hand and placed it on the back of her thigh.
He groaned, then yanked her leg even higher. She strained on tiptoes to reach the
place she wanted to be. To ease the place on her body that burned bright and hot.
His fingers slid against the sensitive skin at her hip, and then went farther.
When the roughened tips of his fingers skimmed her behind and then slipped under the
black lacy thong she’d bought especially for tonight, Katie trembled. To her thinking,
he was taking way too long.
Please. More. Faster.
She craved so badly she hurt, but Cole could help her. He could ease the ache. She’d
been made for this, born to fit in his arms. But just as he was her other half, she
was his, and she could feel the beginning of his hesitation. Desperate, not ready
to let go, she clung harder. “Please, Cole. Please.”
He snapped back as if burned. He pushed her to arm’s length so fast she would’ve stumbled
if not for his hold on her.
“Katie,” he panted, gasping for air. “Where in hell did you learn to kiss like that?”
He growled something foul, something she’d never heard him say before. He stared at
her with a pain in his eyes she’d rarely seen, waiting for an answer. But she couldn’t
speak. His hold on her arms was the only thing that kept her from dissolving into
a heap by his booted feet. Dissolve or burst into flames? Her skin so heated that
the silky fabric of her dress chafed. And yet, if Cole would just pull her into his
arms, she knew he could cool the flames.
And he had to ask who had taught her how to kiss. Katie just shook her head. As if
any other person had ever touched her like he had.
“Why? Why would you ruin what we have?” Cole’s fingers bit into her skin, each question
punctuated with a shake. “What do you expect me to do with this?”
Katie wanted to sob. Touch by touch he’d soothed a burn inside of her, all the while
making it blaze hotter. And now she was on fire . . . because of him. But instead
of helping her, his words inflicted painful lashes.
“What do you want, Katie? For God’s sake, you kiss a man like that you better well
mean it. You better well be able to pay the price.” He swore again, then raked his
gaze over her. “Do you have any idea what a kiss like that could lead to? Do you have
any idea what could happen, right here, with no one around to help you?”
Why was he angry? Was he trying to scare her? Had she done something he hadn’t liked?
She didn’t understand. This was
them
. It was finally their time.
He never acted like this, not with her. Cole was kind, sweet, and always gentle, with
the horses, with her. His eyes had lost the smoldering heat she’d seen earlier; instead
they now bordered on crazy. He released one of her arms and pushed his hair back from
his face.
“For once, just for one time, I want you to open your damn eyes and look before you
leap. What do you want, Katie? Where do you see this going, except up in flames?”
She didn’t miss the fact that he was shaking or maybe she was trembling hard enough
for both of them. She shook her head. She didn’t know what to say, but she had to
try. “Just love me, Cole. I don’t expect anything from you. Just love me.”
Her voice betrayed her. It took everything she had not to break down and sob, especially
when he wouldn’t hold her gaze.
“What am I supposed to do? Take your virginity and then walk away? Or better yet,
am I supposed to screw you at night while accepting your dad’s charity during the
day? What kind of man do you think I am?”
Katie kept shaking her head. No, no, that wasn’t the way it was between them. Couldn’t
he see there was no shame in what they had? But Cole couldn’t, not with his stupid
pride. Her chest hurt so bad she felt physically ill. “Marriage then—”
“Marriage?” He spoke the word like a curse. “That’s your plan. That’s where you see
us? The happily-never-after?” He laughed at the heavens as if saying it was all a
cruel joke. He released her, giving her his back. He hung his head low as he braced
himself against the hood of his truck. “Ah God, Katie, I’m living off Jujubes and
chewing gum. Just last week my electricity got shut off and now you want me to take
on the responsibility of a wife.”
Katie swallowed past the lump in her throat. She could see her dream slipping away.
“Pa would help out, and I could get a job—”
“Christ!” Cole slammed his fist into the hood, leaving a small dent. Katie jumped.
She’d never seen him like this, so close to losing control. “Who do you think I am?
I’m to go ask your father, a man I’m so far in debt to that I’ll never be able to
repay him, for his only child’s hand in marriage. And then a check to go with it?
No, Katie.” He shook his head and then turned and faced her. “We are not going to
do this. It was a mistake. I wasn’t thinking. A lapse of judgment on my part.”
A mistake? She studied his face. She could always read Cole. He never shut himself
off from her like he did with other people. But this time he was distant, unreadable.
He didn’t want her? She couldn’t believe Cole was rejecting her. There was something
wrong with her, she’d always known it. Growing up motherless made her defective, made
her unlovable on some fundamental level. And now Cole, the one who’d always been there
for her, wouldn’t fight for her, wouldn’t fight for
them
.
Katie took a step back. She was shaking so badly she had to wrap her arms around her
middle to keep herself upright. Her vision blurred with unwept tears, but she blinked
them away. She still had some damn pride left.
Then he broke. The mask he wore shattered as sorrow flooded his eyes. “Katie, please,
it doesn’t have to be like this. We can go back to the way it was before,” he whispered
as he reached out to touch her.
But she shook her head. He was wrong. This changed everything.
It wasn’t until later, after Katie fled into the night, that she realized she’d left
her shoes at Cole’s feet like some kind of backward Cinderella. The slipper fit, all
right, but the prince wasn’t asking.