Inky (27 page)

“The price doesn’t matter. Do you know why I bought those?” He held my eyes, never letting me retreat from his intense gaze.

“Why did you buy them?” I asked.

He moved his fingers under my chin, outlining my jaw. “They’re your leaves. You don’t have to explain anything more to me for me to understand that those paintings correlate with the tattoo on your back. They must be significant painful events for you. I wanted The Seaside because it’s our story. That’s our future. But the others; that’s your past and I want to help you move on from that. I’ll keep them where they can’t hurt you again. You have your ink as a reminder of what you went through but it’s part of your healing process. I want to be part of the process. If you paint any more, I’ll buy those too. I love you, Anika.”

Whoa.

“How?”

“Do you want me to count the ways?” He smirked.

“No, I mean how do you know it’s love?”

“I know because I’ve never felt this way about anyone before. I can’t get you out of my head and I can’t stand the thought of never seeing you again. Oh, and my mom likes you and that right there tells me you’re a keeper as she put it.”

“Charming.” I said sarcastically.

“Don’t sell yourself short, please. I know you don’t feel the same way about me, not yet anyway, but I’ll give you all the time you need. You’re worth it. We’re worth it.”

I closed my eyes then, resting my face on his palm while he pulled me to his chest. It was at that exact moment it hit me.

I was in love with Cole Carlyle.

Chapter 26

We fell asleep in each other’s arms. We didn’t make love but love certainly filled the little room. I tried not to let my mind drift to the how and why, what mattered was here and now. The morning light invaded but I had no idea what time it was. I propped myself onto my arm to watch his bare chest rise and fall with each deep breath. His dark hair, almost too long in the front, was falling over one eye. I hesitated at first but then reached over and brushed my fingertips over his chest. This was one of those moments I wanted so desperately to remember every last detail.

“Hey.” His voice was groggy and sexy.

I flinched, “Oh, I’m sorry I woke you. It’s kind of like waking up next to Chris Isaak. You really don’t want to waste a single minute of the experience.”

“Do I look like him?” He enquired.

“You have the same hair. You surf and you have a kickin’ bod.’” I added. I could have thought of more similarities but thought I better stop there.

“So, that’s a good thing.” He said on a sleepy exhale.

“Oh, a whole lotta good.” I was starting to embarrass myself so I changed the subject. “Do you have any idea when your mom’ll be here?”

“Hang on.” He leaned over and picked his phone up off the floor. “It’s only nine thirty. I think about eleven. I may have a swim. Do you want to join me?”

“I think I want to be presentable if I’m going to brunch with your mom. She may be cool, but I don’t need to look like a vagrant when she sees me in the light of day.”

“She would never think that. What are you gonna wear?”

“I have no idea!” What the hell was I going to wear?

“Wear your jeans, thongs and a t-shirt.”

“That seems a little underdressed.”

“Well, I don’t care what you wear but I want you to be comfortable. So if you happen to notice the other bag in the bedroom, there are a few extra things I thought you might want. Sorry…don’t be mad. That’s it, I swear.”

“You see? Now how can I be mad?”

“Take your time in the shower. I’ll join you in a minute.”

I rose from the bed and began to stand but he pulled me back down into his arms. “Anika?” He smoothed his hands down the silky fabric of the gown, skimming across my breasts as he went. “Can you stay?”

“Well, I don’t really need to have a shower, I suppose. You’re giving me plenty of incentive to stay right where I am.”

“I meant, can you stay tonight? Do you need to be anywhere tomorrow?”

Whoa.

“Well, I would normally paint during the weekdays. Abe and Alicia feel my time would be better spent painting at the moment. I told him I needed the connection to the outside world, especially because I’m not working at Rusty’s on the weekends but it’s up to me. I do want to take my new painting to him. I was gonna borrow Gus’s truck and take it down. I haven’t even asked him if I can do that yet though.”

“Well, I’ll let you sort that out. I’m happy to arrange it all for you, of course, but I don’t want you to get too overwhelmed with my enthusiasm. I do want you to know, I would happily have you stay here, with me. I would... ”

“Cole.” I put my finger to his lips. “You don’t have to say anything more. Let me get my head around everything.” I gave him a little smile. My first reaction was to squeal and throw my arms around him. That was followed by wanting to run screaming as if I was on fire.

“Just consider it.” He said when I took my hand away.

Then reality hit me.

“Wait, so we’re clear…you’re not asking me to…”

“Do you want me to answer that question? Because I feel like I might be right on the edge of freaking you out again.”

“Right. Well, I better get ready and make a phone call.”

He hopped out of bed and shed his pajama pants…better than Chris Isaak. “I’ll see you in the shower.” He said on his way out of the room, very comfortable with his nakedness. “Tell Aimes I said ‘Hi’.’’

“Well, after that display, it’ll be a cold one.” I laughed and called after him.

Once safely tucked away inside his bathroom, I called Aimes.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t M.I.A. Anika.”

“Aimes?”

“Yes?”

“Too soon to be in love?” Her squeal almost broke my ear drum.

“Oh, tell me everything…wait, where is he? No, wait, wait, okay, tell me, go.” I loved it when she got so excited she couldn’t make up her mind.

“I have to make it quick. We’re having brunch with his mom at eleven. First of all, his mom? Awesome. I met her last night at this cocktail thing, black tie; she lent me her earrings…real sapphires, Aimes. Real. They were huge and heavy and she told me to keep them! Second, his dad…biggest asshole I have ever met in my life, hands down. I had a showdown with him and left him speechless. You would’ve been so proud of me. His mom called after we left and she told Cole he should marry me. That’s what he said anyway. And dude, he’s been dropping all these hints about the future and how it would be when
we’re
married. He’s wonderful and the sex, oh my God, the sex, Aimes, is amazzzzing! Oh! And he has baggage too.” I said it offhandedly, like it was no big deal.

“What kind of baggage?”

“When it’s okay to tell you, I will. You know that.”

“Fair enough. So, in love?”

“Let me put it this way. I have no hesitation at all telling him anything about my past. I don’t feel any shame when I talk about it with him. After Friday night in the pool when I freaked out, I don’t know, something shifted in me. He didn’t give up; he just kept pushing me to get the answers from me. So happy I didn’t marry Evan. I feel like I should send him and Lisa on a cruise to thank them.”

“Well, you could, I suppose. Or you could come to Vegas with Gus and me when we get hitched next month. I mean, if you’re gonna start throwing around cash…”

“You’re…you’re serious?”

“Yep. You should’ve seen him, Inky. He was so sweet about it. He made these big paper stars and laid them on our pillow and wrote,
this star doesn’t want to be ‘lone no more
. He was going for that whole Texas lone-star theme. Anyway, he asked me if I wanted the big wedding thing and I called my mom and asked if she’d be bummed and she said no. That shocked the hell out of me. I blue tacked the stars on the wall above the bed. So cute.”

“So I guess in answer to my question, you don’t think it’s too quick?”

“If it’s right, it’s right. Life’s too short to be scared all the time.” I could hear in her voice that she was beaming.

“I’m really happy for you, Aimes. I like Gus and I love seeing you guys together. It’s like you’ve been together for fifty years.”

“I know. He’s just, he’s perfect.” I knew she was smiling.

“I know the feeling.”

“Should we make that a double Vegas wedding? Maybe they have some kind of two-fer deal and they throw in a free buffet or something?”

“Uh, no. However, he did ask me to stay and he set up a make-shift studio here. Oh, can I borrow Gus’s truck this afternoon? I wanted to take that painting to the gallery. And I need to pick up some stuff if I’m really gonna spend some more time with him. He has bought me this beautiful lingerie... Aimes, you would go crazy over it. Wow, I have so much to tell you I don’t even know where to begin.’

“Okay, well, first things first, you need to get ready. Time’s a wastin’.”

“Aimes, I think we fit. He’s…it’s like I met my actual soul-mate or something. And he loves me, or he thinks he does and he’s pretty damn convincing about it.”

“I’m smiling really big over here. Gus is looking at me like I’m an idiot.”

“I doubt that. Okay, I better go. I am so happy for you guys. Whatever you want me to do, let me know.”

“Okay. We’ll leave the keys for the truck on the kitchen counter.”

“Love you.”

“Love you too, Ink.”

***

Half an hour later, Cole knocked on the bathroom door, “How’s it going in there?” He never did join me in the shower.

“Did you measure me in my sleep or something? Everything fits perfectly.”

“I took a lucky guess. Can I see?”

I opened the door just after I’d pulled my hair back into a practical ponytail. “What do you think?”

“You look great. It’s what you’d normally wear, right?”

“Well, yes. That Anthony has been a busy boy, hasn’t he?”

“If you hadn’t stayed I could’ve returned them. I was hopeful. I saw you’d only brought a few things.”

“Well, I appreciate you being seen in public with me wearing Old Navy clothing.”

“You wound me, Anika. I’m wearing cargos from…well, I’m not sure but it’s not important. I wear a suit during the week because I often have to meet someone for something. Anyway, it’s fine.”

“So, what did Aimes say?” He sat on the edge of the tub while I put on a little makeup.

“She and Gus are officially engaged. Oh, wanna be my date? They’re getting married in Vegas though. I hope that’s not weird for you.”

“Will you be there?”

“I’m gonna assume I’m the Maid of Honor.”

“Then it’ll be great.”

“What else did you talk about?” His eyebrows both rose.

“Fishing, are we?”

“Honestly? Yes.” He smiled.

I’d been looking at his reflection in the mirror but now I turned around to face him. “I told her I wouldn’t be home this week.”

His face lit up and grew more handsome if that was even possible.

“Would you mind taking me down there to get Gus’s truck? I’ll load the painting and bring it to the gallery, then take the truck back later. I know it’s a lot of back and forth and…”

“I don’t care what we do. The important thing is I get to hang out with you.”

“Cole, are you up there?” It was Patricia. Right on time.

“We’ll be right down.” He stood up and kissed me on the cheek. “I loved waking up and knowing you were next to me. I’ll go keep mom entertained. Take your time.”

“I’ll be right down.” I was ready. I just couldn’t believe my luck. If he hadn’t come into the bar that day, none of this would be happening. I hoped I could keep him. Make him happy. Not freak out again.

“There she is.” I suspected Cole hadn’t stopped smiling since he left me upstairs.

“Come here you wonderful thing!” She took me in her arms and squeezed the life out of me. “God, thank you for coming into our lives, Anika. We better get going. We’ll talk on the way.”

***

We were seated outside. The ocean breeze was light and wonderful as the noon sun began to settle over us. “Oh, he was completely taken aback. I don’t know how you did it but I was convinced you must be some kind of Jeopardy champion with those little useless bits of information.”

“Honestly? I had a little help from Google in the car on the way there.” I confessed.

“And here I thought you were texting someone. Clever girl.”

***

It wasn’t long before we were seated and Trish dove right into another conversation.

“We are now allies and I feel confident I can trust you. Am I correct in thinking that?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Oh, psh! Call me Trish. We’re friends now. What I’m gonna tell you stays between the three of us, Anika. You must promise me your discretion.”

She was kinda scaring the hell out of me so I was going to promise anything. “Of course. I promise. I’ll pinkie swear too if you want.”

“That won’t be necessary. Cole, go get some Mimosas or something and take a really long time doing it. Give us girls a chance to chat, will you?”

He laughed and stood up, “So subtle, mom. Of course.” He left the table, but not before kissing me on the mouth before God and everyone.

Patricia watched her son walk away before she spoke. “He likes you.”

“It seems that way.” I grinned stupidly.

“No dear, I mean, he loves you.” It could’ve been her intense gaze or her words but my insides were doing that jumpy thing again. Swooning. If I’d been standing, there would’ve been swooning.

“I believe the feeling’s mutual. Although it’s new, you know.”

“Not for him. At first I worried he was on ‘the rebound’ (she air-quoted) but I don’t think he loved Emma. I think he was just tired of being alone.” She took my hand and held it. I knew she was going to say something serious but I wasn’t sure what. I prepared myself for the emotional slam.

“He told you what happened?” She said discretely.

“You mean…?”

“His wrists?”

I was so happy she didn’t say suicide attempt. I had no problem discussing it openly with Cole, but this was new uncharted territory.

“Did he tell you why?” Oh, deep breath.

“The why doesn’t matter to me…Trish.”

“He said you were different. He also said you have your own demons and he thought when he did tell you, that you’d understand.”