Wrong Side Girl (The Girl Series Book 1) (21 page)

“I want you to be my wife as soon as possible. Spring, or better yet, Christmas,” he said when he broke the kiss. I burst out laughing but stopped abruptly when I realized he was again one hundred percent serious.

“Are you crazy?” I asked. “It’s cold and gross in December.”

“Then we’ll go somewhere else. How about Hawaii or St. Croix? It’s warm enough there.” That sounded fantastic, actually. A destination wedding at Christmas. In paradise. Perfect. Almost too perfect. I opened my mouth to ask him if he was absolutely sure about this, but couldn’t get a word out before his hand covered my mouth.

“Uh, uh. Not happening. You are not letting your insecurities overwhelm you. Not when it concerns us. Not ever. Not as long as I’m around. Which, since you agreed to be mine legally, will be until you die.”

I giggled then smiled brightly at him when he removed his hand. “Okay. Deal. We’ll get married some place warm. But we’ll have to fly out all our friends.”

He chuckled. “Nothing would make me happier, love.”

“Well, you can afford it. With your grandfather leaving you all those millions last year,” I teased him.

His eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Who told you about that?”

“Sophie did during Thanksgiving dinner. I was going to bust your chops about not telling me, but then I realized it doesn’t really matter. I knew you were rich so what’s a few more millions?” He threw his head back and this time, he was the one who burst out laughing. I had never heard him sound this carefree and happy. It was a beautiful sight to see. Still laughing, Cole picked me up. I threw my arms and legs around him monkey-style and he carried me like this all the way back to the parking lot.

Standing by the side of his car was a big guy in what I guessed was his mid or late forties, with wide shoulders and legs like tree stumps. He had his arms crossed on his wide chest and was watching our approach, his dark eyes lit with amusement. Even though he was huge and a little scary-looking, I liked him instantly.

“Liz, meet Max. Max, this is my fiancée Liz,” he grinned proudly at calling me his fiancée. It was cute and deserved another kiss.

“Fiancée, huh? Congratulations.” Max said through his own grin as he slapped Cole on the back in male approval. Then he looked at me and his face became serious for a second. “You okay, doll?” I was shocked by the concern in his voice. This guy didn’t even know me, but it seemed like he wanted to make sure I was all right.

“Yeah, Max. I’m okay,” I assured him. Then I scowled as I remembered the predicament that brought us here. “I’ll be more okay, though, once I get to go a round with that bitch and beat the shit out of her.” Max’s eyes turned back to amused and he lifted his chin at Cole.

“Fiery, this one. Gonna have your hands full.”

“Oh, don’t I know it,” Cole said like he wouldn’t want it any other way. I gave him a big grin. He started walking toward my car.

“Are we going home?” I asked him when he put me on my feet by the passenger door.

“Yeah. Unless you want to spend the night here?”

“No. I want to go home and celebrate. And I think I have some phone calls to make on the way home and calm some people down.”

“That’s probably a good idea.” His face turned serious and tentative when he said, “You know, Chloe gave us the idea that you would be at the beach. So when you called Marie earlier, we were already on our way down here. We just weren’t sure which beach you would stop at.”

“How did Chloe know?”

Something close to sadness and remorse flitted through his eyes. “She said you told her about how you liked the feel of sand running through your fingers while watching the stars. I knew about the sand, of course, but the stars were news to me. Then I remembered how happy and calm you were when I took you to the cottage that weekend and thought that’s where you would go.” I smiled at him and kissed him. When I pulled back there was still that hint of sadness in his eyes.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Chloe also mentioned that you told her about your cave and the fact that we probably wouldn’t find you there, because you have hated it since you were seventeen, when your childhood friend did something to make you never go there again.” His eyes were boring into mine and I stiffened. “Care to explain that?” He pushed me when I didn’t say anything.

“Not really,” I whispered. I had been through the emotional gamut in the past few hours. I didn’t particularly want to relive one of the worst memories of my teenage years.

“Lizzy.” Cole’s tone was a gentle warning.

I sighed. Then I closed my eyes and murmured, “The night of the party, Thanksgiving weekend my junior year. I was there in the woods when you made out with Amanda. I heard everything you said.”

Now it was Cole’s body that went stiff. I opened my eyes and saw that his were shrouded with confusion. Then I saw it click in his mind as he put the pieces together and he remembered.

“I was a dick, Liz. A horny dick, who only had one thing on his mind. I didn’t mean anything I said. I’ve never considered you my sister. Never. Not for one second. It was just easier to pretend I did, so it wasn’t so hard to keep my hands off of you.” His voice was firm and sincere. Still, the pain of hearing him say those words had been with me for so long it was hard to let it go just like that.

I bit my lip. “Did you—”

“No,” Cole interrupted me, his arms around me giving me a small shake. “I didn’t have sex with her. I couldn’t go through with it. All I did was kiss her. I swear.” I nodded, grateful to finally know that nothing more had happened between them. Those thoughts had kept me up at night at that time more than I cared to admit. But I had to explain to him why seeing him with Amanda had been such a big blow, why it had led to me never wanting to sit in my cave again.

“Before that night, I always thought that you were just waiting for me to catch up with you in age, that you were just waiting for me to become legal, that that was the reason why you never made a move on me. But after I saw you with her…in our special spot…after I heard what you said…”

Cole groaned and rested his forehead against mine. “Turns out I’ve been an even bigger jerk to you for all these years than I ever thought possible.” He leaned back and caught my eyes. “Even back then I was in love with you. I’ve always been in love with you, Liz. From the first moment you looked at me with those sad, green eyes, I have been yours. Completely and absolutely. I didn’t think I’d ever be good enough for you. That’s the only reason I never claimed you as mine. The only reason I screwed around. I was young and stupid. So fucking stupid. Causing you all this pain. I promise you, baby, from now on there won’t be any more secrets between us. Ever. I won’t keep anything from you. I will always share my feelings and thoughts with you. You are my first priority. Always. Forever.”

My heart melted at his words and I kissed him as tears were yet again running down my cheeks.

“No more crying, baby. I can’t stand it when you cry,” he murmured against my lips.

“But these are good tears,” I argued.

“Doesn’t matter. No more tears for at least three weeks. You can cry again when you walk toward me on our wedding day.”

“So bossy and arrogant.”

“That’s right. And don’t pretend you don’t like it.” Before I could argue, Cole slammed his mouth back down on mine and effectively shut me up. When he pulled back he searched my eyes. “You okay now?”

“More than okay.” I touched his lower lip with the tip of my finger. “Thank you for coming after me and setting my head straight. I was having some trouble putting it all into perspective.”

“Anytime and anything for you, baby. Never forget that.” We kissed for a while longer until Max cleared his throat loudly, making me giggle and Cole growl.

“Let’s get you home,” he whispered against my lips, then gave me a gentle slap on my behind and guided me towards the car.

Cole

Lying in our bed with Lizzy’s dead weight snuggled into me, the events of the day ran though my head over and over again. It all worked out in the end, but for a few hours there I hadn’t been sure if Liz would believe me or if she was too hurt to even listen. Courtney’s games and lies could have taken away everything I now lived for. Instead of being happily engaged to the woman I love, I could be lying in this bed alone, worrying about her, knowing I might never get a chance at happiness again. The guilt of causing Liz pain still churned in my stomach. Guilt at having been a complete and total moron this past decade, at not claiming what was mine, but instead screwing around and hurting both Liz and myself by denying us happiness together, at building a life together. If I had gone after what I wanted years ago, none of this would have happened. I wouldn’t have hooked up with Courtney at all. Or anyone for that matter. Liz would have been my one and only and I would have been hers. And to top it off, I went and almost blew it all to shit when she was finally mine by letting my past interfere with my present and both our futures.

Guilt.

It’s a terrible thing.

I would move heaven and earth to make up for my mistakes, for failing to protect the little girl I had fallen for when I had first laid eyes on her when I was twelve years old and she was ten, the girl who became the most beautiful woman inside and out and was now my lover, who held my heart and my soul, who had the power to break me. Today I realized that that kind of power went both ways. Unbeknownst to myself, I had almost used that power.

Fucking hell!

That look on her face…I hadn’t been joking when I told Liz I would never forget it. It would haunt me for the rest of my life. Being responsible for causing Lizzy’s eyes to go dead, no matter for how long, for making her look like her whole world had just crumpled around her and she would never find her way back out of the ruins, would haunt me for the rest of my life.

And her tears.

God! Those awful and devastating tears.

Thinking about it now made my heart ache for her. From now on, she wouldn’t be shedding any more tears if I could help it. Unless they were happy tears, like when I asked her to marry me. Or when I slid my ring on her finger. Those tears I could definitely live with. From now on, I would make it my mission to save my girl from any more sorrow.

Only smooth sailing from here on out.

Before we had gone home, I had told Max that I wanted this issue resolved before Liz and I got married. Nothing would interfere with giving my girl my name and making her officially mine. I had decided that after that, we would start making babies and building a family right away. I didn’t want or need anything or anyone to hinder our happily ever after.

Max had ensured me he would start digging right away. He had enlisted his hacker buddy’s help and they were both going to find out who helped Courtney in her efforts to destroy our lives and would dig up any dirt they could find on both Courtney and her unknown partner. Once we figured out who that was, I would take pleasure in turning the tables and destroying their lives, making sure they would never touch ours again. At some point, Liz would need an opportunity to get her licks in with Courtney. I think she needed to have an outlet to vent her frustration and anger, and what better way to overcome those emotions than directing them at the person who had caused them? I would stand at the sidelines and happily cheer her on when she took on Courtney.

My face spread into a grin at thinking how sexy she would look when she got her power back by kicking Courtney’s ass, under my careful watch, of course. My future wife was hot always, but she was something else when she was riled up. I was definitely looking forward to that.

My future wife
.

The sound of that made me put today’s troubles out of my mind. Instead, I thought about her face when she got a first glimpse of the ring I put on her finger as soon as we got home. I had bought her a ring after our first weekend together and had kept it in my nightstand since then, not wanting to overwhelm her after how she had reacted to me wanting to buy us a house. I wouldn’t have waited much longer, was impatient to put a ring on her finger so that everyone would see she was taken. It might make me a Neanderthal, but I didn’t really give a shit. Having my ring on her finger would scare at least a few of those asswipes who wanted what was mine off from making a play for her, and in turn would make me ending up with assault charges less certain. Showing her the ring and then later, sliding it on her finger, had given me peace, had made my heart settle and a feeling of rightness spread in my gut.

“When did you get this?” she had asked.

“Does it matter?”

“No, not really. But I’m curious as to how long you’ve had this for. What, you’ve had this sitting in your nightstand, waiting for the right moment to give this to me for the whole not even two months we’ve been together?”

My lips had twitched, but I’d stayed silent and watched as her eyes grew wide.

“You have, haven’t you?” she asked in an astonished whisper. I had stayed silent and kept looking at her.

“You’re crazy, you know that?”

That’s when I had broken my silence. “Baby, I keep telling you. I’ve been yours since you first laid eyes on me, which in return means that you’ve been mine since then, too. It might have taken me a while to get my head out of my ass, but I know what I want and what I want is you and me, together forever, raising our babies in this house. And I want that as soon as possible.”

Lizzy’s lips were twitching. “It might have taken you a while?” she asked, teasing me, her eyes glittering.

“Yeah.” She shook her head. Then, “You want babies as soon as possible?” The mirth had left her expression and I saw trepidation creep in. Deciding to cut off her panic attack or massive fit—I wasn’t quite sure which to expect—before it had a chance to hit her, I gently but firmly grabbed her face with both my hands and vowed, “I will love you forever and I know you feel the same for me. You and I will be the best parents any child could ever wish for. We both had shitty cards dealt to us in the parent department, so we know exactly how not to be. You will be the most compassionate and understanding and caring mother any woman could dream of being, and I will be the most supportive father. We’ll both be there for our children, always, I have no doubt about that.” I searched her face. The trepidation was less, but it wasn’t gone completely. So I kept talking, “And you know what else?”