Spencer nodded. “She’s not an idiot and she’s not blind to the real world. A lot of people think she is because she’s so…”
“Upbeat?” Hunter offered.
Cole gave a snort of amusement at that. Upbeat did not seem to do her personality justice. But it would do for now.
They were both staring at him, waiting for him to respond. What was he supposed to say? He understood what they were saying. It was probably all true. He didn’t doubt that she was strong and capable. But that didn’t mean he should drag her into his life, did it?
Temptation was a cruel thing. He could feel their words and their rationalizations eating away at his arguments like a parasite. The worst part was, he wanted to believe them. If these two men who loved her like a little sister thought it wasn’t the worst idea….
No! He was better than this. He’d given up hopes of a normal life—until Andie came along. He didn’t sit around dreaming of a family in the suburbs and a loving relationship because those things didn’t happen to a man like him. Sweet, brave, loving women didn’t just walk into his life and offer to be a part of it.
Until Andie.
He dropped his head into his hands with a groan of misery. It was getting harder and harder to keep fighting the temptation. He needed to hear that he’d be doing her a favor by walking away. Someone had to agree with him or he’d weaken his resolve. “I don’t want her to get hurt.” Cole kept his eyes on the ground as the truth came out. “Not at all, and definitely not because of me.”
The silence that followed that statement seemed monumental. Like maybe he’d finally gotten through to them and they were going to agree. Tell him that he was doing the right thing by walking away. He braced himself for the harsh reality that he didn’t want to hear.
When Spencer spoke, his tone wasn’t nearly as grave as Cole had imagined it would be.
“I might not know much about women, but I do know that they tend to like to make decisions for themselves.”
Hunter’s laugh had him looking up, staring at them each in turn in shock.
“Seriously,” Hunter said, leaning back in his chair. “I’m pretty sure Jenna would cut off my junk and use them as Christmas ornaments if I dared to tell her what was best for her.” He raised one brow in warning. “Now, I don’t think Andie is the violent type, but I’m going to guess she’s not all that happy at having the decision taken out of her hands.”
Cole stared at him. Was he right? Was he being a pompous jerk by making the decision on her behalf?
Probably.
But what if it was for the best? What if he was protecting her? What if…what if…what if…
Their logic finished eating away at the last of his arguments and their reasoning made sense. He’d made a mess of this. Their little romance—or whatever it was called—was mere hours old and he’d managed to screw it up royally.
He still hated the idea of pulling her into the mess that was his life—the danger, the shades of gray. But the best he could do was make sure she made a decision with eyes wide open. But it was her decision.
Some of the tightness that had been crushing his chest eased up and the relief of it made it hard for his lungs to get enough air. Granted, he still needed to apologize, and there was no guarantee that she’d give him another chance. An image of those vivid blue eyes gazing up at him filled him with a foreign feeling. A lightness. He had a sneaking suspicion that this was what happiness felt like. Some of what he was feeling must have shown on his face.
He heard Hunter sigh. “Looks like someone is starting to wise up.”
Spencer sounded exasperated. “Good. Does that mean we can get back to business?”
Business. Right. He was still embroiled in a mystery and there was no way he could even think about having a happily ever after with Andie until this was cleared up. Time to focus. They spent the next hour going through the information Mackenzie had sent over and Cole forced himself to stay put and not run out and hail the nearest cab so he could go back to Jenna’s and apologize to Andie.
There would be time for that later, when this mess was cleared up.
Later that morning, a call from Eddie interrupted their reading and research. Cole put his cell on speaker so Hunter and Spencer could hear what Eddie had to say.
“Good news,” he said. “We caught the leak.” While it wasn’t exactly good news, it was a relief. Turned out Eddie had pulled an all-nighter with some other cops he trusted. Between what Spencer could make out from the license plate and employee files of who joined recently and who had access to Cole’s case, they’d found their target. Detective Robert Anton had transferred to NYC from Chicago, where the Gallaghers had some business.
They found enough evidence linking the detective to some shady interactions with the Gallaghers and Coradas to get a warrant and their suspicions were confirmed. The detective had done a shoddy job covering his tracks when he met with Gallagher and his bank records revealed some large deposits that were used to pay off gambling debts.
“We’re pulling him in for questioning as we speak,” Eddie said. “With this guy’s track record, I have no doubt we can offer a plea deal. He’ll get a lighter sentence in exchange for handing over Anthony.”
When Cole hung up the phone, Spencer and Hunter leaned back in their chairs. “Well, I guess that’s it then,” Hunter said. “We just need to wait for Eddie and his team to wrap this up and Cole will be a free man again.”
“He may want to head out of town for a bit until some of the aftermath dies out,” Spencer added as if Cole wasn’t in the room.
Hunter nodded his agreement. “I hear South America is nice this time of year.”
Spencer looked thoughtful. “How interesting. I also happen to know that a trip to Machu Picchu is on Andie’s bucket list.”
Cole shook his head as he came to stand. “Very subtle, guys.”
They were both laughing as he headed for the door. “Where are you going? Aren’t we going to celebrate?” Hunter yelled after him.
He was going to celebrate all right. As soon as Andie forgave him for being an epic idiot and promised to give him a chance to make things right.
“Tell Andie we say hi,” Spencer called, laughing even harder as Cole give him the finger over his shoulder.
But Cole was grinning too as he ran down the stairs of Spencer’s apartment building and out onto the street. He was so lost in his thoughts of what he would say to Andie, he almost missed the sound of a car starting up and peeling out of a parking space.
Almost.
When it sped up beside him, instinct kicked in, but this time he was too late.
Not again.
Chapter Nine
Andie toyed with the settings on her camera. It was an excellent way of avoiding Jenna and Mackenzie’s prying eyes. If they couldn’t make eye contact, they couldn’t launch the barrage of questions she knew they were dying to ask.
“Aw, come on. Talk to us,” Mackenzie pleaded.
Andie bit back a sigh. Well, there went that theory. Eye contact or not, her sisters seemed determined to get her to talk.
All three were in Jenna’s kitchen. Andie sat at the table, Jenna was leaning against the kitchen counter sipping her coffee, and Mackenzie was perched on the kitchen island watching Andie like she was her favorite TV show.
How wonderful that she could be the source of entertainment for her happily-in-love sisters. She bit back a sigh. It wasn’t that she resented their happiness, but it did put her own extreme unhappiness in something of a spotlight.
For the first time in her life, Andie started to grasp the concept of “misery loves company.” She would have loved a little commiserating misery at that moment. But instead she was surrounded by the recently engaged Mackenzie—a self-proclaimed Cinderella with her Prince Charming—and Jenna, a woman who couldn’t be in the same room with her live-in boyfriend without getting a sappy grin that made Andie green with envy.
No, if there were any two people on the
planet who wouldn’t be able to commiserate, it was these two. They’d found the loves of their lives. More importantly, those loves loved them back.
Andie bit her lip to keep tears at bay. She’d found the man she loved but he didn’t feel the same way. Or he did and he wouldn’t admit it. Or he maybe he would have if she hadn’t gone and rushed things like an idiot, essentially scaring him off for good.
But if he was that easily scared off, then maybe he wasn’t the one for her. If he was the man she’d thought he was, he would have felt it too, right? Or was she just a hopeless romantic who’d read way too many romance novels and couldn’t tell the difference between reality and fantasy?
She hadn’t slept all night as her memory replayed their interaction on a loop. Each time she mentally watched the rerun of her life, her anger and hurt grew exponentially until this morning she’d come out to the kitchen in a full-blown rage. Deep down she had an inkling that this anger was her heart’s way of coping. Anger was so much easier to deal with than pain.
She supposed she should be mad at Cole. Not because he’d made out with her. She was a big girl and that had been her decision. She should be angry because he was denying what was between them. It was a physical connection, sure—there was no way he could have missed the inferno that seemed to rage between them. But it was more than that. She knew it. He had to have felt it too…hadn’t he?
But despite her best intentions to make Cole the object of her rage fest, she just couldn’t do it. This anger was self-directed. Because really, who fell in love over the course of a couple days? This girl, that’s who.
She’d always known that when love came a knockin’, she’d hear it right away. That’s just how she was. Her gut reigned supreme. Her heart and her gut had an exceptionally open line of communication and if her instincts said wowza then her heart sat up and took notice.
When Cole had walked into her life, it had been a one-two punch. First the physical attraction and then, when she’d started talking to him—or rather, when he started talking back—it became so clear. He was the yin to her yang. Or vice versa, she could never remember which one was feminine. He was the Fred to her Ginger, the peaches to her cream, the alphabet to her soup, the—
“If you tell us what happened, maybe we could help,” Jenna said. Her voice was so quiet and oddly gentle that another wave of tears threatened to drown her. She held them back by ruthlessly biting the inside of her cheek, an age-old trick that never failed. “Could you pass me the coffee, please?”
Jenna’s lips pulled to the side in frustration but she handed over the carafe without comment.
Cole had been gone by the time she’d stumbled out of the spare bedroom bright and early this morning. She’d half hoped he’d be there waiting to say something—anything—to make this situation better. She’d been disappointed to find the blankets from the couch folded up on the floor. But if she was being honest, she’d been just a little bit relieved as well.
Staring at the empty couch, she’d had to face facts. She was humiliated. Her pride stung from the blow of not having her feelings reciprocated. The fact that her heart was broken—well, that was a deep and agonizing ache that wouldn’t be going anywhere anytime soon. But wounded pride was a sharp, swift kick in the gut. Easier to deal with, it wouldn’t last long, but it was front and center at the moment, making it hard to ignore. That was part of the reason she didn’t want to talk about it with Jenna and Mackenzie.
Maybe she’d been too quick rushing into such deep feelings for a man she barely knew. Or maybe she was perfectly right in giving voice to her feelings and he was the idiot who couldn’t see what was right in front of his face. When it came down to it, it didn’t really matter. Either way, she’d said the three words she’d never said to any man, and he’d walked out the door. No, worse. He’d said “this was a mistake” and then walked out the door.
A groan of misery slipped out and she glanced up to see Jenna and Mackenzie exchanging concerned looks. I’ll be fine, she wanted to tell them. It was disappointing, but she’d get over it. She just needed time.
But even as she told herself that, a little voice screamed out in protest. Time could suck it. This hurt would never go away! She’d be feeling this rejection until her dying day.
Andie swallowed back the lump in her throat and ignored that little voice, which always had a tendency toward the melodramatic. “Any word from Hunter?”
Jenna shook her head. So far Hunter had texted to let them know that Cole was with him and Spencer—because heaven forbid he tell Andie where he was when his life was in danger. But more than an hour had passed and while she’d tried to be of use doing her part to research the Gallaghers on one of Jenna’s old laptops, she’d really just spent the better part of the morning moping over her coffee and trying to avoid Mackenzie and Jenna’s questions.
Judging by their concern, she looked just as bad as she felt. Which wasn’t surprising, really, since she hadn’t slept all night. If only Cole would come home—well, back to Jenna’s home—so they could talk.
She had to know—did he really not feel the same way or was there some other reason he was pushing her away? If he really wanted nothing more to do with her than he would have to tell her to her face. No way was she letting him off the hook so easily. He was a grown man, if he didn’t love her back he would have to say the words out loud.
Her hands clenched into fists and she accidentally sloshed coffee all over the table. She hurried to clean it up before it touched the laptop but she didn’t miss the questioning looks her spastic behavior received from her audience.
The questions were about to start up again, she could sense it in the air. She was relieved when her phone rang. “Hey, Spencer, what’s up?”
“Just calling to see how my favorite oddball lovebirds are doing.” His voice was filled with laughter and it made her suck in a deep breath. Spencer loved to tease but he was never cruel. “What did Cole tell you?”
There was a silence on the other end before Spencer said, “What do you mean? It was totally obvious when he was here.”
“What was obvious?” She looked to Jenna and Mackenzie as if they might be able to make sense of Spencer’s comments despite the fact that they couldn’t hear. They merely stared back at her with blank expressions.
“Wait…” She heard Spencer talking to someone else in the room with him before turning back to the phone. “Andie, is Cole with you at Jenna’s apartment?”
A cold, sick feeling took root in her stomach making her nauseous. This was her gut talking. Something was not right. Something was very, very not okay. “No, he’s not here. Is he supposed to be?”
The silence killed her.
“Spence!”
“I don’t know,” he said quickly. “We assumed he was heading back to you.”
“Why did you think that? When did he leave?” Too many questions, she couldn’t put them all into words.
“He left more than an hour ago. We assumed he would take a cab since he seemed in a hurry to get back to you.”
The air left her lungs in a rush. “To me? Are you sure?” She glanced up at Mack and Jenna before and swallowed the thick lump that threatened to choke her. “He might not have wanted to come back here. He might be avoiding me.”
Spencer started talking before she finished. “No, no. That’s what I’m trying to tell you. Hunter and I were giving him a hard time because he was clearly a mess over you.”
“Over me, are you sure?” Maybe he’d been feeling guilty. A part of her wanted to believe that—needed to believe that he was trying to avoid her. Because if he wasn’t, and he’d headed this way more than an hour ago….
Where was he?
Spencer must have put the phone on speaker because Hunter answered. “I’m positive, Andie. He didn’t admit much, but the guy has a thing for you. We were under the impression that he was heading back to you to make things right.”
The ground gave way beneath her feet—at least that’s
how it felt. This couldn’t be happening. Her hand must have fallen to her side because Jenna rushed over and grabbed the phone that fell to the floor.
Andie was dimly aware of Jenna speaking in hushed tones to Hunter and Spencer but her brain had a hard time processing the words. Mackenzie was at her side, saying something in a reassuring tone, stroking her hair like she was a child.
Andie fought past the buzzing noise in her ears and sucked in a deep breath to shake off the numb feeling that left her cold.
Now was not the time for panic, and she couldn’t afford to faint. Not now when Cole needed her. Because despite Mack’s reassuring words, she knew without a doubt—Cole was in trouble.
His life was in danger…and he needed her help.
“Andie, I don’t think this is a good idea.” It was the fifth time Jenna had made that same statement and like every other time, Andie ignored her.
The gang was all there—Eddie, Spencer, Hunter, Mack, Jacob, and Jenna. Everyone from the night before with one notable exception. Cole was missing and his absence was a physical presence in the room.
Eddie was all business, which Andie appreciated. She was in the same mode. If she stopped and thought through all the horrifying scenarios she would either cry or puke—neither of which would be helpful. So she sat perched on the loveseat and listened with rapt attention as Eddie filled them in on what they’d learned from Detective Rat, or whatever the leak’s name was.
He’d caved like the little wuss he was, according to Eddie. They had enough to nab him for collusion and in return for a light sentence they got him to give up Anthony Gallagher. It was a coup, a win—or it should have been if Cole had been there to celebrate.
Now that he was missing, they all knew it meant one thing. Anthony or the Coradas had taken him.
Eddie believed Officer Turncoat when he’d said he didn’t know anything about it. It surprised no one that the traitor cop didn’t have much sway with the criminal crew. He was just another lackey on their payroll.
“So where does that leave us?” Hunter asked. He and Jenna were huddled together in the doorway wearing matching scowls. If ever there was a formidable couple, it was this one.
Saving Rose Red Page 11