Cole's Mistake (Haven, Texas Book 8)

by Laylah Roberts

  Be what she needs. You can do this.

  “All right, let’s do it.”

  Saxon leaned forward. “I just don’t want anything happening to either of you.”

  “We appreciate all the help you’ve given us, Joel,” Julian told him. “Without you . . .” he shuddered to even think about it, and Keira squeezed his hand. “We’ll try this for now and hopefully it will work.”

  13

  Jardin looked over at Joel Saxon. He was an interesting man. When he’d first met him, he’d had him pegged as an arrogant asshole. But there were layers to the man. And he didn’t do anything without thinking it through first. He was calculating and smart. He was also extremely loyal and, from what Jardin had seen, first with Aspen and her boys now with Julian and Keira, he had a huge protective streak.

  “Julian seemed more focused and with it than I’ve ever seen him,” Jardin pointed out as Saxon walked with him to his car. Usually, Julian spent his time silently watching over his wife. This was the most he’d heard the other man speak.

  Saxon nodded.

  “You couldn’t have thought they’d jump right on the idea of me collaring them.” Truthfully, he wasn’t quite sure why he’d said yes to the idea.

  You’re lonely. You miss having a sub of your own.

  Probably. But that made him sound a bit pathetic, so he pushed that thought aside.

  Joel sighed. “Yeah, wishful thinking. I guess I hoped they’d see him in you and feel comfortable with you.”

  “See who in me?”

  “My brother.”

  Jardin gaped at the other man. “Ah, I’m pretty sure I was just insulted.” He didn’t know the whole story, of course. But most of his cousins were a bunch of gossips and word had it that Saxon’s brother was a complete ass who thought Joel was some sort of freak because of his sexual needs.

  Saxon grinned. “You’re used to being insulted, right? Living with the Malones.”

  “I don’t live with those assholes. I just visit sometimes. Mainly, I go to check that Mia hasn’t murdered them all and needs an alibi.”

  Saxon laughed. “We’d all give her an alibi. Hell, most of the town would help her bury the bodies.”

  Jardin raised an eyebrow. “I seriously remind you of your brother?”

  “Not because you’re an asshole,” Saxon told him. “I’m sure you are, you’re a Malone after all. But you’ve just got a way about you that’s similar to him. Quiet yet controlled. I’ve only ever seen Cole flip out twice.” Joel looked back at the guest house. “He’s in Haven.”

  “Who? Your brother?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Shit. Do they know?”

  “Yep. He walked into Fet the other night. Didn’t know they were even here. Saw Keira. She froze. Then Julian punched him, and Keira raced out. Julian panicked because Keira was out of his sight.”

  Jardin ran his hand over his face. “Fuck.”

  “Yeah. It’s good they’re talking. But they’ve got a long way to go. Until he can let her out of his sight without losing it, until he can let people get close to her without threatening them how are the two of them going to heal? As for Keira . . .” Saxon shook his head.

  “I’ll do what I can to help them,” Jardin told him quietly. “But maybe it’s not just what happened to them in South America that needs healing.”

  Saxon shot him a look. “Yeah. I thought of that. Cole has some explaining to do. Not sure they’re ready to listen, though.”

  “He’s sticking around then?”

  “Yeah. He is. He owes them that at least. They need some closure from him.”

  “You think he wants them back?”

  “Yeah, I do. Question is, is he what they need, or will he just make everything worse?”

  “Fuck, man. You’d think you would’ve explained all this before I said yes.”

  Saxon grinned. “Now, where would the fun be in that?”

  The waitress needed a lesson in customer service.

  Seriously, why had anyone hired her for this role? Cole stared down at his burger in confusion. “I ordered the special.”

  “You don’t want the special. You need a burger.”

  “I don’t want a burger. I want the special,” he growled at her.

  “You really don’t want the special. This here burger is the best in the state.”

  “Does that come with a guarantee?” he asked dryly.

  The older woman snapped her gum. Really? Was that even hygienic? What if the gum went flying out of her mouth and into someone’s food? He shuddered.

  If Fet were open during the day, he’d have gone there for lunch. Maybe he should have taken a drive into Freestown. But he hadn’t wanted to leave Haven. Even for a few hours. He needed to be close to them. Cole needed to show Joel, Julian, and Keira he’d changed. Not that he’d seen them while he’d wandered around this crazy town the last couple of days.

  Haven was a town where the unusual was accepted. Where people were open about their ménage relationships. He was attracted to two people, but he’d never considered allowing it to be public knowledge. But, just yesterday, he’d watched a petite blonde walking between two large cowboys, holding both of their hands.

  Seemed he’d been wrong about so many things. He’d been going to treat Julian and Keira as his dirty little secret. Something he wanted but was ashamed of.

  He really was an ass.

  With a sigh, he picked the burger up right as the door to the diner opened and in she walked.

  Keira.

  He froze, studying her. He’d been too shocked the other day to really take her in. He ran his gaze over her much thinner form, her hair, which had once been glistening with health, was lank, and her skin, once pink with good health, was pale.

  His poor baby had been through something horrific. And he hadn’t been there to help her.

  His finger squished through the bun of his burger. He carefully set it down and wiped his fingers on a napkin. Had she been ill? It would explain the weight loss and her fragility. But it didn’t explain Julian.

  The other man stepped in behind her. His gaze roamed the diner and Cole waited for him to see him sitting there. Would they approach him or ignore him? Was he going to get another shiner to add to the one he already had?

  Julian looked hard. As though he saw everyone as a potential threat. He’d beefed up. His shoulders wide, his arms thick with muscle. His dark hair held strands of gray, despite the fact he was only in his mid-thirties, several years younger than Cole.

  What had happened to them? It was killing him not to know, even as he respected Joel for not telling him, he’d like to kick him in the balls at the same time.

  The second Julian’s gaze found him it was like everything else faded around him. He hadn’t known what to do with his attraction to the other man at first. He’d never felt that way before about a guy. Shouldn’t he have felt something towards another man before meeting Julian?

  But no, it seemed there was only one man he wanted. The one glaring at him like he wished he had the power to incinerate him with his mind. There was movement from behind Julian and another man stepped through. He was dressed in jeans and a short-sleeved shirt. Powerful body, but not nearly as big as Julian. Not that many people were. Older. Close to Cole’s age he guessed. He looked around the diner, his curious gaze hitting Cole’s as he saw where Julian was staring.

  Cole straightened up. He had a fair idea of who this guy was. The Dom who Joel wanted to hook his subs up with.

  Not yours. Not anymore. You threw them away.

  Sure, he’d thought he was protecting them. But fuck if that meant much when they’d obviously been through hell. He hadn’t protected them, not at all. He’d let himself be manipulated. He hadn’t been strong, he’d been weak. After all, hadn’t he been willing to accept them on his terms, if they did what he wanted?

  He was a fucking asshole.

  The Dom leaned in and said something to them both and pointed past him. Keira lo
oked up to Julian without saying anything. Cole frowned. Since when did she look to him to answer for her?

  What’s going on?

  He thought he saw the other man give Keira a concerned look, but if he had, it was quickly wiped from his face. Julian nodded and wrapped his arm around her waist. He kept himself between Keira and Cole as they followed the other man through the diner. Greetings were called out to all three of them.

  The other man nodded and smiled, calling out replies. Keira smiled at several people although he noticed it wasn’t her usual smile. The one that was open and relaxed. That called people to her. She’d always been the type of person who would give her shirt off her back to a stranger. He’d known he’d have to protect her from being taken advantage of, and he’d figured between him and Julian they’d have that covered. A perk to a ménage relationship. But now she was more reserved in her greetings. She didn’t stop and linger to chat as she once might have. She kept herself close to Julian, letting him lead.

  Shit.

  As they drew closer, he had to fight the urge to stand, to drag them both away from this other guy. He wasn’t what they needed. He wasn’t Cole.

  But you don’t know what they need. You don’t know them anymore. They aren’t yours.

  “Hello. I’m Jardin Malone.”

  He blinked. Okay, that was unexpected. He’d thought they’d walk straight past him. He hadn’t thought this guy would come right up to him and introduce himself.

  He had to work hard not to slap the other man’s hand as he held it out or snarl at him to stay away from his subs.

  Not yours, asshole.

  Cole shifted out of the booth and took the other man’s hand.

  “Cole Saxon.”

  “I guessed as much. You look like your brother. Just wanted to introduce myself so we knew each other.” There was a note of something in the other man’s voice. Curiosity, maybe? Whatever it was, he wasn’t acting like Cole thought he might. Keira and Julian had to have told him what Cole had done, right? If Cole were in his shoes and he was confronted with a dickhead who’d hurt his subs like Cole had, he’d want to punch the guy’s lights out. But Malone was surprisingly calm.

  Maybe Julian and Keira hadn’t told him? That wasn’t good, he knew from all his training that communication was key in this sort of relationship.

  “Well, we best keep going and grab some lunch. Burger looks good as always.”

  “I ordered the special,” Cole told him. He moved his gaze over Julian then down to Keira. As soon as she saw his gaze, she dropped hers.

  Fuck. He hated that she looked so timid. So scared. Julian made a noise and he slammed his gaze up to his. Anger and something else stared out at him. Hatred?

  Christ, he hoped not.

  Please, don’t hate me.

  He didn’t like the feelings swirling in his gut. All his life, his father had hated him. He prayed they didn’t.

  “Ah, yeah, Doris has some interesting ideas sometimes about what people should order.”

  “My ears are burning, Jardin Malone.” The craggy waitress strode up to them. But instead of her scowl from earlier, she actually gave Malone a warm look.

  “Just telling Cole how wonderful the burgers are here. Only made better with your presence, of course.”

  Jesus, was he laying it on thick or what? Cole waited for the older woman to shoot him down. She didn’t seem the type to fall for any bullshit.

  To his shock, the waitress melted, smiling at the other man. “Oh, you. Sit down, I’ll get you all some coffee.” She turned to Julian and Keira and, to his shock, she seemed to soften. “Keira, sweet tea, honey?”

  “Yes, please, Doris.” Keira gave her a small smile. Her gaze darted to Cole then away.

  “We’ll let you get back to eating then.” Jardin turned away.

  “Wait,” Cole called out. “Julian, Keira.”

  They both froze.

  “I just wanted to say I’m sorry for the other night. I didn’t realize you were here, if I had, I . . .”

  You’d have what? Called ahead?

  “Anyway, I wanted to apologize for upsetting you both.”

  Julian just glared at him. Keira’s look was harder to decipher. Hope mixed in with wariness?

  “If you could give me some of your time, I have some things I want to explain.”

  Keira looked up at Julian. Fuck. If it was up to just Julian, he was pretty certain what the answer was going to be.

  “No,” Julian stated. Then he and Keira quickly turned away. Okay, he’d expected that. He’d hoped they might give him a chance, but he couldn’t blame them for shutting him out. Julian was just protecting them both. But he couldn’t help but watch them walk away. Then Keira turned, looking towards him and the sadness on her face punched him hard in the gut.

  Shit.

  Now that he’d seen them, he knew that just explaining why he’d done what he had wouldn’t be enough. He had to help them.

  Seemed like he might need to look into some long-term accommodation. He had a feeling he was going to be there for a while.

  14

  “You’ve done what?”

  “I’ve bought a house here.” Cole leaned back in his chair, staring across the large wooden desk at his brother. He’d just had dinner with Joel, Aspen, and those rascally twin boys of theirs. Cole had made a trip into Freestown to buy them every noisy toy he could find.

  Joel had scowled at him when he’d seen toy after toy being pulled out of shopping bags. Aspen had grinned at Cole, rolling her eyes as Joel grumbled and groaned about having to get ear plugs and sound-proof their playroom.

  Obviously, she knew his brother was full of shit. Especially as he’d gotten on the floor and played most of the night with the boys, making more noise than both of them put together. It had, surprisingly, been one of the best nights of his life.

  Now, Aspen was putting the boys to bed, and he’d asked Joel if he could speak with him privately.

  “Look, Cole, when I said you had to stick around, I didn’t mean permanently.”

  He didn’t sound too pleased at the idea. It kind of hurt, but he knew he deserved that.

  Joel ran a hand over his face. “It’s not because of me. Like I told you, so long as you don’t hurt anyone I care about, you and I are good. But this is Julian and Keira’s home, and I worry that if they know you’re sticking around—”

  “That I might run them off. I’m not going to do that.”

  “You can’t know how they’ll react. You’ve barely seen them since you got here.”

  Cole scowled. “Because they’re avoiding me. And you’re letting them hide away here. I’ve spent every day wandering around this town. I’ve managed to talk to them once when they were in the diner. With Jardin Malone.” He spat out the name.

  Joel raised his eyebrows. “You sound jealous.”

  “They don’t seem that relaxed in his company. When they had lunch together in the diner, it was like they were strangers.”

  “They don’t know Jardin well. But he’s a good man, a good Dom. He’ll take care of them.”

  Unlike him. He rolled his head from side to side, trying to ease tense muscles. He’d spent so many years trying to deflect his father’s verbal barbs and veiled insults that it was difficult for him not to bristle at every cut, imagined or otherwise.

  “If they let him, and from what I saw that wasn’t happening. Julian’s wound so tightly he’s about to burst. He’s so protective of Keira, he’s not going to let anyone else get close. And Keira . . . she looks to him before she even speaks.”

  “They’re getting help. They have a therapist. And Jardin.”

  Jardin. Fucking Jardin. Damn, he was jealous.

  “Why don’t you take them on,” Cole asked. “You’re a Dom. They trust you.”

  “Because Jardin knows how to deal with people who have suffered trauma. He’s seen it plenty in his job. And I’m too close to them. They live with me. I resc—”

  He cut himse
lf off, and Cole had to bite his lip to keep from snapping at him. What had he been about to say? That he’d rescued them? From what? What trauma had they suffered?

  “If things didn’t go well, they’d have nowhere to go. I’m their safe place. I need to maintain that for them.”

  Cole tapped his fingers against the arm of his chair. “I’m staying, Joel. My realtor has started the ball rolling on the house. I’m not leaving them.”

  “Well, I did ask you to stick around, I guess. But what are you going to do if they ever let you explain and they still don’t want you?”

  “I didn’t come here to win them back.”

  “No. But that doesn’t mean that you don’t want them back.”

  Cole stood and started pacing. “They’re hurting, Joel. I left them, something happened to them, and I wasn’t there to protect them. I’m not going to let that happen again. Even if they never forgive me, if they never talk to me again, I just, I have to make sure they’re going to be okay.”

  “Even if it’s with someone else?

  He took a deep breath. “Yes. Even then.” Even though it would hurt like fuck. Because no matter how hard he tried to stop it, he still felt possessive. Still thought of them as his. He’d never gotten over them. But he had to do what was best for them. Not him.

  He stared out the window of Joel’s study. From there he could see a glimpse of the guest house. Someone stepped outside, walking towards the steps that led down to the pool. A larger figure followed the smaller one. They were right there.

  “I don’t want to do anything to hurt them, Joel. Never again. While I might not know what happened to them, I can tell their healing is not going to be a quick process.”

  “No, it’s not. You sure you can be happy living here in this town? Not exactly the fast-paced life you’re used to.”

  “I don’t want that life anymore. You think I like who I became? I was like him,” he spat out the word. “All I cared about was money and the business.”

  “You weren’t as bad as that old bastard.”