by Ella Frank
“I’m stealthy?” he offered as he moved closer. “Or maybe you were singing so loudly and dancing around the place that you didn’t notice?”
Rachel shook her head and placed her hands on her hips.
“Look, smartass, I’m in a really good mood, so don’t come in here with another warning or lecture about Cole. Okay?”
Josh took his hands out of his jeans pockets as he moved closer toward her. Raising them in the universal sign of surrender, he chuckled and cocked his head to the side. “I come in peace, especially if he’s the reason you’re so happy. Relax, would you? Does Madison know how quick you are to defend him?”
Rachel tipped up her chin to face her lifelong friend, and then she finally gave him a slow grin. “No, and don’t you tell him either. He doesn’t need to know he’s turned me into a silly girl.”
Josh reached out and slung an arm around her in a one-arm hug, tugging her in close. “You? A silly girl? Never. You have always had impeccable taste.”
Jamming a soft elbow to his side, Rachel laughed as she looked him in the eye. “Yeah, I do, don’t I?”
“Well, definitely at first. I mean, nothing is as pure as a wide-eyed innocent girl’s first love.”
Rachel bumped her hip to his. “Is that right, Daniels? Who was Shel’s first love?”
“That’s different,” he answered immediately.
As he removed his arm, Rachel made her way to the counter with him following.
“Really?”
“Yes. Shelly knew nothing before me.”
“Oh, of course. How could she?”
Placing his hands on the counter, Josh leaned forward with a huge smirk. “Exactly.”
Rachel crossed her arms over her chest and decided, What the hell? She dived right in. “Alright, Josh, what do you want? Did Mason send you?”
Rachel could just imagine the conversations surrounding her and Cole at the moment.
“No, no. This has nothing to do with Mason. I just wanted to stop by and see how you are doing. You know I have always worried about you, even before Cole.”
Relaxing her arms down by her side, Rachel couldn’t help the soft smile she gave to the man with the kind eyes, shaggy brown hair, and the warmest smile she had ever seen. “You’re pretty special, you know that, right?”
Josh raised a brow as his lips quirked. “Special meaning?”
“Good, loyal, sweet.”
“You make me sound like Mutley minus the dog slobber,” he pointed out lightly.
“No, you sound like a good man, and that’s what you are. Even as a kid, you were always good.”
Josh shook his head as he rested against the counter. “Well, I think you must be forgetting about all the times Mason and I got our asses chewed out by your parents and mine.”
“No, I’m not. You did both get into a lot of trouble though, didn’t you? But what I mean is with me and other girls. You were always a good guy, a guy that girls could rely on to not be a jerk.”
“Rachel, you’re remembering me through the eyes of a teenage crush.” He chuckled and shook his head. “There are plenty of girls who would disagree, I’m sure.”
“God, I had the biggest crush on you,” she admitted, rolling her eyes. “I was so into you. I even remember a day when we all went swimming down by the lake. I think I was thirteen, and Mom asked me if I liked you. I was so embarrassed.”
Reaching across the counter, Rachel placed her palm over the hand he had left there. “She would be thrilled to see you so happy with Shelly. I wish…” Rachel trailed off and looked up at familiar understanding eyes.
“You wish what?” Josh urged.
Squeezing his hand, Rachel whispered, “I wish we all could have said good-bye.”
Josh turned his hand over on the counter, and in a comforting gesture, he wrapped his fingers around hers. “Me, too, Rach. Me, too.”
Rachel made her way up the grassy bank to where her mother was sitting, looking down at the two teenage boys who were currently splashing each other in the lake. When she stopped in front of the blanket, her mother patted the spot beside her, gesturing for Rachel to join her.
“Sit with me?” her mom asked as she smiled up at her.
Rachel kicked off her bright red flip-flops and kneeled down beside her.
“You didn’t want to go in with the boys?” her mother questioned as she raised her hand to shield her eyes from the sun.
Rachel thought about that for a moment and quickly shook her head. There was no way she was taking off her shorts and top and getting in the water with him there. Why did Mason have to invite him anyway?
“Rach?”
Turning her eyes back to her mom’s, Rachel tried for a convincing smile. “No, Mom. I don’t want to swim today.”
That’s a complete lie. As the sun kissed the back of her neck, there was nothing she wanted more. That had all changed though when the boys had taken off their shirts and raced each other into the water.
Instead, Rachel found herself staring at the brown-haired boy currently roughhousing with her brother. She decided there was no way she was baring her flat-chested thirteen-year-old self in her bathing suit to him. She couldn’t decide what was more annoying—the fact that she was still flat as a board or the thought that one day she’d have boobs. Some days, she hated being a girl.
“Are you okay?” her mom asked, leaning into her with a little shoulder-to-shoulder bump. “You’ve been really quiet, which is not like you at all.”
Rachel turned to look at her mom and bit her bottom lip. It was so hard, not having a sister to talk to about boys, and there was no way she was bringing this up with Mase.
“It’s Mason’s friend, isn’t it?” her mom whispered conspiratorially.
Rachel felt her eyes widen as her heart started to beat erratically.
“No!” Rachel denied emphatically.
Her mother chuckled and reached out to push a piece of hair behind Rachel’s ear.
“It’s okay if it is, Rach. It’s normal to look at boys and think they’re cute.”
“I don’t think anything!” Rachel stressed, becoming flustered. In the back of her mind though, all she could remember was the way he smiled at her. Oh yes, she definitely thought he was cute.
“Well, no matter if you do or don’t, it’s completely normal. But remember, he is Mason’s friend, and he is older than you.”
“Mom!” Rachel whined, feeling her face heating up. Why is Mom still talking? Is she determined to embarrass me?
“Alright, alright. I will keep your secret.”
Crossing her arms in front of her, Rachel pouted and rolled her eyes in the way all thirteen year olds do. “There is no secret, Mom.”
“Sure there isn’t, love. Is that why you giggle every time he talks to you?”
“Do not.”
“Do, too,” her mom replied with a mischievous grin. “But don’t worry. I won’t tell.”
Rachel looked back down to the river where her brother and his new friend were now climbing out of the water. She stared at the lanky boy beside Mason, and as he raised his hand to push it through his hair, she felt her cheeks redden. Rachel looked away only to see her mom chuckling at her.
“I promise not to tell,” she repeated with a soft look as she brushed gentle fingertips over Rachel’s cheek.
Rachel lowered her eyes quickly. Her mom always knew everything. Would there ever come a day when I will to? She doubted it. As her mom reached across the blanket and squeezed her hand, Rachel thought about how lucky she was to have such a great mother. She couldn’t imagine life without her.
“Promise?”
“It’s our secret, Rach. I promise.”
That was the first time she fell for a boy.
“And what about you?”
Josh’s voice pulled Rachel from her memory, reminding her of the reason they were talking in the first place.
“What about me?”
“Are you happy? With Cole?”
/> Rachel narrowed her eyes. “It’s only been a few days, Josh.”
Josh looked her over and waited patiently.
What is it with the men in my life? All of them are so damn patient. Well, except Mason.
“Are you seriously asking me this?”
“Well, do you blame me? You’ve been acting different lately, and Shelly mentioned how you all first met him.”
“Oh, she did, did she? What exactly did she say?”
“Come on, Rach. Don’t get mad at Shel.”
Raising a brow, Rachel sighed. “Okay, okay. At first, I was unsure about him.”
“At first?”
“Yes. At first,” she stressed. “But now, I’ve gotten to know him.”
“You have?”
“Yes. Why? Don’t you know him? He’s your friend,” she decided to point out.
“Well, yeah, he’s my lawyer and a friend, but I don’t actually know him personally.”
Rachel thought about the serious lawyer who had somehow crept deep inside her tightly locked heart and had pretty much broken down all her walls just the night before.
“Yeah, that seems like Cole. He’s very…” Rachel searched for the right word and ended with, “Private.”
“He’s a cagey bastard,” Josh retorted.
Rachel found herself chuckling. “He’s composed.”
“He’s distant.”
“He’s just different from you and Mase, so you both feel like you have to stick your noses in.”
“He’s reluctant to let people in, Rach, and that makes me wonder why.”
Rachel shook her head. “I told you. No gloomy warnings. I like him, and I want to see where that takes me.”
Josh straightened and winked at her as he pushed his hands back into his pockets. “If it helps you to be less annoyed at him, Mason told me yesterday that he was happy to see you smiling last night at the restaurant. That has to mean something, right?”
Rachel watched Josh turn and walk to the front door.
“Josh!”
He stopped and turned to face her.
“It helps, and I should have said this months ago, but I’m so glad you finally came home.”
“To Chicago?”
Rachel grinned and told him sincerely, “No, Daniels. To us.”
Unbuttoning his wool coat with one hand, Cole made his way through the tiny foyer of the apartments where Rachel lived and pressed the button for the elevator. He had dropped her off at the front of the building several times, but this was the first time he was going up. When the old elevator groaned to a stop at the bottom, he had to admit he was slightly nervous about getting on it. Taking a step back, he waited as the metal doors parted, ready to move aside for any occupants. That, of course, was the plan before he looked inside.
Life is too fucking good to me right now, he thought.
The woman inside the death trap of an elevator stepped forward on a pair of heels so tall that they made her eye-level with him. Cole was trying to find the words, Hello, Rachel, but the only problem was he currently had no power to speak. She had rendered him mute.
She was wearing the most sensual dress he’d ever seen. It was held up—barely—by a thin strip of ivory-colored satin around the neck, and then it flowed down over her body to the tops of her heels. It showed off every sexy curve she possessed.
As she moved off the elevator, Cole watched the silky fabric part and split, all the way up to her right mid-thigh.
Fuck the function. Where’s a bed?
As that thought entered his mind, he heard her finally speak.
“Wow. You look like one of those ads in a glossy magazine.”
Cole was still too busy looking over every inch of her to respond, and for once in his life, he was truly speechless. The rich cream color of the ivory fabric made him want to reach out and touch because she looked so damn soft, but at the same time, so incredibly sexy. It was such an innocent color, yet the minute she moved, it had that wicked split that made him want to run his fingers up her leg and under the dress.
Yes—up, under, and inside her.
“Cole?”
Finally, he brought his eyes to hers. In a voice that demanded she obey, he told her, “Turn around for me.”
Very slowly, she pivoted on her toes and revealed the back of the dress…or more accurately, the lack of it. And nothing could stop him from touching. Cole moved quickly and decisively, and before she could turn any further, his front was pressed so close to her back that his coat was almost surrounding her. In the middle of the small foyer, he gripped her hips and pulled her flush against him.
Placing his lips against her ear, he asked in a voice he barely recognized, “Are you trying to destroy every semblance of control I have?”
Turning his face slightly, he took a deep breath and inhaled her intoxicating scent, and then he noticed her hair for the first time. It was pulled back into a high top-notch bun, showing off her elegant neck and the perfect tattoos decorating her spine.
That wasn’t what held his attention though. Her hair didn’t have any bright color in it. It was sleek, shiny, and jet-black. When she turned her face toward him, those fascinating blue eyes locked with his, and Cole knew it was all over for him.
This is where the search stopped. This is the woman.
His heart was now in complete agreement with his head.
“I take it you like my dress?” she inquired in a tone that told him she already knew the answer.
Sliding his fingers over her waist, he let the silky fabric brush under his palms as he caressed the material covering her hips before moving to rest his hands against her lower abdomen. Cole gave himself a moment to enjoy her, and then it hit him. He couldn’t feel any kind of panty line.
“What are you wearing under this, Rachel?”
Turning in his arms, she looked him square in the eye, courtesy of her heels, and gave him a sexy wink. “Two silver studs. Why?”
He knew it.
Fuck. This night is going to take forever.
Approximately an hour and a half earlier, they had walked into the reception room at the Shedd Aquarium fashionably late. The fact that they had made it out of the car and into the reception at all was a testament to Cole’s control, certainly not hers.
Rachel had wanted to ditch the function the minute she had stepped off the elevator and seen him standing in her dingy little foyer, looking like a runway model from a GQ magazine. She’d known Cole would look amazing in a tuxedo, but to see him in person in the black-and-white ensemble…well, shit, that is a moment I will never forget.
She wanted to undress him one immaculate piece at a time.
Yes, starting with the little black bow tie.
That would have to happen later though. Right now, she was seated in one of the most impressive function rooms she had ever been in. The tables were surrounded by large glass windows that looked into the stunning aquarium. The setup was simply breathtaking, and Rachel found herself smiling as she followed the colorful fish swimming over and under the coral before bringing her eyes back to her date.
Cole was currently standing across the room with a shorter bald-headed man, who Rachel assumed was a business associate. Although he was engaged in conversation with the man, his eyes hadn’t left her where she was seated at their table.
“So, Rachel, how long have you known Cole?”
Rachel swiveled on her seat, reluctantly tearing her eyes away from their purchase. Seated beside her was a woman who had to be close to her fifties. She was smiling so warmly that Rachel couldn’t help but return her smile.
“Oh, just a little while.”
“Ahh, I see.”
Probably not, Rachel thought. She decided against mentioning, We decided to sleep together last week, and it seems to have turned into one of the deepest connections I’ve ever had. Please tell me what to do because I have no idea what I am doing.
“He’s a lovely man. Quiet and very serious, but always so charming,”
the woman told her as she stared across the room to the man in question.
Rachel wasn’t quite sure what to say to that, so she moved on from there.
“Is that your husband with him?”
“Yes, that’s Byron. They’ve been doing business together for years. He won’t work with anyone but Mr. Madison. He trusts him one hundred percent.”
Well, Rachel liked that answer. Hell, that’s a lie. She loved it. She knew it was rare to hear in advance that the man she was falling for was completely trustworthy. Looking back at the two men, Rachel felt her heart start to thump as they moved back to the table.
The shorter man walked in front of Cole, but that by no means detracted from his approach. His broad shoulders and commanding stride made him stand out as if he owned the room, and the exhilarating part was he was looking directly at her. Not once did he look away as he drew closer, and not once did Rachel drop the connection. When he stopped in front of her and held out his hand, Rachel rose without any words and took it, moving in close to him.
“I don’t know about you, but I’d like to take a look around,” he suggested as he wrapped his fingers around hers.
Rachel nodded, wanting to leave the function area to be alone with him.
He smiled at the lady who had been seated beside them all evening. “You don’t mind if I steal her away, do you?”
Byron, the man Cole had been talking to, clapped him on the shoulder and chuckled. “Of course not. You go and show this beautiful young lady around. We’ve taken up enough of your time already, and all the boring talk and ceremony is over for the evening.”
Rachel felt a smile spread across her lips as Byron reached out to take her free hand. He brought it to his lips and kissed it gently.
“It’s been a pleasure, Rachel, and a first, eh, Cole?”
“Oh, Byron!” his wife admonished, hitting his thigh gently.
Cole merely tightened his grip on Rachel’s hand and gave them both a perfect smile before he looked back to her.
“Let’s go and look around then, shall we?”
As they made their way through the first and second exhibit, Cole had let go of her hand, allowing her a moment to look around. He admired the view as she strutted in her slinky dress and high heels. And then, she reminded him of a kid in a candy store while she traced her finger along the clear surface to follow the fish, giggling when they wriggled and came closer.