Surrender My Love (Love in Bloom: The Bradens): Cole Braden

by Melissa Foster

  “Wow, Cole. I have a feeling you’re way out of my league.” She ran her hand over the sparkling sink.

  “Out of your league? Because I have a boat?” He arched a brow, amusement dancing in his eyes.

  “Yacht, you mean.” Her eyes skimmed over the plush blanket and expensive-looking pillows, over to a two-tiered shelf filled with medical and boating books.

  “Boat.” He wrapped his arms around her waist from behind and nuzzled against her neck. “You’re not going to get all weird on me, are you? This was my grandfather’s boat. He sold it a decade before he passed away, and when I had enough money, I tracked it down to a guy on Cape Cod and bought it. I had it refitted out there by a buddy of mine, Pete Lacroux. To me it’s the boat my grandfather used to take us out on. The boat I learned to fish on. Nothing fancy.” He shrugged, and she turned in his arms.

  “You just went from me worrying that you had some hidden pretentious side to exposing the most wonderful, sentimental thing a person could do.”

  “Nah. I told you, there’s always bad with the good. I upgraded the engine and the interior. I didn’t go all-out. I mean, it could have been much more elegant. If I didn’t like nice things, I probably would have had it refitted to exactly replicate the way my grandfather had it.”

  She smiled at his confession. “If that’s all you’ve got that fits into the bad category, that’s pretty darn good.”

  “Good enough to join you in the shower?” He raised his brows again, looking sexy and handsome and enticingly seductive.

  “Not if you want to get out of here tonight.” She pushed his chest playfully, sending him out the bathroom door as she blew him a kiss.

  In the privacy of the bathroom, Leesa leaned on the sink and stared at her reflection. Had she really just given herself over to this man on their first date? She’d waited three weeks before sleeping with Chris, and with the men before him she’d had a three-date rule. She always went out with a man three times before sleeping with him, because by the third date she usually knew for sure if she wanted to see him again or not. But one date? One! Surely this put her into the easy category.

  But God…Could any woman resist Cole? He was romantic and charming, and…There were no words to describe what she thought of him. Only to describe what she felt when she was with him—that everything was finally right.

  She turned on the shower and stepped beneath the warm spray. As she soaped up and rinsed off, she let her hands linger over the swell of her hips, thinking of how much Cole seemed to enjoy them. He was always placing a hand on her hip. She didn’t feel easy or like a slut. She felt…happy.

  She used a fluffy towel to dry off and pressed it to her nose, inhaling deeply. If right had a smell, then Cole, this towel, and this boat where they’d just made love was it. She knew she should be careful with her emotions, but how could she when she felt so good?

  She realized she’d left her clothes up on the deck. Great, now she had to walk out in a towel. She covered herself up and opened the bathroom door. Her clothes were folded neatly in a pile on the bed. Her sandals were on the floor. Warmed by his thoughtfulness, she dressed and hung up her towel, then went in search of the man who was chipping away at the walls she’d put up around herself.

  She heard his voice before she saw him pacing on the deck, his phone pressed to his ear. His hand rubbed at the back of his neck. Her hands itched to massage the tension out of him, but she remained where she was, giving him privacy for his phone conversation.

  He turned, a smile spreading across his face when he caught sight of her.

  “Hey, Rush. I’ve got to run. The last thing you need to worry about is my schedule. Okay.” He paused, closing the distance between him and Leesa, his hand outstretched. “See ya, buddy.”

  His hand slid around her waist as he put his phone in his pocket. “I’m sorry. Work stuff.”

  “That’s okay. I should probably let you get back to—”

  “There’s nothing I want to get back to besides dinner with you.” He pressed his lips to hers, and her body melted at the contact.

  “My friend Rush Remington was just letting me know about a patient he’s sending in to see me Monday.” He put on his shirt and shoes and helped Leesa onto the dock. “Rush is an Olympic skier, and his friend’s daughter is an Olympic contender in gymnastics. She injured her back, and he wants me to evaluate her.”

  “Oh, that’s terrible. Sports injuries are bad enough, but I’d imagine that at that level, it’s everything.” As they left the dock and headed back toward town, she wondered how long they’d been down at his boat. She wasn’t tired, but the streets weren’t busy and the marina was near deserted, telling her they must have been there quite a while. She couldn’t get over the fact that she’d so quickly taken their relationship to a more serious level in the span of a few short hours.

  “It is, but I don’t want to talk about work.” He draped his arm over her shoulder and kissed her again.

  His eyes took in their surroundings. His strong jaw was darker now as stubble appeared, giving him an edgier look. He glanced at her as they walked, and his smile softened his appearance again.

  “You’re bound to burn a hole through me if you stare too long.”

  “I’m just trying to figure out why I did this. How you got through the carefully erected box that I’ve lived in for what feels like forever.”

  He stopped at the corner and faced her head-on, his eyes serious. “Do you regret that we were close?”

  “No.” Regret wasn’t the right word. She was glad they’d been close, and she felt good about being with him now, which was also strange for her. She was very aware of how comfortable she was with him.

  “But don’t you find this just a little weird?” She suddenly had a thought. Maybe he did this all the time. Maybe this wouldn’t feel weird for him—or anyone else for that matter. People slept together on first dates all the time, didn’t they? Or did they? She’d never worried about what other people did with their sex lives, but she wondered if she was a step behind after being out of the dating scene for so long.

  “Which part?” he asked, stepping in so close that if she went up on her toes their lips would touch. “The fact that we were intimate on our first date, or the fact that I’m hoping tonight never ends and secretly trying to figure out how to get you to wake up in my arms tomorrow morning?”

  “Cole,” she whispered. How should a woman respond when a man said something so beautifully romantic that she wanted to wrap it up in a pretty ribbon and set it on a shelf to revisit a million times over her lifetime? I want to go home with you, too, but I’m too scared of what tomorrow will bring? Or next week? Or next month? I should take tonight and run, preserve it forever, and let you move on to a woman without a tainted past?

  He lifted her chin with his index finger and smiled again. Did he know how his smile made her insides go squishy? Could he see it in her eyes? And if so, did it bother him or turn him on?

  “I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”

  It would be easy to go home with Cole, to wake up in his arms and pretend that if her past became the talk of the town, he really would stand up for her. But she couldn’t expect anyone to do that, despite what he’d said. For her own safety she needed to preserve the strength and hard shell she’d developed before coming to Peaceful Harbor.

  She went with silence and a smile instead of responding as they continued walking along the quiet road, passing Chelsea’s Boutique, Jazzy Joe’s Café, and a number of other dark, closed stores. A dog barked in the distance, and every so often a car drove past. As they neared the bar, she remembered the scene with Kenna, and her stomach clenched. She tried to tell herself that it wasn’t jealousy she was feeling, but a normal emotion anyone would have if the guy they were out with was kissed by a woman.

  Yeah, that’s called jealousy.

  She tried to distract herself from the unfamiliar emotion. “Tell me about your brothers. I know Nate owns the restaurant and Sam o
wns a rafting company. Is that right?”

  “Yes,” he said as they crossed another street and walked through the parking lot of Tap It. “He rents boats, but he also takes people out on wilderness excursions. It’s pretty cool. When Ty’s in town, he hangs with Sammy a lot.”

  “I’ve never been rafting. It sounds fun.”

  “Really? Never?” His brows furrowed.

  “Towson isn’t really a river town,” she said. “We have the harbor nearby, but between school, then working full-time, there wasn’t much time for other stuff. I had hoped to do some fun things once I was settled in my career, but then I was dating Chris, and…life got in the way.”

  “What else besides rafting did you hope to do?” He stopped beneath a light by the front of the restaurant.

  “Well, river rafting wasn’t on my list, but it does sound fun. The things I wanted to do probably seem silly because they aren’t very outlandish. There are things I haven’t done since I was a little girl, like hiking up a mountain and having a picnic. And then there are things I’ve simply never done, like seeing an outdoor concert.”

  “I know they have outdoor concerts in Towson.”

  “Yes, but I’ve never been. Oh, and one day I’m going to learn to play the guitar.”

  “The guitar.” He shook his head. “Seriously?”

  “Yes!” She laughed. “See? My wish list is boring, isn’t it?”

  “Not at all. I happen to be a pretty good guitar player, and I’d be happy to teach you.”

  “Right. Of course you are. Is there anything you don’t do?”

  He laughed. “Yes. I don’t lie, cheat, or steal.”

  She rolled her eyes and wondered when it would rain on the Cole parade.

  “My mom made us all learn an instrument when we were younger, probably to keep us out of trouble. Anyway, I’m pretty good at the guitar. I’d be happy to teach you.”

  His mom. He’d had such a solid upbringing. Maybe there would be no raining on this parade after all. She’d seen the outcome of his parents’ efforts in five of their six children, and she felt like the luckiest girl on earth.

  “I’d like that. Is there anything you’ve always wanted to do but haven’t accomplished?”

  He tugged her in closer and said, “There are lots of things I have yet to accomplish.” Lowering his lips to a breath away, he said, “I’ve never kissed you right here beneath the moonlight, in front of this restaurant, after making love to you on my boat.” He sealed his lips over hers in a sensual, dreamy kiss that left her breathless. “Now I have.”

  As they walked into the restaurant, Cole asked, “Do you have plans tomorrow?”

  Her pulse tripped with hope. “I’m working at Mr. B’s until seven.”

  “Can you pencil me in at seven thirty?”

  There was nothing she’d rather do.

  Chapter Eleven

  MONDAYS WERE ALWAYS crazy at Cole’s medical office, and fitting in Elsie Hood, the gymnast, meant rescheduling patients and bringing his last patient of the day in during his lunch break in order to free up that appointment for Elsie. He didn’t mind long hours or taking extra time with patients; in fact, the time with patients was something he tried never to skimp on. But tonight he had a date with Leesa, and that changed everything. He checked his watch and hoped he’d make it out of work by six.

  Shannon had called him earlier in the day to tell him how much she’d enjoyed getting to know Leesa—and to pry him for details about their date. He’d taken the opportunity to enlist her help with a surprise he’d planned for Leesa. He smiled to himself thinking about how he hadn’t had to spill a single detail about their date. His sister said she’d heard his excitement in his voice.

  Now, as he walked toward an exam room to meet his newest patient, just thinking about seeing Leesa again made his body thrum with desire.

  Jon came out of another exam room in his white lab coat. He put a patient chart in the holder by the door and smirked at Cole. “You’d better get that freshly fucked grin off your face before you go in there.”

  Cole scrubbed a hand over his mouth, trying to put on his game face. Epic fail. The contented grin was there to stay.

  “I’ve never seen you like this,” Jon said with amusement in his eyes.

  “I’ve never felt like this.”

  “You seeing her again tonight?” Jon lifted his eyes as a nurse came out of another exam room. She pointed to the door, indicating that Jon had a patient waiting. He held up one finger to the nurse as Cole answered.

  “I hope to. So you might as well get used to the look.” Cole reached for the doorknob.

  An hour later Cole had examined Elsie Hood, a confident, determined fifteen-year-old gymnast with the most obnoxious father and silent mother Cole had ever come across. He sat across from Ann and Martin Hood, no longer smiling or thinking of Leesa, but consumed by the well-being of his new patient.

  Martin was a paper-thin, diminutive man who’d probably never played a sport in his life. He had a nasal voice, beady, ratlike eyes, and kept a firm grip on the arm of the chair where he sat between his wife and daughter, opposite Cole. “If the tests show this spondo…”

  “Spondylolysis, which means a defect of the vertebra. In Elsie’s case,” Cole explained, “I think she has a pars fracture, or more specifically, a fracture in the pars interarticularis of the vertebral arch. But we need to get X-rays and a bone scan done to confirm the diagnosis.”

  Elsie had her mother’s green eyes and flame-red hair. A spray of freckles peppered her nose and cheeks, and Cole noticed that she hadn’t looked at her father the entire visit. Even when her father spoke to her, she kept her eyes on her mother, or Cole, or on her lap, which in Cole’s mind confirmed his greatest concern. She was either fearful of her father or worried about disappointing him. He’d seen it a hundred times with young athletes with overbearing parents. They either homed in on their parents, holding eye contact too long, stiffening under their assessing gazes, or addressing them with a coldness that should never be present between a loving parent and their child. Cole had been lucky in that regard. His father hadn’t taken sports nearly as seriously as he had. It had been his own determination and drive that had fueled his need to propel himself to all-star status, and having an overbearing coach had fed into his obsessive need to be the best. The right coach would have helped him learn to back off. God knew his parents had tried time and time again. But Cole had been a stubborn teenager, and as with medicine, he’d been determined to be the best and hadn’t let on to his coach or his parents how badly he’d been injured until it was too late.

  Now, as he took in the worried look in Elsie’s eyes, he wondered if she’d been experiencing pain for longer than she’d let on. Each time he’d asked, her parents had answered for her. The tests would reveal the truth, and he hoped to hell he was wrong.

  “And the treatment?” Ann asked.

  “That will depend on what the tests reveal, but if Elsie has only recently been experiencing pain, and if it is indeed a pars fracture, then we’ll try rest from exercise and anti-inflammatories for a few weeks. Many times with kids Elsie’s age, that’s enough to allow their bones to heal.”

  “Rest from exercise?” Martin snapped. “She’s an Olympic contender. She can’t take a few weeks off now.”

  Cole bit back his disdain for parents who put anything above their children’s health and put on his most professional face. “Yes, Mr. Hood, I understand that she is an Olympic contender, which is a magnificent achievement.” He smiled at Elsie and said, “You should be very proud of yourself, Elsie. Not many adults have the determination and drive that you show at such a young age.”

  “Thank you, Dr. Braden,” she said with a proud smile.

  Cole shifted his eyes as he spoke, to indicate that the conversation was meant to be inclusive of Elsie and both of her parents. “We will know more when we get the results, but it’s important that you begin thinking about treatment options. If there is a fracture an
d it’s not given appropriate time to heal, the fracture gap at the pars can widen, and if that happens, the vertebra shifts forward. That condition is called spondylolisthesis. Typically it’s the fifth lumbar vertebra that shifts forward, on the part of the pelvic bone called the sacrum. And, of course, undiagnosed, this can lead to the vertebra pressing on a nerve, which will bring even more pain.”

  “What then?” Ann asked with fear in her voice.

  Cole didn’t want to go to the what-if stage with these parents even though he hoped a little fear might push Elsie’s father to stop thinking about the Olympics and instead focus on his daughter’s future health. He tempered his response just enough to ride the line between fear and reality.

  “Hopefully we’ve caught this early enough that rest and anti-inflammatories, and if necessary, a brace for stabilization, can correct the issues and we won’t have to think about the rest.”

  “A brace?” Martin moved forward in his chair and lowered his voice. “May I remind you again, Dr. Braden, that she is an Olympic contender.”

  “Yes, thank you, but I can assure you, Mr. Hood, that I have not forgotten Elsie’s achievement. I need for you and your family to clearly understand that if this is a pars fracture, and if it does not heal appropriately, bone to bone, it will never again be fully stable without surgery. Your daughter could experience a lifetime of discomfort if this isn’t diagnosed and treated appropriately.” Cole had seen both parents and patients who were afraid of treatment and failed to return for tests or follow-up visits. He turned to Elsie and asked again, “How long have you been experiencing pain?”

  “Two weeks,” Martin said before she could answer.

  Cole’s job as a physician was to treat the patient, and he rode a fine line trying not to overstep his boundaries when parents were involved. He respected those invisible lines and gave it one last shot.

  “Two weeks? Is that right, Elsie? Please remind me what you were doing when you first noticed the pain.”

  Her eyes darted nervously between her parents and Cole. “It was after practice one night. I turned to pick something up and it really hurt.”