The light of the moon was dim, but for some reason, Cole could see Anna so well as they gazed into each other’s eyes. It was like they were connecting on a whole new level. He swore he could see all the way to her heart and soul. She was not only a beautiful woman, but a beautiful person. He kept his arms wrapped around her as she glided up and down on his lap. He wanted to keep her as close as to him as possible. He needed to. Tonight wasn’t about touching every inch of her even though he thoroughly enjoyed doing so. It was about feeling a special bond with her—with Anna—his Anna. A connection which scared him more than anything else but one which felt more amazing than anything he had ever experienced before. And man, did he feel it. His heart felt like it was ready to burst out of his chest.
Anna leaned in to kiss Cole. Her heart was swelling for this man, completely beyond her control at this point. Her climax was building, and he embraced her tighter. There, in his arms, she felt whole.
They reached their peaks of pleasure simultaneously. Their moans muffled by each other’s mouths. Anna rested her forehead on Cole’s once the pulsing between her legs slowed.
“I lo- love when we are together,” she corrected herself quickly, hoping Cole didn’t catch it. No matter what feelings were racing through her body in that particular moment, Anna had to keep her head straight.
Cole’s heart raced even more when he began to hear the start of her words. He had never heard those words from a woman, nor ever said them to one. Anna quickly changed her thoughts though. He didn’t know what it meant, and he couldn’t help but feel disappointed. She was right about one thing. “I love when we are together, too, Anna.” He paused for a moment and started to feel overwhelmed again. “Let’s get you home.”
That was abrupt, she thought.
They cleaned up all their stuff. As they walked to his car, Cole got a text message from his brother. It changed his demeanor even more. They headed back to Anna’s place in silence. Cole held her hand the whole time, slowly swirling his thumb over her hand in rhythmic circles. She glanced over at him every once in a while, but his eyes were fixed on the street ahead.
They were almost at her place. “Cole, is everything okay?” It was the second time she’d asked him that question this evening. In the beginning, she contributed it to anxiety over it being their first official date. Understandable. Everyone got nervous sometimes. Maybe she shouldn’t have made such a big deal about it when they were at the warehouse earlier today. It was just a bit of bantering with him. That was them —being playful. She could have sworn she felt it subside as the night went on. Now it seemed to be back full force and she had no idea what was going on.
“Yeah. I just have some work things on my mind.”
Now he is thinking about work? Was it the text he got? Was something going on at the club? Or was it all an excuse because I used the term making love and it was too much for him? What is it with some guys and that term versus having sex or fucking? It doesn’t mean we have to walk down the freaking aisle!
Cole walked Anna to her door and kissed her good night.
That was it.
Anna walked into her apartment and gently closed the door behind her. She leaned up against it and closed her eyes. He didn’t say anything else to her, and he didn’t invite himself in. It wasn’t like Cole. Something was wrong or maybe she was just overanalyzing the whole night. She didn’t understand what was going on or what had changed, but an unsettling feeling washed over her. She sensed he was being distant in the beginning of the night, but he started talking more and opening up to her after dinner. Most of the evening was incredible. Cole planned a wonderful and very romantic first date. What the hell could it be? Tears escaped her eyes. Dammit! Anna got angry with herself. She swore she would never sob over another man again. She wiped away her tears, took a few deep breaths, and pulled herself together. I just need a good night’s sleep. Oh, who am I kidding? I want to be in his arms.
* * * *
Cole sat on the stairs around the corner from Anna’s door. He listened carefully and waited to hear her footsteps into the apartment but he didn’t. He walked back toward her door and heard Anna quietly sobbing and sniffling. He leaned his head against the wall, fighting the urge to knock, pull her into his arms, and apologize. But what would he say to her? He knew he had upset her. It wasn’t his intentions, but he was the reason she was crying and it ripped at his heart.
Making love to Anna was beyond amazing, but he couldn’t shake how overwhelmed he was. His affection for her was developing so quickly. It was tearing through him, settling deep in his core, and scaring the shit out of him.
Cole replayed the night over again in his head. He was so fucking quiet in the beginning, trying to process his emotions and wanting it to be perfect—just like her. She deserved it.
Once he relaxed a bit, things were going really well until he realized how much he yearned to hear her say those three words to him. But she didn’t say them. She quickly corrected herself and he was utterly disappointed. Why couldn’t I just tell her how I feel? Because you are a goddamn pussy, you ass.
Then the text he got from Trent threw him for a loop. He went from being overwhelmed to borderline panicking. It wasn’t Anna’s fault. She had no idea. He was an ass for not saying anything to her, but he couldn’t just yet. He didn’t even know what was going on, but having the police show up at The Dirty Olive wasn’t good.
Once he heard her walking through her apartment, he headed out. He dialed his brother.
“You need to get down here right away,” Trent barked.
“On my way,” Cole said as he started up the car. “Any details?”
“Dude, apparently they think some shit is going on here, serious shit right under our fucking noses. I am freaking the fuck out! If it is true, how the fuck are we oblivious to it?”
“Fuck! We don’t need this now or ever. I’ll be there in ten.” Cole hung up and threw his phone on the passenger’s seat. He slammed his hands down on the steering wheel. “God damn it!”
Cole drove over to the club as quickly as he could without breaking too many traffic laws. He went through the back door and met his brother in his office.
“What happened, Trent?”
“A uniformed cop and two detectives came in. They asked me a bunch of questions about our business practices, employees, and who our regulars are. Then they took a good look around the place. And when I say a good look around, they were here for another thirty fucking minutes. Every customer and employee saw them in here. People were starting to ask questions, Cole.”
“What the fuck?”
“Cole, I swear to God if you know anything about this, so help me God, I will kill you.”
Cole looked at his brother, completely in shock. “Really? You really think I would be involved in something like this? It is my fucking business and reputation, too, Trent!”
Trent stood up from his desk and glared at his brother. The look on Cole’s face was a mix of shock and anger. It was the same look he had. He knew his brother was telling the truth. He shouldn’t have doubted him, even for a second, but anger sometimes made a person’s mind go crazy.
“No, I know you aren’t involved. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have blown up at you. This is just all fucked up!” Trent shook his head. “Goddammit Cole, what the fuck are we going to do? This isn’t good for business, and the new club is scheduled to open up soon.”
“We have got to get the bottom of this. We will make sure one of us is here every night to keep a closer eye on things. Do you think it is our customers or employees?”
“I don’t know, man. If it is one of our employees or a few, we should be able to figure it out with some close monitoring. Maybe we should install some security cameras.” Trent cringed at the possibility. Their staff had been working out pretty well so far. To find out one or some of them may have been jeopardizing Twilight Enterprises’ reputation, pissed him off.
“I agree. I will make some phone calls in the mornin
g. We need to keep this between the two us. We don’t know who we can trust.”
“I know. I am sure as hell not telling Sienna. She doesn’t need the extra stress of this shit and trying to get pregnant.”
Cole gave his brother a hug and sent him home to his wife. He changed into the spare dress clothes he kept in his office and headed out into the club.
Usually when he strolled through the club, he would meet and greet new customers with a proud smile on his face. It was different tonight. A day which started so well, full of productivity and passion, turned into making his girlfriend cry and a police investigation. Cole rubbed his hands over his face trying to get rid of some of the stress. He went behind the bar and checked on his bartenders. Everything seemed normal.
He checked with his manager. “How is business tonight, Angelo?”
“Typical for a weeknight.” Angelo was in the middle of working on the shift schedules for the servers.
“Okay, good.”
Angelo looked up from his paperwork. “Hey Cole, why were the police here earlier?”
Cole hesitated for a brief second. “Oh just some permit shit with the new club. This city can be difficult sometimes.”
Angelo nodded and went about his business. Cole continued to monitor the club until midnight. The staff cleared out about one in the morning. Cole took a good look around to see how many security cameras would be needed and where he wanted them to go. He double checked all the locks on the club and went home.
As soon as he got to his place, he poured himself some whiskey. He took a sip and felt the burn down his throat. He checked his cell phone to see if Anna had called. He ached when he didn’t see a text or any missed calls from her. He stared at his phone wondering if he should call her, but it was almost two in the morning.
Cole finished his whiskey and poured himself another glass. He took his glass and the rest of the bottle with him into his bedroom. He stripped off his clothes and sat in his bed. He sipped his drink and surfed through a number of channels on the television. He poured himself another glass. There was nothing on that caught his attention. He turned off the television and threw the remote on his nightstand. He drank some more and stared at the ceiling. He grabbed his phone and stared at the photo he took of Anna and him. He was still debating whether or not to call her. It’s too fucking late. He knew she had a busy day at work tomorrow. She always had busy days. The last thing he wanted to do was piss her off anymore by waking her up. Tomorrow, he told himself as he polished off his third, or was it his fourth glass of whiskey?
He dialed Anna’s number even though his mind told him not to. His body and his heart told him otherwise.
“Cole?” Anna answered the phone in a groggy state. The call had awakened her out of a dead sleep. “Why are you calling so late?” Cole didn’t say anything, but Anna could hear him breathing. “Cole?”
Cole swallowed hard. “Yeah, I’m here,” he said quietly.
“What do you want, Cole? It is three o’clock in the morning,” Anna whispered, but her tone was firm. She needed her sleep. It took her way too long to get to sleep because of him, and now he was waking her up.
“I—I just wanted to hear your voice,” his voice was shaky and his speech was slurred.
Anna rolled her eyes even though she was alone. “Well, you could be sleeping right beside me right now, but apparently you had other plans—like getting drunk.”
“Anna—”
“No, Cole. I don’t have time for this. I have a busy day tomorrow, and I need to get some sleep.”
“Anna, please don’t hang up.”
Anna sighed. “Cole, you have two minutes, and then I am hanging up.”
“Look, I’m sorry about how things ended tonight. I just—well, I am scared, Anna. For the first time in my fucking life, I am scared.”
“Of what?” she snapped at him out of pure frustration.
“You. Me. Us.”
“Why? I thought things were going great for us.” Her voice softened.
“It was. Is. Until I went and fucked it up. I have never felt this way about a woman before. The way I feel about you, Anna, it scares the shit out of me.”
“Cole—”
“No, please let me get this out, Anna. I have been thinking about you since the day I met you. Even when I was with other women, you kept popping up in my mind.” Cole got up and paced his room. He realized he was drunk when he began to stumble a bit. He had to speak slowly to annunciate his words.
“Not a good direction to go, Cole,” she warned. Did he really have to mention other women? She heard some stories about his playboy reputation from people at the bar, but didn’t know if they were true.
“Just hear me out, please.” He paused hoping she wouldn’t object. When she didn’t say anything, he continued. “Before New York, I hadn’t been with another woman for two months.”
Anna rolled her eyes again. Wow! Two whole fucking months! What a sacrifice!
“I just stopped having sex with other women. All I thought about was you. So when New York popped up, I had to take the opportunity. From the moment we first kissed, I couldn’t get you out of my mind. It is hard for me to sleep when you aren’t my body pillow. I miss you calling me on my bullshit and bantering with me. I miss watching you work and seeing your creative, take control attitude. God Anna, I feel like I am going fucking crazy!”
Mixed emotions were running rapid through her mind trying to grasp this side of Cole. “I don’t understand. How can all those things you said to me drive you crazy? Those feelings you are having are supposed to be incredible, not causing you so much turmoil you don’t know what to do with yourself.”
“Fuck! I know!” he growled. “Then this shit happened at the bar tonight.”
Way to change the subject. She was feeling so frustrated at this point and worried she wasn’t going to get any solid answers or explanations from him. “What shit?”
“Nothing. It is nothing for you to worry about.”
“Cole, what was the text was about?”
“Anna, I can’t tell you anything yet. Christ, I don’t even know all the fucking details!” he bellowed in an angry voice, causing her to jump.
Now his tone was frightening her. What the hell was going on? Why couldn’t he just talk to her like a normal human being — like his girlfriend? A tear dripped down her cheek. This obviously wasn’t the time for this discussion.
“Cole, you need to go to bed and sober up. We can talk later.”
“No,” he commanded. “I have to tell you something else first.”
“Cole, please calm down. You are starting to scare me,” she said, softly biting her quivering lip. No more tears. Be strong.
Cole took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. “Please listen to me,” he said softly.
Awkward silence fell over the line. It was confession time.
“I love you, Anna Bryant. I love you so much it hurts. I love you so much I don’t know what to do with myself.”
Anna didn’t say anything. She wanted to hear those words from him, but definitely not like this. No matter if he meant it or not, there is no way his drunk ass would remember. “Go to bed, Cole.” She hung up the phone.
“Anna? Anna?” Cole realized Anna did indeed hang up. “Fuck,” he yelled as he threw his phone against the wall. It shattered into pieces. Cole couldn’t control his emotions. His eyes welled up. He was almost certain they were meant to be together forever. Everything took a downward spiral today. How could things have gotten so fucked up in such a short period of time?
* * * *
Anna hung up and began sobbing. Fuck promises! She wasn’t able to hold it in any longer. She had no idea what had happened. Cole certainly wasn’t making any sense or telling her anything other than what he just slurred through. She knew he had different sides—a business one, a sweet one, a sexy one, a bantering one, and even a reflective one. But this side? A drunk one?
She had a gut-wrenching feeling he was
keeping something from her. There was definitely something going on at the bar. Cole was really pissed and worried about it. She knew that much. But the fact he wouldn’t talk to her about it, hurt her.
And why the mixed emotions about her? Did some girl from his past fuck with his head? It was still so early in their relationship to have all of these problems. She hated secrets. She hated liars. No fucking way was she going to tolerate this.
Her tears turned to anger.
As much as she tried to fall back to sleep, she couldn’t. She just tossed and turned thinking about everything that went right and everything that went wrong.
She looked at the clock. It was four-thirty in the morning. Anna groaned and got up to start her day. It was no use trying to get to sleep now. At least if she was awake, she could be productive.
Anna hopped into the shower and got dressed in her black pant suit. She had a number of appointments today and needed to prepare for them.
By the time she ate breakfast and gathered her things, it was almost six. She walked out the door and came to a screeching halt.
“Cole? What are you doing here?”
Cole was sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall outside her door. He must have dozed off or passed out while drinking some Gatorade because there was a puddle of it right beside him. Anna shook her head. It was a sad sight to witness, especially seeing a successful, grown man sitting there in that state.
“I walked here. I had to see you,” he mumbled.
“You walked all the way here from your place?” Anna was shocked, mainly by his stupidity. It was a haul, not to mention through some not-so-nice neighborhoods.
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