“I’m sorry,” Liz assured him, “I’m just so happy to see you two together.”
“Me too,” I agreed, looking over at Cole. He leaned over and kissed me on the cheek, and then turned back to his mom.
“So, Pop?” he asked. She nodded.
“Of course, don’t worry about Pop. You two go ahead.”
“Thanks, Mom.” Cole walked me back to the truck, and I waved at Liz as we backed out of the driveway. We were headed to Richmond to collect my things, and I had no idea where to go from there, but at the moment I didn’t care as long as Cole was sitting beside me.
-§-
We were almost to Nashville when my phone started buzzing, and I halfway fished it out and realized it was Trina. I asked Cole if he minded me answering, which of course he didn’t, so I jerked the phone free and inadvertently hit the speaker button in the process.
“Hey sis,” I answered cheerily.
“Camdyn, ah, you actually answered the phone! Did your landlord get ahold of you this morning?”
“Yeah, he called.”
“You’re not freaking out? What are you going to do?”
“Cole and I are heading to Richmond right now.”
“Cole, as in the hunky firefighter?” I glanced over at Cole guiltily.
“I’m just going to pretend I didn’t hear that,” he laughed.
“Oh, no, you have me on speaker,” Trina whined.
“It was an accident, but yes, you’re on speaker.”
“I am so embarrassed,” she stated. “Cole, it’s very nice to meet you, vocally anyway.”
“You also,” he chuckled. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“And I you,” Trina continued. Cole looked over at me and raised his eyebrows, and I just wanted to crawl under the seat.
“Sorry, what were you saying about the firefighter thing?” Cole asked, squinting his eyes at me.
“Oh, nothing really,” Trina told him, “just a joke I made once after Camdyn stole that picture… I mean, saw that picture of you as a firefighter, and… I’m sorry Camdyn. You know I’m no good under pressure, and I am so going to talk you into a hole!”
“Just forget it,” Cole laughed, shaking his head.
“Trina, can I just call you back in a bit?” I asked, trying not to look at Cole.
“Yeah, call me later. Love you!”
“Love you,” I said, hitting end. I took a few seconds to look out the window before I dared to turn and look at Cole, who was smiling as he looked at the road in front of him.
“You stole a picture?” he laughed.
“This is so humiliating, but…yes.”
“A picture of me? When I was a firefighter?”
“Yes.”
“And you sent it to Trina?”
“No, I just…described it.”
“Am I normally a topic of your conversation?”
“That is a very personal question, and I don’t feel compelled to answer.” I looked over at him hoping he wouldn’t ask me anything else, and he just smiled and returned his eyes to the road.
“Hungry?” he asked.
“Starving.”
“What sounds good?” I sighed as I thought for a minute.
“A big, greasy cheeseburger,” I finally stated. He laughed and gazed over at me.
“Are you serious?”
“Uh, yeah.”
“Then I know the perfect place,” he said, taking the next exit and heading into Nashville. We drove for a few more minutes before he parked and opened the door for me.
“Where is it?” I asked, not seeing any restaurants.
“A couple of blocks down. There wouldn’t have been anywhere to park the trailer,” he assured me, lacing his fingers through mine. “I used to come here all the time when I was a firefighter. I figured you would appreciate it.”
“Can we stop talking about that?” I asked with a laugh. “I am completely mortified already, believe me!”
“But you’re so adorable when you’re embarrassed,” he told me as we crossed the street. I shook my head at him and just kept walking. Three blocks later, we were standing in front of a little hole in the wall that he assured me had the best cheeseburgers anywhere. It was fairly crowded, but we found a table near the back, and soon we had ordered our food. Cole talked to me a little bit about things that happened to him while he was in Nashville, holding my hand across the table, and I was content to just sit there and listen. He was in mid-story about a building fire when he suddenly looked up over my shoulder.
“Are my eyes deceiving me, or is that Cole Parker?!” I heard a deep voice exclaim. Cole stood up with a smile on his face, and I glanced over my shoulder to see three men wearing matching navy t-shirts striding toward us. They each shook Cole’s hand and talked to him for a minute, and then one of them looked at me and smiled, whispering something to Cole.
“Sorry, Camdyn,” he said looking over at me and then pointing to the guys one at a time. “This is Jerry, Brad, and Nate. We used to work together. Boys, this beautiful lady is Camdyn Taylor.”
“Camdyn Taylor,” Jerry repeated, settling himself into Cole’s seat. “What do you see in this guy?” He looked to be in his late thirties, with a very muscular build and a shaved head. I smiled as I glanced over at Cole.
“Wow, I don’t know, Jerry,” I began. “He’s just pretty darn perfect.”
“How could you argue with that?” Jerry asked Cole, shrugging his shoulders. “Saint Cole hasn’t changed then, I guess.”
“Saint Cole?” I asked, intrigued. “Why don’t you guys pull up a table and join us?”
“You heard the lady,” Jerry told the other two. Cole helped them pull another table against ours, and then he sat next to me, draping his arm across the top of my chair.
“So, why do you call him Saint Cole?” I wanted to know. Jerry started laughing and leaned back in his chair.
“They always said I was too nice,” Cole explained, smiling over at me.
“Nice, who said anything about nice?” Brad asked. “We were all the time trying to set Cole up with these women we would meet, and he would be with them maybe five minutes…”
“Yeah, it was always the same thing,” Nate interjected. “’Not the one, boys. Not the one.’”
“At some point, you’ve got to be like, ‘Dude, who cares if she’s the one?’ She’s cute and she is available,” Brad stated.
“Not Saint Cole,” Jerry laughed. “She wasn’t the one, he wasn’t wasting his time. He’d just go home and sit there reading a book or playing his guitar.” I looked over at Cole, who was shaking his head and laughing with them.
“Wait, wait, boys, I’ve just had an epiphany,” Brad stated, holding his hands up in the air. “Camdyn, have you been with Cole longer than five minutes?”
“Yes,” I said carefully, nodding my head.
“She must be the one,” Brad emphatically said, setting his hands on the table. I could feel myself blushing.
“You guys knock it off,” Cole told them, looking embarrassed. “How are things going around here? It feels like it’s been forever.”
They started talking about their other friends, and I laughed at some of their stories, especially the ones Jerry directed specifically to me about Cole’s first days as a firefighter, and how inexperienced he was. They kept talking even after the food came, and I sat there silently eating my burger and laughing along with them. When there was finally a lull in the conversation, Cole looked over at me.
“So, how is the burger?” he asked. I finished chewing and smiled at him.
“So good,” I said, pulling my napkin up out of my lap.
“Seriously, Cole, can I have your girlfriend?” Brad asked. “She thinks you’re perfect and she can put away a hamburger like nobody’s business.” I looked at Cole and waited for his response.
“Not a chance,” he said, “get your own girlfriend.”
“So are you a nurse in a psych ward?” Jerry asked. “How did you meet thi
s guy?”
“Camdyn is a bestselling novelist,” Cole stated. “She came to my hometown to do some research.”
“Nice, that’s pretty impressive!” Jerry said approvingly.
“And are you researching this guy?” Nate wanted to know. I looked at Cole and smiled.
“I’m giving that a lot of thought,” I replied, as he leaned over and kissed me on the forehead.
“Aw, that’s so sweet, I think I might be sick,” Jerry said, shaking his head.
They went on to talk about a girl Nate was dating, and Jerry’s son’s baseball aspirations, and pretty soon Cole said we better be going if we were going to get to Richmond before morning.
Cole insisted on paying for everyone’s lunch, and I told him I was going to step outside and stretch my legs for a minute. Nate and Brad remained inside with Cole, but Jerry followed me out the front door. He told me a couple more stories about Cole as we stood by the curb, and then he grew silent for a minute before he continued.
“Cole Parker is one of the best guys I know,” Jerry said, staring absently across the street. “These days and times, you just can’t trust people anymore, but I know he would do anything for me. He’s a heck of a guy.”
“I agree,” I told him with a smile. He looked over at me, studying me before he spoke again.
“He’s also the pickiest, most particular man I’ve ever met in my life,” he laughed. “That says a lot for you.”
“How so?”
“You must be a remarkable young lady, that’s all. A pretty face never really tempted Parker.”
“Well, in that case, I’ve got to tell you, I feel incredibly lucky rather than remarkable.” He smiled and patted me on the back.
“Maybe that’s the secret,” he said as Cole and the other guys stepped out the door. They said their goodbyes, all three of them shaking my hand, and then they were on their way down the street while we headed in the opposite direction. We had gone almost a block when Cole put his arm around me and pulled me to his side.
“You charmed the socks off those guys,” he told me, his arm warm around my shoulders. “They loved you. And the way you told them to just pull up a table – that was awesome.”
“They’re your friends,” I shrugged. “What else would I have done?”
“Plenty of women wouldn’t have wanted the intrusion, that’s all. You handled yourself with grace.”
“Oh, that is too funny! I don’t think I’ve ever been accused of having grace before.” We reached the parking lot, but instead of opening the door, he rested his hand on the truck just above my shoulder and leaned over me.
“I feel like some sort of congratulatory celebration is in order,” he stated with a mischievous grin.
“You mean, like a fist bump?” I asked, tilting my face up expectantly. I closed my eyes as he kissed me on the temple, and then the cheek, and finally full on the mouth. When he pulled back, he laughed.
“I like this system we have, but I think I am back to hating Trey again because of it,” he stated. I giggled and wrapped my arms around his neck.
“Trust me, Trey never kissed me like that.”
“No?”
“Definitely not, Saint Cole. You are in a class all your own.”
“That’s good to know,” he said, kissing me once more before he stepped back and opened the door.
-§-
We made pretty good time the rest of our trip, stopping twice at scenic overlooks to stretch our legs and again for dinner. Once it got dark, our conversation seemed to slow, and I found my eyes getting rather heavy. I fought to keep my head upright, finally leaning back against the seat. Cole noticed and told me to lay the seat back and get some rest, so I did. Every once in a while I would wake up for a few seconds, realize we were still driving, and drift back into slumber.
After a while, I felt Cole gently shaking me, and I sat up and blinked my eyes, trying to focus.
“Camdyn, we’re just a few miles out of Richmond, and I need you to tell me where to go.”
“Okay,” I yawned, raising my seat and looking out the window. I watched for the correct exit, and then directed him to my apartment complex. I looked at the digital clock on his dash as we parked the truck, and it was a quarter past one.
“So this is it, huh?” he asked as he grabbed his bag and locked the truck. “I figured you would live somewhere a little swankier.”
“Yes, this is it,” I told him. He put his arm around me as we walked toward the stairs and headed up to my apartment. It felt so weird having Cole there. I had spent the last several days in his world, and now it was like I was inviting him to enter mine. I wasn’t sure what he would think.
I pulled the keys out and unlocked the door, swinging it open as I flipped on the light and turned around to watch Cole come through the door. He stepped inside, gave me a puzzled look, and looked back out into the night.
“You sure you got the right apartment?” he asked groggily.
“Um, yeah, pretty sure.”
“What, did they clean you out?”
“No…I don’t think so.”
“Where’s your furniture?”
I realized then that my existence must seem pretty strange to Cole, who lived in a beautiful house that he had created so carefully. I lived in an apartment that I didn’t really care about.
“I don’t have any furniture, except in the bedroom,” I told him.
“Wow, okay,” he said, moving further into the apartment. I pointed out the bathroom and the bedroom, grateful that everything was clean. He used the restroom and then came back, sitting down on the bed.
“I’ll just sleep on the chair, or the floor,” he suggested.
“You can have the bed,” I insisted.
“No, not going to happen, but we’ll sort it out in a minute,” he said, rubbing his eyes. I went into the restroom and brushed my teeth, changing out of my clothes. I was only in there for three minutes, tops, but when I went back into the bedroom, Cole was passed out on my bed. I knew he had to be exhausted. We had been up late the night before, and then he had driven all day. He looked so handsome and peaceful there sleeping that I didn’t have the heart to wake him. I grabbed a blanket and pulled it over him, and then I curled up as best I could in the overstuffed chair, resting my head on the arm, and drifted off to sleep listening to Cole’s quiet breathing.
Chapter Eighteen
I woke to the feeling that there was a presence nearby, and I opened one eye to see Cole hovering just above me. He kissed me on the cheek and smiled as I sat up and looked at him sleepily.
“You let me have the bed,” he stated with a smile.
“Yeah, you fell asleep so fast, I didn’t want to wake you.”
“Thank you,” he whispered. “You will never believe what I forgot.”
“What did you forget?” I scratched my head and tried to sit up a little straighter to get the kink out of my neck.
“A toothbrush,” he laughed. “Not to worry, I found a huge stash of brand new ones under your sink.”
“Yeah, I do have a stash,” I giggled, feeling very self-conscious. “I’m just going to…” I pointed to the bathroom, and he backed up and moved away from me, so I could rise from the chair. I was desperate to brush my teeth, so I did that and then went back into the bedroom to find Cole.
“Did you already take a shower?” I asked him. He nodded and smiled.
“Yeah, and I already asked your neighbor Carlos if he would help me get the bed and the chair down to my trailer. He said he would be happy to assist me whenever I rang.”
“Wow, what did you do, just walk over there and introduce yourself or what?”
“No, I met him right outside the door,” he laughed. “He asked me if I was the new neighbor or something, and I told him that I was your boyfriend. He said that was very interesting.”
“I can only imagine,” I said, looking around the room.
“So, why don’t you go ahead and take a shower, and I will get Carl
os to help me with the bed and chair, and then we’ll get the rest after?”
“Yeah, okay,” I breathed, heading off to the bathroom. I took what had to be the fastest shower of my life, washing my hair and pulling it into a ponytail, and then fished some clothes out of a box in the closet. The nicest thing I could find was jogging pants and a t-shirt, but that worked. Cole was wearing gym shorts and a t-shirt, so I doubted he would say anything anyway. I pulled on my tennis shoes and met Cole and Carlos standing just outside the door. Carlos said hello to me, but not much more, as Cole informed me that the bed and the chair were loaded. Cole and I then came inside, closing the door behind us.
“So, funny story,” Cole stated. “When Carlos was helping me load that stuff up, he told me that I might be on the lookout for your other boyfriend, because he has been around here a lot looking for you. He thought I could take him, though, so I was safe.”
“What other boyfriend?” I asked nervously.
“I asked him that same question. He said, ‘You know, that guy that proposed on TV.’”
“You have got to be kidding me…”
“Well, you’ve been warned,” Cole laughed, following me into the bedroom. “I checked out your closet earlier, and you don’t have too many clothes.”
“No, because they’re all in my suitcases, remember?”
“How could I forget? I nearly broke my back bringing those suitcases into Aunt Rosalie’s.”
“I felt really terrible about that, believe me, but I was also really impressed by your brute strength.” He laughed and pulled a couple of boxes out of the closet, popping one of them open. He pulled out a pair of men’s gym shorts and gave me a puzzled look.
“Charlie’s,” I offered. “Those are things I borrowed when I had unfortunate incidents.”
“That’s far too intriguing to let pass,” he laughed. “For what unfortunate incident did you need Charlie’s gym shorts?”
“Guacamole from a food truck and a really long ride in the car – I don’t think you want to hear about that.”
A Reason to Run (The Camdyn Series Book 1) Page 26