She raised a hand to shield her eyes and tilted her head, studying his face. “I’ve been thinking about it. There has to be more to your reluctance to dig into sweet Briar’s records. Though you have always been a softie for a victimized female.”
He took a threatening step toward her. “You don’t know a damn thing about Briar. If you did, and you had a scrap of decency left in you, you would back off for mercy’s sake. She doesn’t deserve this.”
Tiffany’s thin brows lifted over the rim of her glasses. “You do have feelings for her. You want my advice, Cole, here it is. Choose wisely. Either the innkeeper—” she nodded toward Gavin “—or your child.”
Cole glanced out over the white sand. A lashing wave sent Gavin skidding off the board. His dark hair bobbed over the surface after a moment and he waded his way back to shore, rubbing the stinging salt water from his eyes and dragging the board behind him. He lowered his hands and finally spotted Cole.
Though rushing water still pulled at his calves and ankles, the kid stopped short, arms limp at his sides, expression unreadable.
Cole took off his sunglasses and offered what little smile he could conjure. “Hey there, chief.”
Another moment of wary hesitation passed as Gavin dripped and stared. Then he lugged the board into the wet sand, dropped it and broke into a run.
Cole’s heart squeezed as he caught Gavin on a running leap. He spun him in a quick circle before he crouched and hugged him tight to his chest, not giving a thought to the dampness that soaked clean through his shirt. Everything inside him swelled and, for what felt like the first time in months, Cole could breathe right again.
It took him a while to let go. He leaned back, kneeling in the sand to take a good, long look at what he’d missed more than anything from his old life. Thick black eyelashes framed hazel eyes, an embodiment of the clash between his parents. They winked with tears, but a huge grin highlighted several new missing teeth. Working furiously at the knot in his throat, Cole ran a hand over his close-shorn head. “It’s been way too long.”
“I missed you,” Gavin said, rubbing the back of his hand over his mouth to hide the quiver of his chin. “Even when they told me I shouldn’t, I missed you, Dad.”
Cole pulled him close again, placed his chin on top of his son’s head as he always had when comforting him. “I know. I’ve missed you, too, Gav.”
“Mom says I can spend the day with you?”
Because it came out a wavering question, Cole let a real smile soften his face. “Of course. The whole day’s ours. Wherever you want to go, whatever you want to do.”
“Tomorrow, too?” Gavin asked hopefully.
Cole’s smile faltered. He felt Tiffany’s shadow fall over the both of them. “We’ll see,” he offered. “Come on, let’s get you dried off.”
As Gavin ran for a beach towel, Cole stood slowly but couldn’t quite face Tiffany again. Sliding his hands into his pockets, he released an unsteady breath. “Thank you,” he said, barely able to keep his voice from cracking with emotion.
“You get one day,” she said. “It shouldn’t take you that long to make your decision. Have him back here by sunset. I’ll be waiting.”
* * *
COLE HAD STOPPED by the local Harley shop to buy Gavin a kid-sized helmet, but he’d been worried he wouldn’t want to ride the motorcycle.
To his surprise, Gavin took to it with his characteristic eagerness and peered around Cole’s shoulder as they cruised Gulf Shores. When they both decided lunch was in order, they grabbed some takeout and drove to the nearest park. Only a mile from the beaches, it was surprisingly quiet, the playground shaded by thin, towering pines that idly swayed in the southerly breeze, scattering green needles and their woodsy scent around them.
As it turned out, Cole didn’t have to worry about communication. Gavin readily launched into conversation as if the year’s ordeal had never taken place, laughing, kidding, teasing and answering questions about home.
“How’s school?” Cole ventured after wolfing down a cheeseburger.
For the first time, Gavin’s smile fled. “Sucks. Mom took me out of public school and put me in that prissy academy. I have to wear dorky uniforms and I don’t have any friends there.”
Cole frowned at that but knew anger would be useless. Any say he had in Gavin’s life had been mercilessly uprooted. “How’re your grades?”
“Okay, all except for math. I made a C the last quarter. Mom was upset. She wants me to get a tutor next year.”
Guilt pricked under the surface. “It’ll get better, buddy.” Gavin had inherited Cole’s numerical dyslexia to Tiffany’s heavy disapproval. He hesitated for a long moment before adding, “You mentioned that your mom’s seeing someone. What’s he like?”
Gavin grimaced, eyes falling. “Chad. He’s a jerk.”
“Is he treating you okay?”
He lifted a shoulder. “He doesn’t hurt me or anything. But Mom wants me to call him Dad and gets mad when I don’t. He’s moved all his clothes in, and he sleeps in her room.”
“It’s nice that your mom’s seeing someone, but there’s no reason to call him Dad if you’re not comfortable with it.”
“You’re my dad,” Gavin said in answer to that. “Chad doesn’t even come close to you.”
Despite himself, Cole felt his lips twitch. He picked up a napkin and handed it over the table. “Wipe that ketchup off your lip.”
Gavin grinned as he scrubbed his mouth. “Where’re we going next? Waterville? I’ve always wanted to go there.”
Cole tossed the paper wrappers into the garbage can. “If that’s where you want to go...”
“And then we could go goofy-golfing at that cool pirate place. And then to The Track—the go-karts look fun.”
He scooped the kid over his shoulder and hauled him back to the parking lot. “Whatever floats your boat.”
“Hey, Dad, can we go parasailing?”
Cole chuckled heartily. “Okay, I lied. I draw the line at parasailing.”
“Ah, man.” As Cole set his feet on the asphalt, Gavin grabbed his helmet. “I really like the bike. Maybe after The Track we could go for a really long ride?”
Bending down to latch the strap under Gavin’s chin, he considered. “We could do that. Someone told me about this abandoned Civil War fort a couple miles from here.”
Gavin’s eyes rounded in awe. “With ghosts?”
“What’s a creepy old fort without ghosts? We’ll ride down that way and check it out.”
Gavin whooped, hopping onto the passenger seat. “This is the best day ever!”
The best day ever. Cole wanted to echo the sentiment. Having Gavin with him after so long apart... it was a gift. Before the day was over, he knew what he had to do. And dreaded returning to the inn to face the last person he wanted to hurt.
* * *
BRIAR STEPPED OUT the kitchen door with a basket in hand. The garden vegetables were so heavy they were practically falling off the stalks. She savored the sight of the new tomatoes. She and her mother had nurtured them from seedlings. There was nothing so rewarding as watching them grow and remembering those last few months that her mother had been able and active.
By the time she finished plucking and weeding, a nice bunch of fresh produce filled her basket. She began to walk back into the inn. And stopped.
The colors drew her. Hot, electrifying waves of light splashed across the sky like paint on a canvas. She set the basket by the door and slowly walked down to the dock.
It was breathtaking. She never took the time to watch the summer sunsets anymore.
But tonight’s was one of those that drew everyone out to ogle. She leaned against the rail on the boat dock and watched the hot ball of red flame descend from the sky. Bands of hot pink, bright orange and untamed yellow je
tted in its wake in a series of colorful tufts that faded into the east.
As the sun lowered just over the far west bank of Mobile, its light hit the water at exactly the right angle. With a catch of her breath, she watched the light dance on the still waters around her. It was magic, those sparkling lights.
Fairies. Fairies dancing.
The memory came back to her, blazing her with warmth and her mother’s love. Closing her eyes, she felt like a little girl wrapped in a parent’s loving embrace, heart bursting with wonder and magic. “Fairies. Fairies dancing,” her mother said. “You only see them when the sun comes out full and bright like that. They hide in the rocks until the rays hit the water. Then they dance.”
Briar smiled up at her. Their eyes locked. Glee bounded in her young heart as her mother squeezed her shoulder. In that moment, she knew fairies existed and it was their secret to share.
Tears filled Briar’s eyes as she felt her mother’s presence envelop her again, a protective shell nothing could penetrate. She let it fill her up, a glowing pool. And she yearned for what had been—simple, carefree days.
The boards of the dock creaked behind her. She turned and saw Cole. Her heartbeat didn’t settle, only stumbled and cantered. She let out a laughing breath. “You’re always sneaking up on me.”
“Sorry,” he said, voice tuned low, as if he didn’t want to intrude upon nature’s exhibition or her enjoyment of it.
When she saw his hesitation, she gauged the grim light in his eyes. No, not a grim light, but sadness. Deep, unequivocal sadness. Reaching out to him, she touched his arm. “What’s wrong?”
He let out a breath and shook his head. “Have you ever been so sure of what you wanted...but you lose sight of yourself trying to get there?”
Her eyes softened and she nodded. “It’s like you’ve read my mind.”
He reached up to the hand she’d touched him with and gently took her fingers in his. “Briar, whatever happens...I need you to know that I care about you. I’ve only known you a short time, but it doesn’t matter. Sometimes all I see is you.”
Her heart lifted, fluttered at the words. “Cole...”
“If I had my way, I’d never hurt you. I’d never let anything hurt you.”
His eyes were damp. With her other hand, she touched his face. With her heart, she reached out to him, enfolded him, refused to let go. “Where’s this coming from?” When his eyes dodged hers, she lifted her other hand to frame his face. “Cole, it’s okay. I know you’d never hurt me.”
Before he could say a word, her mouth covered his fully. Her world tipped off its axis and went into free fall. Stunned, she swayed back against the rail. After a moment, Cole cupped her face and spread his fingers over her cheeks. Warm, so warm...
Her lips parted and something shot to life inside her, a rocket of flame that sailed from the tips of her toes to the top of her head. His tongue stroked hers ever so lightly and she quivered, breath quickening in surprise.
He shifted back on his heels. Mindless, she gripped the front of his shirt and pulled him flush against her again. “Don’t stop.” She kissed him deep, praying the fluttering, unsteady, heating sensation in her joints would never fade. Praying she would always feel just like this.
With a groan, his arms banded around her tight. He dipped into her, not to taste this time but to take—until he chased all semblance of Briar’s thought and reason away. How had she ever gone through one day of her life without knowing the shape of his mouth, the taste of it and the desire that spilled free now that she was with him, uninhibited?
He lifted his mouth from hers, seeming to wrench himself away. “Briar, I want you.”
She sucked in a shocked breath, faltering. “You...you want me.”
“I want you.” He said it more vehemently this time, seeming to damn himself for doing so.
She sighed. “This is so fast. But for once, I don’t care.”
He stopped her from kissing him again with his hands on her shoulders. Eyeing her mouth, he said, “We should take this slow.”
Letting out a laugh, she shook her head to clear it. “I’m sorry. You’re right—I don’t know where my head’s gone.”
“I lose mine too often around you, Briar. I lose everything when I’m around you.”
The words were like a caress, spoken in such a sweet, reverent whisper that she turned her face into his shoulder, letting the warmth of him sweep clean through her. “I want to be with you, Cole.”
“I know.” His arms wrapped around her, held tight. “Me, too.”
She shook her head. “You’re leaving this weekend.”
His hand stilled in her hair. “I can stay. If you want me...”
Even as her heart lifted, she rejected the possibility. “But you have somewhere to go. Plans...”
His lips touched her brow in a tender motion that melted her. “Nothing that can’t be postponed.”
As he held her in the gathering shade of dusk, she breathed him in, memorizing the feel of him, the feel of them together here in this moment. Another one of those moments she wanted to encapsulate forever.
* * *
COLE STARED at the small device in the palm of his hand. It was the size of a pen head. So small, yet so intrusive.
Just one more layer of deception.
He listened to the inn around him. The two floors above were as quiet as could be—Briar and the Josefstines were tucked in bed. No lights illuminated the ground floor where he crept about on silent feet. No headlights flashed through the windows to reveal him as he knelt behind the check-in podium and inspected the main phone line.
The one in the office was simpler than this one, but this was where she answered the bulk of her calls. It was a two-line system, but old enough not to have caller ID. Clearly, most of the inn’s technology hadn’t been replaced in fifteen years, which made it easier to manipulate and his job ten times quicker.
Quick, he thought, studying the bug in his hand. Just another quick, hidden betrayal. He couldn’t think about that, though—he couldn’t afford to dwell on the lasting, dire effect this might have on Briar. After last night...
No. Last night was another thing he refused to think about. He focused on the task at hand. With this, he was one step closer to getting Tiffany off his back. Cursing under his breath, he unplugged the line from the back of the phone and got to work.
On the way back from his day with Gavin, Cole had thought of nothing else but the fact that he would be betraying Briar. And though he’d come to her with dark, underlying motives, as soon as she kissed him, he’d lost himself. He’d almost felt the snap of all those walls inside him break. Using the small laptop Tiffany had “donated” to his cause, he selected the software program that had come with the recording device. He switched the device on and cleaned up the area so it would look to Briar as if no one had been there but her.
Cole closed the small computer and stuffed it underneath the waistband of his jeans at the base of his spine, covering it with his leather jacket. Now whenever she made a call from either of the two lines, the computer would automatically record it and he could send the content to Tiffany’s smartphone.
He glanced at the grandfather clock that ticked away the seconds. Tapping Briar’s phone lines had taken less than five minutes. Quick. As he moved through the dark back up the stairs to his suite, his feet didn’t feel nearly as heavy as his heart.
CHAPTER TEN
“AND THEN?” Olivia demanded the next morning over breakfast.
Briar filled the mug in front of her with black coffee and couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt so smug. Lifting a shoulder, she grinned. “He helped me make dinner.”
“Uh-huh,” Olivia said with a knowing smirk. “Did you two get tangled up in the bed linens afterward?”
Briar rolled her eyes,
heaved a short sigh but couldn’t fight the smile. “No.”
“And by no, of course, you mean not yet.”
“But he kissed you again, right?” Roxie asked as she reached for another cinnamon roll.
“No.” Briar beamed. “I kissed him. I can do that, you know.”
“Hell, yeah, she can!” Olivia slapped a hand on the table. “Praise God! My girl’s becoming a woman.”
Adrian peered at her over the rim of her mug. “Don’t tease her, Liv. She’s been with guys before.”
“Yeah, like one, maybe two.”
“I’d really rather not dwell on the numbers,” Briar warned. “I kiss a man and you assume I’m going to sleep with him. Do you really think I’m that much of a hussy?”
“No,” Adrian put in. “She’s just projecting her own hussylike tendencies onto you.”
Olivia snorted. “Why so judgmental? Weren’t you once a proud member of Hussies United?”
“I think the question should be,” Roxie intervened as Adrian’s brow sailed onto her forehead in a whiplike motion, “whether or not Briar asks him to stay.”
Briar’s heart pounded. She wanted to have Cole to herself for one more week, but still...even the thought of what could happen between them made her nervous. It was true; she had only been with two other men and the most recent relationship had turned out to be a fiasco of epic proportions. “I haven’t really decided yet.”
“Where’s the man of the hour?” Olivia asked, spreading cream cheese on a poppy-seed bagel. “Usually he’s the first one here for breakfast.”
“He left early,” she said. “I heard the bike about half an hour before I came down.”
“He left without saying goodbye?”
Briar remembered the leaf of inn stationery she had found in front of the coffeemaker. “He left a note.”
“Oh. My. Word. He wrote you a love note?” Roxie’s eyes turned to dough as Briar took the paper from her apron pocket. “Forget you. I’m a goner.”
“She saw him first. Dibs.” Olivia yanked the paper from Briar’s fingers. She spread it on the tabletop, wiped her hands, chewed, swallowed then cleared her throat. “‘Dear Briar—’”
A Place with Briar (Harlequin Superromance) Page 13