by Marie Force
“Scared me,” she whispered.
“I’m sorry, but I couldn’t wait another minute to talk to you.”
“About what?” she asked, alarmed.
“Anything. Everything. Nothing.”
She reached up to caress the stubble on his jaw. “I felt the same way when I woke up before you earlier.”
“What should we do today?”
“We could take the Metro into the city and play tourist.”
“Why would we take the Metro when we have a perfectly good car?”
She laughed. “Because it’s impossible to park downtown.”
He wrinkled his nose. “Do you want to do that? You’re there every day.”
“I love showing off my favorite city.”
“If you want to, that’d be great. I haven’t been here as a tourist since my senior year of high school.”
“That long ago?”
He tickled her, and she dissolved into squealing laughter.
A rap on the door startled them into quiet snickers.
“Housekeeping.”
“Shit,” Cole muttered. “I forgot the privacy thingie last night.”
The maid knocked again.
“We need some more time,” Cole called, his hand over Olivia’s mouth to silence her laughter. He replaced his hand with his mouth and sank into a deep kiss. “Do you think you can be quiet now?”
Chastened, her mouth quivered with laughter. “No.”
“Here’s the plan—shower, breakfast—or I guess it’s lunch now—and then we’ll head into the city. Good?”
“As long as there’s coffee in there somewhere, that sounds perfect.”
***
Olivia couldn’t remember a day she had enjoyed more as they traipsed from the Air and Space Museum to the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden to the row of monuments, beginning with Lincoln and ending at Jefferson. They sat on the steps at the Jefferson Memorial, overlooking the Tidal Basin, and shared a snow cone. The trees were alive with fall color and the water full of fallen leaves. Bright sunshine was no match for the nip in the cool, crisp air.
“Those are Washington’s famous cherry trees,” Olivia said, pointing them out to him. “When they bloom in April, it’s the prettiest thing you’ve ever seen.”
“I don’t know about that.” Cole smiled and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Have you painted it?”
“Only a hundred times. But I never seem to be able to capture the full majesty of it.”
“I’ll bet your paintings are as spectacular as your drawings. Will you show me sometime?”
“Sure.”
“I want to see everything you’ve ever done.”
“Even my childish scribbles?”
“Everything.”
“I have to put together a portfolio to get into art school.” She stopped herself and laughed. “I still can’t believe I’m saying that.”
“Believe it.”
She ran her hand over his leg. “Maybe you could help me decide what to include in the portfolio.”
“I’d love to.”
Olivia thought of her mother and their mess of a house.
“What’s wrong?”
She skimmed her foot back and forth over the smooth marble step.
“Liv?”
“I want you to help me, but I don’t want to bring you to my house.”
“Why not? The parents usually like me.”
“I’m sure they do,” she said with a sad smile. “It’s just… my mother, she’s…”
“What, honey?”
“She’s an agoraphobic. Do you know what that is?”
“She doesn’t leave the house.”
Olivia shook her head. “Not in nine years.”
Cole laced his fingers through hers. “That must be tough for you and your family.”
A giggling young girl approached them. “Are you Captain Incredible?” she asked.
Olivia felt a shudder of revulsion go through him over the hated name and suppressed the urge to giggle herself.
“I suppose I am,” he said reluctantly.
The girl thrust a small notebook at him. “Can I have your autograph?”
Olivia could tell he was annoyed by the interruption, but he smiled warmly at the child.
“Sure. What’s your name?”
“Cecile.”
Olivia watched him write, “To Cecile, Aim High, Dream Big. Cole Langston,” and hand the pad back to the girl. She said a hasty thank you and went running back to her waiting family.
“Sorry about that,” he said.
“I like what you wrote.”
He shrugged off the praise. “We were talking about your mom and how tough her condition is on your family.”
“Unfortunately, the agoraphobia is only part of it. She also shops compulsively—online, home shopping networks, and over the phone. Our house is full of crap. There’s no other way to put it.” She glanced at him. “I can’t take you there. I just can’t.”
“Then tomorrow take the car, go get what you need, and bring it back to the hotel. We’ll figure out the portfolio there.”
“Are you sure?”
“Whatever you want is what I want.”
“And you don’t care that I don’t want you to meet my parents—or, I should say, my mom? My dad is really great. He’d like you.”
Cole brought their joined hands to his lips and kissed hers. “I’d love to meet him so I can tell him what a beautiful daughter he has.”
“He tells me that all the time. To be honest, he’s the real reason I still live there—I could never leave him to deal with her by himself. He’s my first love.”
“I thought I was,” Cole pouted.
“You are,” she whispered. “You know you are.”
He nuzzled her neck. “Can we go back to the hotel and make out for a while before we have to be at Jenny’s?”
She checked her watch. “We might have time for a quick kiss or two.”
He stood up, tugged at her hand, and bolted down the stairs, pulling her with him. “Taxi!”
“Cole! Cabs are too expensive. We can take the Metro.”
“That’ll take too much time we can spend on better things—much better things.”
Chapter 11
“What do you want me to wear to Jenny’s?”
Olivia loved the way his soft chest hair felt against her face. “Jeans.”
He brushed his fingers through her long hair. “I can do better.”
“No need. They’re casual.”
“What if she doesn’t like me?”
“She’ll love you.”
“We need to get going.”
“I know,” she said but made no move to get up. “I wish we could stay in again tonight.”
“You don’t want to go?”
“I do.”
“But?”
“We’re running out of time.”
“Baby, this is just the beginning. We’ll have more time soon. I promise.”
“Weeks, probably.”
“Two.”
She lifted her head. “Really?”
“In two weeks I have another weekend off. Do you think you could be packed and ready to go by Friday?”
“Ready to go where?”
“That’s for me to know and you to find out. Can you do it? With work and school?”
“I can bank some extra hours at the store.”
“Friday night to Tuesday night maybe?”
“I’ll miss a class.”
“Will that kill your grade?”
“I have no idea. I’ve never missed one before.”
“Never?”
“Not one.”
“Oh, my God! I’m in love with a geek!”
She sighed. “Do you think you could say that again?”
“What?” he teased. “That you’re a geek?”
“No, the other thing.”
“That I’m in love with you?” He leaned in to kiss her. “That
part?”
“Mmm.”
“You like that, do you?”
“Oh, yeah.”
“So then you’ll run away with me in two weeks?”
“Will you tell me where we’re going?”
“Nope.”
“Then I’ll have to think about it.”
Astounded, he stared at her. “You will?”
“No,” she said, laughing. “You’re so easy.”
His eyes flashed as he wrestled her under him.
“We don’t have time for this,” she reminded him, giggling nervously at the sinister look he attempted to pull off.
“You’re lucky your cousin is expecting us.”
“You don’t scare me. Now get off me so I can take a shower.”
“Make me,” he said against her lips.
She smoothed her fingers over his back in a gentle caress that turned him to putty under her hands. Then she sank her fingertips into his ribs and sent him launching off her. Taking advantage of his surprise, she flipped him onto his back and brought her lips down so they almost touched his, whispering, “Two older brothers. Don’t mess with me.”
His eyes darkened with desire. “Very impressive,” he said, reaching for her. “And very sexy.”
She dodged him and poked his ribs again. “Get up.”
***
The first things Cole noticed when he stepped into Jenny and Will’s townhouse were the framed drawings over the mantel, one of the couple on their wedding day and another of their son, Billy, both obviously done by Olivia. While Olivia had dark hair and eyes, her cousin was blonde with hazel eyes. Yet there were similarities. Upon closer inspection, he decided they shared gestures and expressions more than physical characteristics.
He enjoyed watching Olivia light up with delight when Jenny passed baby Billy to her. The blond baby was as happy to see Olivia as she was to see him. His pudgy fingers clutched a handful of her hair.
Will intervened before the baby could hurt her. “Be nice,” he said to his son, who chortled in response.
“What a cutie,” Cole said, reaching out to tickle the baby’s foot.
“We’ve decided to keep him.” Jenny steered Olivia toward the kitchen. “Come help me get drinks.”
After the women left the room, Will glanced at Cole. “So it wasn’t enough that you had to be a good-looking pilot,” he said with a teasing grin. “You had to have the whole ‘American Hero’ thing going for you, too, huh?”
“It’s my burden in life.”
“Sure it is,” Will said, laughing. “You’ve probably got a black book the size of the Bible.”
“I recently burned it.” Cole gestured to the closed kitchen door. “Are they talking about me in there?”
“What do you think?” Will replied dryly. He seemed pleased with Cole’s comment about his womanizing days being behind him. “Be glad they at least left the room. When they talk about me, they do it right in front of me.”
Cole laughed. “I’m sensing it’s not easy being you around here.”
“You don’t know the half of it. What’s not fair is I’m stuck out here with you, so I have to wait until later to hear what they said about you.”
“Since we’re stuck together for who knows how long, let me ask you… Where should I take Olivia for dinner tomorrow night? Somewhere nice. Where would she want to go?”
“That’s easy. She loves the Chart House in Old Town but doesn’t get to go very often.”
“Good to know. Thanks.”
***
“Did you sleep with him?”
Still holding Billy, Olivia nibbled on a carrot she’d stolen from the cutting board. “We’re sharing a hotel room. Where do you think I slept?”
Jenny sighed with exasperation. “That’s not what I meant, and you know it.”
Olivia laughed at her cousin’s irritation. “Yes, I slept with him.”
“OhmygodohmygodohmyGOD! Finally! How was it? He’s so hot. Smoking hot.”
“Is he? I hadn’t noticed.”
“You’re being such a brat.” Hands on her hips, Jenny said, “We can do this the hard way or the easy way. What’s it going to be?”
“Why go easy when hard is so much fun?”
Billy picked that moment to unleash a deep belly laugh.
“See, even your son thinks it’s fun.”
Jenny tickled the baby’s pudgy belly. “Traitor.” She took him from Olivia and settled him in his high chair.
He shrieked in protest until his mother gave him an animal cracker to gnaw on.
“Come on, Liv. Spill it!”
“It was… indescribable.”
“Oh, my God!” Jenny squealed.
“Pipe down, will ya?” Olivia hissed. “He’s going to hear you and know exactly what I’m telling you.”
Ignoring that, Jenny said, “So was it, you know, painful?”
“Not at all like I expected it to be.”
“Did you tell him? Before?”
Olivia shook her head. “I wanted to. I really did, but there just wasn’t a good time to say, ‘By the way, Cole, I’m a twenty-seven-year-old virgin.’”
Jenny snickered. “So did he figure it out?”
“Um, yeah… you could say that.”
“And?”
“He was freaked out at first, but he was cool about it. He said he was honored.”
“Which, of course, was the perfect thing to say.”
“He seems to have a knack for saying the perfect thing at the perfect moment. I told him about Gary and Steve, so at least he understood why.”
“Are you glad now you waited?”
“So glad. It makes such a difference when you love the person you’re with.”
Jenny let out another “Oh, my God!” but this time she made an effort to keep her voice down.
“Remember how I agonized about sleeping with Gary and Steve?”
Jenny rolled her eyes and poured them each a glass of wine. “Do I ever.”
“With Cole there was no decision because it was just right. And now that I know what it’s like to really love someone, I can see I didn’t love them at all.”
“How does he feel?”
“He loves me, too,” Olivia whispered as if she were afraid he might hear her spilling their secrets.
Jenny’s eyes went misty. “Oh, Liv, oh really?”
Olivia nodded. “He’s a dream come true in every possible way.”
Jenny launched herself at Olivia. “This is so fabulous! I told you he was it, didn’t I? You didn’t believe me, but I told you!”
“Shh, will you? I don’t want him to hear us acting like fools in here.”
“That’s what we do. He may as well get used to it if he’s going to be hanging out with us.”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“What? What’s that face?”
Olivia shrugged. “Everywhere we go…”
“What?”
“Women. They throw themselves at him, and if they have to push me out of the way to get to him, they don’t even care.”
“I bet he cares.”
“It infuriates him, but it terrifies me. He has so many opportunities…”
“That doesn’t mean he’ll act on any of them.” Jenny took her by the chin. “You’re still thinking about how it’s going to end, aren’t you?”
“Not really.”
Jenny raised a skeptical eyebrow.
“All right. Maybe.”
“Why?”
“I can’t help it,” Olivia said. “I love him so much, it’s scary.”
“That’s how it’s supposed to be.”
“But he lives in Chicago. He has a whole life there, and when will we see each other? I can’t bear the idea of him leaving the day after tomorrow. I can’t bear it,” she said, finishing on a whisper.
Jenny ran her hands up and down Olivia’s arms. “If it’s meant to be, you’ll work it out. You need to relax about the details and just go with it.”
“That’s what he says, too.”
“He’s right.”
Olivia nodded. “I know.”
Will and Cole came into the kitchen.
“We’re thirsty, and you’re taking too long,” Will announced as he got beers for himself and Cole, who had stopped short at the sight of Olivia obviously upset about something.
He went over to her. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” she assured him with a smile, her heart flip-flopping at the sight of him. “Nothing at all.”
“Are you sure?”
She nodded and closed her eyes against the intense wave of emotion that struck when he kissed her cheek.
He put his arm around her and drew her close to him.
Olivia looked up to find Jenny gazing at them. “What?”
“You two are so cute together.”
“Jenny,” Will groaned. “Leave them alone, will you?”
“What did I say? Just the truth.”
Smiling, Cole looked down at Olivia.
“What’s for dinner?” she asked, hoping to change the subject.
***
On the way back to the hotel at midnight, they had the usually jammed corridor between Springfield and Alexandria all to themselves.
Cole glanced over at her a couple of times, wondering why she was so quiet. “Jenny and Will are great. I really liked them.”
“They liked you, too. Did you mind having to tell the story again?”
“Nah. It’s no biggie. Why so glum over there? Didn’t you have a good time?”
“It was fun. I’m glad you got to meet them.”
“You and Jenny are so funny,” he said with a grin. “You’re like a teenager around her.” But rather than being complimented by his remark, Olivia seemed embarrassed, which he hadn’t intended. He reached for her hand. “I meant that in a good way.”
“I know.”
“What’s wrong, Liv?”
“Nothing,” she said quickly—a little too quickly.
He let it go until they got back to the hotel. When they were in their room, Olivia went straight to the bathroom and closed the door. Perplexed by her sudden withdrawal, Cole opened the second bottle of wine from the night before and turned on the radio.
He unbuttoned his shirt and sat down to wait. And worry. Something was up. Had she changed her mind about them? About him? The thought terrified him. She couldn’t. Not when he was taking this huge gamble with his heart.