“Good.”
“Good?” Cole frowned. His father was pleased he’d dated someone he didn’t even like?
“Good that you didn’t like the last one, it means this one is completely different. It’s not easy to step back and see someone for who they really are. Too many people say they like someone but they don’t really. If you like this woman, and think you could be friends under different circumstances, then, hell, life is short.”
Cole’s hackles reared up. Did his lawyer call his dad about the prenup? “What do you mean by different circumstances?”
“If you weren’t lusting after her, if you met without knowing what you do about her now, could you be friends?”
Phew. “Maybe.” Maybe? On what planet would he be friends with Blackmailing Briony? The one where you almost did time. Cole rubbed his chin. He wasn’t that guy anymore. This was only happening because of his own stupidity. But now that it was, he was going to make the best he could of it. He hadn’t pulled himself up by bemoaning his mistakes. Learn from them and move on. That’s what life had taught him. “We ride in very different circles.”
“She a high-flying Hollywood type?”
“No.” He laughed. “The opposite. She rides a Harley.”
His father laughed. “That sounds good, but I’m not big on the getting married thing. Heck, I haven’t even met her. I know the board has been giving you shit about settling down but don’t take it to heart. Enjoy the ride. If she’s still the one in six months, put a ring on it and make it official.”
A ring. Cole spotted the sign for the jewelry department to his right. This wasn’t how he’d planned on buying his future wife’s engagement ring. But then he hadn’t really planned on getting married. Period. He was not his brother, never would be, never wanted to be. He’d always figured being with someone would be enough if he met the right person. The piece of paper and all the pressure and convention that came with a marriage he could do without. He’d seen too many marriages end amicably only to be turned nasty in divorce court. He opened his mouth, ready to tell his pop the real reason for this whole ridiculous charade when the old guy piped up again.
“If she really wants a ring though, go buy it. Be romantic for once in your life, women like that stuff. And it’ll make me laugh to think about it.”
Be romantic? Cole swallowed the confession. If his pop wanted romance, a blackmail wedding was not something he wanted to hear about. Damn. As if he needed more reason to go through with this stupid idea. He sighed. His bed seemed well and truly made. No way was he going to hurt his old man any more than he needed to. “She’s pretty determined, and getting engaged to her would mean I could make a few changes to the development. She owns the hotel on the property. I’m thinking of renovating it rather than demolishing it.”
“Right. You had big plans for some hotel complex, didn’t you? You giving up on that?” His pop’s tone turned wary.
Cole kept his voice steady. “Now that I’m here I’m not sure we need it. This hotel already has a bunch of rooms, and a bar and restaurant and pool area. And there’ll be the lot next door to expand into if we need to.”
“Still, I liked your original hotel complex idea and the designs were great. If this girl is talking you out of it just because she’s in it for the money, I’d watch your back.”
“I’m not sure she’s interested in the money for herself.” That’s the line you’re going to give him?
“She more of the family philanthropist type, huh? Oh, well, a hotel is a hotel at the end of the day. As long as you’re happy and the development still turns a profit.”
“Making money isn’t going to be an issue.”
“If you’re sure, I’m sure. You’re the guy on the ground after all.”
Cole breathed out. “It’ll be fine. The place has character. Good to have something like that amongst all the new buildings.”
He could almost hear his pop scratching his chin as his mind thought over Cole’s description.
“As long as it’s got good bones. You’re leading the renovation. I’ll back you when it comes up with the board.”
Did Wilde’s Hotel have good bones? Cole almost snorted out loud. It almost certainly had bones, just not the type his pop was talking about. More like full skeletons under the floorboards. “Great. I’ll call the board this afternoon to let them know the details. I should have revised plans soon.” Cole was about to hang up and go wash his mouth out for the lies he’d just landed on his pop when his pop started talking again.
“I mean it when I say enjoy the ride, son. I know I’ve lasted longer than most, and I know you’re only keeping me around for my ego. I appreciate that. You’re the head of this company now despite your brother being the show pony, and it couldn’t be in better hands. We’ve had our differences, but you’ve grown up. If this woman makes you happy, if she can find the good bits in you and keep your dark demons at bay, then she’s a keeper. Just don’t rush into it. Talk to you later.” He hung up.
Cole couldn’t breathe for a moment. It was the most personal speech his father had ever made. Love and wedding bells? From his pop? What the hell had just happened? I guess it’s only as crazy as what else is about to happen. And his pop had just told him not to get married. Buying a ring wasn’t getting married though, was it? He looked over at the jewelry department sign again and turned right. Might as well make this official.
* * *
“Baby blue? Seriously?” When Cole got back to women’s wear, he could hear Briony straightaway and he let the smile play out instead of squashing it.
“I might look a little rough around the edges, but it’s better than being trussed up so tight a man wouldn’t know how to get in. If you want to get any from a man with a pulse, chill the hell out, lady.”
Uh-oh. Cole picked up his pace.
“Don’t look at me like that. You don’t want to know who I ride with.” Briony was unrepentant. And loud.
Cole didn’t need to hear any more, and he didn’t want anyone knowing too many of the details of who she rode with. Cole pushed through into the dressing room area, brushing aside the curtain and coming to a halt. Wow. The blue silk dress coated Briony’s figure as if it were poured on and was, quite literally, backless. The shop assistant had somehow persuaded Briony to try it on properly, and with no underwear underneath, it left everything to the imagination.
“Lady here thinks bike leather belongs in the bin,” Briony said with a sneer.
“In this case she might be right.” Cole let his eyes wander unabashedly down her form.
“Hardly. I can’t wear this. It’s too pale, and there’s no back. If I fell off my bike wearing it I’d look like I’d been through a cheese grater.”
“I don’t think it’s meant to wear on a bike.” He laughed, knowing she was well aware of that, and charmed at the blush that was pinking her skin. She was out of her comfort zone for sure. Her overcompensating with such a ballsy attitude was kinda cute though.
“If you think you’re gonna drive me around all the time now you’re dreaming. Girl’s gotta have her own wheels.”
“I’m not stopping you from driving. And you look nice. Keep the dress, it suits you.”
Her mouth opened, but the retort must’ve gotten stuck in her throat.
The shop assistant dived in. “See. Your friend here thinks it looks nice. Surely you want to look nice for him?”
“I look nice for me. No one else.” Briony stuck her chin out.
Cole knew he shouldn’t find her stubbornness endearing, but seriously, her chin jutting out like that made her look about five years younger.
“No one tells me what to wear. Not now, not ever.”
Cole looked down at his watch. “So get a different dress and pipe down already.”
Briony turned and tried to see the back of the blue shift. The way she turned pulled the fabric tight across her ass and made Cole’s hands itch to smooth it across her skin. When she turned back the other way it pull
ed across her chest and his whole body tightened thinking of the ripe soft flesh that lay beneath the paper-thin silk. One good tug and the fragile straps would disintegrate in his hands.
She butted into this thoughts. “It doesn’t look ridiculous? I go out of here wearing something like this and the boys won’t know where to look. Rocco will try and be polite, but—”
He didn’t want to hear her say anything more about Rocco and the Hell’s Boys in public. Cole pulled Briony into his arms. “Shut up,” he growled and covered her lips with his.
Like the first time, the contact of their lips was overwhelming. From the soles of his feet to the hairs on the back of his neck, Cole’s body felt charged, alive. This time it was Briony who danced her tongue with his and as he opened his mouth to deepen the kiss, he wanted nothing more than to tear at the flimsy scrap of pale blue silk she was wearing and have her naked and willing up against the dressing room wall. His cock hardened and all reason fled like the shop assistant who had miraculously disappeared.
Crushed against the soft cotton of his shirt, he felt her nipples harden and lowered his hand to cup her butt. This. He wanted this. All of it. Now. He took two steps forward and Briony was pressed back against the wall just like he wanted her. Straining under his hands she seemed to know his thoughts and widened her legs so he could step in between them. He moved his hand from her butt and pulled her leg up his side, letting his erection press hard at her center. Briony put two hands to his chest and pushed him back. “You going to kiss me every time you need to change the subject?”
Down, boy. “Maybe. It’s pretty effective,” he muttered.
Still caught up in his arms, Briony made no other move to escape and for a moment, Cole thought of carrying on. Taking her right there. Owning her like he’d been wanting to again. But the shop assistant chose that moment to reappear, this time with security.
“You can’t do that in here. Time to leave.”
Briony lowered her leg and smoothed down the dress. “You’ll have to forgive my fiancé, he was overcome. We’ve been apart for a long time. He’s been fighting for all of us and now that he’s back I find it hard to refuse him anything.”
The security guard’s face went from flat to fawning. “The country thanks you for your service, sir. I don’t mean to interrupt.” He leaned in and muttered, “But you will have to come out of the dressing rooms, sir. Store policy.”
“No problem. We’ll take these and go,” Briony said, waving to a pile of clothes before pushing Cole out of the room so she could change.
Cole felt his jaw slacken, but couldn’t bring himself to snap it back into action till they were out of the dressing room and on the way to the register. “You told him I was a returning vet? That’s so out of line.”
“I didn’t say that, not exactly. Just that you were fighting the good fight. Isn’t that what you tell yourself you’re doing? Building new homes for hundreds of people? Or is it more that you’re tearing down everything the neighborhood has known and loved forever?” Her tone was light, teasing, but Cole felt his heart squeeze at her disappointment that she couldn’t save her whole neighborhood. How could she go from dressing-room vixen to anti-development activist in such a short space of time? The woman had a wicked tongue and she was not afraid to use it. His mind flicked back to her tongue, their kisses, and he clenched his fists.
Briony Wilde had him right where she wanted him. He needed to remember that. Trouble was, when she kissed him, cranked up the charm, and turned those big dark eyes on him, he couldn’t help but wonder if this insane situation might actually work.
Chapter Six
“This is crazy.” Cole Knight’s new L.A. office soared over the people walking on street level. It had floor-to-ceiling windows on three sides and captured spectacular views of the city—or it would have if the storm that had heralded Cole’s arrival into her life wasn’t still raging. Rain lashed at the windows and the world languished under a gray blanket.
“Thanks, I think,” Cole said as he busied himself at his desk.
“I mean, who builds stuff like this? It’s so over the top.” Briony looked out at the city where she’d spent her whole life and couldn’t believe what it looked like from this angle. There should have been swaths of bright green parks forming pockets of calm between streets humming with activity. But in this storm, very few people were out and even the grass seemed gray. In the distance, the ocean was a thing of beauty as it reflected the swirl of thunderous clouds. “Can you see the sunset from here?”
“When it’s not cloudy, of course. That’s why they call it Sunset Boulevard.”
Briony felt a blush coming and tried to squash it. Her skin had betrayed her way too often with Cole Knight. She never blushed. Never. And somehow, since she’d met him, she had blushed three times already!
Smoothing down the cream linen dress Cole had bought her, Briony couldn’t quite believe what the hell she was doing. Or not doing. She was trying to hide it by looking intently at the view, but she was stuck. Physically, literally stuck, trapped by her own stupid vision of what women with money and power wore on their feet. Truth was, the six-inch-high stilettos had seemed a good idea at the time, but now she couldn’t walk. Not a single step more. Her ankles were so used to being close to the ground and having the comforting support of her Doc Martens she felt sure they would snap if she took another step. And dammit if Cole hadn’t told her in brisk, brutal tones that she might have trouble with the shoes when they bought them.
“You can see where the development will start from that window over there.” Cole pointed to the far corner of his office, ten steps away.
“Uh-huh.”
He rubbed his chin and Briony’s eyes were drawn to his clean-shaven jaw. “I’m not all about destruction, you know. Most of what I do is build things.”
“Sure.” You can do it. If you want it, take it. Otherwise . . . Well, she was going to have to fake it today, otherwise she was going to be stuck on the spot for the foreseeable future because no way was she going to give Slick the satisfaction of saying I told you so when she took off the shoes.
Trying to look casual, she put her hand out to lean on the window, and missed. Her ankle teetered on the brink of staying in line with her leg and then . . . snap, crack, ouch! She rolled it hard and fast. “Ouch! Oh my frickin’ ouch!”
Cole looked up from his laptop and rushed from his desk. “Hey, you okay? I got you.”
Holy hot hands. If she wasn’t careful she was going to lose her self-control card. Dude smelled good. Felt good. Looked good. Sounded good. And his hand on her throbbing ankle was sending pulses of hot yearning up her leg at the speed of a full-throttle Harley. Holy. Hot. Damn.
“You’re supposed to leave shoes on when you get a sprain, I think. Keeps the swelling down. But in this case, I don’t think that’s a good idea.” He eased her shoe off, his fingers brushing the top of her foot as he did. She looked at the top of his head, the black hair begging to have her fingers run through it and mess it up a little. Well, at least the shoes are off.
“Do you think you can walk?” He tucked an arm under her shoulders and lifted her up. She tried out putting weight on her foot and “Ouch. No. Damn ouch.”
“Right.” He frowned and looked up at the clock on his wall. “We should probably get you to the doctor.”
“I’ll be fine. It’s just a sprain. If you can help me to the couch and find a bag of frozen peas, I’ll be okay in a bit.”
He shook his head. “I have to make a conference call in twenty minutes about the changes to the development. I’ll set you up in the boardroom and we can go through the plans till then. You’ll have to share it with a bunch of development models, but I’m sure you’ll cope. And before you say anything, I’ll get something else made up to show Wilde’s place in the complex.” As he spoke he shifted his arm around her waist and as if she weighed no more than the bag of frozen peas she’d asked for, he picked her up and strode out of his office.
“Cathy, my friend here has had an argument with one of her stilettos. I’m going to set her up in the boardroom. Do you think you can find an ice pack for her ankle? And maybe a stack of interior magazines? For when I have to call in.”
The woman’s eyes did an up and down of the spectacle in front of her and managed to give them both a smile. “Of course, Mr. Knight.”
Great, now everyone knows I’m an idiot. Briony felt herself growing smaller and smaller as two other staff members looked up and saw her pathetically ensconced in Cole’s arms. Suck it up. It’s L.A., they’ve probably seen much worse. And she was going to have to start getting used to being on Cole’s arm if they were going to pull this engagement thing off. Although being on his arm was somewhat different than being carried in them. Not that she was complaining. She allowed herself a small smile, and let the warmth of his chest seep deeper into her skin.
He pushed open the door with his elbow and walked into the boardroom. The table was covered with a sweeping wooden model.
Cole followed her gaze. “Yep. That’s the development close to both our hearts. There are a few things that need finalizing, but it should provide new homes for a few thousand people. There are two towers there, and a green tunnel as well as gardens along the boulevard.”
Briony rolled her eyes. “Boulevard? Seriously?” Of course he was going to pack people in like they were sardines. Small apartments meant more people and that meant more money.
“Here you go.” Cole put her down gently on a sleek black leather couch and her high vantage point was cut off. Unlike the furniture at Wilde’s, it was soft and luxurious, new, clearly, and matched the clean, modern look of the rest of the office. If only I had the budget to redo Wilde’s to even half this quality. Wait. She did have the budget. Despite her throbbing ankle, Briony felt a burst of energy. Who cared what the staff at Knight Industries thought of her? Wilde’s was staying, getting remodeled, and her family of Hell’s Boys still had their home. All she had to do was get through the next year without doing anything stupid with Slick. Stupid like tying him up in your lockup? Yep. Like that. Although that had turned out to be the best idea she’d had all year.
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