Two months later
I wake up to sunlight and an empty bed. Groaning, I roll over, but Cole’s side is cold. He’s been up for a while already. “Damn it,” I murmur into his pillow. “You’re too disciplined for your own good.”
I contemplate staying in bed and falling back asleep. Despite the sun streaming in through the window, it’s early still, not to mention it’s a Saturday.
Rolling over, I find myself face to face with the pile of books on his bedside table. There’s a few new additions, courtesy of me. I smile at the one on the top. He’s going to love that one—it’s a fast-paced psychological thriller.
Reluctantly, I get out of bed and pull on one of the fluffy robes from the cupboard in his giant bathroom. When I’d asked if anyone else had used them, he’d looked surprised. I have bathrobes? He hadn’t been joking when he said he spent very few waking hours in this apartment.
As expected, he’s not in the living room or in the kitchen. The door to his home office is ajar, but it’s empty. There’s only one place he can be.
“Fine,” I say, heading into his bedroom again, to the drawer he’s dedicated to me. “You win. I’ll join you.”
Fifteen minutes later, I walk into the Amena’s indoor pool, the scent of chlorine faint but unmistakable. There’s only one person in the water. I wrap my towel firmly around myself and sit down on one of the poolside benches.
I’ve watched him swim half a dozen times now, but it’s still a thrill. He cleaves through the water like it’s silk. Arms and shoulders emerge out of the turquoise water, his forward crawl the fastest of his swimming styles. When he reaches the end, he flips underwater and pushes off from the wall, shooting like a lightning bolt.
Seeing him like this, it’s not hard to understand why his body is shaped the way it is. Strong, lean muscle mass. Wide shoulders and a muscled back. Powerful legs. I watch him swim shamelessly.
Cole spots me during one of his turns, and without pause, he changes direction. He pulls himself out of the pool right next to me.
“No,” I warn, watching him advance. “No, no, Cole, stop!”
He shakes his hair at me like a dog, cold drops of water hitting my skin. I try to dance away but he catches me around the waist. Laughing, he tugs at my towel. “Here for your lesson?”
“Yes, but now I’ve changed my mind.”
“Oh no you haven’t. Come on, coward. Get in.” His skin is wet and droplets cling to his eyelashes, his hair sleek on his head. It’s impossible to feign anger at him when he’s grinning like that, so handsome it hurts.
“One day I’ll snap, you know. I’ll never swim with you again.”
“Sure you won’t.” He slides into the water next to me and rolls his eyes as I frown at the temperature. It’s only bad for the first minute, and yet, every time is a struggle.
Under the surface, his hands close around my waist. “I’m glad you finally woke up.”
“You could have woken me when you left, you know. I wouldn’t have minded.”
“You were sleeping so soundly.” He glances down, a wicked spark in his eyes. “Wow. You really do find the water cold, don’t you?”
“Yes, I—” He flicks one of my hardened nipples and I gasp. “Not here!”
“We’re alone,” he says, bending to kiss my cheek. “We’re always alone at this hour.”
I wrap my arms around his neck and press my chest to his—no more access. He carries me through the water, his body strong and hard against mine. “You insist on doing this on weekend mornings too, huh?”
“I was in the water two hours later than usual today,” he muses. “Because of you.”
I rest my head against his shoulder. “That’s okay. You’re not swimming for competitions or tryouts anymore. You’re allowed to relax.”
His hands tighten around my thighs, moving us gradually into the deeper section. “Discipline is everything,” he says. “My father taught me that. Manners maketh man, they say, but that’s wrong. It’s habits.”
He tips my head back and kisses me, soft, searching, gentle. His lips taste clean and warm. “And you’re destroying mine, Skye.”
My smile is crooked. “I’m not going to apologize for that, you know.”
“I’d never ask you to.”
I kiss him again, and he stops walking, my body molding to his. Sweetness turns to heat, softness to pressure, and by the time I break away I’m breathing heavily.
So is Cole, his eyes dark.
I clear my throat. “Guess what?”
“You’ve abandoned your swimming lesson? That’s all right. Your instructor agrees.”
I laugh. “No. I’ve decided to turn the novella about the bookstore into a full-length novel.”
“You have?”
“Yes. It has all the right ingredients.” I lean back, dipping my hair into the water. “Even if no one wants to read it.”
“False modesty is a sin, you know.”
I smile up at the vaulted ceiling and float in the water, supported by his arms. “You’re right. I’ll stop.”
“Brooks & King wants the first chapters next week, right?”
“Yes.” Hearing him say it sends shivers down my arms, even though it’s been weeks since I’d received the phone call. They’d loved my query letter and said they’d looked forward to reading the finished product.
“I wrote an article too,” I say.
“You did?”
“Yes. About the renovation of Between the Pages, and about Eleanor. If I can make it interesting enough, maybe I can build some hype for the reopening.”
Cole laughs and the sound makes me smile. “Baby, the opening is months away. We just broke ground on the hotel!”
“So I’m just a tiny bit excited,” I say teasingly. “Is that a crime?”
He wiggles his fingers, tickling my sides, and I struggle fruitlessly to break free. “Cole!”
“No, it’s not a crime.” He kisses me swiftly before releasing me, pulling away with a leisurely backstroke. “Blair texted earlier. She wants us three to go out to dinner tonight. She says she still hasn’t met you properly.”
“I’ve met her three times!”
“Yes, but apparently meeting someone properly has to include dinner. Who knew?”
I swim after him. “Of course I want to go. Your sister is awesome.”
“That’s what I thought you’d say,” Cole says morosely. “I’ve been replaced.”
I splash him, and he looks at me accusingly. “Terrorist.”
“Vandal,” I counter.
“Vandal?”
“Yes. Did you think I wouldn’t notice the rip in my panties last night? They were brand new, too. All lace.”
His smile is wolfish. “I have no regrets.”
“Brute,” I say. “Never stop.”
“I won’t.”
I swim after him, the temperature of the water perfect now. “I don’t have any going-out clothes here at yours. I’ll have to stop by mine before we meet up with her.”
Cole dives clean under the surface and I watch as he clears the distance between us easily, strong arms working.
He emerges right in front of me. “Just move in with me already,” he says. “You’re here practically every night. It’s going to happen, you know. It’s only a matter of time.”
“You’d go insane,” I tease. “There’d be hair ties everywhere. Can you imagine?” It’s not the first time he’s suggested moving in together, always jokingly, and I’ve always responded in turn. We’ve only been dating properly for two months, after all.
“For you, I’d endure endless hair ties.”
“How chivalrous.” I turn on my back, floating in the water. “Maybe you should invite Nick along tonight. They like each other, don’t they?”
“Absolutely not.”
“No?”
“They hate each other,” Cole says happily. “I’ve tried to get them to see eye-to-eye for a decade, and trust me, it’s not going to happen.”
I frown at him. Hate is not the feeling I’d picked up the one time I’d seen them interact. “Are you sure?”
“Yes. Now come on, baby. You’re stalling.” Cole grabs his swim goggles from the edge of the pool. “Do you want these?”
“Yes.” I swim after him, mentally steeling myself. Cole’s been teaching me how to forward crawl, and though I’d felt clumsy in the beginning, I’m improving with every practice. I doubt I’ll ever have his powerful grace doing it, but I’m willing to try.
Cole smiles at me as he puts my goggles on. “Give me at least ten laps before we go to brunch.”
“Fifteen,” I say.
He grins and pushes off the edge of the pool. “Fifteen, then. Have I ever told you how much I love your competitive nature?”
“Yes. You’ve also cursed it, pretty frequently.” Like when I protested about the obscene amounts of money he spends on me. Dinners, excursions, a few beautiful dresses…
Cole winks at me. “Whatever I say, don’t stop. I love it.”
My insides warm. I love it, he’d said, but my mind is already racing ahead. To the day we’ll say those three little words to each other. I know we’re not there yet, but it’s been dancing on the tip of my tongue for days, the feeling overwhelming. It won’t be long.
“Come on now,” he says. “I want to see you swim.”
So I push off and follow him across the deep.
