Chapter 9
Dina removed her raincoat from a hanger in the hall closet and slid it over her scoop-neck sweater, her mind reeling with what Vince had told her. She couldn’t believe her mom would stoop so low to let someone else take the blame for what she had done.
“Darn it! I went shopping with them,” Dina muttered, jabbing her foot into a rain boot. “I ate freaking sushi with them. I hate sushi!” The back of the boot buckled. She bent down, uncurled the rubber and rammed her foot in the boot. “I sat between them at plays.” The other boot on, she tucked her jeans inside them, grabbed her umbrella, and headed out the door. They never acted like they had feelings for one another more than best friends, at least not in front of her.
“Ugh!” She poked the elevator call button, tugged out her cell to call her father, and stared at the numbers. What would she say after the way she treated him?
The elevator dinged and the doors slid open.
She waited for the crowd stepping out of the elevator to dissipate, moved forward, and touched the contact number for Tomas Saunders. With each ring, her nerves cinched her breath. Apologizing to her father for her behavior, while poignant, didn’t upset her as much as the pain she caused him over the years.
A deep, masculine laugh sent goosebumps over her skin. The sound of the voice was so arousing she hit the end call button on her phone, and glanced up.
Cole stood at the back of the elevator, his hand rested on the back of a dark-haired beauty, chatting and laughing.
The barb pierced Dina’s chest, sending an ache through her nerve cells that spread through every limb. Wide-eye and open-mouth, she gaped. The moments she and Cole shared, the things he said to her, were they not real?
“Dina,” he said, pulling her out of the “You’ve-got-to-be-fucking-kidding-me-fog,” his words laced with surprise and something else…concern?
Despite her embarrassment, she looked him right in the eye as he stepped off the elevator, forced a smile she didn’t feel, and spoke in the best joyful voice she could wrangle to the surface. “For a year, I’ve hardly seen you in this building. Suddenly, I can’t go anywhere without running into you.”
“How had you not noticed him?” The dark-haired beauty clutched Cole’s arm and kissed his cheek, her voice dripped with seduction.
Did he hire a call girl?
Anger took hold for her stupidity in believing she and Cole had a chance at something special. Embarrassment followed. It was a good thing she figured out what type of man he was before her emotions went too far. “Easy. There’re so many people who live here. Like you for instance, I’ve never seen you.”
Heat rose to her face. Before her cheeks turned a bright red, she moved to enter the elevator.
The doors snapped closed a second before she reached it. “Damn!”
Hands on her hips, the woman whirled around, nailed Dina with a glare, and snapped her gaze back to Cole. “We have things to do.” The snippy tone said this woman had the opinion she could tell him what to do.
“Teile, this is Ms. Wright. She’s doing the advertising work for The Fold.”
The woman doing his advertising work? Another shot of downer-Cole slammed into her stomach and the “flee now” alarm went off. Because she was a professional, she would let him get the introductions over and hit the elevator button again. Right now, racing into the welcoming storm to let the rain melt away the humiliation burning over her skin sounded like the perfect plan.
“I assumed.” The woman’s lip curled in disgust.
Lord, get me out of here.
Dina stretched out her hand. “Dina Wright. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Teile Biltmore.” The ice princess lifted a perfectly sculpted eyebrow, but didn’t return her friendly gesture.
The emotions sizzling inside Dina since Vince told her about her mother’s betrayal rose to the surface. Dina’s hands clenched. Never had she wanted to slap someone as much as she did the woman in front of her.
But, taking out her frustration on the ice princess wouldn’t work. She wasn’t the one who threw this awkward situation into Dina’s lap. That responsibility laid with the client whose business she wanted, with the man she so desperately craved.
Ready to say her piece on the situation Cole put her in, she flicked her gaze on him and stopped. His expression was so adorably confused, yet dreamily hot, she had no choice but to tamp down the negative emotions and let the sizzle racing through her body turn to something more positive. “Cole...” She left his name hanging out there, hoping he’d say something to relieve the discomfort of the difficult situation and salvage what possibly ran between them.
Like a light bulb turning on, his face brightened and a low, throaty chuckle escaped him.
The sound of his laugh made her insides wiggle and clench as if he let out a mating call only for her.
“This is my sister-in-law.”
“Oh,” was all Dina could say at the unexpected relief.
Teile tugged on Cole’s lapel. “Come on. We have things to do in your apartment.”
The ice princess’s suggestive voice grated on Dina’s nerves like dragging her nails along a chalkboard.
He turned to Teile. “I’ll be along later.” He pulled his apartment key out of his pocket.
Another relief, Teile didn’t have a key to his apartment. The ice princess advances weren’t reciprocated! Her insides boogied.
Saying nothing, Teile snatched the key ring and sashayed away. Her heels clicking on the hardwood floor spoke volumes of her anger and disappointment.
Dina hit the elevator button and tried to will it open with her mind.
“Dina.” Cole stepped up behind her. Even through the layer of clothing, his breath brushed over her neck.
She squeezed her eyes shut and struggled for control from the sparks flying through her insisting she lean into his chest and bask in his comfort.
Her cell rang, reminding her she hung up when calling her dad. At the moment, she couldn’t juggle any more emotional turmoil and hit the ignore button. She slipped the phone into her pocket, smashed her palm over the elevator button, and craned her neck to watch the floor numbers light up. “What’s up?” she asked offhanded, trying not to have a care in the world, but her nonchalant voice squeaked, sending the heat of a bright blush over her skin.
“Can we talk?” he whispered, his lips touching the back of her ear. Warmth radiated through her veins and her resolve to get the hell out of dodge weakened.
He kissed the back of her head before stepping into her line of vision. “Just for a minute…longer maybe.” His gaze bore into hers with such intensity, her thoughts muddled and her knees threatened to buckle.
For a long moment, she stood transfixed, not wanting to move, not wanting to lose the deliciousness of the air snapping between them.
“Can we talk? Considering you’re dressed to leave the building, I know my request is an inconvenience, but I really,” he leaned in closer, “need to talk to you.”
Curiosity as to what he needed to say mixed with the scent of his cologne had her nodding her head. “Okay.”
The troubled expression his eyes held earlier when he knocked on her apartment door returned.
Her heart went out to him. “Do you want to go to my apartment?” She asked the question so fast she hadn’t considered what it implied. For her, alone in her apartment meant more confusion. She wanted him, but was this the right time to pursue a relationship with turmoil raining down around her? Between her mother, her father, and Vince, she had half of the emotional gamut covered. Was there space in her crowded mind for the biggest emotion of all?
He glanced at her door at the end of the hall, and pulled his lips inward. The full lips reappeared wet and inviting as he cut his gaze to hers. “I better not,” he said, but his eyes belied his words. “Don’t misunderstand. I’ve learned new information about my past. Issues I have to resolve before I—” He released a puff of air and ran a hand through his hair, leaving it disheveled. A piece fell over his forehead and into his eyebrows.
His gaze was so sweet so tender, she wanted to kiss him until they had to ease away for lack of oxygen.
“Ever think you have everything figured out just to learn you don’t?”
The question surprised and warmed her. To think they didn’t know one another well, yet he was comfortable enough to confide in her as if they’d talked every day. “Yes,” she said, resting her back against the wall. She had the same realization when she caught her husband cheating, and just a little while ago, when she learned her mother had committed adultery, not her father.
As if he had the battle of the wills fighting inside him, he studied her. She wasn’t sure what worried him, but she knew whatever it was hindered him from pursuing her. He was in the same dilemma she was in. Wanting something, but life’s matters got in the way.
They both had problems to solve before they could move forward.
“I can’t do this,” he said, gaining her attention.
Had she been so into her own thoughts that she missed something he said? “Come again?”
In one stride, the space between them disappeared. He cupped her face and pinned her to the wall. “I can’t resist you.” The smoldering heat in his gaze and his breath touching her lips sent her declaration to keep her feelings locked away.
For a brief moment, she waded into the chaos of her emotions. It was in a shambles, no ending or beginning, just clutter: the job, her reputation, the pressing urgency to see her father, yet one thing was clear, she wanted him. “Cole—”
The moment his lips covered hers, the world turned upside down, no rhyme, no reason. Nothing made sense except this. His tongue explored and tasted her. He consumed every inch of her lips as if devouring a piece of chocolate cake and not leaving a crumb.
Hunger blazed through her bloodstream shooting straight to her core, turning their kiss into something primal and unrestrained, a new feeling for her. She whimpered and lightly dug her fingers into his scalp, wanting him even closer.
His hands slid under her jacket, curled around her back. She pressed into him. The hard-on he sported stretched to her abdomen and stole her breath. She’d go mad if she didn’t touch him soon.
“Is the offer to go to your apartment still on the table?” he asked against her lips, his voice dripping with desire. He kissed a path from below the lobe of her ear, down her neck to the curve of her breast. Tingles raced over her skin. He was heaven.
She opened her eyes and met his hungry ones, ready to tell him yes and put off their talk to another day.
“I hate to say this, but your phone is ringing.”
She gazed at his handsome face, rubbed her palm across his cheek, and enjoyed the scruffiness of his day-old whiskers. What would it feel like to have his whiskers…?
The phone rang again, interrupting the pattern of her thoughts, but not before the erotic image took hold, heating her body even more and sending a flame to her center that could set a forest on fire.
“Excuse me.” She grabbed her cell from her jacket pocket a second too late. Her dad had ended the call.
Cole kissed the tip of her nose, one eyelid, then the other, and squeezed her to him. “You smell so good. What do you say? Good idea, bad one?”
A battle stirred in her mind. She needed to call her dad. For her to do so now and hang up would leave him worrying. “It’s my dad. I called him a few moments ago.” She sighed, not believing what she was about to say. “I need to talk to him. We have some unsettled business.” Confiding the family issues to Cole felt too soon. “I should go.”
A flicker of disappointment crossed his face. “If you must.”
“I must, but I won’t be long. Do you want to come over later? My two best friends and I are hanging out, watching movies. Vince, the guy you met earlier, is cooking chili and Monique from across the hall is bringing the movies.” She hit the call button.
A moment passed before he said, “Your best friend?” Curiosity filled his tone and wrinkled his forehead.
She touched her hand to the side of her face. Earlier, she should have explained Vince. “Vince Carrington is a childhood friend. He’s the brother I never had.”
Cole nodded, and his features soften. “I’ll be there, if you still want me to after I tell you something.”
A whirlwind of thoughts crashed into her brain, none of them favorable. Was he married? Had he murdered someone? Did he come from another planet? She voiced the one that seemed most likely. “You’re married.”
“Yes…no…not anymore. But that’s not it.” His lips pressed together, his eyes turned troubled. “Two words could change everything, but I need to say them.”
The elevator arrived, but the warning flag she was about to hear something that would change her opinion of him exploded in her mind, immobilizing her and lodging a lump of fear into her belly. “Go on.”
For a long second, he studied her, his blue-gray eyes seeming to peer into her soul. “Amber Rose.”
Her breath caught. Disbelief and hurt lodged into her chest. No one knew her username except for Monique. Did she tell him? Anger raised its ugly head. Right after Dina talked to her dad to patch things up she’d have a different conversation with Monique. How dare her friend tell her secrets. “What did you call me?”
“Amber Rose, your online name,” he said simply, his expression deadpan as if waiting for her reaction.
Figuring out what to say, without yelling, proved hard. Every muscle tensed. “How do you—” She paused when his shoulders slumped.
“This isn’t how I planned on telling you.” Under thick brows, his eyes shined, turning compassionate. “I wanted to tell you over a quiet dinner, candlelight, a bottle of wine or Scotch. Take you back to my apartment and spend the night doing to you whatever your heart desired.”
She touched her chest, her fingers cupping the outline of her throat. The words were music to her ears, yet questions surfaced and wouldn’t let her relax. “When, Cole? How do you know?” Annoyance festered, and her voice rose. “What gives you the right to call me Amber Rose?”
He touched her frigid hand, warming it. “I haven’t lied.” He stepped closer, a few inches stayed between them. Lord help her, she couldn’t move. “You know me inside and out.” Pleading filled his gaze.
“Why would you say that?” She yanked her hand out of his. “I don’t. I’ve lived here for a year, seen you a few times, and then, one day we have this—” She waved her hand around. “Magical moment, but that’s it.”
“I haven’t handled this well.” His gaze met hers, lines crinkling the corners of his eyes. “I’ve been waiting.”
“What are you talking about? Waiting for what?”
“For you…to be ready to date.”
She flinched and closed her eyes against the onslaught of emotions.
“Do you remember what I wrote?” His voice was tender and alluring. He grasped her hand and kissed it.
Tingles of delight sparked through her body. “Wrote?”
He turned her hand over and pressed his lips to her palm.
The action produced memories. Sir Palladium described this act in one of the first messages he sent her. The situation weighed on her shoulders and caught her by the throat. The one person she’d grown to trust tricked her by hiding the truth. “You can’t be.”
“I am.” Still holding her hand, his other one stroked her hair before rolling the tendrils between his fingers and brushing the area below her chin.
Goosebumps coated her body.
“I didn’t discover your identity until after we talked several times in the online chat room. When you first joined, you didn’t have a profile picture posted. Your personality captivated me.”
She searched the angles of his face, his long eyelashes outlining dreamy eyes, and digested his words. Not only was Cole the man she fantasized about, he was also the man she had intimate conversations with online. Until now, she hadn’t thought about the conflicting issue of her chatting with Sir Palladium online and possibly dating Cole which was so unlike her. Had she known somewhere deep in her subconscious that Sir Palladium was Cole? Is that why she felt comfortable in his presence?
“After we talked for a few weeks, I planned to ask you out, but waited until your resentment toward men faded.” His voice dropped an octave, and his voice grew tight. “Then you uploaded your picture.” He stroked the back of his fingers down her face and under her chin. “Your beauty stole my breath, the same way your personality had.”
She didn’t say a word, just looked at him through half-lidded eyes. His heart shined in his gaze and his hunger for her was revealed in his seductive touch.
“Our conversations over the Internet are the best part of my day. I look forward to them, morning and night. Sir Palladium is not my alter ego, it’s me. I’ve waited for you. When I saw you on the street…” His jaw clenched as if he fought for control. “I wanted to touch you, longed for it.”
Dina’s thoughts came in rapid succession. The kiss she and Cole shared on the street, his hot and heavy reaction to her in his office, this morning, his hurt expression when he spotted Vince, wearing briefs, in her apartment. Like pushing a rewind button, her thoughts zipped back to his office, and paused.
“Before our meeting, did you know who I was…the woman you’d talked to as Sir Palladium?” The idea that he knew made her nauseous. “On the sidewalk, did you know we had a business appointment scheduled?”
He shook his head. “I didn’t. The first time in my business career, I didn’t dig into more than your business reputation. I didn’t know Dina Saunders was Dina Wright.”
Everything he said made sense. He put a lot of thought into pursuing her. The compassion he’d shown made her want to jump up and down. Everything she’d believed good about this was true. One more question lingered between them. She jutted her chin in the direction of his apartment. “You called Ms. Biltmore your sister-in-law, present tense, not past. Who is she to you and what happened to your wife?” Dina pressed two fingers to her mouth. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to ask intrusive questions.”
“Not a problem,” he said, but he dropped his hands from caressing her face, and stepped backwards. “She’s my overbearing sister-in-law. Since my wife passed, she’s become possessive. Yesterday, we learned some disturbing news.”
“I’m sorry about your wife.”
He gave a slight nod in thanks.
When he stopped by her apartment earlier, the sorrow in his eyes had worried her. “Is that why you came by? To talk about it?”
“And to tell you I was Sir Palladium.”
Dina remembered the long conversations Sir Palladium and Amber Rose shared. He said he’d never get over losing his wife. The way she died right after the death of their child. How the unbearable pain put him into depression for feeling guilty that he hadn’t done enough for her.
“I’m not sure if Teile needed me or if I needed her to manage the loss of her sister…of my—” He paused. “Of Shelly. Bottom line, I think she believed I’d take the same path. Can’t say I didn’t think about it, but nothing more. Yet discovering I was deceived, not much different than what Preston did to you, ripped out the last bit of faith I had in people.”
Dina drew her lips inward, her heart aching for what he experienced. She remembered having the exact same feelings. She didn’t trust anyone. Monique helped put the pieces of her life back together, but Sir Palladium gave her hope. In an odd sort of way, she understood why he didn’t tell her his identity. She wasn’t in a good place then. “Thank you for telling me.”
“You’re welcome.” The lilt in his voice filled her heart. “You’d better see your dad before he reports you missing.” He wrapped his arms around her back, pressing her body into his.
She rested her cheek on his chest and savored the sweetness of the moment. She’d talk to her dad, have movie day, then find some alone time with Cole. Maybe they could skip the movie and head to his apartment. “I won’t be long.”
Cole blinked. “I’d like that.” His lips glided over hers in a soft, gentle, caring caress that seduced her enough for her to want to throw her clothes off here and now. All because of how sweet it was. “Be careful,” he said, easing away.