Cole (The Ride Series) (19 page)

Chapter Fourteen

By midnight that night I was nearing
the end of my shift and I was exhausted. I couldn’t stop thinking about being
pregnant. It would certainly take a while for that to really settle in.

It was a particularly busy Saturday
night. The one saving grace was that my conversation with Pete had gone well
and there’d be no problem keeping me off of night shifts. All the other servers
wanted them because the tips were the best late at night. I’d just have to
tighten my purse strings for a while, a better choice than having someone get
hurt so I can make some extra cash.

The large table of fraternity boys
wasn’t helping my night end any faster. They’d become rowdier with every round,
and I was in no mood for the lewd comments they’d started to spew every time I
was forced to check on their table. Unfortunately, it came with the territory,
but nights like this made me seriously ponder another line of work.

“Hey baby, bring that sweet ass back
over here!” one of the guys hollered breaking my reverie.

I could hear the want ads on
craigslist calling my name.

“You want me to switch with you?”
Connie asked, coming up behind me and eyeing the table with disdain.

I shook my head. “No, but thanks.
We’ve all had tables like this. It’s my cross to bear.” I sighed dramatically,
making her laugh.

“Better tell them to keep a lid on it.
Sal is getting pissed,” she shared. I looked over and Sal, my ride home for the
evening, was indeed seething. All the guys took their job of looking out for me
extremely seriously. Anyone fucking with me was a slight on the Knights, with
or without the Jake mess.

“Okay, I’ll do my best,” I nodded.

I walked over and looked at the table
expectantly. “What can I get you?”
I asked, my tone clipped.

“Another round and your phone number,”
the loudest of the group of five boomed.

“Sorry, spoken for. Same as last
time?” I asked, indicating toward the pitcher. This would be their last round.
I’d ask the bar to cut them off after this.

“How about a quickie in the back
then?” he persisted before reaching around and squeezing my ass.

“Hey!” I heard a very familiar voice
bark from behind me. “Get your fucking hands off!” Cole growled as he stood
next to me, putting my body behind his. He cast a formidable presence as he
glowered down at the group. I wasn’t expecting him and I figured Sal had
probably called him. Great.

The group looked up at him
belligerently, but Mr. Grab Hands had the audacity to sneer. Cole didn’t miss
it and he didn’t like it either. “That was your last drink,” he commanded,
nodding toward the empty glasses. Settle up and get the fuck out. And if you
stiff her, we’ve got problems,” he added.

“Oh I’ll give her a stiff one
alright,” one of them snorted.

I rolled my eyes, so the wrong thing
to say.

“
What
did you just say?” Cole demanded, his tone full of such menace that even I was
afraid.

“Nothing man,” the smartest one of the
bunch spoke up. “We were just leaving,” he added while looking meaningfully at
his friends.

Loud guy scoffed. “I’m not going to
let roughneck kick me out. Sweet cheeks here was just getting us another
round,” he indicated toward me.

Oh
shit
.

“Cole, I need this job,” I whispered
quietly, knowing that if he caused a big enough scene I’d lose it.

He turned to me with fire in his eyes.
“You’d rather let him disrespect you and in doing so disrespect me?” he
demanded. “You don’t need this fucking job that bad,” he added and I bit my
lower lip. He was really pissed off. I noted to myself that interrupting him at
times like this was probably ill advised. We were still getting to know each
other, but I knew Cole well enough to know when I needed to let him do things
his way. Now was one of those times.

I simply nodded, backed off, and stood
next to Connie.

“Get up. All of you,” Cole barked to
the group.

“You
gonna
take us all on tough guy?” grab hands asked incredulously.

“It would be my fucking pleasure
preppy, but I’d hate to ruin the fun for my friends,” Cole glowered just as Wes
and Sal appeared as if on cue to stand behind him. The three of them cut a
menacing picture and despite the odds being five against three, I could see one
or two of the frat guys visibly gulp.

“Outside,” Cole repeated, his voice so
low I could barely hear him.

The group rose hesitantly and I made a
mental bet that they’d high tail it the second they got outside. Cole, Sal, and
Wes followed them out and I sighed, exasperated. “I wish Sal would have kept
that information to himself,” I grumbled.

Connie patted me sympathetically as
they disappeared from sight. “Cole would have his head if something happened
and he didn’t at least give him the option to take care of it,” she informed
me.

“Such macho idiots,” I continued to
grumble.

“Yeah but they’re
our
macho idiots,” she said as she laughed, linking arms with me.

I was just finishing cashing out when
Cole stalked back in and scanned the room until his eyes found mine. His chest
was heaving and anger still flared on his face. Despite complaining about his
antics, the fact that he was always so intent on protecting me turned me on. I
walked up to him slowly and his eyes tracked every step as I got nearer. When I
reached him, I put my hands on his chest before moving my arms up to link
behind is neck. His expression visibly shifted as he caught my mood.

“You ready to go home?” I asked,
softly meeting his fiery gaze.

“Yeah, baby,” he rumbled, his hands
moving to my ass and lifting me so that my legs wrapped around his waist. I was
too turned on by the gesture to be embarrassed by the catcalls from our friends,
as he strode out of the place with me wrapped around him.

We barely made it through the door
before we were all over each other. He had me pressed firmly against the wall
in the hallway that led to the bedroom as I panted into his mouth. I loved how
strong he was, how he could lift me and hold me any way he chose.

“You want it right here?” he growled
into my mouth, his muscles flexing under my fingers.

“Yeah,” I replied breathlessly. I
could feel his hardness through his jeans and a thrill went through me as he
pressed himself into me. He dropped me to the ground long enough to strip me
out of my jeans and underwear. He pressed me back against the wall as his
fingers glided through my slick folds.

“Soaked,” he rumbled with pleasure as
he unzipped his jeans to give him access. There was something undeniably erotic
and utterly primal about him being fully dressed.
 
He hoisted me back up and plunged into
me. I threw my head back and cried out loudly as he immediately started hitting
the spot I needed him to.

Wall sex was a new one for us, and I
knew immediately that I’d be demanding a repeat performance.

My hands clutched at his shoulders as
he slammed into me. There was
a desperation
about his
movements that I hadn’t seen before, but I welcomed it. My intensity stemmed
from a different source entirely, one I wouldn’t be sharing with him tonight.
For now I just needed to feel connected to him.

“Oh, babe,” I moaned when I felt it
coming like a freight train. Seconds later I was quaking around him, my legs
wrapping even tighter around his firm ass to pull him deeper. He groaned and
thrust two more times before he was following me over the edge.

“Fuck,” he breathed into my neck as he
still held me pressed to the wall.

“Yeah,” I agreed simply, my voice a
hoarse whisper. “Let’s do that again.” I smiled while kissing his neck.

“Think I need a quick breather, babe,”
he chuckled.

“Well I didn’t mean
now
,” I replied, blushing slightly.

He set me on my feet and tucked
himself back into his jeans. He kissed me softly before biting my lower lip lightly.
“Love how you get so wild for me but you still blush like a schoolgirl,” he
said as he grinned.

I swatted him away playfully as he
took my hand and dragged me toward the shower.

“I’ve got a surprise for you,” he told
me later as I lay sprawled against his chest.

My heart hammered with the knowledge
that I had a very large surprise for him as well. And I wasn’t sure at all how
he would react. I still wasn’t even sure how I felt about it.

We’d just finished round two, which
had been Cole’s chance to play. I felt utterly satiated after hours of giving
my body over to his knowing hands, so luckily I was able to fall back into
relaxation mode rather easily. His fingers traced patterns over my shoulder and
I hummed with pleasure.

“What kind of surprise?” I asked.

He chuckled. “It wouldn’t be a
surprise if I told you now would it?”

I pouted. “I suppose not, when can I
have it?” I asked, propping myself up on my elbow to look at him in wide-eyed
delight. No one had ever gotten me a surprise before and I was excited by the
prospect.

“Tomorrow,” he answered simply.

Maybe he could have his tomorrow as
well, when I figured out how the hell to tell him.

Fortunately I was too exhausted to
think about it too much before my eye lids grew heavy and I fell asleep.

Chapter Fifteen

The doorbell rang just as I was
finishing breakfast. Cole came out of the office and headed for the door,
giving me a wink.
My surprise, no doubt.

On the other side of the door Wes
stood with a huge, ferocious looking dog. My eyes bulged in response.

“What on earth is that?” I demanded.

“Your new dog,” Cole replied as the
beast came trotting into the house like he owned it.

“My new dog?” I sputtered. “He looks
like he’ll kill
me,
not protect me.” I protested,
eyeing the dog wearily as it came to sniff my leg.

Cole rolled his eyes as Wes let
himself in to grab a cup of coffee. “It’s a Bullmastiff. They’re great family
dogs but they also make great guard dogs. My pop knew someone who trains them
and it just so happened that Chief here was in need of a new home.”

“What, did he eat his old owners?” I
demanded as Wes sputtered on his coffee as he held back a laugh.

“Just give him a shot,” Cole said as
he chuckled. “Maybe someday we can get a cute cuddly little puppy that will
piss all over the place. But for now, Chief is already fully trained. You were
right that we should have a dog. It’ll make me feel more secure to know he’s
here with you,” Cole explained, trying to appeal to my common sense.

I was momentarily distracted with the
realization that we wouldn’t have time for a
puppy,
we’d be too busy changing poopy diapers. Oh boy.

I forced myself not to think about
that, and after doing so I realized I was a bit annoyed by this “surprise.”
When I’d mentioned getting a dog I envisioned something a little less huge. I’d
also pictured us picking it out together, but now wasn’t the time for that
conversation, not in front of Wes.

I continued to watch the dog as he
padded around the house, his large nails clicking on the hardwood. He was
beautiful in a ferocious kind of way, with a shiny brindle coat and a large
square head. He quickly completed his perusal of the house and settled
comfortably on the carpet in the living room.

“Sure didn’t take much time for him to
make himself at home,” I muttered.

“You’ll love him, you’ll see,” Cole
told me, kissing my head reassuringly. “Wes and I have some shit to take care
of. It will give you two time to bond,” he added.

“Sure,” I snorted.

Both men chuckled at my sarcasm as
they headed out after setting the alarm. The house was suddenly quiet after the
roar of Cole’s truck had disappeared.

“Well, just you and me, huh?” I asked
Chief, feeling suddenly idiotic for talking to a dog. I’d never had one before.
I’d always wanted one, but I could never quite convince my dad that it was a
good idea. Chief cocked his head at me as though he wanted to answer my
question. I laughed out loud. I had to admit he was pretty cute.

“I guess the test to see if you’re a
good family dog is going to come a little sooner than I’d intended,” I
continued to babble to him. “That is, if Cole doesn’t go running for the
hills,” I continued. Chief just watched me with warm brown eyes. “No advice,
huh?” I asked him. “Didn’t think so,” I sighed.

After a few hours of having a new and
very large shadow, I had to admit that Chief had grown on me. He had such an
expressive face and such human looking big brown eyes. He followed me
everywhere in the house, even lying in the bathroom while I showered.

“Shit, that’s a big dog!” Kat
exclaimed comically taking a step back in surprise. She’d come over for girl
talk that was being disguised as
mani-pedis
. The guys
were still taking care of “shit,” and Kat and I had learned how to use that
time wisely.

“I know, he’s sweet though,” I assured
her, patting Chief’s head affectionately.

“Is ‘kill’ one of his known commands?”
she asked dryly as we settled onto the couch.

“Maybe.” I laughed. Truth be told, I
had no idea what he was actually trained to do.

“Still haven’t told him yet, huh?” she
asked quietly.

“Nope,” I replied, my lips popping on
the “p” for emphasis.

“Why not?”

I sighed. “Because I’m terrified that
he’ll think I did it on purpose. I’m scared he’ll take off because of it. Or worse
yet, that he’ll think he has to stay because of it.” I grimaced.

“Honey, you
gotta
tell him,” she said softly.

“I know, I will. So, how’s the
roommate search going?” I asked not only because I wanted to know but also
because I wanted to change the subject.

She shrugged. “Okay, I guess. Honestly
I haven’t been trying very hard to find someone,” she admitted.

“How are you going to pay the rent?” I
asked clearly confused.

She blushed a little and my eyes
narrowed. I knew a guilty face when I saw one. “Spill,” I demanded simply.

“I promised I wouldn’t,” she said
meekly.

“Spill,” I demanded again.

She sighed in resignation. “Fine, but
you can’t get mad. It was super nice of him.”

“Nice of who?” I asked suspiciously.

“Well, Cole sort of um, paid your half
of the rent for three months,” she confided.

“He what?” I exclaimed.

She shrugged. “He didn’t want me to
have to worry about it. And I think he knew that if I was worried that you’d be
less likely to shack up with him.”

“Sneaky bastard,” I mumbled. “It was
kind of him to do that,” I admitted. “But I’m still far from comfortable with
the extent that he wants to take care of me financially, and I’m starting to
have an issue with how many decisions he makes without my input,” I sighed
exasperated. “He just kind of railroads me into things. Granted, he ends up
being right most of the time, but that’s not the point,” I ranted.

“You should talk to him about it. I
think you’re also probably feeling particularly vulnerable at the moment with
what’s going on, too,” she said. She was probably right about that.

“What’s the latest with our friend
Sal?” I asked with a raised brow.

“Same ole same ole,” she said sadly.
“I’m in love with someone who is so closed off it’s a wonder I’m able to get
anything out of him,” she told me, looking out the window forlornly. “I don’t
know Scar, something is going to have to give. I know everyone says he’s never
been like this before with anyone blah, blah. But it’s still not enough. I
don’t think I’m asking for too much, but it may be too much for him.”

I reached out to squeeze her hand.
“What exactly is it that you feel like you’re not getting?”

“It’s hard to explain. Intimacy? I
guess that would be the best way to describe it. Of course we have physical
intimacy in spades, but I’m talking about more emotional stuff. He doesn’t
share. He doesn’t communicate very well. I know that he cares about me, but I
have to read between the lines,” she huffed and I was shocked to see her eyes
fill up with tears. This situation was far worse than I’d thought. “I’ve never
felt this way about anyone, but I feel like sometimes even when I’m with him
I’m on an island all alone,” she sniffed.

“Oh sweetie, I’m sorry,” I said
softly. I didn’t know what else to say. We’d talked about Sal until our faces
turned blue. But we couldn’t change how he was. She either had to accept it or
move on.

“Yeah well, we’ll just have to see.
Enough of that,” she said as she tried to laugh, waving her hand as though to
dismiss the subject.

When Cole got home it was late into
the evening and Kat was just on her way out.

“See
ya
,
Cole. Nice horse you’ve got there.” She laughed and cocked her head toward
Chief who had joined in our festivities and had quickly charmed her.

Cole just chuckled and lifted his chin
toward her as she headed out the front door.

“Hi, babe.” I smiled and got up to
greet him with a soft kiss.

“Hey,” he replied, his fingers
trailing through my hair and grasping the back of my neck. This was how Cole
almost always greeted me and I loved it. “How’d you two get along?” he asked as
he reached down to pet Chief.

“Me and the dog or me and Kat?” I
teased.

He rolled his eyes. “You and the dog,
babe.”

“He’s sweet,” I admitted. “We got
along just fine. Did you eat?” I asked, opening the fridge to peruse its
contents.

I was surprised when he closed the
door on me. “You
gonna
thank me, babe?” he asked
suggestively. I knew he was only teasing, but based on what I’d shared with Kat
earlier the implication pissed me off.

“I would have if you included me in the
decision,” I replied somewhat curtly.

His brows shot up, my response had
clearly surprised him. “What?”

I sighed and leaned against the fridge
door with my arms crossed over my chest. “I appreciate the gesture. I
appreciate
all
of your gestures, but
we’re living

together
now. If this is really going to go
somewhere then you can’t continue to make decisions for me,” I explained. “We
need to make decisions together.”

“Like what?” he demanded, clearly
unhappy with this line of discussion.

“Like the dog. He’s great but I’ve
never had a dog before. I’ve wanted one my whole life. I would have loved to
look online, to be a part of the process,” I explained. “And like paying for my
apartment for months without talking to me about it. That’s not something you
just do behind my back.”

“Behind your back?” he replied curtly.
“Jesus that’s a bit dramatic don’t you think?” he demanded, leaning against the
opposite counter and regarding me with narrowed eyes.

“Did you intend to tell me about it?”
I countered.

He regarded me in silence.

“I’ll take that silence as a ‘no,’
which is exactly my point. Look, I don’t want to fight. I wanted to talk calmly
about this, something we don’t seem very capable of doing,” I sighed wearily.
“But you didn’t shack up with some house mouse, Cole. I’m not going to just go
along with every decision you make. That said, I also understand that you have
a controlling nature,” I said with a raised brow. “What I’m trying to tell you
is that there’s a limit to how much I’m willing to be controlled,” I explained.
“You want a strong woman that can stand by your side, then this is what you
get,” I told him firmly.

We regarded each other for a few
moments. All the anger had gone out of me, but I wasn’t so sure about him. “Okay,”
he said finally, his tone considerably calmer.

“Okay?” I asked skeptically.

“You’re right.” He shrugged, though I
could tell it wasn’t easy for him to say. “I don’t want some doormat. I like
that you have an opinion even when it means you’re a pain in my ass,” he said
as he smirked. “So, I’ll work on talking to you about shit before I make
decisions, okay? I can’t promise it’ll be about everything, but I’ll work on it.”

I nodded. It wasn’t like I was
expecting a miracle.

I felt like we’d just overcome a huge
hurdle in our relationship with this conversation. Not only because we solved a
problem by talking things out, but also because we understood each other. I
walked the two paces to him and wrapped my arms around his waist, looking up at
him with a smile. “Thanks, babe.”

“Yah,” he nodded simply. I could tell
it cost him a bit to admit fault, no matter how roundabout of a way he’d done
it. “I
gotta
admit though, I’m confused. Do you want
the dog or not?” he asked with a wrinkled brow.

I grinned. “I want the dog.”