He closed his eyes and listened to the water, hoping the bubbling sound would calm his tumultuous emotions as it had so many other evenings. This was the place he came when he needed to regroup—when the stress of work or the sting of the past got to be too much.
Before tonight, he’d always come here alone.
He felt more than heard Sienna come up behind him. She wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed her cheek to the center of his back. “Neither one of our fathers fought for us,” she said into his shirt. “What a pair.”
A pair.
Cole liked the sound of that. He liked the thought of not being alone, and especially of not being alone with Sienna. She softened his edges, dulling the throbbing pain inside his heart until it lessened to a manageable ache.
No one had ever been able to reach him that way before. Cole might be stubborn, but he wasn’t stupid. What she gave to him was precious, a gift to be cherished even if only for a short time.
So he turned around, cupped her cheeks between his hands and kissed her.
