He doesn’t need to go into detail. I’m sure he’s talking about the breakup.
“And you decided against it?”
“Whole-heartedly. I didn’t want my brand attached to an asshole. Especially one who doesn’t know how to treat a woman.”
He scoops a spoonful of the brownie and ice cream. I’m far too fascinated with watching him lick the dribble of dessert off his lip.
“Does that mean that you do?”
His eyes squint a little while he thinks of his answer. “Yes. No one is perfect, but I’d never be so careless about my woman’s wellbeing. Ever. Just the short preview of how he spoke to you was unacceptable.”
“And that made you cancel his offer.”
Cole looks at me head on as if he’s trying to see my soul. “I didn’t even speak to him.” He waves over the server and has him pack up the rest of the dessert. “Take them to my suite,” he orders as he stands.
I watch as he moves around to my side and stands next to me. “Shall we walk?”
“With the massive sampling we just had? Of course.” He takes my hand and helps me up. “Where to?”
“An aimless walk?” He suggests.
“Works for me.”
We walk towards the space where we painted earlier and I tell something is heavy on his mind.
“Just say it or ask it?”
He looks over at me. “Huh?”
“I can feel you thinking.”
“I’m just wondering what happened between you two.”
“Fame is the best way to explain it. The more attention he received the less he gave me. There were small things in thebeginning. Cropping me out of pictures or forgetting to tell me about events. I’m not sure if he was him or the label thinking he’d be more marketable, single. Hell, it could be both. I didn’t exactly feel any resistance to the changes on his part.” Every time I think about how it deteriorated, it makes me feel so stupid the anger and embarrassment still makes me tear up a little. “He started treating me like a secret and that day was the last straw. We were supposed to ride over there together in the limo but he was gone by the time I finished showering. Mind you, I was getting ready early so they wouldn’t be late. He didn’t even bother to tell me he was leaving. The only explanation was a text to take the rental and meet him there. There have been so many times I wish I took it as a sign to move on then.”
“But we wouldn’t have met.”
“You’re right and I wouldn’t have gotten bonafide confirmation that he didn’t give a damn about me the way he should.” I stop walking and look up at him. “The rain was bad and I was scared out of my mind. I was crying, Cole.” That part of the story still chokes me up because how can anyone who’s supposed to care about me be so callous? “He sent me to voicemail twice only to go live twenty minutes later. How could I be stupid enough to be with someone like that?”
I didn’t realize I was crying until Cole stepped closer, cupped my face, and wiped my tears with his thumbs.
Even with showing another person my hurt feelings for the first time, I like having him in my space.
“You weren’t stupid, he took advantage of your kindness. You gave him grace when you thought he deserved it. Once you realized he wasn’t worthy, you walked away. I’m proud of you. You didn’t stay and allow him to keep taking advantage of your feelings.”
Giving in to the desire that has been ruling me all night. I close the space between us and press a kiss to his lips.
Cole, however, stays stuck in place neither accepting nor rejecting my kiss. I pull away as a new wave of embarrassment washes over me. I misread his niceness.
“Goodnight.” I tell him as I walk away quickly.
I don’t stop until I’m safely locked inside of my room and hiding for the rest of the night.
Chapter 10
Jessamine
Now that I’ve had time to sleep off my impulsiveness, embarrassment rides me hard. I groan in the otherwise silent room and slide deeper under the covers. It's already bad that I’m hiding out from the media and its trolls and now I’ve practically thrown myself at the ONLY man around. Cole was the first sounding board that understood my side and I interpreted that into him being into me.
