Cole: Good. I’m already looking forward to breakfast in the morning.
Do not read too much into his words, Freya.
Do not…
My heart flutters wildly.
It’s too late. I’m already lost reading between every freaking word.
You are his chef. His employee. He isn’t interested in you.
He wants…hell, I have no idea what he wants.
The women he’s been photographed with in the past have all been beautiful. But I can’t say that I saw much of a pattern beyond that.
All I know is that there is no way he’d want a broken girl like me.
With tears burning my eyes, I tap out a reply.
Freya: There are plenty of snacks in the fridge to keep you going.
I have no idea how he could possibly eat more on top of everything he had at the restaurant, but then, this man loves nothing more than to surprise me.
Cole: You’re too good to me.
Freya: Just doing my job.
Putting my cell to sleep, I place it on the bed and take a huge breath.
Your job.
Just do your job.
With a nod, I push to my feet and set about getting ready for bed.
Thirty minutes later, I’m fresh from a shower and dressed in my most comfortable pajamas. With just the soft glow of my night light illuminating the room, I crawl into bed and grab my Kindle from my nightstand.
After a day of noise, I’m ready for peace.
But before I can open my book and attempt to remember where I got to, I can’t stop myself from checking my cell again.
My heart lurches when I find one single message from Cole.
Ignore it, a little voice screams.
But I can’t. Before I know what I’m doing, my thumb has tapped on the notification, and it’s opening before my eyes.
Cole: Thank you for today. It was a good day.
I slump back on my pillows, my eyes locked on those few words.
I don’t think I really appreciated before just how big a deal today was for him. Cole doesn’t let anyone in. He hides who he really is behind his pads for fear of revealing too much. I might have barely scratched the surface, but what he showed me today was a lot for him.
Freya: Thank you for trusting me.
There is so much more I want to say, but I force myself to stop there. I don’t want to push him or scare him off. I just…I want him to be him in whatever way that is.
Cole: It’s weirdly easy to do.
