Chapter Five
Cole
Fuck me. Rowan Mayberry just found me ravaging his sister in the hallway of an upscale restaurant like we’re at the local country bar and I’m about to fuck her in the bathroom.
Holly is still pressed against me, looking stunned at the interruption. Her lips are swollen, her eyes still showing hints of lust. The thought that I put it there sends a new surge of need through me. I haven’t been this turned on by a woman since Millie.
I want more.
For the first time, I’m considering breaking my hard rule about sleeping with local women.
But first I need to deal with Rowan, because he looks likehe’sconsidering kicking my ass.
“What the fuck?” he demands, giving Holly a weird look.
“What are you doing here?” she demands, her cheeks flushed.
“I heard…” He pauses and shoots me a dark look before turning his attention back to her. “How much have you had to drink?”
“Did you come to give me a Breathalyzer?”she asks sarcastically, but she hasn’t pulled away from me. In fact, I’m still pressed against her, my hand on her ass.
I’ll bet Rowan’s loving that. Then again, I suspect if I had a sister and caught him molesting her like this, I’d want to kick his ass too. Especially if he had my reputation.
He hesitates as though trying to figure out how to handle things. Finally, he levels his gaze on Holly. “I thought you were smarter than this.” He spins on his heels and walks back into the dining room.
Holly stiffens as though he slapped her.
I drop my hand and take a step back. Her arms fall to her sides.
The lust on her face is gone, and her expression is shuttered. “This was a mistake.” Her voice is as stiff as a two-by-four. Her words are like being doused with ice water. “It’s good that Rowan interrupted before things went too far. Maybe I did have too much to drink.”
“Yeah,” I say, feeling like she has a script for this encounter, and I’m scrambling to catch up.
I guess her story makes sense. If she’s tipsy, it explains why she kissed me, and maybe the shock of seeing Rowan sobered her up. Except…she doesn’t seem all that drunk, and I have no explanation formyreaction toher.
A new thought hits me.
What the fuck is going to happen when word of this gets around town? I’ll be declared an open market.
“Do you think Rowan will…” I rub the back of my neck, my thoughts still scrambled. “Do you think he’ll tell anyone about this?”
She releases a bitter laugh. “Don’t worry, Cole. Rowan doesn’t want anyone knowing you were feeling up his sister, and even if I repeated this, I doubt anyone would believe me.” Shegestures toward me. “I mean, with your reputation as a tourist shark and all.” Then she brushes past me, out into the dining room.
I stand in place, telling myself that she’s right—we were lucky Rowan stopped us from doing something stupid. So why do I feel so hollow inside?
I give myself about twenty seconds to recover, then head back in the dining room. The cake box is still on the bar, but Holly’s purse is gone.
Heaving a sigh, I sit on my vacated stool and pick up a fork, spearing the pink skirt of the cake. It really is good, which means it would be a fucking shame to waste it.
“I saw Holly follow you to the bathroom,” Laura says, shaking her head. She’s standing directly in front of me, but somehow I didn’t realize she was there until she started talking. “Some women are so desperate.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” I ask, shorter than I intended, but the last thing I need is for people to gossip about Holly and me being together in the hall.
“Isawher follow you, Cole,” she insists.
“Perhaps you saw her go tothe bathroom, Lisa,” I say, purposely getting her name wrong. It’s unlike me to be intentionally rude to a near stranger, but I need to keep what happened a secret. Or at least that’s what I tell myself. A small part of me protests that I’m protecting Holly’s reputation, but I nearly laugh out loud. Since when does Holly Mayberry need protecting? I’m protecting my own reputation, nothing more, nothing less.
“Well, she ran out like her pants were on fire,” she says, sounding less certain but just as judgey.
