Page 110

But that wasn’t all they were.

Cole moved around the end of the island.

“But I’m not leaving.” His voice came out low and steady. “I’m choosing this town, and I’m choosing you. And just because it got hard doesn’t mean I’m going anywhere.”

“Cole.” His name fell softly from her lips in a way he hadn’t heard before.

He stopped a few feet away. “Yeah?”

“I’m falling in love with you too.”

Cole went completely still.

She didn’t look away.

“Present tense.”

The words landed somewhere beneath his ribs.

The apartment seemed to hold its breath around them. The radiator stopped knocking. Captain sat beside the counter with his ears raised, watching them both as if he understood the importance of what had just happened.

Cole looked at Emily.

At the black coat she had forgotten to remove. At the melting snow caught in the loose strands of her hair. At her red-rimmed eyes and the stubborn tilt of her chin, as if telling him the truth had required every ounce of courage she possessed.

This woman had been driving him out of his mind since the fourth grade.

She had infuriated him, challenged him, hurt him, and made him want things with her that he never thought were possible.

“I don’t know what this is,” Cole confessed. “I’ve been trying to figure that out since forever, and I haven’t gotten very far.” He looked at her steadily. “But I know I don’t want to pretend that it isn’t anything.”

Emily looked at him for a long moment.

Then she crossed the kitchen.

She kissed him first this time. This was Emily, which meant it was fully committed and slightly impatient and entirely certain. She was on her tiptoes, her hands coming up to his face, and Cole felt something in him that had been held very carefully for a very long time simply let go.

He kissed her back, hands around her waist, holding her close.

He turned, placing her back against the kitchen counter, his hands at her waist, and he kissed her thoroughly, unhurriedly, like he had time and intended to use it. She pulled back long enough to shrug off her coat, which fell somewhere behind her, and then her hands were at the hem of his shirt.

“Hey,” he said, against her mouth.

She stopped. Looked at him. She was dressed in a pair of worn jeans and a comfy T-shirt. This wasn’t a planned seduction. This was a rescue mission. She’d set out to rescue their relationship, and it made Cole love her all the more.

“Not here,” Cole said softly, his voice low against her ear. He nodded toward the bedroom. “I want you in my bed.”

Something shifted in Emily’s expression. It wasn’t hesitation exactly—it was recognition. This wasn’t heat and anger and teeth and desperation. This was a choice. A door they were both choosing to walk through.

“Okay,” she whispered.

Cole took her hand as they moved down the short hallway. His thumb stroked gently over her knuckles the entire way, and he realized he was nervous in a way he hadn’t been in years.

The bedroom was dim, lit only by the colorful glow of Christmas lights strung across the street below. Soft reds and golds drifted lazily across the ceiling. His room was still sparse—a bed, a dresser, a single chair—but when Emily sat on the edge of the mattress and looked up at him, the space suddenly felt full. Important. Like it had been waiting for this exact moment.

Cole sat beside her. For a long breath, they just looked at each other.

He reached up slowly, giving her time, and ran his thumb along her jaw, then down the elegant line of her collarbone. He felt her shiver.