With Cole, when he pulls back, I want to lean in. When Dex pulls back, I just sigh in defeat.
“How’d I do?”
“Uh, it was nice.” I shrug.
“Cool.” He doesn’t seem to get that nice isn’t enough, it’s not Cole.
I want to feel bad for Dex, but a busty blonde is already moving into my seat at the bar, so I think he’ll be all right. I turn to Sam who is already handing me my purse when I tell her, “I gotta go.”
29
Brooke
The drink and a half I had at the bar gives me enough courage to get me in the uber and to Cole’s building. Once I’m there, standing outside, I start to freak out. What was the reason I decided to come here? Because I realized that Cole makes me feels things that no one else does? Was that what Sam convinced me of? I guess I didn’t take much convincing, I only kissed one guy, I could have taken more of a data sample to argue my case. That I’m just a woman on fertility hormones that can’t get enough sex. This doesn’t mean Cole and I are together. It just means I really like his dick and he’s fun to be with. Right?
Okay. Maybe those drinks were stronger than I thought. I check the time on my phone, it’s ten-thirty, not really that late for a Saturday night. What if he’s not even here? Maybe he’s forgotten about me and he’s out in a bar kissing a random woman. I send him a text.
I’m here.
Where?
Your building. Outside.
He doesn’t respond again, which has me wondering if he thinks I’m a complete wackadoodle. Maybe he’s calling security to haul me away. A large man in a suit approaches and opens the door. I brace for a stern lecture but he smiles and holds the door open.
“Miss Ryan?”
“Yes.”
“I’m Robert.” He extends his hand and I shake it.
“Brooke.”
I recognize Robert from the night I came home with Cole after the diner, he had been sitting behind the concierge desk and Cole had said goodnight to him. I wonder if he recognizes me, and also if he thinks I only frequent Cole’s place for late-night booty calls.
“Dr. Matthews requested I send you up.”
“Oh, okay.”
He motions me inside. I follow him through the lobby and to the elevator bank where he calls the elevator for me, then swipes a key card and selects Cole’s floor.
“Have a good evening.”
“Thanks. You, too.”
I have an urge to ask Robert how many times he has to escort women up to Dr. Matthew’s condo, like is this a typical Saturday night? I know Cole was on call the Saturday I met him at the diner after his hospital shift, but if he hadn’t met me would there have been another woman on her way over?
The elevator ride is quick, so I’m pondering this when the elevator door opens, and I step off to find Cole standing in the doorway to his condo.
He’s in a soft gray t-shirt, similar to the one I have stashed under my pillow at home, and jeans, his bare feet make his casual look even sexier. I don’t have a foot fetish but there’s something about a man in jeans and bare feet that really does it for me.
“Oh, hi.” I’m a little caught off guard that he’s right here. That I didn’t have time to check my hair in the elevator wall’s reflection or reapply lip gloss. And that I didn’t have at least ten minutes to pace in his hallway before I talked myself out of knocking on his door.
He smirks at me in that way that tells me he knows all of this.
“I was just in the neighborhood and wanted to say ‘hi.’” I move closer to his door, closer to him. “And let you know I have your shirt. I need to return it. It’s at home, though.” I have no game plan, which is clear from the ramblings coming out of my mouth.
Cole’s standing in the doorway, hands braced against the door frame, which makes his arms flex and his biceps strain against the soft cotton of his shirt. His stance isn’t exactly welcoming. He’s taking up the entire doorway, not making a move to let me come inside.
