“Oh come on,” I needled him. “You text me loads at work. You can’t be doing that much while you’re there.”
“Have you ever thought that maybe I’m just so good at what I do I can work and still have time to text you?”
Tapping my jaw, I pretended to think. “Nope.”
“Right,” Jasper said. “I’ve had enough of the flirting already. I’m going to bed. Night.”
“Night,” Cole and I replied at the same time.
Cole gasped in full teenage-girl mode. “Jinx!”
I laid against his side. “How old are you?”
It was getting late, and he had work in the morning, but I still didn’t want him to leave.
“Oakley?” Cole whispered against my hair.
“Hmm?”
“I need to go.”
“But I’m comfortable,” I mumbled, gripping his T-shirt, not wanting to let him go. “You could stay. If you want to?” As I waited for him to reply I felt wide open, vulnerable and totally bare.
He kissed the top of my head, and I hoped it wasn’t in rejection. “I’ll stay, but I’ll have to leave pretty early.”
Lifting my head off his shoulder, I was met by his beautiful blue eyes.
“Thank you,” I whispered. “Shall we go to bed then?” Cole as he stood up and offered me his hand. Well someone likes the idea of us sharing a bed…
Cole followed me upstairs. The closer I got to my temporary room the more nervous I felt. The futon wasn’t very big so we would be practically lying on top of each other, unless he wanted me to sleep in Lizzie’s bed? I shook my head. There was no way he would want that! Calm down!
I grabbed my oversized T-shirt, a pair of pyjama shorts and excused myself to the bathroom. Taking a deep breath, I looked in the bathroom mirror and smoothed down my hair. I grabbed the make-up removing wipes and swept it across my eyes slowly, giving myself some more time to calm my nerves.
Once I was ready for bed, I forced my legs to walk back to Lizzie’s room. “Hey,” Cole said, sitting up in the futon. His naked chest was staring me in the face.
My eyes widened. “Hi.”
Cole laid down, stretching his arm out for me. I swallowed my excitement and slipped into the tiny bed. I laid my head on his shoulder and threw my arm over his chest. His breathing quickened as I ran my fingertips over his soft skin, drawing a figure of eight.
“Are you okay?” I whispered in the darkness.
“Yeah,” he replied. I pressed my face into his neck and sighed happily. “When are you speaking to Linda?” Safe topic?
“I’m not sure. I’ll call her some time tomorrow if I haven’t heard anything.”
Cole’s lips grazed the top of my head. “If you want I’ll be here when you call.”
“Thank you but you really shouldn’t miss any more work, unless you want them to fire you.”
Cole chuckled quietly. His chest shook beneath my hand. “What if I came here on my lunch break and you called her then?”
I smiled against his skin. “Really? You wouldn’t mind?”
“Oakley, you know me. Of course I don’t mind. I want to be here for you.”
“Thank you.” I kissed his neck
Cole kissed me again and held me tighter. “Go to sleep, beautiful.” Hearing him say those words made me smile. He was so sweet. “I love you.”
“I love you more.”
He laughed humourlessly. “Sure you do.”
I woke up to Cole shuffling around in the bed. He was sitting up, pulling his T-shirt on. “Hey,” I whispered. His head snapped around, and he smiled as he looked at me. “You leaving already? Doing the walk of shame?”
“No walk of shame.” He smiled. “I have to get home and get ready for work. Don’t want them to fire me now, do I?”
I laughed and rubbed my eyes.
“Go back to sleep. I’ll come over at lunch.”
I sat up and wrapped my arms around his waist. I hate his job. Cole pulled me onto his lap and kissed my cheek. “I know you’re going to miss me but try keeping it together. I’ll only be gone six hours.”
Narrowing my eyes, I slapped his chest. “I won’t miss you at all.”
He laughed. “Yeah, I won’t miss you either.”
Okay, let him go. I got off his lap and laid back on the bed. Cole tugged his trousers on and pulled up the zip. Gulping hard, I forced my eyes to meet his. Of course, he was smirking. “I’m feeling quite violated right now.”
Heat rushed to my cheeks. “No you’re not. You love it.”
“Maybe,” he said and winked. “I’ll see you in a bit. Call if you need me, okay?”
I saluted and got an eye roll in return. I smiled like an idiot and stared up at the ceiling when he left.
“Morning,” I said as I walked into the kitchen. I yawned and reached for a mug. Ali had already left for work, so it was just Mum and Jasper again.
They both stood up.
“You okay?” Jasper asked.
I turned around. “I’m fine. Please don’t fuss over me all day. I’d rather just carry on as normal. Let’s pretend this is any other normal day.”
Jasper snorted. “Normal.”