Page 48 of Honey Bee Library
“Sure,” she said with a nod. But then she glanced down at her clothes and around the room. “I don’t have a change of clothes.” She met my gaze once more.
Maddie’s face flashed in my mind, and I shrugged. “I think I can help.”
15
WILLOW
I wasn’tsure what Cole meant when he said he could help with my lack of clothes. But sitting on the living room couch and watching him point out fish to Jasper hadn’t been a contender for that list.
I thought, perhaps, he wanted me to wear his clothes. Or maybe Maddie had a set of clothes for nights she stayed over. I wrinkled my nose at that thought. The idea of wearing Maddie’s clothes made my stomach churn.
But what did Cole mean? We’d gone from,I have a solution, to him distracted with Jasper. From a heat so palpable that I feared it would burn me, to nothing.
Had I imagined everything?
I shook my head as I finished off the granola bar that Cole had fetched me from the kitchen to tide me over. It wasn’t my imagination. I’d felt the desire in his gaze. I’d felt the electricity crackling between our bodies as he stood inches away from me. The desire I felt for his touch was mirrored in his gaze as it kept slipping down to my lips.
I wanted him to want me, but did I dare hope?
Harold never made me feel desired. The sex we did have was rehearsed and more for him than me. And after I had Jasper, he made a point to take jabs at my postpartum body, so much so that I finally stopped changing in front of him and any physical contact between us stopped.
Of course, I’d learn later that he’d been getting what he needed from the strip club in town, further solidifying my desire to pound the final nail in the coffin of our relationship. But in the moment, it had crushed me. It pulverized my self-confidence into dust.
I felt stupid for thinking that Cole, a handsome and rich man, could ever want a single mom like me.
Knocks on the front door were followed by a female calling out, “Hello?” I straightened against the back of the couch and turned to see Maddie walk into the living room. Her smile was wide as she studied Jasper and Cole, who had both turned to look at her.
“Hey, Jasper!” she said as she closed the space between them and held out her fist.
Jasper could never leave a person hanging and bumped her fist.
Realization as to why this woman was here washed over me. Of course, she would just drop by. She was Cole’s girlfriend. I was sure she was excited to see him. It had been a few days.
But for some reason, she just gave him a quick glance before her gaze shifted and fell on me. “Willow,” she exclaimed. Her excitement felt genuine, which only made me feel guilty for disliking her. “Welcome to Miami.”
Pulling out all the southern hospitality that I’d learned in Harmony, I forced a smile and stood. “Thanks,” I said as I glanced over to see that Jasper had returned to the fish tank and Cole was watching us intently. I cleared my throat and pulled my attention away from him. Maddie was nice, but I had no intention to make her my bosom buddy like Cole seemed desperate for me to do. “Here to take Cole away?” I asked, his plans for dinner now rang hollow in my mind.
“Actually, I’m here for you,” she said, her smile wide.
I frowned. “Me?” I asked, punctuating my question with a jab to my chest.
She nodded. “Yep.” She clapped her hands and then rubbed them together. “Cole asked me to take you shopping.”
Ah, that had been the plan. I felt like such a fool for mistaking his generosity with desire. Cole didn’t want me. He was just a genuinely nice guy. I’d been the fool to extrapolate from his kindness feelings that just weren’t there.
I was an idiot.
“Oh,” I said. I didn’t want to go shopping with Maddie, but if I refused, I was going to have to explain myself. “Are you sure you have the time?” I racked my brain in an effort to remember what she did. Had they told me?
She laughed. “Of course I have the time. It’s my job.”
“Oh.” Then realization dawned on me. She was a personal shopper. “Oh!” Dollar signs flashed in my eyes. There was no way I could afford a store that employed personal shoppers. “I don’t think I have the funds,” I whispered, embarrassed that I had to bring it up. These people probably never had to check their bank accounts or worry about overdraft fees.
Maddie knit her eyebrows together. “Doesn’t matter.” She reached out and grabbed my hand. “Cole’s paying.”
My gaze whipped over to Cole, who was still watching us intently, but he didn’t look like he was going to correct her. He had to have heard what she said, and from his expression it looked like paying for my clothes had been his idea.
Was that true?
