Page 30 of No Apologies
“Yeah, just... I’ll let you go.”
Skylar bit her lip as she watched his gaze drop again and he turned to leave. Her emotions were always in whiplash mode when it came to Colt. He could go from happy to angry in a split second. His moods changed faster than the weather in Oklahoma. But of all the different ways she’d seen him, this was the first time she could ever remember him seeming self-conscious.
“Colt, wait.” She grabbed his arm, stopping him in his tracks.
He turned back to her, mouth open and she was certain he was about to say something that would make her pull away so she didn’t give him the chance. She threw her arms around him and hugged him. She buried her face against his chest and squeezed with everything she had. She tried to tell him everything he didn’t want to hear without saying a word.
He stood there against her for a long moment, not moving. Stiff. Uncomfortable. But she still held on because he didn’t try to shove her away.
“Dammit.” Colt muttered under his breath, and she didn’t think she was supposed to hear it when he wrapped his arms around her as well and sighed, “I don’t know how to do this.”
She burrowed deeper into his embrace and bit the inside of her cheek when she felt his lips brush the top of her head. No, she couldn’t imagine he did. He didn’t let anyone this close to him. He’d kept her from getting this close for so long she was shocked to find herself in his arms now. And even though she’d been in relationships and cared about people she didn’t know how to do this either. She’d never felt like this about anyone else so she simply held on to him for as long as she could.
Eventually, his grip on her loosened and she knew he was going to pull away. She hated it but she let go of him as well. He dropped his hands and stepped back, his handsome face solemn. She stepped back as well and straightened her cardigan and dress, anything to keep from having to meet his eyes in case he regret this entire encounter.
Colt cleared his throat, “You should get going.”
“Yeah.”
“Stop by the shop sometime this week if you want to talk about the ink.” He shifted on his feet, “I mean, you don’t have to if you don’t like it. I just thought…”
She remembered the piece of paper in her hand and smiled softly when he trailed off, “I love it.”
“Good.”
“I’ll stop by this week.”
“Okay.” He stepped back again and jammed his hands into his pockets, “You should get to dinner. I didn’t mean to make you late.”
“No worries, I was already late.” She smiled.
“I figured.” A flicker of a knowing smile brought out his dimples and her heart leapt all over again. “You’re always late.”
“It’s not a big deal. The guys went fishing today so they’ll still be cleaning the catch most likely. The later I am the less likely Owen will chase me around with fish guts.”
Colt’s smile dimmed, “The guys?”
“Dad and Owen and…” She refused to say his name, refused to put that wedge back between them and destroy this perfect moment they’d managed to carve out, but it didn’t matter that she didn’t say it, his reaction was all the same.
“Trey.” Colt stepped away from her, putting space between them quickly now.
“Yeah.”
“Yeah,” He mimicked with a shake of his head, “You should get going now Skylar. Your boyfriend is probably waiting on you.”
“Colt, I…”
“See you around, Sky.”
She closed her gaping mouth when he turned and walked away from her. One mention of Trey and he shut down completely. Indifferent Colt appeared just that fast. He shoved her away again and she couldn’t even blame him. She had a boyfriend and until she handled that, she couldn’t force Colt to let her any closer than he already had.
Since he’d already disappeared into his apartment, she sighed and went to her car. Once she was inside, she carefully straightened the drawing he’d given her and tucked it inside her purse. She didn’t want anyone else seeing it. Some part of her liked the idea of it being a secret, a tattoo that only she and Colt knew about, something they shared that nobody else would ever see.
As she drove to her parent’s house outside of town, she thought about the way it had felt to be in Colt’s arms. Right. There was something so right about being cocooned in those big, muscled arms of his. He felt it too. She was certain of it now.
He’d given her a gift today. More than one really. He’d given her that drawing. He must have spent hours working on the design and getting it just right on paper. He’d drawn out her next tattoo for her and told her to come by the shop any time to get it inked. But the more important gift had been the apology.
Colt Bomar. Mr. No Apologies himself. He’d apologized to her.
