Page 9 of Wrecked
If his chest got any tighter he’d go into cardiac arrest. “Yeah, like I said.”
She shook her head. “Not for the reason you think.”
“What other reason is there?” You look like a monster.
He’d seen Piper blush plenty, but right now the woman’s face was on fire. “One you don’t want to hear.”
No, he didn’t want to hear it. Hearing her tell him the way he looked disgusted or frightened her wasn’t something he could deal with right then. “You’re right, so let’s keep it that way.”
Something flashed in her eyes, something he couldn’t name. “Fine. Whatever.”
Jesus.
He needed to get the hell away from her. Knowing that with one gentle tug, her dress would be down around her waist? Shit, it was driving him crazy. “Pipe…”
All trace of emotion vanished from her face, her expression going blank before she forced a smile. A false smile, all teeth. “You know what? I think I’ll take you up on your offer. Give me fifteen minutes to say good-bye, and you can give me a ride.”
I’d rather you ride me.
Dammit, he needed to stop thinking like that. It didn’t matter how much he wanted her, nothing could or would ever happen between them. For many reasons.
One of the main ones, the woman he wanted more than anything in this world felt about him the same way he felt about himself.
Disgusted.
Monster.
Seemingly oblivious to her presence or scrutiny, Cole gazed straight ahead with single-minded focus, gripping the steering wheel in his large hands like he expected to do some serious defensive driving in the now quiet back roads to Axle Alley. She understood why he’d still feel anxious behind the wheel. What she didn’t understand was why he kept it all bottled up inside, refusing to talk to anyone about the accident. She still didn’t know exactly what happened. In fact, she knew nothing, except that Cole had been hurt when he’d crashed his patrol car. Even Deke wouldn’t tell her any details.
If her brother had tried and failed to get through to him, what chance did she have? Her need to help everyone, to fix their problems, would have to go unsatisfied where Cole was concerned, and it was driving her bat-shit crazy. Unrequited feelings aside, Cole wasn’t just anyone. He was extremely important to her, special. He’d made her feel that way many times in her life. Had been there to make her smile when she was feeling low. She wanted to do that for him now.
But he was keeping her, everyone, at arm’s length.
The realization that she’d nearly spilled her guts after he’d helped her with her dress, that in her frustration she’d nearly said how she felt about him, lumping all that extra baggage on his shoulders, was cringe-worthy. And selfish. But she was just so sick of his pretending he had no idea how she felt about him.
How could he not know? She’d practically salivated all over him on the dance floor. She winced. Then there was “the call.” After a night of shots and a good dose of alcohol-induced courage, she’d phoned him, blurting her feelings onto his answering machine like the lovesick fool she was.
He’d done nothing about it. Acted like it never happened.
So why she felt the need to force the issue was beyond her. It wouldn’t change anything. It would only make things more awkward between them.
Cole pulled into the short driveway in front of her cottage, shut off the engine, and shoved open his door.
Dammit, she just wanted him to leave so she could wallow in her self-pity in peace. “I’m fine. You don’t need to walk me in.”
He was already out of the car. Resting his hand on the roof, he leaned back in. “I’m walking you to the door.”
“I said I’m fine.” He shook his head, grumbling under his breath. She stiffened. “What did you just say?”
He pushed away from the car and strode around to her door, pulling it open. “I said you’re stubborn. Now get your stubborn, sweet ass out of the car and up the damned steps.”
“My sweet ass?” Piper blinked up at him. Over the years, he’d called her a pain in the ass many times. When she was seventeen and she and Rusty had been singing and dancing in the backseat of his car, he’d told her to sit her ass down, but never in all the time she’d known him had he referred to her ass as sweet.
He stared down at her. “Pipe, your hearing seems fine, yet you’re still sitting in the car.”
She shivered, unable to stop herself. Would she ever get used to that voice? That voice did not belong to Cole. It belonged to someone else. It had always been deep, but the damage he’d taken to his vocal cords in the accident had altered it completely. He had that whole gargling gravel thing going on, and when he directed it her way, she felt it right between her thighs.
She covered her shivers by rubbing her arms, when cold was the last thing she felt right then. “Well, aren’t we extra bossy this evening.”
