Page 44 of Lethal Threat
Cole’s got hard working hands. The kind that abrades your skin just enough to remind you he’s a man who knows how to do things.
Work things.Hot pleasurable things.
Pressing my face against the window, I try to find any safe line of thought.
Cold. Winter. Snowstorms. Clothing...
I fail. Nothing is safe with him involved.
Suddenly, the thought of snuggling up in a borrowed flannel shirt of his makes a flood of longing rush through me. This man does something so visceral to me it defies logic.
“Cole… how long have we been engaged?”
The change in his demeanor is so fast it sucks all the oxygen out of the truck.
Chapter Sixteen
SIERRA
The silence that follows my question is long enough to make my stomach knot.
“Not very long,” Cole replies quietly.
My throat suddenly feels parched while my hands start to feel clammy. It takes a moment to work up the nerve to ask him my next question. “Is there a problem?”
The tendons in his fingers flex as he tightens his grip on the steering wheel. “Let’s save some of this for another time. It’s a lot to absorb. I’m tired. You’re tired.”
Something is wrong.
Clearly, this is not a cheerful topic.
An elephant settles on my chest.
The silence pulses. I tug the band from my hair and run my fingers through it, trying to ease some of the tightness that starts in my scalp and runs to my toes.
Cole glances over. His voice has a roughness to it. “I don’t want you to be upset.”
Then tell me.
Only I know he won’t. We’re playing the waiting game.
Annoying.
Medically necessary? I’m not sure. Although it feels like my head could pop if I have to process anything too big.
I bite my lip for a second, then say, “I’m just confused. One minute you look happy, the next you’re edgy. The next you’re locked down. Then you won’t tell me how long we’ve been engaged.”
His sigh is weighty as he shifts his long body in the driver’s seat. “Sierra, our relationship is complicated.”
Complicated. Ouch. For some reason, that word stings. What does that mean?
I guess I should be happy. That’s more than I thought he’d say.
But now I’m even more worried. I stare at his profile, fighting the need to ask more questions. I decide it’s pointless to ask, so I simply make a remark. “Complicated is not a good word when it comes to relationships.”
He sucks on the inside of his jaw before he says, “That’s a generalization.”
Infuriating answer.
