Edible

14

As Rachel waved good-bye to Katie, a potential new employee for Precious Petals, she felt as though a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. Rachel liked Katie, and if no one else bothered to show up for interviews, she would be more than happy to hire her.

Moving around her shop, Rachel stopped in front of a bouquet of colorful tulips and took a moment to picture her mother tending to her garden back at the little yellow house that currently sat empty. The house had once been so full of life, and it still held all her most important memories, so it always amazed Rachel that it was now lifeless and sitting for sale.

Shaking her head, she turned away from the tulips and reminded herself that this week was all about finding a way to move forward and to decide what she wanted in life, not to let herself be overwhelmed by the loss she had been feeling for quite some time now.

Naturally, the thought of moving forward automatically made her think of Cole.

Now, there is definitely a welcome distraction. Who knew?

He had marched into her life and demanded she let him in, and with that, he had reintroduced her to a side she had tried to deny.

When Cole had dropped her home this morning, he appeared like the professional businessman he was. It was hard to imagine him as the lover who had taken her on his kitchen floor. Then, he’d leaned over, kissed her, and pressed his card into her hand with the suggestion to come and find him for lunch.

Looking up at the clock, she saw it was two forty-five. She had told him she could just close the shop a little early and be there at three thirty. If she wanted to make it into the city and on time, just the way he liked it, she needed to leave now.

Grabbing her purse, she glanced in the mirror and blew her reflection a kiss, making herself a promise to just go with it, follow her instincts, and let it take her where it would.

And, right now, that was to Cole.

Cole was across town and seated behind his desk in the middle of a much longer than expected conference call. As he glanced up at the clock, he clenched his teeth as the big hand shifted to three forty-five. Shit. He was late for lunch with Rachel.

As Mr. Fogerty, one of their top clients, continued on about how he was not responsible for the fact that one of his employees was suing him for wrongful termination, Cole looked over to Logan. Logan was sitting on Cole’s couch, examining his nails and looking exceedingly bored. He finally raised his eyes and rolled them behind his glasses.

Cole gestured him over and continued taking notes, giving Mr. Fogerty noncommittal answers. Logan stood, smoothed his jacket, and walked over to Cole’s desk. Switching to a separate page, Cole scrawled: Woman in lobby. Name is Rachel. Go get her.

Logan picked up the paper and read its instructions. As he glanced down at Cole, he tapped the note with his opposite hand. “What does she look like?” he asked in a hushed tone.

Looking him dead in the eye, Cole whispered, “Like a woman you will only ever dream about but will never have the balls to take.”

Logan chuckled as he made his way to the door. “That good, huh?”

“Yes, that good. And Logan?” Cole hissed quietly as he covered the mic to the speakerphone. “Hands and eyes off.”

Opening the office door, Logan turned back at the last moment just to irritate Cole. “How am I going find her if I can’t get a good look at her?”

“Mr. Fogerty?” Cole interrupted his client.

“Yes, Mr. Madison?”

“Can you hold for one minute?”

“Sure, Madison, but don’t keep me waiting too long.”

Cole pressed the mute button and glared over at his partner, who was currently giving him a what-did-I-say look.

“Keep your charm to yourself, Logan. There are plenty left in the world for you to choose from. Just go get her, and don’t ogle her.”

Logan laughed as he held his hands up in mock surrender. “Alright, alright. It’s refreshing to realize you still acknowledge that I have more charm in my little finger than you do in your whole body.”

“Just get her, would you? And don’t try anything.”

“Okay, message received. No need to be so possessive.”

“Logan,” Cole warned in a voice that was low and slightly more annoyed than even he expected. “I mean it. Don’t try anything. She’s with me.”

As Logan moved through the open door, he turned back to Cole for one last jab. “Does she know that?”

Logan left, and Cole hit the speaker button and let Mr. Fogerty know he had returned. Distracted, Cole thought back to last night. He was certain of one thing: Without a doubt in his mind, Rachel knew exactly who she was with.

Rachel was seated, along with several other people, in the very impressive lobby of Mitchell & Madison’s Law Firm. As she let her eyes move around her plush surroundings, she reminded herself that there was no need to feel intimidated. It was one thing to tell herself that, but in reality, the marble floors, leather couches, and expensive paintings on the walls were all very damn intimidating.

Pulling out her phone, she glanced down at time: 3:46 p.m. He was late, which was very unlike him.

Maybe he changed his mind? No, the perfectly put-together Shelly look-alike behind the mahogany desk had buzzed through and told Cole she was here. So, he must just be busy.

Rachel pushed her loosely curled streaked hair behind her shoulders as she crossed one leg over the other. Leaning back into the soft leather couch, she glanced down at her black cheetah leggings with a grimace. She had paired them with knee-high leather boots and a black dress that stopped near her upper thigh and molded to her body like a second skin. Lastly, she had coupled the outfit with a long cream cardigan. Yep, I definitely do not fit in here.

Just as she was starting to have serious doubts about being there, one of the large glass doors to the left opened, and a man dressed in a gray pinstripe suit came out into the lobby. The receptionist immediately perked up and smiled at him as she nodded in Rachel’s direction.

The tall man turned on his heel and looked around at the people waiting on each of the couches. Framed by expensive-looking, black hipster glasses, his eyes landed on her before he moved across the lobby. Rachel got the impression he was sizing her up. He was at least six feet tall with dark hair buzzed down close to his head, and he had the perfect amount of stubble lining his cheeks and jaw to look fashionable. When he stopped in front of her and looked down, she could see curious blue eyes surrounded by thick dark lashes.

“Well, now. I knew Madison was a lucky bastard, but parading you under our noses is just mean-spirited, even for him.”

Rachel felt her mouth twitch as the large yet-to-be identified man unbuttoned his jacket and took a seat beside her. Crossing one leg over the other, he placed one of his arms across the back of the couch behind her and turned to face her.

“You are Rachel, correct? Otherwise, this will be very embarrassing.”

Rachel couldn’t help the sarcasm that slipped into her voice as she quipped with a smile, “Oh? And if I’m not, will you go and find her and deliver that same line?”

The man beside her placed a large palm over his heart. “You wound me. That was the absolute truth, not a line.”

Rachel pulled her bottom lip into her mouth to stifle a small laugh.

“See, you doubt me. I can tell,” he accused.

Shaking her head at his playful tone, Rachel replied with a full-blown grin, “You can, can you?”

“Yes. You definitely doubt my sincerity, yet I was telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God.”

“Well, maybe I would be more open to believing you if I knew who you were,” Rachel informed him in a conspiratorial whisper.

The man gave her a smile that was just this side of naughty as it met his mischievous eyes. “But then, all the mystery is gone.”

Unable to hold back the laughter any longer, Rachel chuckled as she tilted her head to the side. “Obviously, you know Cole.”

“Yep, I have had that mostly fortunate pleasure since we were tearing up the college campus together.”

Rachel looked him over, noting that he was just as put together as Cole but far more relaxed. As her eyes came back to his, his dark brow quirked up behind the dark-framed glasses.

“So? Do I measure up?”

“I wasn’t checking you out,” she sputtered.

“Yes, you were. It’s okay though. People can’t help themselves.”

Letting out a bark of laughter at his easy arrogance, Rachel raised a hand to cover her mouth. “Are you serious?”

“Very. I mean, look at all of this.”

Rachel looked around to see if anyone else was paying attention to the outrageous words spilling from this man’s mouth, but no one else seemed to be looking at them, including the receptionist.

“I still don’t know who you are,” she pointed out, choosing to ignore his last comment.

“That’s right, you don’t, do you? Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Logan Mitchell.”

Rachel ran the name through her mind several times. Logan Mitchell. Mitchell. Her eyes moved to the wall behind the receptionist where the name of the firm, Mitchell & Madison, was announced to incoming clients and guests in large block lettering.

Oh shit, this is Cole’s partner, she thought, turning back to him.

He winked at her and pointed out, “See, I was telling the truth. People find me irresistible when they look at all of this.”

Rachel wasn’t really sure what to say to that, but as she stared at him, he lost some of that flirtatious shine. She thought that there was probably a lot more to that comment than what he had said.

“Well, Mr. Mitchell—”

“Oh, come on, Rachel. I think you can call me Logan. We’re practically long-lost friends now,” he said as he slid closer to her on the couch.

Rachel held her ground as she looked up at him. “Okay, Logan. Obviously, you know that I’m here to see Cole. So, do you know where he is?”

Logan nodded and replied vaguely, “Yes.”

Rachel rolled her eyes with a small laugh. “Wow, why am I so surprised that you are just like him?”

“Oh no, that’s where you are very wrong, Rachel. Cole and I might both be apples, but when we fell from the tree, we fell further apart than expected. That’s all.”

Rachel frowned as she tried to read between the lines. When she came up with nothing, she told him, “Well, like him, you are very good at deflecting and acting vague, Mr. Mitchell.”

“Logan,” he corrected.

“Yes, okay. Sorry, Logan. So, are you going to tell me where Cole is?”

“Why? So, you can leave me all alone?”

Rachel reached up and scratched her brow. “Now, why do I find it hard to picture you ever alone?”

Logan’s smile fell back into place as he stood, holding out his hand to her. “Because I’m so incredibly charming?”

“If you have to point it out yourself, I believe the charm is negated by arrogance.”

Logan laughed loudly then, a full-on belly laugh, as she took his hand and stood.

“I can see exactly why Cole has grabbed on to you. Come, I’ll take you to him.”

“How very kind of you.” Rachel muttered as she followed him across the lobby,

When Logan opened the door to the offices and she moved to walk past him, it became clear that she hadn’t been as discreet as she hoped or he must have had supersonic hearing.

“I’m never kind, Rachel, but I’m also not stupid. If I don’t take you to Cole in the next…oh, let’s say five minutes, he’s likely to go apeshit, and that would ruin my lunch as well as yours.”

Rachel stopped and looked up into Logan’s now very serious expression.

“And why would he go apeshit?”

As he looked down at her, she thought the answer she would get would scare her, make her want to leave and never come back, but instead, the answer she got sent a delicious thrill up her spine.

“It’s simple really. He’d go apeshit because you are his.”

And apparently, that was that.

Cole looked up when he heard a light knock on his door. Logan pushed it open, and as Rachel appeared, Cole was shocked by the immediate sense of calm that washed over him. As she moved hesitantly into his office, he glanced at Logan as his partner tilted his head down with a smirk as if to say, I see exactly what you meant.

As Mr. Fogerty was wrapping up, Cole gestured to the couch, and Rachel immediately took a seat. Logan closed the door, and even though Cole couldn’t greet her, her stare made him feel her hello more eloquently than if the words had left her lips.

“Well, Mr. Madison, I believe that is all I can tell you right now, but I will be sure to send you the paperwork with the written statement as soon as possible.”

Cole watched Rachel as she slid back into his couch and crossed her wildly covered legs. All the while, she was watching him like this was the first time she had seen him.

“That sounds fine. As soon as I receive it, I’ll be in contact.”

Leaning back in his chair, he remembered the way she had looked last night, staring down at him as she traced her fingers over his body.

“Terrific. Listen, Madison, will you be at the function for the new DA at the Shedd Aquarium tomorrow?”

“Yes, I’ll be there. In fact, I’m hoping my lunch date today will be accompanying me.”

Through the speaker, the man chuckled. “You mean, you’re going to bring someone? Well, I’ll be damned. That’s a first.”

Cole’s eyes moved up to see Rachel’s blue ones staring back at him with questions.

“Well, I’ve never found someone worth bringing before,” Cole admitted, sitting forward as he rested his arms on his desk.

The man on the other end told him, “In that case, maybe you should give the little lady my number, so I can warn her all about you.”

“I will see you tomorrow, Mr. Fogerty, and you can warn her then.”

“If she says yes, my man. You still have to ask her.”

“She’ll say yes. I won’t let her say no.”

“That’s the way, Madison! See you tomorrow night.”

“I will see you then,” Cole replied and reached out to hit the end button on the speakerphone. Leaning back in his chair once more, Cole quietly requested, “Come over here, Rachel.”

Almost as though he were watching her in slow motion, he let his eyes track down her tight black dress and loose cream cardigan to her tall black boots, and he couldn’t help the tightening he felt between his legs.

She moved toward him but stopped on the opposite side of the desk.

“Here,” he said, patting his lap.

“I’m not doing anything in here, in your office,” she sputtered out almost hesitantly.

Cole tilted his head to the side and raised his gaze to hers. “Did I ask you to?”

“You want me to sit on your lap,” she pointed out.

“And that automatically means I am going to spread you across my desk and take off your tights?”

Looking around as if to make sure they were alone, she whispered, “The way you were looking at me—”

“Yes?” he coaxed. “Go on.”

“The way you are looking at me makes me question your motives.”

Cole stood then and watched as her hands gripped the back of the leather chair she was standing behind. Moving around the desk, he walked up beside her, and he was slightly amused that she continued to stare out the window behind his own chair, instead of facing him.

He reached out and traced her hand that was still clenching the chair, watching her closely as she sucked in a deep breath.

“Are you more scared of what I will ask you or that you won’t be able to deny me?”

Turning her head, she looked up into his eyes, and he could tell she was fighting some kind of internal battle.

“What’s going on in there?” he asked.

“Nothing,” she denied too quickly before looking away.

“You’re lying to me,” he pointed out. “Rachel, I will never make you do anything you don’t want to.” Leaning in close, he placed his mouth to her ear and whispered, “I suspect that’s the problem here, isn’t it? You want to.”

Cole continued watching her as she stepped away from him and moved over to the window to stare out at downtown Chicago.

Rachel couldn’t describe to him how she was feeling.

After Logan had told her so matter-of-factly that she was Cole’s, she had experienced such a rush of arousal and acceptance that when she had stepped through his office door, she had been hard-pressed to sit down on his couch and wait for him.

Then, he had sat there, running his eyes all over her, and he’d said words that had only ramped up her feelings.

Am I ready to let a man have such a hold over me again?

Whether or not I am ready doesn’t seem to matter though, does it?

He already had a hold over her, and as she stood staring out at the buildings surrounding them, she reminded herself that it was time to surrender to her feelings, not to second-guess them.

Time to give in, to trust.

“My father used to work in a building like this,” she told him as she glanced over her shoulder.

Cole slid his hands into his pockets and moved over to stand behind her. He didn’t touch her anywhere, but she could feel the heat emanating from his body.

“Did he? What did he do?”

“He was an accountant.” Rachel laughed softly. “A boring numbers man, he would say.”

“You say was. He passed away then?”

Rachel felt her heart ache as she nodded and wrapped her arms around her waist. “Yes. Both my mother and father have passed away.”

He didn’t touch her, and Rachel wondered how he knew that if he did, she would crumble to the ground. Instead, he offered condolences.

“They must have been amazing individuals to raise such a unique and beautiful woman.”

Rachel felt a small smile touch her lips. “My dad always encouraged us to be ourselves—hence the crazy hair and the fact that Mason loves to cook, which isn’t the manliest occupation.”

Without touching her, Cole’s mouth was by her ear. “I love your hair. It was the first thing that drew me to you…well, that and your miniscule skirt. As for your brother, he seems to be doing okay for himself.”

Rachel agreed, “Yes, he is. He’s a wonderful man, just like our dad was. It’s almost funny how similar they are. Dad used to teach us how to cook, and he would dance with me around the kitchen.”

She felt two large hands on her shoulders as they gently turned her, so she was looking up into concerned hazel eyes.

“How is it that you make me want so many things I had sworn I could do without?” Cole asked her.

Rachel felt a lump form in her throat as he reached out to cup her cheek.

“I don’t ever want you to change, and I will never make you do something that you don’t want to.”

Leaning down, he pressed his firm lips to hers, all the while keeping his eyes locked with hers.

“And, Rachel, for the moment, I am yours. And you? You are mine.”

As she stared up at him in breathtaking silence, he asked softly, “Well, now that I know you had the best dancing lessons available, will you come to a function that is being held for the new DA tomorrow night?”

Is there even a need for him to ask? Of course, I’m going to say yes.

But like he had said just a moment ago, he would never make her do something she didn’t want to.

With a warm smile, she placed her hand on his chest and spoke the only words she could think of. “I’d love to.”