“The last four of those he spent screwing a real honest-to-goodness biker babe behind my back. He decided she was more his speed, so he dumped me and he also made his best friend fire me.”

Cole looked ready to kill someone.

“Are you sure you want me to continue?”

He nodded, his mood rapidly growing darker before my eyes.

For me . . . well, I’d thought it would be harder revealing all this to Cole. I’d gotten over my past grievances until Ollie, and these last few months the memories of what I’d allowed to happen to me had burned in my gut like acid. Yet sitting there with Cole, I realized that somehow over the past few weeks that bitterness had begun to fade.

I tensed at the realization.

I was allowing myself to forget because of Cole.

Don’t be stupid again—you need to remember, to keep your guard up. It’s when you feel safe that they hurt you. Every. Time.

Instinctually I attempted to pull away from Cole, but his hold on my waist tightened.

I exhaled, so confused, so unbelievably mixed up by all of the emotions churning through me. I should be terrified of Cole and yet . . .

“Fine,” I continued. “Then there was Rory. We were only together a few months before I started to notice that money kept going missing from my purse. Eventually I discovered Rory was stealing from me even though he had a lucrative side business as a drug dealer. I then found out he was an ex-con. I got the hell out of there and went running right into the arms of dear Ollie. And you know all about him.”

After a few seconds of loaded silence Cole said, “That’s just a series of bad luck, Shannon.”

This time I did pull away, jumping off the bed with an exasperated grunt. “Bad luck? No, Cole, that’s having terrible taste in men.”

“Present company excluded,” he grumbled, getting up off the bed.

“Don’t,” I snapped, turning on my heel and heading back to the kitchen to finish making dinner.

“Don’t what?” He followed.

“Be boyish and charming.”

“That’s kind of hard. I am boyish and charming.”

I huffed and was just about to turn on the hob when his strong arms encircled me and I found myself up in the air. I landed on Cole’s shoulder with a gasp. “What are you doing?”

“Taking you to bed. Dinner can wait.” He patted my bottom and started striding back toward the bedroom.

“Let me down,” I growled.

“Nope. First: Looking at your gorgeous artwork gave me a serious hard-on. I do love a talented woman.” He stroked my bottom before dropping me on the bed. I stared up at him, wondering how we went from heartfelt confessions, messy confusion, and irate irritation to this. My eyes dropped to his hands as he began unzipping his jeans. “Second, I’m going to fuck every bad memory of those unworthy gits out of you, even if it takes me a lifetime. Starting tonight.”

My mouth dropped open at the lifetime comment. “Cole—”

“Be quiet, Shortcake,” he murmured, crawling up the bed until he was straddling me. “Anything you say will only make me more determined.”

*   *   *

I shot awake, my heart pounding so hard it was all I could hear. Sweat slickened my skin and I panted for air.

As my eyes adjusted to the dark, I saw I was in my bedroom. Cole was sleeping beside me. He was exhausted after spending the entire evening screwing my brains out. I’d been exhausted too. That was why I’d fallen asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

But the nightmare had returned.

I hadn’t had it for weeks. Since I’d started seeing Cole.

I swallowed hard, running a trembling hand through my damp hair. It must have been all that talk about my exes that had spurred its return.

I had no idea what to do.

Things seemed and felt good with Cole, but hadn’t they with all the others before it went bad? I should leave him. I should . . .

Taking my time, breathing in and out, I felt my heart starting to slow, and that was when I heard a familiar grunt followed by a low wheeze. Slowly the grunts got louder and the wheeze grew higher until it was more of a squeal.

Cole shifted beside me and groaned. His eyes opened reluctantly and he squinted up at me. “What the fuck is that?” he said, his voice hoarse from sleep.

I snorted and lay back down. “That’s Rae and Mike.”

The look of horror on his sleepy face was so comical I burst out laughing.

The grunting and squealing immediately stopped. Something pounded against the wall between Rae’s and my room. “Shut the fuck up!” her muffled shout echoed through.

That set us both off. I snuggled into Cole, burying my giggles in his throat as he shook with his own choked laughter.

And just like that, my nightmare and worries were temporarily forgotten.

CHAPTER 16

A t the press of a gentle touch on my lower back, I found myself inhaling the scent of Cole’s cologne.

“I thought you could come over to my place tonight once I finish up at judo,” he murmured in my ear.

I moved away from him, bending my head closer to the file I was working on. I’d almost completed the digitization of Stu’s filing system. If I didn’t have to endure too many distractions, I would be finished in a week or so. Cole didn’t take my “I’m busy. I don’t want you touching me” hint. The studio was quiet, and there was no one around to witness him crowding me against the reception desk.

“Shannon,” he said, his voice a warning as his fingers gripped my hips.

I ignored the flush of arousal I felt at his touch. In fact, I was trying to ignore everything about him these days.