“Come on, Marni. I haven‘t seen you in nearly thirteen years and you can‘t even spare a few hours to have dinner with me?” His voice was soft and coaxing. Reaching across the table, he covered her small hand with his large one.
Marni pulled her hand free. “It won‘t work, Cole.”
“I‘m not asking you for a lifetime, Marni. Only dinner.”
“I can‘t,” she said firmly. Why couldn‘t he just leave her alone?
He threw up his hands. “Okay, okay, don‘t get upset.”
Marni‘s sigh of relief was short-lived.
“I‘d like to see you again.” He spoke with a huskiness that unnerved her.
“Dammit, Cole,” she snapped in irritation. “I can‘t see you. It‘s out of the question.”
“Why?”
Marni looked at his face. His gentle eyes belied the demand of his tone. “Can‘t you just accept it? I don‘t want to see you.” Her voice shook with emotion. “I thought we had this conversation thirteen years ago.”
“We did, but you‘re still lying,” he stated matter-of-factly.
With a confidence she didn‘t feel, she rejected his words as nonsense. She was over Cole. He meant nothing to her any longer.
Liar! her inner voice shouted.
“I have to go,” she said again, scooting out from behind the table.
Cole frowned at her and slid out of his seat. “I‘ll walk you to your car,” he said, dropping a couple of bills on the table. When they reached the entrance of the restaurant, he moved in front of her and held the door. She cast a quick glance at him, but his face was somber and she couldn‘t tell what he was thinking.
“Where are you parked?”
“In the back. The white Prelude.” They walked together in silence in the crisp evening air.
“There.” She pointed when the sleek car came into view.
Marni retrieved her keys from her purse and disengaged the car alarm. A high-toned bleep pierced the silence between them.
“How about dinner tomorrow?” he asked.
Marni sighed heavily. “No.” She could just see Cole pulling up in front of her beach house and Jenna bounding down the steps to greet him. Pain twisted Marni‘s heart as she fantasized about father and daughter together as they should have been. Images of Jenna in a high chair at eighteen months, her green eyes and sable hair so like Cole‘s, while a battle of wills ensued over a jar of strained carrots. Cole teaching Jenna how to ride a bicycle or helping Jenna understand the theory behind multiplication tables. Dreams, only dreams, of a life not meant to be. Memories Marni and Jenna had been cheated of because of her self-doubt and her concern about her mother‘s failing health. Carson Ballinger had played on her insecurities and financial problems expertly, finally convincing Marni he was right. She wasn‘t good enough for Cole.
“You‘re not married, right?” Cole asked her again, his voice pulling her back to the present. Back to the harsh reality of the truth.
“No, Cole. I‘m not married.”
“Involved with someone?”
For an instant, Marni thought about lying to him. “No.”
“Then have dinner with me.” The look he gave her told her he wasn‘t going to give up until he got his way.
“I can‘t,” she repeated emphatically.
He opened the car door for her. “I‘ll pick you up at your office at five tomorrow.”
“Please don‘t do this to me, Cole,” Marni whispered.
“Not unless you give me a good reason why not.”
Marni could give him not one, but two, great reasons–his father and Jenna–she thought bitterly.
“I‘m waiting.” Cole‘s voice was husky, the expression in his eyes unreadable.
He radiated a vitality that still drew her, and if she wasn‘t careful, she could easily get caught up in his potent sexual magnetism again. She was already fighting the tingling in the pit of her stomach. “Then you‘ll have a long wait,” she said, determined not to give in to her physical reaction to Cole. She looked at him then, wishing she could call the words back. Faint lines of pain were etched around his eyes. She recalled that look from the balmy summer night when she‘d ended their relationship.
Tell me why, Marni. You aren‘t making any sense. I‘m waiting.
Then you‘ll have a long wait.
“I have to go,” she said, choked with emotion. She slipped behind the wheel before she made a complete fool of herself. Cole‘s hand on the car door prevented her from closing it.
“I‘ll call you tomorrow,” he said, a hard glint of determination in his eyes.
Marni shook her head in exasperation. “Why, Cole? Why is this so damned important to you? I wasn‘t so important thirteen years ago when you married Elizabeth Wakefield, was I?” She didn‘t care if she sounded jealous, or even that she had no right to be angry with him.
“You were the one who walked out, remember?” The harsh tone of his voice made her wince all the same.
Marni yanked the door out of his grasp and slammed it shut. Slipping the key into the ignition, she gunned the car to life. She promptly found Reverse and pulled out of the parking slot.
The car easily slipped into first gear, and Marni stepped on the gas. When she reached the driveway, she glanced in the rearview mirror and searched for Cole. The darkness prevented her from seeing his expression, but she had a pretty good idea he wasn‘t too happy at the moment. The Cole Ballinger she knew wasn‘t accustomed to being turned down and she seriously doubted he‘d changed over the years.
CHAPTER TWO
“J ENNA!” MARNI CALLED from the kitchen. “We‘re going to be late.”
After rinsing her coffee cup, she pulled back the white lace curtains over the sink. She cracked open the window, allowing the early morning sea breeze to waft into the cozy blue-and-white kitchen, and thought about Cole.
The shock of seeing him, talking to him, touching him, brought back every precious memory she‘d kept close to her heart over the years. Unfortunately, pain followed close behind. Marni wondered if Cole had really loved her as he‘d claimed. How could he have when he turned to Elizabeth so quickly? Carson predicted Cole would tire of her sooner or later. Seemed that Carson had been right.
A part of her, a very selfish part, wanted to see Cole again. Regardless of how foolish the idea, she knew to allow him into her life again would only be a mistake. A disastrous one. How long would it be before he learned the truth?
“Mom!”
Marni turned to see Jenna standing in the doorway, her arms crossed over her chest, impatience evident in her sea green eyes. “What were you thinking about?”
Marni mentally shook herself. “Nothing in particular.”
“I called you a dozen times and you just kept staring out the window.”
Marni