Irresistibly Yours - Lauren Layne Page 0,77
together,” he said quietly.
Right. There was that.
“Not officially,” she said, “but I thought…things seemed like they were changing between us—”
He shook his head and cut her off. “You made a promise, Penelope. So did I. This was never meant to get serious, and this is why.”
“By this, you mean the off chance that your brother was going to get hit by a cab while we were at a Yankees game? That’s why you promised you wouldn’t fall in love with me?”
“Mock all you want, but he’s all I have,” Cole said.
“He’s not,” Penelope shot back before she could think better of it. “He is not all you have. You have friends, and colleagues, and me. You have me, Cole. You may not like that I’m here, but that doesn’t change the fact that I came for you, and that I’d do it all over again.”
His eyes were flat, his expression betraying nothing. “I didn’t ask for any of this.”
Penelope ignored that. “Also, for what it’s worth, you’re not all Bobby has either. He loves you like crazy, Cole, but honestly, I wonder if he’s not better adjusted than you are, because he seems pretty okay with the fact that you two can be brothers and have your own lives.”
This time his eyes did flicker to life, and when they locked on hers they were full of anger. “Hey, here’s an idea, Penelope. You’ve got a sister, right? How about we wait until she’s in the hospital, and then we can have this little chat. Better yet, make sure that she’s entirely financially reliant on you, and that her well-being sits on your shoulders, and then come find me.”
This was not going well.
“Do you want me to leave?” she asked.
He didn’t hesitate. “Yes.”
It was no less than she’d expected, given his current mood, but ouch.
“Okay,” she said. “If you need anything, I—”
“I won’t.”
She met his eyes steadily. “Tell me you’re not actually doing this, Cole. Tell me you’re not that guy who goes all Jekyll-and-Hyde when something unexpected happens.”
His face crumpled for a moment before he put a hand over it, covering most of his features as he took a long breath. “I’m sorry, Penelope. I am.”
She stepped forward, putting her arms around him, the embrace slightly awkward because she was still wearing her Yankees hat.
He stiffened, and though he didn’t push her away, he didn’t exactly return her embrace.
“I should get back,” he said gruffly.
Penelope retreated a little, letting her arms fall back to her sides and trying not to feel humiliated by the one-sided hug.
“Okay.”
He started to turn away and then paused, hesitating before he met her eyes. “Believe it or not, I do get that I’m acting like an ass. I just…I can’t do this right now. It’s only ever just been me and Bobby, even when my parents were alive, and I don’t know what I’d do without him. Or him without me. He has to come first.”
“I see.” She managed to keep her voice steady. “You’re just realizing this now?”
He hesitated. “I’ve always known it, but lately…you made it easy to forget, Penelope.”
The statement would have warmed her heart if it hadn’t been uttered as he geared up to walk away from her.
She tried one more time. “Your heart’s bigger than you think, Cole. There’s room for me and Bobby. And Cole, you have to know that…”
I love you.
She opened her mouth to say it, but faltered when he took another step backward.
“Don’t, Penelope.”
“Cole—”
He turned away. “See you around, Pope.”
Penelope stood rooted to the spot as she watched his lean figure head back into the hospital.
See you around, Pope.
Was he for real?
See you around, Pope.
Suddenly she was so very glad she hadn’t uttered the words she’d been about to say.
Chapter 27
“I can’t believe you guys came all the way from Chicago,” Penelope said around a mouthful of Cool Ranch Doritos.
“Oh, sweetie. We’re your family.” As if punctuating this point, her mother snatched the chip bag away and replaced it with a bowl of carrots.
Penelope ignored the carrots, opting instead to pull a pillow over her chest and flop back against the couch.
Her sister came out of the kitchen and handed her a beer before sitting on the coffee table so she could study Penelope.
It had been like this for two days, Penelope going through the motions of life as her mother and sister alternated between feeding her beer and carrots and watching her like she might shatter at any moment.
And she might shatter. She just might.
“Thanks