Irresistibly Yours - Lauren Layne Page 0,82

my office?”

“Yeah, well, didn’t really want to be within firing range when I told you this….”

Cole’s eyes narrowed. “Told me what?”

“Todd Kolb’s taking Penelope to the Rangers game tonight. And a late dinner afterward. It would seem they’re kind of…dating.”

Cole’s ears rang.

“Come again?”

“Nope. I’m not repeating it. Didn’t even want to say it the first time. Just…damn it, Cole, get it together.”

The line went dead in Cole’s ear and he slowly put the phone back.

Let her go, he told himself.

Penelope deserved happiness, and if happiness came in the arms of another man—

“Nope. Not gonna happen.” Cole stood so quickly his chair flipped backward, but he didn’t pause to right it.

He had a woman to win back.

Chapter 29

Cole made it as far as Penelope’s office before he realized he didn’t have a plan.

Which would have been fine had he paused before opening the door, but nope—he’d gone flinging the door open without a single thought as to what he was going to say or do.

The result?

Two very startled pairs of eyes staring at him.

One pair of eyes—the big brown ones—he could drown in. Happily.

The other…

Cole focused all of his attention on the other man in the room. “Kolb.”

“Hey, Sharpe!” Todd Kolb had been standing behind Penelope, one hand braced on her desk, the other on the back of her chair, as they both looked at something on her computer screen.

Whether it was because he sensed the death glare from Cole or because of ingrained manners, Todd left Penelope’s side to shake Cole’s hand.

Cole might have shaken it harder than necessary. It was a clichéd move. Totally pathetic.

And absolutely unavoidable.

Cole did not like this man. He’d just now decided. Didn’t like his reddish hair. Didn’t like the preppy glasses. And his tie was the color of shit.

Penelope wouldn’t really date a man wearing a shit tie.

Would she?

“So, what’s going on in here?” Cole asked. He tried to keep his voice casual and curious, but it definitely seemed to come out vaguely predatory, and he could see from Penelope’s subtle eye roll that she noticed.

“Todd was walking me through some of the players for the off-season game tonight. Did you know that his uncle owns—”

“Yeah, I know,” Cole snapped.

Honestly, why did everyone think he didn’t know that? It was insulting.

“Next time I get tickets it’s your turn,” Todd told Cole, doing an admirable job of sounding apologetic. “I just thought since Penelope is new to town and hasn’t been to a game yet—”

“Yeah, that’s great,” Cole said. “Sounds good. But actually, Penelope and I have a meeting that was supposed to start five minutes ago, so—”

“Oh. Sure.” Todd looked a little surprised, but then gave a little shrug as though he wasn’t the least bit worried to be leaving the woman he was dating alone with Cole Sharpe.

Wrong, dude. You should be worried. Very worried.

Cole all but put his shoe up Todd’s ass in an effort to get the other man out the door, and then slammed it shut with more force than was necessary.

Then he spun around, to find her—

Typing at her computer.

Hell, she wasn’t even looking at him.

“Sorry if I was late to a meeting,” she said, not looking up. “I didn’t have anything on my calendar, but Outlook’s been so weird for me lately. Have you noticed—”

Cole ignored all of this, making it across the room in record time, moving around to Penelope’s side of the desk, and roughly spinning her chair to face him.

Except that this put her face level with his crotch, which was nice, but not exactly appropriate for the moment, so Cole slowly leaned down, his hands on either side of her against the desk as he caged her in.

“Cole?” She kept her shoulders straight as though unfazed, but her voice had gone decidedly breathy.

A good sign. Definitely.

He wanted to give her words. All the words. But first…

Cole couldn’t help himself from bending his head and pressing his lips to the soft skin just below her jaw. The tip of his tongue flicked out and he felt a surge of triumph when she shivered.

“Tell me you won’t be seeing him again,” he said, kissing her neck, slower this time.

“What? Who?”

Good. Excellent. She couldn’t even remember Kolb’s name.

“Todd Kolb.”

Cole gently raked his teeth against her neck and she gasped. “Oh, but…I really want to go to the game.”

“I’ll take you to the game,” he whispered.

She laughed softly. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

His stomach clenched and he pulled back slightly. “Because of your new boyfriend?”

Her nose