staring up into the soaring atrium at the stained glassed ceiling and the large American flag draping down. It was opulent and old-world, and Cole instantly thought about Jane.
Did she know about this place? Had she ever been here? He wished she was here with him now so he could watch her face light up and listen to her talk about the beautiful filigreed iron panels that bordered the eight balconies that rose above his head. About the lamps and the columns and all the other little architectural flourishes on the arch work.
And the flooring. God, did he want to hear her talk about the flooring.
He just wanted to hear her talk, because…her passion was infectious and because he missed her and…a sharp pain lanced right through his middle…god fucking damn it, he loved her.
A waiter put his drink on the table, and Cole picked it up and threw it down in one hit. “Can I get another?” he asked. The waiter nodded and withdrew, taking the empty glass with him.
Cole slumped back in his chair, staring at the ceiling, the magnificence of it temporarily lost to him as he absently rubbed his chest. The chatter of the half dozen people around him also enjoying a drink in the lobby dimmed and warbled as if they were coming at him from underwater.
So this was what love felt like? A heart attack?
He’d definitely never felt this before.
God…how was that even possible after a couple of weeks? He knew people fell in love; there was evidence of that all around him. But he didn’t believe in love at first sight. Tad had said he’d known in two hours, but Cole didn’t believe in instalove.
And yet, here he was, conviction growing in his chest as the pain receded. He was in love with Jane Spencer. He knew it as surely as he knew the echo of his own heartbeat. Somewhere in these past two weeks, he’d fallen and fallen hard.
Now what the fuck was he going to do about it?
Sitting forward, Cole shoved his hand into the thick tangle of curls, which he’d pretty much ignored since he’d checked into the Sheraton, so they were now a springy, unruly mess. Not having Jane in his life was unthinkable, but this wasn’t a simple boy-meets-girl-they-fall-in-love-and-live-happily-ever-after situation.
He lived on the other side of the planet. He had a job offer—a very good one—on the table. Back home. In Australia. And even if he didn’t have that one, Cole had no doubt his agent would manage to secure him something once brands and businesses knew he was looking for something to endorse.
In Australia.
But Australia was a long way away from America. A long way away from Jane. And she couldn’t go back with him. As Tad had pointed out so helpfully, there was Finn and her business anchoring her here, and he’d probably get a pair of needle-nose pliers upside the head for even suggesting she and Finn follow him back, and he’d deserve them.
So, he needed a job here.
Not that, realistically, he needed a job. Not immediately, anyway. Rugby had paid him very well, and he had a good business manager. He wasn’t Wade Carter rich, but he could probably live off his earnings for some time. But Tad was right, again. Her ex’s lack of proper employment had been a bone of contention between him and Jane, and Cole didn’t want to be another guy in her life sitting around idly while she worked her arse off.
Besides, it just…wasn’t in him to be idle. Sure, he’d done a pretty good impression of idle the past few days, and he’d endured months of enforced idleness post-injury, but that had driven him stir crazy. He’d been a professional athlete most of his life, and before that he’d been an amateur athlete.
Before that, he’d been a kid with ants in his pants, just like Finn.
He was, by nature, an active person, and, at only thirty-two, he had years of working life left in him. He couldn’t just sit around in his mansion, counting his money forever and ever.
Also, and more importantly, he couldn’t legally stay in America without a job. At the moment, he could only legally stay in the U.S. for ninety days. He was a foreign national—there were laws and regulations around that shit. He couldn’t just walk into the nearest unemployment office and throw himself on their mercy.
Christ. It wasn’t going to be easy. That pain in Cole’s chest started to niggle again. The