doing all I can to unfuck it now. And it starts with Isabella Donnelly in my bed.
Forever.
But I feel no regret in this kiss. I press my tongue in her mouth and she doesn’t argue. She sucks it, pressing her body to mine, here on the threshold to the elevator.
And she kisses the frown right off my face—something only she has ever been able to do.
I step back and pull her with me, moving down the hall to the unit we’ve shared in paradise for the last two days. Our teeth clash but our connection doesn’t break until I’m forced to dig the fucking key card out of my wallet.
“Cole.” She’s breathless and I’m pissed I had to give her the chance to fill her lungs. “Tonight has been—”
“Shut up,” I clip and throw the door open, tossing the key card followed by my wallet into the room. I push her in and have her pressed to the wall as my mouth finds hers before the door clicks behind us. I’m not afraid of much but I am afraid of losing any traction I’ve gained. “Don’t. Don’t think. Don’t talk. And don’t fucking go back, baby.”
She nods—not letting our connection break, not pushing me away, and not kneeing me in the nuts, catapulting me into next week.
I did it.
I finally won The Bella Lottery.
Let the celebrations commence.
Chapter 22
Lost Time
Bella
What Cole did for me tonight was the most precious gift. One I had no idea how badly I craved.
My parents, Archer, Devon…
The Donnellys.
Together again.
Some families fight and argue and complain about the ones they’re tied to by blood, but not us. We’ve always been close—we’d love one another if it were a choice instead of purely being stuck with the ones we were born to.
I’ve missed my parents and brothers—so much. But until I saw them standing before me tonight, I didn’t know how deeply it ran. The hole in my heart from not seeing or communicating with my family was a pain my subconscious had built a wall around.
Cole knew what I needed, he always has. He not only gave it to me, he delivered it on a silver platter and filled that void with flowers so beautiful they’ll surely bloom for a long, long time.
I’m overcome. I have been for weeks but when the door opened and I saw the gift he arranged, I was filled with happiness and gutted by guilt for pushing him away.
It was all I could do to get back to the condo without claiming what I should have long ago. Greedily grasp the gift that was dangling in front of me and stop being a tunnel-visioned imbecile.
I’m not proud of myself and plan on doing everything I can to fix what I’ve mucked up.
“Baby.” Cole’s lips on my neck tease my sensitive skin as he yanks my cami over my head. It whispers to the floor next to us with promises of what’s to come and I’m left standing braless in a pair of wide-legged linen trousers.
I pull at his T-shirt and he helps, reaching between his shoulder blades. Then, from my bare breasts to my fresh scar, I’m skin to skin with the only man I’ve ever been with, the only man I’ve ever loved.
“Thank you. For tonight.” I look into his dark eyes, to the lust and need settled in them. “I’m sorry I’ve been too deep in my own problems to see … everything.”
He runs a hand up my side, his thumb spanning my midsection and dragging over the mark I’ll always have to remind me of what brought me to him. “We’ll talk later. All I can think of right now is how to fuck you without hurting you.”
I shake my head as he takes a step back and unbuttons my slacks, dropping them to the floor. “Sometimes I worry about my own sanity because that shouldn’t turn me on, but it does.”
He says nothing as his lips hit mine again, devouring me. I swallow his moan, feeling it low in my belly and then, farther down, between my legs when he paws my arse with both hands in a firm squeeze.
This reminds me of times long ago when we were new. We had worked together for months and couldn’t fight it any longer. Every time we were together it was about me—him teaching me, leading me to new places which would only make me blush before driving me wild, and making me forget all the reasons why I blushed