Counting On Cole (Wilde Ways #8) - Cynthia Eden Page 0,67
aware of her approach. But…
I was furious at Demakis.
And…I was trying to cover my ass before Evie found out too much.
Cole squared his shoulders. “The artwork is shit.”
Her lips curled. “I think it’s quite good.”
“Your ex is an ass.”
“Yes. You are.”
He licked his lips and cast a glance toward the series of lighthouses. “Did you know they were mine…when you bought them?” When he’d walked into her place the first time and seen those paintings, he’d been floored.
And desperately hopeful. If she had the paintings, if she knew they were his, then—
“At first, no, I didn’t. My friend Piper has a gallery in Atlanta, and she brought one of them up here when she did a show a while back. I fell in love with the piece and asked her if she had more.”
His breath eased in and out. He looked down at the tattoos on his arms. Designs that he’d made. In another life, he’d loved art. But he’d had a choice to make, and he’d joined Delta Force. Battles had been his business. Until…
Until they weren’t.
Until he’d found himself with a hole where his soul had once been, and Piper—who happened to be the wife of his boss, Eric Wilde—had suggested that he try painting. She’d said it could be therapeutic for him.
So he’d started doing damn lighthouses. The shelter in the storm.
And he’d thought about Evie.
“If you knew Piper, then you…you knew about Wilde before I arrived on your doorstep.”
“Piper kept her maiden name for a while. Still uses it sometimes, and we aren’t exactly super close friends. Not like I was invited to her wedding and met the Wilde team or anything.” A faint shrug. “The name Wilde was familiar to me, though, and when you mentioned Eric Wilde, it just took me a few moments to put everything together in my head.”
She’d bought his art and put it on her walls.
“The paintings were just signed with a V.”
“V for Vincent,” Cole muttered.
“I figured that out. Right around the same time that I realized you were the artist.”
His hands were doing that clenching and releasing thing again. They did that every time he wanted to hold her. Which was a lot. “How?”
She pushed away from the door frame. “I went to Piper’s gallery in Atlanta one day. I was speaking at a theater conference, presenting a workshop on choreography for kids, and when I swung by the gallery, I saw you.”
He swallowed. Piper didn’t tell me! But then, he’d never told Piper about Evie, either.
“You were dropping off a piece to Piper. I bought the piece right after you left.”
“But you…you were there, Evie.” He closed the distance between them. Stared down at her. “Why didn’t you say anything to me?”
“I didn’t think you wanted to see me. And how sad did it seem that your ex was buying your art? Talk about stalker-like.”
“No.” The word came out as a snarl. He immediately tried to soften his voice. “That’s not what you are. It’s not what you ever could be. I did that art for you. You didn’t know it, but it was always you. You are my shelter when the world is shit. You are the light I look for to get me through the dark.”
Her eyes widened. “You paint…” she whispered. “And I think you were just poetic, too. Be careful, Cole, or I’ll start to suspect that you’re the romantic type.”
“I’m any fucking type you want me to be.”
Her smile came again. “You’re the type that I thought would be joining me in the shower.”
God, he wanted that. But…“James is coming over.”
Her eyes widened. “When?”
“Probably…hell, fifteen minutes?”
She nodded. “That gives us time.”
His heart slammed into his chest. “Don’t tease.”
She reached for his hand. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”
***
Cole yanked open the front door.
James blinked at him. “Well, hello, sunshine.”
Cole glowered at him.
James winked. “Did I get here fast or what?”’
“You could have taken a bit longer. Wouldn’t have killed you.”
James cocked his head. “Your neck is red.”
“Is it?”
“Your hair looks like you just stepped out of a hurricane.”
Evie liked to run her hands through his hair. “Thanks for the fashion tip.”
“You’re flushed.”
“Are you just making a list of insults right now?”
“Your breathing is labored.”
“Because I’m having to put up with you.”
James’s gaze darted over Cole’s shoulder. “Where is Evie?”
“Showering.” Truth. They hadn’t exactly gotten to the shower together part of the agenda. Mostly because when she’d told him that they had time, he’d pretty much instantly fucked her, and it had been amazing. He