“And?”
He shook his head. “He doesn’t want to give it another shot. He just doesn’t want to take the chance of losing you all over again if things don’t work out. Said he couldn’t stand to lose another person from his life.”
“So that’s it? There’s no chance?” Shannon’s eyes filled.
Cole lifted his hand slightly off the granite, palm up and shrugged. “Babe, I’m not saying that. It’s just…it’s going to take you forcing the issue and being prepared for a fight. He’s not gonna be receptive.” He paused, studying her. “You sure about this, Shannon? Because I gotta say, some of the things Crash said hit home. You both come from two very different worlds. Are you prepared to give all that up to be with him? Because he’ll never fit in your world. You’re the one that’s going to have to bend to fit into his. I’m trying to be as straight with you as I can, Shannon. It’s as simple as that. And if you aren’t absolutely sure about wanting to be with him, it’d be best if you just let him go now, because, darlin’, I believe what he told me. He won’t survive losing you again.”
“I love him, Cole. I know maybe it’s crazy. Maybe the two of us don’t look like we’d ever work, but I don’t care. I know he’s the one. There are a lot of reasons why, maybe more than I even understand or can explain.”
“Give me one.”
“He makes me laugh. No one has ever made me laugh like him. I don’t want to be without him in my life. All that ‘stuff’ I have, the cars, the clothes, the money. It doesn’t mean a thing if he’s not with me. I’m truly happy when he’s around. Like I’ve never been happy before.”
Cole studied her, weighing her words. “Shannon…”
“I found peace with Crash. With all the body guards in the world, I never felt as safe as I felt with him. Please help me get him back.”
Cole’s eyes pierced hers. “Shannon, if you really love him, then I will. Because I believe he needs you. And without you, he’s just…broken. It’s like…I don’t know, have you ever seen the look in someone’s eyes when they’re lost? That’s the look he has.”
“What should I do?” she asked him, wanting his opinion as a man. “What would work?”
“Like I said, you’re gonna have to force the issue.”
“How do I do that? I can’t get him to even see me or talk to me.”
Cole considered a moment, then suggested, “There may be a way.”
Both Angel and Shannon looked at him questioningly.
“There’s one place he’s not gonna kick you out of.”
Shannon frowned. “Where?”
“His bed.”
After they worked out a plan, Angel stood at the window staring after Shannon’s headlights going down the driveway. “What if that was us, baby? What if we’d never worked it out?”
Cole heard her quietly whispered words. He moved to stand behind her, wrapping his arms around her, and he whispered in her ear, “Without you, I’d be lying face down in some river.”
“Honey.”
“Day I saw you coming down the driveway, running to me, jumpin’ in my arms…”
She turned her head and pressed it against his neck, her throat closing with the emotion of his words.
“Best day of my life, baby.”
CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE
Crash walked into his loft. It was past midnight, and he was so beat-down tired the feeling went all the way to his bones. On top of that, he felt empty inside. But that was a feeling he was learning to live with, because the hell of it was, it was never going to go away. He pulled his cut off and hung it on one of the barstools. Next he yanked the shoulder holster off. Moving to the fridge, he opened the door and stared inside. He stood there, blankly staring, hearing the quiet stillness of his empty loft. He shut the door and strode toward his bed, not even the late night pull of that lone smoke enough to deter him from his bed.
He froze in the doorway.
What the fuck?
There was a shape lying in the bed. Even in the shadows, without the light on, he could make out that it was a curvy woman. Unmoving. He took two steps to the nightstand, his arm reaching out to switch on the lamp. Light flooded the room.
Shannon. Asleep. In his bed. What the hell?