Surrender My Love (Love in Bloom: The Bradens): Cole Braden Page 3

  “I was out for a sit, actually.” He pointed to his house on the dune. “I live there. How about you? You’re staying with Tegan? Does she live nearby?” He realized that just seeing her again made his body thrum with desire. It had been too long since he’d been this attracted to a woman, and man, did he like the tripping of his heart and the heat coursing through his veins.

  “She lives on Second Street.” She pointed back the way she’d come. “It’s not far from the beach.” She shrugged her shoulders again with another tentative smile, and he realized that the look in her eyes was one of careful assessment rather than shyness.

  “I know Second Street. I grew up here.” He lifted his chin toward his house. “Want to come up for a glass of wine?”

  She crossed her arms over her chest and shifted her gaze to the water. “Um, no, thanks. I don’t think that’s a good idea. I mean, I barely know you.”

  He smiled. Careful, definitely careful. “True. A walk, then?”

  She looked up and down the beach, then back at him with a genuine smile this time. “Sure.”

  They walked in silence for a few minutes, and Cole tried to focus on the sounds of the breaking waves and the breeze as it tickled over his skin, instead of Leesa’s sweet scent, but even the salty sea air that he loved so much couldn’t distract him from his attraction to her.

  “So, what brought you to Peaceful Harbor?”

  She didn’t answer for a few minutes, and although Cole didn’t push her, he’d learned to read as much into what people didn’t say as what they did. He wondered what she was hiding.

  “I needed a change, and Tegan suggested I visit to see if this was someplace I’d like to move to.”

  “Where are you from?” Her brows knitted together, and he said, “You don’t have to share that with me.”

  “It’s okay. I don’t really like to talk about myself very much. I’m from Towson.”

  He changed the subject to try to put her at ease. “What do you think of Peaceful Harbor?”

  She stopped walking and stared out at the water again. “It’s pretty here. A world away from Towson even though it’s only a few hours away.”

  “Want to sit and talk?” He reached for her hand without thinking and felt her fingers stiffen.

  She looked at their hands, then sank down beside him in the sand, leaving a good six or eight inches between them. She set the notebook in her lap and pulled her knees up to her chest. Sometimes Cole wished he didn’t read so much into what the actions or silence of others meant, but that came with being a physician. He learned as much from a person’s facial expressions and breathing as he did from their words, and Leesa’s discomfort was palpable. He hadn’t meant to make her uncomfortable, but he definitely wanted her right there beside him.

  “Sorry for grabbing your hand.”

  She closed her eyes for a beat and sighed. When she opened them, she met his direct gaze. “I’m sorry. I’m not usually this weird.”

  “I don’t find you weird. Guarded maybe. Beautiful definitely. But not weird.” He smiled, and the tension in her face turned to embarrassment. Her lips curved up and she dropped her eyes again.

  “What are you usually, if not who you are right now?” Cole asked, intrigued by her evasiveness.

  ***

  IF I COULD answer that, my life would be a lot easier. Wrongly accused ex-teacher? Defender of my reputation? That’s what she’d felt like for most of the past year, and even though she knew she was so much more than that, she was having a hard time separating who she’d had to become in order to survive from who she was at heart.

  Not wanting to share her past, she told him what she knew to be true. “I’m a nature lover, a runner, and probably not the best friend in the world, since I left Tegan alone to come out by myself tonight. Oh, and a bookaholic.”

  “A bookaholic? That sounds like serious business.” He bumped her knee with the tease. “Is that who you usually are, or just who you are now?”

  It was an interesting question, but then again, this was Cole Braden, and in the short time she’d known him, she’d already realized that he wasn’t like most men. He had a serious look in his eyes that even when he was flirting never seemed to disappear completely. She liked that about him.

  “All those things are who I usually am, except the not-a-great-friend part. I’m usually a really good friend, but tonight I needed a little solitude to think—” Realizing she was revealing more than she was comfortable with, she cut her sentence short.

  He leaned back on his palms and crossed his bare feet casually at the ankles. His gray shirt looked soft and cozy and fit snugly across his broad chest. She smiled at the fact that he was wearing jeans, and probably an old, favorite pair, considering the faded thighs and fraying hemline.

  “Thinking is good,” he said as he turned to meet her gaze and caught her ogling him. His mouth tipped up in a sexy smile.

  She didn’t shift her eyes away this time. She was caught. What could she do but own up to it? It’s not like he’d say something about it. She hoped. The thought made her answer quickly, hoping to distract him from her stare.

  “What about you, Dr. Braden? Who are you…usually, I mean?”

  “Good question.” He was quiet for a moment as he gazed out at the water, the breaking waves filling the silence. “I guess I’m a brother and son first, a doctor second. A runner, like you, and believe it or not, also a bookaholic. Medical books usually, but books nonetheless.”

  She liked the bookaholic part. Most of the men she knew were into watching sports on television. Even Chris always seemed to have ESPN on in the background while she read. She set her notebook beside her in the sand and stretched her legs out.

  “That’s interesting, the order in which you labeled yourself.”

  “Are you a psychologist?” His eyes narrowed, but he was smiling, and it was a startlingly enticing combination.

  “No. A teacher. Why, does it bother you that I noticed that, Doc?”

  He leaned closer, bringing a heat wave with him. “Bother me? Not in the least. I like that you notice me.”

  She tried to smile but knew it probably looked more like a nervous twitch.

  “What do you think that says about me?” he asked.

  “I think you know exactly what it says about you.” Their eyes held, and she was glad they were sitting down, because her whole body felt like a wet noodle wanting to melt against him. Lord, he was gorgeous. His dark eyes moved slowly over her face, from her eyes to her mouth, where they lingered for a beat too long, making the heat in her belly coil tight and turn to lust.

  He lifted his eyes to hers again. “That I’m a good brother and son?” His voice was low and deep, barely above a whisper.

  Leesa felt herself leaning closer, wanting to kiss him, to feel his strong arms around her. She forced herself to lean back, needing the distance to pull herself together. What the hell is wrong with me?

  “And probably a workaholic,” she said as she set her notebook on her lap again, as if that could stop her from touching the man who looked more delicious than an ice cream sundae.

  “Maybe so,” he admitted.

  “How about hobbies? Do you have any?” Hobbies were a safer subject than what was really on her mind, like touching her foot to his just to feel his warm skin, or inching her fingers on top of his in the sand, or pressing her lips to his to taste his mouth. She hadn’t kissed a man since Chris, and her feelings for him had never been this intense. Wondering what Cole’s lips would feel like—soft and giving or hard and demanding—she knew she’d think of nothing else until she found out.

  Lovely. Wanting to make a pass at my best friend’s doctor is not going to help my tarnished reputation. She should get up and go back to Tegan’s, take an ice-cold shower, and go to bed.

  But that thought made her think of Cole…in the shower, in bed.

  Holy cow! Shut up!

  “Right now I’m having a great time with this new hobby of trying to guess w
hat’s going on in your mind. Your cheeks are all pink and you’re shredding the edge of your notebook.”

  She’d forgotten that she’d even asked him a question. She stopped fidgeting and set the notebook on the sand beside her.

  “That’s hardly a hobby,” she said as she lifted her chin in feigned confidence.

  “Maybe not, but it is fun.” He sat up and brushed the sand from his hands. “What’s with the notebook?”

  She looked down at the notebook that she’d begun keeping with her shortly after being put on leave from teaching, when she’d needed to get thoughts out of her head, and for some reason, the truth came easily.

  “My thoughts.” She placed her hand on the notebook. His shoulder brushed hers, and when she turned, his face was so close that she could see flecks of gold in his dark eyes. “When did you move closer?”

  “When you moved farther away,” he said easily.

  A tornado kicked up inside her, and he seemed as calm as could be, which made her even more nervous.

  “Maybe you shouldn’t have.” Seriously? Shut. Up.

  “Maybe not. But I did.” He smiled again, holding her gaze. It took every ounce of restraint for her not to lean forward and kiss him.

  “That’s awfully forward of you,” she managed.

  “Yeah, it is. And it’s awfully out of character for me, too.” He leaned away, and she felt a wave of cold air fill the space he’d vacated. “Your thoughts.” He nodded at the notebook. “Want to share?”

  Never in a million years with anyone. “Not really.”

  “Okay, then I’ll share mine.” His gaze never strayed from hers. “I think you’re incredibly beautiful, and interesting, in a guarded sort of way. And you should let me take you out to dinner sometime.”

  Leesa’s entire body tingled with the urge to say Yes!, but her mind was smarter than the aroused area between her legs, and like it or not, she had to be smart right now. She was just off of the most miserable, terrifying time of her life, and she hadn’t yet had a chance to catch her breath. She was still deciding if she was going to make Peaceful Harbor her new home or take the job in Baltimore. She couldn’t date anyone—least of all the man Tegan called one of Peaceful Harbor’s most eligible bachelors—until she sorted through her own situation and figured out if being seen with her would cause trouble for him.

  As much as she wanted to accept his offer for dinner, she couldn’t. She wasn’t sure she’d ever be able to trust any man after the way Chris had abandoned her.

  “I’m not really in a good place to date right now.” She looked out at the sea. “Besides, I’m over promises of forever and all that.” Oh shit. She hadn’t meant to say that out loud.

  A soft laugh escaped his lips. “I only want to promise you dinner.”

  “You’re tempting. Sweet, generous, cute, easy to talk to…but I can’t. Thank you anyway.” There, I did it. Now she could go about her work at Mr. B’s, where they were hosting a bachelor auction tomorrow night, and try to blend in. Become invisible. Invisible was so much better than the hell she’d just come out of. Her bosses, Maisy and Ace Braden, had told her that things would be crazy during the auction.

  Oh shit. Braden. The realization spilled from her lips like an excuse.

  “I think I work for your parents.”

  His smile widened. “My parents? You work at Mr. B’s?”

  “Yes. I’m waitressing there.” Her pulse was racing as he nodded, as if he was going to accept that as her reason.

  “But I thought you were a teacher.” His eyes went serious again.

  “Yes, but I’m not teaching. I wanted a change.” She shrugged like it was what every woman did when her life fell apart.

  He sat up a little taller, and his voice turned serious. “Why would you make such a drastic change? Didn’t you enjoy teaching?”

  “I loved every minute of it.” Until Andy Darren decided to ruin it for me.

  “Then why stop? You said you were only here for a few weeks. Are you vacationing?”

  “Sort of.”

  “Sort of? Escaping a crazy ex or something?”

  Or something. She lowered her eyes for a beat as she considered her answer. Escaping craziness, yeah, that’s it. “No. That’s a strange question.”

  He arched a brow. “Is it?”

  She pushed to her feet, because what else could she do? Sit there and debate her life? No, it wasn’t a strange question, but it wasn’t one she wanted to answer, either.

  “I should be going.” What was she thinking, telling him she loved her job and in the next breath saying she needed a change. Who did that? People who were running from something or someone. Or hippies who lived life like tomorrow might never come. She was definitely not one of those people. She’d liked her predictable life before the nightmare began. Her morning runs, classes throughout the day, dinners by candlelight even when she was alone because it made her relax and savor the moment, and then hours of escaping into a fictional world.

  Cole rose beside her and touched her hand again. This time she didn’t pull away, although she knew she should now more than ever. But the look in his eyes was warm with concern as he stepped in closer and circled her fingers with his.

  “Just tell me one thing.” He searched her eyes, and her pulse quickened as she silently hoped he wasn’t going to ask her if she was Annalise Avalon. “Is whatever—or whoever—you’re not running from something you need help with?”

  She felt her jaw drop open but didn’t have a clear enough head to close it. Everything fell away except the kindness in his eyes, which seemed to swallow her whole.

  He brushed her hair from her shoulder, and it was such a tender, intimate thing to do that it startled her back to his question.

  She dropped her eyes in an effort to center her thoughts, because his eyes were dangerously alluring in a safe and seductive way, which made their threat even harder to escape. Especially since she didn’t want to escape them.

  But she had to.

  For his sake.

  “No,” she finally managed. She blinked up at him through the cover of her bangs and withdrew her fingers from his grasp, instantly missing them. She had Tegan’s support, and even though she had no family to fall back on, she hadn’t realized how alone she’d felt in the nightmare that had become her life until that very second. She wanted this connection with this wonderful man so badly it frightened her.

  He must have seen it written all over her face, because he gave her arm a gentle squeeze and said, “Okay, but I’m here if you need someone to talk to, or you just want to take a walk.”

  “Thank you.” She took a step away, needing the space to gather her thoughts again. Her past was dangling off the edge of her tongue, trying to reveal itself. Did he have that trusting effect on everyone? She’d never felt so comfortable—or so disarmed—by anyone.

  He slid his hands in his pockets and smiled. “Can I walk you back to Tegan’s?”

  Oh God, yes, please.

  “No, thank you. I…Thank you for the offer.” She felt his eyes on her as she turned and headed back the way she’d come, and at the exact second she stopped to thank him again, he called her name—her new name, which went along with her new life—Leesa.

  She turned and found him smiling, his eyes still warm and welcoming. One hand slipped from his pocket, and he wiggled his fingers in a silent wave.

  “Thanks for spending some of your alone time with me. Think about it. The date, I mean.”

  She couldn’t find her voice but managed a grateful smile and a nod before starting down the beach again, wondering why walking away from Towson, where she’d lived for twenty-seven years, was easier than walking away from a man she’d just met.

  Chapter Three

  “FIFTY SHADES OF sweetness at your service.” Jon Butterscotch, Cole’s business partner, stood on Cole’s front porch bright and early Saturday morning for their weekend run. His longish dirty-blond hair was still wet from his shower and finger combed, mak
ing him look more like a surfer than a doctor. They’d met in medical school, and at first sight—Cole, with his short-cropped hair and collared shirt, and Jon in board shorts and a tank top—were as different as could be. But they’d quickly learned that appearances didn’t mean shit when it came to work ethic and motivation. They were as alike in their determination as they were in their career goals, and they’d been best buddies ever since that first meeting. Jon was as flamboyant as Cole was serious, and at the moment the bare-chested, overly tanned doctor was beating his fists against his muscular chest and grinning like he’d just found the treatment for cancer.

  Cole shook his head. “Fifty shades of way too early for this, maybe.”

  “Shit.” Jon scoffed. “I’m going to raise so much money for the homeless, you’ll wish you’d been a slave to your body the way I have been to mine these last few months.” He crooked his arms and flexed his biceps. “Go ahead. Touch ’em.”

  “Thanks, but I’ll let you know when I get the urge to feel up a guy.” Cole stepped off the porch. “Are we going for a run or what?”

  “Hell yeah, we’re running. I’ve got to be in prime shape for the auction.” They took off down the dune to the beach and headed toward town for their six-mile run.

  “I still can’t believe you’re doing that. Why don’t you just donate like I do?” Cole had no interest in putting his body on display for a roomful of random women, most of whom he’d grown up with. Jon, like Cole’s brother Sam, would take any and all attention he could get.

  “What fun is there in that? You keep that killer bod of yours hidden all the time; you bury your nose in your books at night. When are you going to go out and get some snatch?”

  “Snatch? Okay, Madonna. You’ve known me for how long?” Cole shook his head. “You know I’m done with one-night stands. I’m looking for more.”

  “Snatch is more.”

  Cole laughed as they ran down the beach. “Do people even use that word anymore?”

  It was only seven o’clock in the morning, and already families were making their way across the dunes. Cole watched a young father spread a blanket out while his wife cradled a baby in her arms and a toddler sat in the sand beside her. That was what Cole wanted.