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Stunned, I blanch. “What?”
“Our lease is up next month and he has a beautiful place. He wants you to come, too.”
I give a choked laugh at the irony of this moment, but I don’t fight my mother. She is healthy and well. This makes her happy and that is exactly what I wanted. “You go,” I say, “but if he doesn’t do right by you, I’ll come after him.”
“You’ll be okay?”
Again, the irony I don’t point out. “I’m great, mom.” She glows with a smile and I hug her. “When are you leaving?”
The answer is another blow. It’s now. She’s basically already living with him, and just making it official. Apparently when I’ve been with Cole, she’s been with him. It’s not long before she’s left to go to lunch with Joe, and I am in this stunned state of confusion. I grab my work and when I think to go home, I find myself at Cat’s door.
She answers right away, and like me, she’s in sweats and working at home. “Can we talk?”
Her eyes go wide. “Of course. Come in. I have coffee or is this a wine kind of thing?”
“Wine. Lots of wine.”
“You never say wine,” she says, “so this must be bad.”
A few minutes later, we’re sitting at the island in the kitchen and I tell Cat everything. “Wait,” she says, in shock. “Cole was the one night stand when you thought you were pregnant?”
“Yes. It was Cole.”
“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me.”
“It was his secret, too,” I say, and then I just keep going, starting with my mother, and then all the way back to what happened last night.
“He asked you to live with him,” she says. “That’s intense, but not a surprise. I felt it with you two. Reese did, too.”
“Well,” I say, “Aside from him being my boss—”
“Set that aside,” she says quickly. “I can think of a few ways we defuse that issue. What is your real problem?”
“His money, apparently.” I hold up a hand. “No. It’s not the money. It’s the way he takes over my life.”
“It seems like you’ve taken over his life, too.”
“He came to my apartment when I asked him not to,” I remind her.
“I know. I get it. He should respect that, but he came because of that Ashley thing. He cared about you enough to need to see you. And it’s better he care than not, plus he didn’t ignore your request before that, right?”
“No. He didn’t like that rule, but he listened.”
“Okay. You love him. That’s obvious.”
“I do, Cat. I really do.”
“That’s the important part to establish before all else. That means—”
The door opens and male voices fill the air. Cole’s voice. “Oh God,” I whisper. “Cat.”
“I didn’t know he was coming home with Reese. They met at the office.”
I don’t have time to process another breath when Reese, dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, and looking his usual handsome self, enters the kitchen. “Hey, Lori,” he says, stopping to give Cat a kiss, and murmuring something to her I don’t hear.
Cole steps into the archway between the kitchen and hallway, in jeans and a snug, black T-shirt, his expression hard, hot, and unreadable. “Hey, Cat,” he says, and then his eyes collide with mine. “Lori.”
My name has never been as brittle on his lips. “How did the meeting go last night?”
