Page 67 of Ride or Die

“You do?” Cole lifts a brow.

Billie nods. “So does Mommy.”

Cole glances at me sniffing a laugh. “Hell, I was gonna cut ’em down.”

Billie and I gasp in sync, personally affronted by his words.

“But, since y’all like ’em, and Mama’d have my hide if she knew I cut down a redbud bush, I guess I can let ’em stay.” He winks at me, smiling across at Billie, and I swear my heart skips a beat.

Cole stayed after dinner and we played one of the games Mama Joy gave us—Hungry, Hungry Hippos. The kids were up way past their bedtime for a school night, so after her shower, Billie was the floppy kind of exhausted as I helped her change into her pajamas, and she fell asleep almost as soon as her little head hit the pillow. Now, as I walk out, I’m stopped in my tracks by the sight of Cole standing at the kitchen sink, broad back to me, bubbles up to his elbows as he washes the dishes.

“Oh my god!” I rush over, grabbing a dish towel on my way to take over. “Here, let me?—”

“Don’t even think about it,” he grits out, turning to me with a serious look in his eyes that isn’t threatening, but is full of the kind of warning that sends delicious tingles down my spine.

Suddenly, his hands are on my hips, soaking the thin material of my dress and causing me to suck in a gasp at just how close we are.

“Where I come from,” he says lowly, his tone dropping a few octaves, “the cook don’t clean.”

Between the look in his eyes, the searing heat of his hands gripping my hips, and his intoxicating scent, I’m practically panting, suddenly breathless, my head a fizzy, foggy mess. Before I can even begin to fathom what’s going on, all the air in my lungs is ripped from me when I’m lifted off my feet in one fell swoop. Cole picks me up and deposits me onto the kitchen counter, his hands remaining on my waist as he stands there, now eye-to-eye, staring at me in a way that feels almost invasive, like he can see straight through to my insides. His eyes dip to my lips, and mine follow suit, landing on his mouth and my god, I can’t remember a time I’ve everneededto be kissed, but right now it feels like if he doesn’t kiss me, I might actually cease to exist.

“Go on a date with me,” Cole rasps, his gaze lifting from my lips and bouncing between my eyes, searching for what, I don’t know.

“A… d-date?” I whisper.

He nods, lifting a hand to gently cup my cheek, lips curling up at the corners. “I asked Tommy. He said yes.”

My eyes flare. “You… you asked Tommy?”

He nods, a grin splitting his face. “I sure did.”

I feel my cheeks heat and I’m forced to avert my gaze, lest he see just how much he affects me. I get a feeling he knows, but I don’t want to see the proof in his eyes.

Tucking a finger beneath my chin, Cole tilts me back up, forcing my eyes back to his. “Say yes, Clara,” he whispers, his grin falling to a slightly less assured ghost of a smile. “Please?”

I swallow around the lump in my throat, looking between his eyes, finding a flicker of unexpected fragility in his gaze that does something to my heart. And then, with a shuddered exhale, I press my lips together to try hide my nervous smile. Closing my eyes, I nod.

“Look at me, darlin’.”

Darlin’. The word warms me through to my center and I open my suddenly heavy-lidded eyes, meeting his stare, his dimples making another appearance as his smile grows.

“Yeah?” He arches a brow.

I nod again, not bothering to hide my own smile. “Yes.”

Releasing a sigh mixed with a stifled groan, Cole sags a little, like he’s relieved, like he was genuinely worried I might say no. Leaning closer he rests his forehead against mine, those piercing blue eyes so close, and so full of something I can’t quite decipher.

“You really asked Tommy?” I find myself asking, trying to imagine how that came about.

Cole sniffs a laugh. “I’m a southern gentleman, baby. What can I say?”

I giggle, closing my eyes and basking in his closeness, in the way his scent wraps around me, and as I sit here enveloped in everything Cole, I can’t remember a time I’ve ever felt my heart race the way it’s racing right now.

CHAPTER 25

COLE

Rinsing the shampoo from my hair, bubbles stream down my face as steam swirls around me, the hot water cascading down my back, easing the constant ache in my muscles just enough for me to relax. Not only was today a hot one, fixing the leak in the roof down on the overflow barn, but tonight’s my date with Clara, and hell, I’m nervous as fuck. I ain’t ever been on a date before. I lean my head forward, resting it against the tile, eyes closed as I bask beneath the steady spray in the hope that it might calm me the fuck down.