Page 40 of Silk and Steel

Oh, who am I kidding? I am totally crushing. I can sense Cole’s got his demons, but I don’t sense the kind of danger I got from Julian.

In a lot of ways, he’s the exact opposite of Julian. My ex did nothing but theory, while Cole is all about practice. Julian charms everyone he meets, while Cole comes off as gruff.

Yet, who has the better character? It’s not even a contest.

When the uniformed officer arrives, we take our leave. I hug my Mom tight and make her promise to call me when Dad’s awake.

When we get into Cole’s truck, I start sniffling. The tears just keep coming, even if I don’t give in to the ugly cries.

“Sorry,” I manage to stammer out between sobs.

“Hey, it’s all right. Chin up, Twinkletoes.”

He reaches out and rests a reassuring hand on my shoulder. It helps bolster me, a little.

I try to hold it together, but soon I’m blinking away hot tears.

“Twinkle Toes?” I manage to get out between sniffles.

“It just kind of popped into my head. Are you alright?”

“This is my fault, Cole. I brought that evil man into my family's lives.”

“No, it’s not your fault. You are not responsible for the actions of a clearly deranged individual.”

I can hear the sincerity in his tone. Cole really doesn’t think it’s my fault. I’m not entirely convinced, but his vote of confidence helps, a little.

We drive out to a super trendy place on Rodeo, where we’re supposed to meet up with Cole’s friend Ryker. Not just trendy, the ultimate, like it’s so trendy that there’s usually a month-long waitlist for a table. How we got a table on such short notice, I don’t know. Then again, there are connections to Hollywood elite in the Platinum Security office. Easton Ross probably has half the movers and shakers in her contacts list.

Cole drives around to the rear, which confuses me at first until I figure it out.

“A VIP entrance. Just who is this friend of yours? A big time producer or exec?”

“Ryker?” Cole bursts into laughter. Again, I decide that he has a good laugh.

“Hell no. Ryker and I served in the Navy together. One of the few people I count as a friend.”

“Is he a SEAL, too?”

“Yeah. He was one of the best. Plus, he’s an old drinking buddy and even though we work at the same office I hardly ever get to hang with him anymore.”

“Why not? Did something happen between the two of you?”

He parks the truck and hands the keys to the valet through the window before answering.

“Nah, nothing happened between us, but something did happen that takes up most of his time.”

“What?”

He grins at me. “Her name is Avery.”

“Oh,” I say, chuckling. “I get it.”

“Yeah, believe it or not, they used to hate each other. Or to be more accurate, Ryker hated Avery. Long story, but they worked it out.”

“Obviously.”

We don’t get far into the restaurant when the host confronts Cole about the way he’s dressed. I step in and politely request that we borrow a sports jacket for him to throw on. Soon Cole wears a burgundy corduroy blazer a bit too small for his broad shoulders.

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