Page 67 of Muddy Messy Love

I shift closer and run my hand over it. The line work is clean. The shading smooth. Whoever did it has serious talent. “This is stunning. Did you design it?”

“My mother did,” Cole says, recapping the bottle and setting it down. “It’s a replica of the mural she painted on my bedroom wall as a kid. She was an artist.” He flashes a sad smile over his shoulder. “Like you.”

“Was?” I frown.

“Was,” he confirms, looking at the floor. “She passed away.”

“I’m so sorry,” I whisper.

We’re quiet for a long minute. I continue to rub his colourful shoulder, pressing in my thumb to ease the knots. I guess that means Hannah is motherless too. “My dad was a writer,” I confess with immediate regret.A writer and my favourite human.

Cole searches my face, verifies what he already knows, then clenches his jaw. “I’m sorry too.”

Quiet sombreness leaks from us both like oil into a pristine lake, so I scramble to change the subject. Fast. “Who is Miss Blue Satin Sparkles?”Fuck. Of all the things to blurt out.

Cole shifts to face me properly. “Who?”

“Never mind.” I shudder.

Cole narrows his eyes. “Uh-uh. You’re not backing out of that one.” He gently nudges me with his elbow. “Spill.”

I stare at my stripy quilt and cringe. “That woman outside the Bellcat. She was at work the other day too. You said she was just a client, but you were with her at two a.m.”

“Miss Blue Satin Sparkles?” Cole’s laugh vibrates through the bed, and he grins like a Cheshire cat before composing himself intonakedManaging Partner Cole. “Vivian Beck is a client who asked me to attend her charity event to discuss business with prospective donors. And I promise you, that name is far too kind for her.”

Still, my molars clench. “She has designs on you.”

“Oh, I’m aware,” Cole says, “but she also has claws, and she’s as cold as a shark. But her father was a close friend of my uncle’s, and they’re a client we need to keep.”

I trace small figure eights on the bedsheet between us. “Have you…slept with her?”

“Hell no.” He climbs back under the covers, ushering me under with him. We lie face to face, his head resting atop a bent arm and turquoise pillow I’ll never again wash. He brushes his fingertips up and down my shoulder and stares at me like I’m a miracle he’s dreamt to life. “It’s actually been a while since I’ve touched anyone. I work a lot, and since Gerard died, well, it’s been the last thing on my mind. Until recently, that is.” Cole’s dirty, flirty smirk hits me right between my legs. “Vivian isn’t my type either, so don’t worry.”

A hopeless sigh escapes me. Even her name is classy. “How is she not your type?”

Cole squiggles his brows. “Did you not catch the cold shark part?”

“Fair point,” I concede with a rueful smile. I snuggle in closer, rejoining our naked skin, and Cole arranges my leg over his hip, pressing his knee up against my sex. My pelvis rolls of its own volition, and flames lick deep in his eyes.

“Do you want to know what I like, Angel?” he asks.

Angel.

I nod.

“I like deep, and soft, and honest. You don’t often find that in my world. Smart is usually the limit, not the start.”

God, those words. That low, raspy voice.This man could make me orgasm from them alone.

“I’m sorry,” I say, crinkling my nose. “I killed our whole vibe. That question should have stayed locked inside my brain.”

“Bollocks,” Cole says. “We’re involved. Ask me whatever you want.”

“Involved?” I jiggle my brows and smirk.

“Very,” he gruffs. “Besides, you’re cute when you’re jealous. I get to see that crooked little scowl.” I open my mouth to protest, but he presses a finger to my lips. “And for the record, I’m the same with you, if you haven’t noticed.”

I’d kind of noticed. The whole Tej reprimand—the multiple standoffs with Slade. I just couldn’t believe what I was seeing, let alone understand it. “You don’t need to worry about me. I don’t have attractive men falling at my feet, vying for my attention, like women do you.”

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