Page 63 of Muddy Messy Love

“Stargazing. Listening to music.”Thinking about you. “The usual.”

Something flickers in his gaze, and he softens his voice. “There are safer places to do that.”

“Yes,Dad.” I roll my eyes with a laugh, but then Cole steps in and kisses me, draining me of all sass. He glides his warm lips over mine, and I breathe him in with a sigh, tangling my fingers in his hair.

God, I missed this.

Pulling back, he stares at me. “Stay off the roof, okay?” His expression is pleading, so I simply nod. Releasing me, he eyes the ficus plants.

“There’s nothing under them. I already checked.”

With a nod, he continues to search before stopping at the pebbled garden bed lined with small lollipop trees. He picks up a palm-sized rock, and I hobble towards him. “No! Please don’t smash a window. Beth will murder me.”

“Not my intention,” Cole says. He steps out of the garden bed and returns, holding the rock between us like a sacred offering. I look at him like he’s mad, but his eyes glint, and he turns the rock upside down, revealing a smooth grey surface. He unlatches a plastic lid, then flips it open, exposing a hidden compartment and shiny silver key.

I frown. “What the hell?”

He holds the key up between his fingers. “I gather you didn’t know?”

“I had no idea.”

“Hmmm,” he says, dragging out the sound while arching a brow, insinuation lingering in his smirk. My cheeks burn, and I drop my gaze to the large plastic rock in his hand. It’s as fake as a blow-up doll and surely a beacon to prowling thieves. I’m surprised by Beth’s naivety, but I’ve truly never seen it. Besides, who knew key-holding fake rocks were even a thing?

I narrow my eyes on him. “I didn’t stage a lockout just to see you. If that’s what you’re thinking.”

He stares at me, and that lone dimple shines like Sirius. “Never dreamt you would. Though, the ankle injury would have been a nice touch. Convincing,” he adds.

Fighting a smile, I shake my head and pluck the key from his hand. It slides into the barrel, turns with an easy click, and my relief dances with the moths circling the light above. Pushing the front door open, I look back over my shoulder to Cole. Silence hovers. “Do you…want to come in?”

“I’d like that,” he rasps. He shoves the rock inside his pants pocket, but the bulge makes me blush.

God, Avery. Are you twelve?

Cole studies me, then shakes his head with a huffed laugh and scoops me into his arms. I squeal and grip the lapel of his suit jacket, locking my other arm around his neck. “What are you doing?”

“You make fleece and emojis look incredibly alluring. Has anyone ever told you that?”

“They have now.” I grin. Traces of his designer scent coil around me like incense, and his body heat melts away the cold. I love being in his arms, so much so I’d like to never leave, but that’s not what I say. “I can walk. It’s not that bad.”

Ignoring me, Cole steps over the aluminium threshold, then kicks the heavy glazed door shut. He scans the gallery, the lofty raked ceilings, the paintings. “Which way to your room?”

I direct him through the kitchen and towards the mezzanine, and he glides up each step with ease, then gently rests me on my bed like I’m priceless antique glass. The soft glow of my bedside lamp paints his complexion gold and casts shadows across half his face. He’s mesmerising.And here. In my bedroom.

He slips off my shoes and examines my ankle, asking me to wriggle my pink-painted toes. A tiny smudge of purple poolsnear my heel, but the swelling is minimal. “It’s fine, really. A minor sprain.”

Cole concurs with a nod. “Do you have any ice?”

“Downstairs. Left down the hall. Third door on the right. Freezer in the laundry.”

He grabs a crocheted cushion and rests my foot on top before descending the stairs. I scrutinise my room. Thankfully, it’s clean. The bed made. Dresser junk neatly arranged. No dirty knickers strewn across the carpet, bunny-print or otherwise. But when I scan myself, I cringe. Despite what Cole says, my outfit is woeful. Had I staged a lockout, I definitely wouldn’t have worn this. I shuck off my hoodie, uncovering a black camisole trimmed with lace, but immediately shiver in the window’s breeze.

Worth it, I tell myself.

Cole takes nearly ten minutes to return with a chequered tea towel balled at the bottom. His eyes flicker to my chest, and his throat bobs, his jaw ticking as he averts his gaze. Glancing down, I stiffen. I hadn’t considered my frozen nipples might triple in length and poke through the slinky fabric like they’re trying to escape. I tug the satin away from my skin, but it falls right back into place. I eye my jumper but can’t bring myself to do it so instead choose ignorance. “Did you get lost?”

Cole takes a seat at the foot of my mattress. “I returned the key, but the rock is hidden in the left corner of the backyard now. Safer that way. You should probably let your sister know.”

I reach for my phone to shoot Beth a text before I forget. “You’ve never met my sister, have you?”

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