Page 110 of Hard Luck (Blackstone House)

“I’m fine.”

“Sit down, I’ll do it.”

“But—”

“What kind of man would I be if I let you do all the work?”

“If equality means that much to you, I’ll let you cook dinner.”

“Bella…” Cole scrambled onto the roof and wrapped his arms around me, kissing my salty hair. “I love your adventurous streak, but I’m not letting you injure yourself.”

“Don’t use that fucking word around me,” I muttered.

“Love? Why do you hate it so much?”

“Because I’m unlovable.”

“That’s not true.”

“Yeah, it is.”

“Just because one man hurt you doesn’t mean they all will.” Great, now we were onto forehead kisses. Those were the dangerous ones. “I’m not going to walk away from this. From you.”

“Oh, you will. Give it time.”

“I do love you, even if your spirit animal is a cactus.”

I tried to back away, but his arms tightened. “A cactus isn’t an animal, you asshole. My spirit animal is a spiny bush viper.”

“It’s the sentiment that counts.” Cole fisted his hand in my hair and raised my lips to his. “You’re not unlovable, my prickly little bush viper.”

He kissed the breath out of me before he let me go, and I didn’t have the will to resist. Cole was bad news in all the best ways. When he finally released me, I stalked to the far side of the roof and sat on a ventilation unit, beyond annoyed at yet another screw-up. I could hardly tell Cole to write “BEAR,” could I? He’d think I’d lost my damn mind.

And he’d be absolutely correct, just not in the way he thought.

While he wrote his HELP message, I tried to do damage control by scratching a small bear in the gravel at my feet. Not the word, but a picture. It was only two feet across, but a military satellite could read a car licence plate from space, so we stood a chance.

Or maybe not.

“Cute lion,” Cole said.

“It’s not a lion; it’s a bear.”

He tilted his head to the side and grimaced. “I’m not seeing it.”

“It’s a fucking bear.”

“Okay, it’s a bear. Why did you draw a bear?”

“I just like bears.” Dammit, itdidlook like a lion. What ifEcho thought it was a lion? A lion was better than nothing, but still… “I was bored.”

He squeezed my hand. “Let’s go find some food.”

“We need water more.”

Cole loved me.

Except he didn’t.

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