Page 27 of The Problem with Dating

I’d already made the one for Isla Iberia, but I’d talked myself out of giving it to Alex after our not-so-nice meetings.

Still, Tatiana was right. It was a tradition. I shouldn’t have let Alex’s bad attitude change how I moved. I made a dish for everyone. He shouldn’t have been the exception.

Before I could reply to Tatiana, I noticed Cole walking toward us. She looked up to see what I was staring at and unknowingly rolled her eyes the moment she noticed him.

“That’s my cue to go,” she said as she stood from the bench. “But keep in mind what I said about Alex. If anything, you should stop by for dinner one night with your sisters and try his menu. It’s all remarkable. I’ve never tasted anything as amazing as his food, Yara. You would love it. Your dad would, too.”

“Sounds good.” I smiled. “Thanks again for picking my shop for this year.”

She placed a hand on my shoulder and squeezed it. “If I could, I’d pick you for every year, Yara. But I don’t want to be called out for playing favorites.” She leaned in and whispered, “Even though you’re my favorite.”

As she stood straight, Cole stood right in front of her. He pushed out a small smile. “Good evening, Tatiana.”

“It was until you showed up,” she dryly replied, giving him a scolding glare. “Bye, Yara. Talk later.”

She waved goodbye to me before hurrying off.

Cole sighed and grumbled beneath his breath as he sat on the bench beside me. A littletooclose. I inched away from him so his arm wasn’t brushing against mine.

“That woman hates me,” he mentioned about Tatiana.

“Can you blame her? She’s like a mother to me, and you didn’t treat me the best,” I offered, gathering Cocoa’s things so I could hand her off to Cole for the next few days. The days when I had to leave my sweet Cocoa with my ex were the ones I dreaded the most. It always felt like I was leaving my heart with a stranger even though Cole had always been in her life.

“So let me guess, everything was my fault, and you and your people never did any wrong, huh?”

I didn’t reply.

I wouldn’t take the bait and comment on him saying those words. No matter what, I felt Cole was always setting up a trap for me to walk into, and I wasn’t interested in those traps anymore. I didn’t have to walk on eggshells with him anymore, wondering what would trigger him. That was the whole point of our divorce—me getting freedom away from him.

Even though some of me wanted to rage at him for what Lori had told me. I wanted to tell him to clear my name and speak on my behalf. But that would only make him believe I was still invested in us. Or that he still had power over me.

Cole Parker was used to getting his way. He’d never had to work too hard to accomplish anything in town—a perk of being from the founding family of Honey Creek. When his father retired from law enforcement, there was no real debate about who the next chief of police would be. The job position was handed over to Cole on a silver platter. Throughout Cole’s life, his mother Lindsay ensured that he never had to work too hard, either. Cole was a mama’s boy through and through. That woman spoonfed him all his wishes and dreams.

So, it must’ve been killing him to know he could no longer have me. I was the one thing off-limits to him. I was convinced he didn’t want me as much as he wanted to control me.

He stood with me, taking the leash from my grip. “You’re leaving already?”

“Why wouldn’t I be leaving? She’s yours for the next few days.”

He frowned. He looked pathetically sad, too. I almost asked if he was okay, but then I remembered that wasn’t my responsibility.

“I thought we could catch up a little,” he offered. “We haven’t talked in a while.”

“That’s because there’s nothing to talk about.”

“Isn’t there? I heard you moved into those new apartments. Did Avery finally kick you out? I doubted she’d let you stay much longer.”

There it was. The subtle commentary that felt like little digs.

I took a breath before responding. “I moved out of my own accord. Avery wanted me to stay longer.”

“That doesn’t seem like her. She’s always had a stick up her—”

“Don’t you dare speak about my sister, Cole,” I barked, as my blood boiled.

He smirked after seeing he got a rise out of me.

There it was—the trap. Cole wanted to ruffle my feathers, and the tiny smirk he delivered afterward showed that he felt victorious.

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