Page 15 of Colton's Last Resort

Noah clenched his jaw.Morons, he thought of her brothers. Couldn’t they see she was cold? Couldn’toneof them loan her a jacket?

Adam caught on first. He swung his jacket off in a quick motion and draped it across the line of her shoulders.

Not enough, Noah chided even as Laura acknowledged the gesture by touching Adam’s arm just above the elbow. Joshua braced his arm across her shoulders and huddled her against his side. He rubbed a hand up and down her arm for friction.

Good, Noah thought. Maybe he could stop feeling sorry for her long enough to separate the woman from the adversary.

She was beautiful. So what? He’d seen icebergs. He’d seen one calve and flip over, churning the sea like a bubbling witch’s cauldron, exposing its breathtaking glass underbelly. Unspoiled, untouched. Secret and forbidden.

Laura Colton was that kind of beautiful. And damned if it was going to distract him.

Icebergs were roadblocks, too. Sure, they contained multitudes, and they were frigging fascinating to boot. But they could be upset. They melted. They flipped. And when they flipped, their spires crumbled.

I won’t let you get in my way, he determined as her heartbreaker eyes seized hold of him again. Frost wove delicate swaths around the edges of the door pane, framing her.

Friend? Allison had never mentioned her. He was sure of it. If he wasn’t sure, it was because he had forgotten.

He couldn’t bear to think that he’d forgotten.

You forgot the last lunch, a voice in his head taunted.

He and Allison normally met for lunch on the first Friday of every month. Tipsy Tacos, the little cantina close to her place that served vegan options alongside the ones with meat he preferred, was her favorite restaurant.

It’s perfect, isn’t it?she’d practically had to yell over the mariachi music, her dark eyes laughing.

Noah dug his phone out of his pocket. He unlocked the screen, then scrolled through his texts. Her messages popped up on-screen.

There was one from a week ago.

Allison: TGIF! Music fest this weekend?

Noah: TGIF. Gotta work overtime. Don’t go home with a stranger. Call me if you need a ride.

Allison: Will do!

Then a week before that...

Allison: Did you read the meditation book I gave you?

Noah: Covered up in work. I’ll get to it.

Allison: Promise?

Noah: Promise.

Emojis had followed. Then the exchange before that dated two weeks past.

Allison: Thinking of you.

Noah: Thinking of you, too. You ok?

Allison: Worried about you. Let me book you a massage. You need you time.

Noah: I’m fine. Don’t go out with that guy again. He’s bad news.

Allison: LOL. He said the same about you.

Noah: Never trust a guy in an El Camino.

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