Page 63 of This Means War

“Really?” Unexpected tears well in my eyes. “Youdid that even though you were mad at me?”

Josh sighs, his smile fading, “I wasn’t really mad at you, Lydia. Mad at Cole, yes. But, he came to talk to me today and I realized—”

My phone rings loudly, once again cutting someone off just when they were about to say something I wanted to hear, but it’s Cole’s name that’s flashing across the screen so I don’t ignore it.

“One sec, this is Cole,” I tell Josh before answering. “Hey, babe,” the term of endearment slips out of my mouth before I can rethink it, and I feel myself flush. I’ve never called him babe before, at least not in a serious way.

“Hello, honey,” a teasing voice that is definitely not Cole replies. “Saul? Is that you?” I recognize the older man’s distinctive voice.

He laughs. “That it is. Listen, I’m calling because I’m sitting at the top of the stairwell at my office next to Cole. He just fainted. I heard the thud of his fall and came to investigate. He was just coming to when I walked in.” Saul tuts. “Now he thinks he’s fine and is all set to drive himself home. I disagree considering he hit his head against the wall on his way down.”

“What?” I gasp as fear settles over me. In the background I hear Cole griping about being perfectly fine. “No, he can’t drive after that, Saul! What if he has a concussion? Take his keys if you have to or, or… threaten to fire him,” I finish wildly.

Saul chuckles softly. “I don’t think I need to do anything that drastic. At least not yet. Since hewouldn’t listen to me, I stole his phone and called you. Figured he’d listen to you.”

My heart sinks. “Pretty sure you’re overestimating the amount of influence I have over him.”

“I don’t think so,” Saul replies coolly. “Now tell this man of yours to stop being so bull-headed.” Before I can reply there’s a scuffling sound, then I hear Cole’s voice.

“Lydia, I’m fine. Saul is making a big deal out of nothing. I fainted, but I ate a candy bar when I came to, and now I’m feeling much better.”

“Cole,” my voice shakes with worry, “please don’t drive yourself. I don’t want to worry about you fainting while you’re driving. Besides, you should probably go to the hospital, you might have a concussion.” I close my eyes, praying he’ll listen, though I don’t know why he would. If he’s ignoring the request of one of his biggest clients, why would he listen to me?

There’s silence on the other end for a minute, then I hear Cole exhale. “Okay.”

“Okay?” I squeak in surprise. “You’ll go to the hospital?”

“No. Okay, I won’t drive myself home,” Cole corrects. “I’ll just get an Uber.”

“An Uber?” I shudder involuntarily.

Cole chuckles. “I forgot you hate Ubers.”

“You would too if you’d had a near death experience while riding in one,” I retort, but Cole just laughs again.

“Maybe I’ll call Josh then,” he says. “I wanted to surprise you, but I went to the Robin’s Nest and we worked things out. He and Delia are coming for dinner tonight. They can just swing by and grab me on their way.”

“Josh and Delia are already here actually.” I grin at the pair who both have their eyes trained on me, following my side of the conversation with concern.

“I can still go get him,” Josh speaks up. “Where is he?”

Before I can ask, I hear Saul speak in the background, then Cole reply. I try to make out what they’re saying, but only catch a couple of words. One of which is Ashley’s name. Is she there? Dread fills me as I picture her. I know exactly how fabulous she looks today thanks to the fact that I was just stalking her Instagram. This morning she posted a photo of herself in a white skirt that gathered into a knot at her navel paired with a tucked in black sleeveless blouse. The skirt hit her legs just past the knee, but had a slit up the front that exposed her expertly tanned thighs. She’d captioned the picture,How to be Tastefully Sexy at Work. I, on the other hand, am currently wearing a pair of maternity jogger pants that cover up my unshaven legs and a tank top that fit me last month, but now shows a slab of my very much untanned bump. Yes, aslab. A possible caption for my outfit: How to Not be Sexy During Pregnancy.

“Lydia,” Cole comes back on the line, interrupting my musings, “I guess Saul wants to drive me.” He lets out a disbelieving laugh. “Apparently he wants to talk to Josh and Delia about the Robin’s Nest.”

Chapter 46

Cole

“I’ve had my eyeson the Robin’s Nest for quite some time,” Saul says from his spot on the sofa across from Josh and Delia.

It’s been an hour since Saul first called Lydia to rat me out for fainting, and the five of us are now settled around the coffee table in our living room. As soon as we walked in the door Lydia started fussing over me, insisting that I sit down and practically force feeding me orange juice. I tried to remind her that she was supposed to be resting, but she just pretended not to hear me then went to refill my glass. I’ll admit, I get slightly distracted watching her go. She’s wearing an olive-green tank top that doesn’t quite cover her bump, and the effect that tiny sliver of exposed skin is having on me makes me want to pull her away from all the people suddenly crowding our house and kiss her breathless.

“The location, the family-friendly vibe that so many bed and breakfasts lack,” Saul continues, “not to mention a new chef and a hotshot manager who’sused to running a hotel four times the size. The potential is exponential.”

“So what exactly are you saying?” Delia cuts in. “That you want to buy the Robin’s Nest and keep us on as staff? We only just got ownership of it.”

I force my gaze off Lydia’s retreating form and redirect my attention to the conversation.

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