Page 223 of Waiting Game

“It wasn’t insurance fraud. I was with her when it happened!”

“Chuck could have organized it. You’d be there as a witness that she had nothing to do with the fire and he could have brought home the payout.”

“Fuck, Gracie, she loved that place. It was her legacy. Why would she betray you to save it, only to let it burn down to the ground? Anyway, Chuck’s dead.”

“Chuck’sdead?”

“He died earlier this year,” he confirms softly.

There’s blessed silence for a couple moments until she mutters, “Well, damn.”

I hear footsteps but I don’t look up. I hear the scraping of a stool. I hear more footsteps, heavier ones, masculine ones, then Cole sighs. “I’m sorry I hid this from you, Gracie.”

“Hid this? More like you lied to me.” Her tone is less virulent than before.

But it doesn’t surprise me—one of the reasons that what Chuck and I did hurt her so badly was because she cared about us.

“Yeah, I did. If it’s any consolation, I love her.”

Gracie doesn’t hear my gasp because it’s covered by her own.

Cole shoots me a soft glance, and with our eyes locked, I whisper, “We shouldn’t… It’s too soon to say it out loud.”

“Too soon? Ha! I loved you before you had to drag me out of that window tonight, Mia, and now, I’m in love with your biceps?—”

Gracie’s expression is oddly blank as she leans on the stool to stare over the counter at where I’m sitting. I can feel her attention but I’m focused on Cole: his declaration, his proud-as-a-peacock expression.

Not a single damn part of him is ashamed of his feelings for me. With Gracie as a witness, somehow, it makes the next breath I take that much easier to inhale.

This is happening.

Fast or not, he loves me.

Fast or not, I love him.

“I love you too,” I croak—hey, it might be quiet, but it’s out loud.

“What do you mean she had to drag you out of a window?” Liam inquires bemusedly, completely unaware that the ground beneath my feet quaked.

“We were stuck in Chuck’s office?—”

Gracie gulps. “You guys escaped through the window that leads into the side alley?”

I nod before I rock my head back. “He couldn’t get out.”

Liam snorts but Gracie elbows him in the side. “Liam!”

“What? I told him his ass was getting bigger. And he’s here. It’s not like he’s in danger anymore.”

Cole huffs. “My woman appreciates my bubble butt.”

“You’re the one who can’t get any pants to fit,” Liam snipes.

My brow puckers. “You get those jeans tailored to you?”

His sheepish grin is answer enough.

“You saved him?” Gracie breathes.

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