Page 33 of Mountain Man's Valentine
He did this for me.
And then I start to turn, and something else catches my eye.
It’s a girl in a photo. It’s abeautifulgirl in a photo. And the first thing I see are her eyes, big and bright and blue and curious and…
And then my heart sinks as I turn my body back to his desk and start to walk over. I pick up the picture frame and examine the photograph carefully.
And my eyes go back up to the TV monitors, and my thoughts begin to go someplace else.
Someplace ugly. And understanding washes over me like a tidal wave.
I put the photo back on the desk, careful to place it backexactlywhere I found it, wanting to leave it unperturbed. Wanting to make it seem that I never stepped foot in Cole’s office.
And I turn, and rush toward the door. I grab my coat from the hall closet. I slip my arms through the sleeves, and I hear Cole from across the living room asking where I’m going.
I start toward the door, and I feel nothing. I open the door, and Cole’s footsteps get closer, and I rush outside into the melting frost and the weeping trees, and I feel nothing.
I just want to make it seem that I never stepped foot in Cole’s life.
“Val, wait.”
I hear Cole shout after me as I close the door behind me.
But right now, the last thing I want is to talk to him. The last thing I want is toseehim.
“Valoria, stop.”
His hand comes down and I feel his fingers grasp my wrist, and I pull it away, but he takes me by the shoulders gently, turning me around.
“What?” I ask. My tone surprises even me. “Is this a weird, sick game to you? Is this what you do, Cole?”
I can feel my words coming out like daggers, and I can see in his eyes that my words hurt him. But I’mglad.
“No, Val, this is not a game. Just come inside and let’s talk.”
“No, Cole.No. I don’t need to talk. Is this something you do every year? Watch some girl on your cameras and then come and justtakeher?”
“Val, you’ve got no shoes on. You have to come inside.”
He puts his hands out to me, but my blood rushes through my body as he puts his hands on my arms, threatening to take me back inside his house whether I want him to or not.
And my bloodheatsinside my veins.
“Don’tfuckingtouch me,” I shout, shrugging his hands off me.
Cole’s face grows hard, and harsh, but his eyes still show something toward me...he has the very same look behind them that he had when I first saw him.
Fear.
The man I thought was fearless, he has fear in his eyes.
But it melts, and he smiles.
“Watch how you talk to me, girl,” he says, “or I’ll have to bend you over my knee and show you how good girls are supposed to talk.”
I swallow thickly, my body heating at his sexy words.
He takes a few big steps toward me.
