Page 18 of No Apologies
Chapter Four
It was the cheery, happy tones of Katy Perry that managed to seep in past the worst of the drowsiness. She’d been in the middle of the best dream and wanted to hold onto it for just a few minutes longer. If she didn’t open her eyes she could almost pretend that she was still in that warm, safe place, wrapped in a pair of strong, tattooed arms.
The ding of the phone that indicated a new voicemail pulled her eyes open and sadly reality was nowhere near as great as the fictional world her mind had conjured. That one revolved around a gorgeous man that had held her through the night and whispered to her in the darkness. In the harsh light of morning, she became aware that she was all alone and though the worst of the sickness had seemed to pass she was left with a residual feeling that nothing in her life was quite right anymore.
When the phone buzzed again, this time with a text message, Skylar groaned and rolled over to grab it off the nightstand. It was Jemma but she’d already known that and not just because of her ringtone. Nobody else would have dared to call her at… ugh, nine am on a Saturday.
She’d have to decide if she was going into the salon soon anyway so it was a good thing the phone had woken her. She sat upright and since she didn’t feel the immediate urge to barf she was leaning towards going to work. She’d already had Rachel, her assistant, reschedule all of her clients yesterday and she didn’t like the idea of letting more people down.
Skylar wiped her hair back off her face and squinted at the screen on the phone. She had fourteen missed calls. Fourteen! What the hell?
She scrolled through the oldest messages first, trying to figure out what she’d missed. It seemed she’d passed out early and when her friend couldn’t reach her, Jemma had freaked out. There was nothing from her parents so she was grateful Jemma hadn’t called in reinforcements. She flipped up to the newest message and read it twice before her brain wrapped itself around what the words meant.
Talked 2 Colt last night. He said u were asleep but ok. Call when u get up. Luv u. Ttys.
Skylar blew out a shaky breath and quickly glanced around the empty room. Just as she’d suspected, she was alone. There was no hulking man beast lurking in the shadows, but then, why did she get the feeling she was missing something important? And how had she gotten to bed?
She was almost certain she’d passed out on the floor of her bathroom now that she thought about it. She’d made herself a blanket fort and curled up with every intention of not moving until the urge to hack up her stomach lining passed. Yet here she was, in bed and… she glanced at the nightstand with a mix of horror and awe because there was a bottle of water, aspirin and a damp washcloth.
Plus, her phone had been plugged in. It had gone dead yesterday afternoon. And she knew she hadn’t plugged it in.
Oh God… her night came rushing back to her in a wash of vague, foggy memories. It hadn’t been a dream. She’d thought it was because she’d been really sick and out of it. She’d thought it couldn’t be real because the man in her dream, the kind, sweet, comforting man that held her close and took care of her was nothing more than a fantasy. The real man was too hard, too rough, too distant to do all of the things he had done last night.
But he had.
Colt had appeared out of the darkness. He had carried her to bed. He’d taken care of her. He’d crawled into bed with her when she shivered uncontrollably and he’d held her until she slipped back into sleep. And then, apparently at some point in the middle of the night, he had left.
She was nearly certain that shouldn’t break her heart but it did. Because it wasn’t fair! It wasn’t fair that she’d gotten to spend a night in the arms of the man of her dreams and only barely remembered it. It wasn’t fair that she hadn’t gotten to wake up to his handsome face when she’d wished so many times for just that. It wasn’t fair and she grabbed her pillow and buried her face in it to scream out her frustration.
Only, as soon as she put her face against the pillow, her heart stuttered in her chest. That deep ache of longing, the one she’d lived with for months, twisted at her insides. The pillow smelled like him.
Colt had lain there with her cuddled up against him and the pillow had soaked in his scent. That musky, masculine essence that did crazy things to her body Even now, tired and hungry and feeling hungover from her sickness, just the smell of the man made her breathing quicken and her heart race. She bit off a whimper of need as desire rolled through her sickly body.
With her eyes closed, she could see him so clearly. His sandy hair not quite brown or blonde, spiked and unruly because he’d been running his hands through it. Those intense blue eyes that looked at her as if he knew all of her darkest, dirtiest secrets. Those lips that curled so easily into a smile, flashing boyish dimples that took away all of his hard edges. Lips that had been so close to hers if she just leaned up, leaned forward, she could have...
Wrong, so wrong, her head chose that moment to remind her. She shoved the pillow away and forced her eyes back open. It was wrong of her to daydream about kissing Colt. Just like it had been wrong to curl up around him and let him take care of her. Wrong of her to be thrilled that her big, tough Bomar boy had been worried about her, because he wasn’t hers.
She still had a boyfriend!
Ugh, Skylar kicked off the blankets that were suddenly much too warm and tried to piece the entirety of her night together. It was faded and fuzzy, as if it had happened years ago instead of mere hours. Still, despite her weakened state, she knew those memories were ones she would hold onto forever.
Colt Bomar had taken care of her and though it felt like a dream through the lens of her sick brain, it hadn’t been. He’d really come to check on her. He’d been worried about her. He’d touched her as if she were a small, precious thing that he didn’t want to break and he’d looked at her so softly, so tenderly, that she’d seen things there that she was certain he hadn’t known he was showing her.
He cared about her, more than he let on, more than he wanted to, but he did. Despite her illness, despite the circumstances, last night had changed something between them. She could feel it all the way down in her soul. They’d had a moment when he told her that he would always be there for her.
So why had he left without a word? He could have woken her. He could have left a note. He could have sent her a text. But he hadn’t and despite all of her amazing memories of last night and those stolen moments in the dark, she knew why he’d left.
She and Colt were friends. Sometimes that surprised even her, but it was true. They were very different people, had experienced very different childhoods. She’d grown up in a loving home with parents that doted on her every second, hovered and overprotected. He’d grown up in an abusive, neglectful environment with people that would have just as soon seen him dead. Still, despite their differences, they’d found things they had in common too.
They lived in the same place. They worked in the same place. They were both business owners. They were both creative and expressive. They both liked to get their way, could be stubborn as mules and most importantly they were both totally and completely loyal to the people in their lives that they cared about.
Their friendship had been a big deal for her because it was when she’d decided to forgive Colt for his childhood sins against Jemma that she truly saw him for the first time. Not the Bomar full of bravado that he showed the world but him. And because she had seen behind the curtain, she knew that it was a big deal for him too. Even if he would never admit it.
Colt didn’t let many people in. He didn’t have a lot of friends. Hell, for the most part the only people he socialized with on any sort of regular basis were his brothers and cousins, other Bomars. Say what you want about the backwater Bomar boys but they were a tight knit crew.
Of course that might have something to do with the fact that they didn’t trust outsiders because of all their illegal activities.
She knew Colt didn’t even trust his cousins. He’d told her once that he didn’t trust anyone but Cash but sometimes she wondered if even his twin knew all of his secrets. She didn’t think so and that made her heart yearn for him, for the boy who had been hurt so badly by the people that should have protected him from the world. She didn’t know if she’d convinced him to trust her yet but she did know that he’d let her get a lot closer to him than anyone else did.
