Page 135 of Light Up The Night
"I don't need your goddamnedhelp, Cole!" I snap, yanking my arm out of his grip.
And then I realize what I'd just said.
His name. Out loud.
Fuck me.
The silence is thick and freighted. "How…how do you know my name?" He knows. I can hear it.
He moves around in front of me, and suddenly I'm face-to-face with Cole Mannix again for the first time in fifteen years.
He's more handsome than ever. His face is lined, weathered, and hard-bitten. Rugged. He's got a beard, short and thick and neatly-trimmed. His eyes are as liquid brown as ever, and sodeep, so expressive. The kind of eyes you get lost in. He's got a new scar bisecting his left eyebrow. His mouth is…
Jesus, that mouth.
The things he could do with it, my god. I've dreamed of those lips off and on my whole life.
The patch on his jacket and the gold star say he's not just another deputy, he's the big deal himself. Figures. He always said he'd be sheriff one day, just like his dad, God rest the old man.
"L-Lay…" he blinks, swallows hard, stumbles back a step, literally staggering in shock. "Lacey?" his voice is utterly stunned.
I sigh, ignoring the blood still bathing my front. "Hello, Cole."
