Page 17 of Love Me Again

Cole clears his throat and rubs the back of his neck awkwardly. "All right, I can dothat." He agrees, and I nod, smiling up at him.

"Great.Then..." I hold out my hand to Cole. "Hi, I'm Shayla." I introduce myself, and Cole looks at my hand and back at me with a smirk.

"Is this how we met the first time?" He questions his brows up in his hairline, and I chuckle and shake my head.

"Nope, the first time I accidentally backed up against your chest, and you said, 'Dance with me.' in my ear, andthenyou said, 'what's your name, sweetheart?" I explain, and Cole nods, licking his lips.

"Oh, so..." I gasp when Cole takes my hand and spins me, so my back was pressed against his chest.

I close my eyes when his lips brush against the shell of my ear when he speaks into my ear. "Dance with me."

I smile and bite my lip. I tilt my head back and look up at him with a mischievous smile.

"Wasthata demand or a request."

Cole's eyes narrow a little before he smirks, "I'm happy with either as long as you're dancing with me." He drawls while I smile up at him. "What's your name, sweetheart?"

"Shayla. Yours?" I ask, and he looks into my eyes and grins, showing his dimples exactly the way he didthatnight.

My heart starts to beat like crazy in my chest.

"Cole." He replies with a lick of his lips, eyes narrowing a little as he studies my face. "How about I take you out to dinner this week?"

I turn to face him and shake my head. "Dinner? No." Cole frowns a little, and I chuckle. "I don't do dinners. I'm all about adventures. I prefer doing something more fun where we can interact and get to know each other more rather than sit around in a restaurant making small talk." I explain, and Cole nods in understanding.

"Such as?"

I shrug and bite my lip, “That is for you to figure out, stud." Cole chuckles while he looks around, pursing his lips a little.

"Okay, we're obviously limited to what we can do." He drawls, looking down at my baby bump, and I shrug, nodding in response.

"I'm easily pleased. It doesn't have to be anything outlandish or lavish." I pull him through the crowd toward the churro cart. "You can start by buying me churros." I grin, and he laughs. I look over at Josh and the girls watching us while he was paying for the churros, and they all smile, nodding supportively.

I sigh and place my hand on my stomach, inwardly praying this whole thing works for all our sakes. Cole hands me the churros, and we walk over to the banks like we did last time and sit down. I fed him churros, and he--of course, loved them. He asked me questions about the night we met, and I told him about the day I showed up at his office as his assistant, at which he laughed hysterically. "Thatsounds like the plotline of a cliché romantic comedy film.”

“Yeah,thenyou had the cheek to accuse me of stalking you when I didn'tevenknow who you were in the first place," I tell him, sucking the caramel syrup and cinnamon sugar off my fingers. Cole reaches up and brushes his thumb over my bottom lip, eyes on mine while his thumb lingers for a second, and he blinks a couple of times, brows knitting together. "You okay?" I ask, and he nods.

"Yeah, you know when you're doing something, and you all of a sudden have a déjà vu." He expresses, perplexed, and I shift putting the churros down.

"Cole, this moment feels familiar because we've lived it before," I tell him with a smile, and he brushes his fingers along my jaw-- a distant look in his eyes, and I could see he was trying to recall something.

"What is it?"

Cole blinks and shakes his head before his hand drops from my jaw. "Nothing, I uh, Ihad a weird hallucination, I think."

I sit upright, "A hallucination? Of what?"

Cole frowns, looking at me, "You...standing in the rain looking up at me with so much... misery in your eyes." He whispers, and I take his hand in mine.

"Cole, you're starting to remember.Thatwas the day I found out you were engaged to Sophie. We got back from presenting my design for the super hotel in Dubai. Do you recall our trip to Dubai?" I ask him, and he frowns, shaking his head.

"No.Onlythatmoment with you standing in the pouring rain looking at me with such anguish in your eyes. That’s all." Cole sighs, brushing his fingers through his hair, "Josh wasn't exaggerating when he said I put you through hell, was he?"

I sigh and shake my head. "No, he wasn't. I've been through a lot in my life, butthatperiod with you was by far the most pain I have ever suffered in my life. You broke me, again and again. I walked out of your life twice, and you would come find me and bring me back,thensomething else would happenthatwould wreck me all over again." I explain, absent-mindedly brushing my thumb over his knuckles while I recall the pain I suffered.

"And you still loved me despite all the pain I put you through?" Cole questions reaching up and brushing his fingers through my hair as he used to. My heart aches gravely, and I close my eyes.

"I did, like crazy. I still do." I whisper, leaning into his touch. I open my eyes and look at him, watching me sadly. Cole pulls his hand back and closes his eyes briefly, swallowing hard.

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