Page 63 of Love Me Again

“I think he’s rather smitten with her,” I tell her as I unclip my own overall and poke her side playfully. “Just like you are with me.” Shayla jumps and slaps my hand away with a nervous laugh, her cheeks going rosy.

“Keep wishing, Hoult.” Shayla mumbles, placing her hands on my chest and pushing me out of the bathroom. “I need to shower, get out.” She huffs, looking up at me when I hold the door open with my hand and gaze down at her.

“Want some company?” I suggest wagging my brows at her, and she looks at me startled as I lean in close to her face. “I can scrub you down…” I whisper, brushing my nose over hers. Shayla licks her lips and smiles playfully.

“I mean, it has been a very long time since I’ve been scrubbed.” She breathes, reaching up and trailing her fingers down my throat.

“That makes two of us, sweetheart,” I groan, pressing my forehead to hers. I can’t remember the last time I had sex actually, I know it’s been a hell of a long time if my achy balls were any indication. “When was the last time I gave you a good…scrubbing? Other than that little moment in your bed a few weeks ago, that is.”

Shayla’s cheeks go beet red, and I chuckle when she looks at me with wide eyes. “I am not answering that. Get out.” She incoherently mutters as she shoves me away from the door and slams it shut in my face.

“That long then?” I tease, pressing my face against the door with a grin. “I know you want me, Shayla.” I sing to her.

“Shut up, Cole!” I hear her complain on the other side of the door before she runs the shower. I laugh, shaking my head, and leave her to shower in peace while I go and check on Alaia.

I look down into her crib where she was lying awake, staring up at the colourful mobile. “Hi Princess, did you have a good nap.” I coo, and she looks up at me, kicking her little legs. “Oh my goodness, Daddy is going to eat your little feet, yes I am. I can’t pick you up, baby. Your mummy will kill me if I get paint all over you.” I pout, and she fusses and lets out a little cry. “I know, you’re getting hungry, aren’t you.” I rock her crib, and she stops fussing and blinks up at me, all innocent and beautiful. “Don’t look at me like that. I don’t have boobies. I can’t feed you.” I look back when I hear footsteps behind me and see Shayla walk out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel.

“Is she up already?” Shayla asks, drying her hair with a towel, and I nod, looking at Alaia fussing when I stop rocking her crib.

“She sure is. She’s trying to eat her mittens,” I say, pulling Alaia’s hand away from her mouth. “I better go shower and let you feed her before we’re late for our first marriage counselling.” Shayla nods and watches me as I walk past her and into the ensuite bathroom while taking off my shirt.

* * *

An hour later,we were sitting on the sofa in the marriage councillor’s office rather awkwardly. Natalie McNeil, the marriage councillor was supposed to be the best in the business, so I was intrigued, to say the least, to see what her input would be to our situation. “So, why don’t we start from the beginning. Shayla, why don’t you tell me how you and Cole met?”

Shayla looks at me and sighs before she looks at Natalie, “We met in a club called Luxe, I was out celebrating a new job with my two best friends, and he came up to me and demanded I dance with him…I agreed, and we spend a good while dancing.” Shayla explains, looking down at her hands, laced together in her lap while she spoke. “The next morning, we woke up in Vegas hungover and married.”

Natalie nods while writing in her notepad. “What stopped you both from getting a divorce right away? Why did you stay married?”

Shayla sighs, “Uh, Cole asked for my help. His family was arranging his marriage to a girl he didn’t want to marry. It was his grandfather’s dying wish to see him married before he signed over his shares to the family business.” I watch her closely as she speaks, a distant look in her eyes as she harks back to the time we first met.

“Why did you decide to help him?”

“I don’t know, he seemed desperate and genuinely helpless, and I didn’t agree with him being forced into a marriage with a girl he didn’t love.” Natalie nods and pushes her black slim framed glasses up her nose.

“Do you remember the moment you first realised you were falling in love with Cole?” Shayla remains silent for a while and turns her gaze to me before she looks ahead again.

“Yes, it was on the trip to Nice that Cole surprised me with. We were, um… making love under a waterfall.” She explains, her cheeks aflame.

“You want me… you’re going to have to earn me.”

I blink a couple of times while watching Shayla as she speaks softly.

“Oh, sweetheart, I have earned you. I’ve waited four agonizing months to have you. Please don’t torture me anymore.”

Wait a minute. I remember that. My mind wanders off while Shayla and Natalie converse. I remember the clear blue water, the coolness of the stream as it hit us while we stood under it. I remember peeling off her bikini before I lay her out on the rock, and we... “Cole?” I jump out of my thoughts and look at Natalie, a little startled.

“Hm?”

“Does any of what Shayla is saying seem familiar to you?” I turn my gaze to Shayla and look into her eyes.

“You wore a white bikini. I remember…watching you as you stood under the waterfall, your head thrown back, smiling beautifully while the water washes over you.” I say with a smile, and Shayla watches me, astonished, her green eyes searching mine.

Natalie smiles, “That’s marvellous, Cole. I am confident the more you both discuss old memories you’ve shared together, the more it will jog your memory into remembering them.” She voices while Shayla and I continue to look at one another. That’s the first memory of us I could place with the emotions attached. I could feel my nerves, the excitement I felt being so close to her.

“Shayla, it’s understandable that you’re apprehensive about opening up to Cole again after he’s hurt you countless times. It’s only natural for you to want to protect yourself from going through the same things again, but I want you to stop focussing on the bad and remember all the good things that made you fall in love with him in the first place.” Natalie states with a smile as she watches Shayla turn her gaze to look at me.

“I need you both to communicate more. Don’t be afraid to bring up the past and relive it all over again. Sometimes you’ll find it brings us closer and makes our relationships stronger, and as you just witnessed, it can also trigger things for Cole.” Natalie expresses. “I want you to start over, go back to the basics, and date. I want you both to remember just how much you still want one another, so I’m forbidding you both from any sexual contact till our next session.” Shayla and I gape at her in response. “Exactly the reaction I was hoping for.” She chuckles at the look on our faces. “That’s all we have time for today, but I’m looking forward to hearing all about how your date goes in the next session.”

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