?Chapter 22:
The moment Cole moved toward Elliana, an invisible rm went off in her chest. Every nerve screamed danger. Her first instinct was to bolt—to retreat behind the bathroom door—but the towel clinging to her body made even a step too risky. One wrong move and she’d reveal more exposed skin.
She muttered a curse inwardly. Last night she’d been imprisoned by too much fabric—tonight, it was theck of it holding her hostage.
While she racked her mind for a solution, Cole closed the distance. Her chest tightened as her knees gave way, sending her tumbling back onto the sofa. Cole didn’t stop—he leaned in, arms braced around her, caging her between his body and the cushions.
Panic flooded her. She would’ve shoved him off if her hands weren’t otherwise upied—one gripping the top of the towel over half of her face, the other clutching the hem at her thighs like her life depended on it. Trapped beneath his looming presence, escape wasn’t even a realistic option.
Seeing her curled up beneath him, small and flushed, Cole whispered in a gravelly voice, “Honey, you seem so eager. Wouldn’t it be wrong of me to leave you disappointed?”
His head dipped closer, lips heading straight for hers.
“Stop right there!” she blurted, her voice sharp with panic. “This isn’t what it looks like! I’m not trying to seduce you—I swear!”
Cole halted, lips a breath away. His eyes lingered on her flutteringshes like a predator sizing up whether to pounce. “The agreement, huh?” he murmured, eyes never leaving her face. “Yetst night, you showed up in my bed without warning. Tonight, perfect timing again—you’re wrapped in a single towel the second I walk in. And now you’re iming it’s not what it looks like? Sounds like a ssic case of hard to get, honey.”
He pressed a slow kiss to her forehead, his breath warm against her skin. “You don’t need to y games with me. If you want to getid with me, I’m more than happy to grant your wish. That’s what husbands are for, isn’t it?”
His breath grazed her cheek, sending a wave of heat down her spine. Her heartbeat thundered in her chest. “Can you get up first, and then let’s talk?”
Cole didn’t move off her. Instead, his lips traveled gently—her forehead, then eyelids, then the tip of her nose. One hand moved with purpose toward the edge of her towel, slowly pulling it to unveil the other half of her face.
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Elliana’s grip on the towel tightened in an instant. “Don’t!”
“Still hiding from me?”
“I’m not wearing anything on my face… I might terrify you,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper.
She was truly on edge. Her slender frame quivered faintly, and her wide, tearful eyes silently begged him to let her go.
Something in Cole shifted. Her vulnerability reached ces he didn’t know he had, and for a moment, the thought of scaring her felt unbearable. Still, he didn’t let her go without a tease. His palmnded with a yful smack against her partially exposed bottom, the sound echoing like mischief through the quiet room.
Heat surged to Elliana’s cheeks in an instant. Her whole face burned red.
The moment Cole turned his back, she bolted for the bathroom. In record time, she threw on a loose nightgown and pped together a rushedyer of makeup. Sloppy or not, it gave her courage. If he tried that again, she’d fight back with fire.
Storming out of the bathroom, she shot him a re sharp enough to cut ss. “I thought you were flying out. Why are you back here suddenly?”
Cole stared at her face, now smeared like a wild painting, yet his thoughts remained tangled in the memory of how captivating she looked before. “Well, somehow, I sense your burning excitement calling me back, so here I am.”
“Cut the nonsense and talk straight!”
“Heh…” Coleughed under his breath. Once she had clothes on, it was like watching someone suit up for battle—her fire returned with a vengeance.
Raising a folder in one hand, he exined casually, “Just forgot this, I’m out the door in a minute.”
Elliana pressed her lips into a pout, silently wishing he’d hurry up and disappear. Before, a hint of unease had nagged at her for not warning him about his futile trip as she’d chosen to keep her secret identity under wraps. But now? That unease had evaporated. “I’m heading out.” With that, Cole really walked right out.
Elliana rushed to the door and locked it the second it clicked shut behind him, breathing out relief.
The moment Cole stepped outside, he flung the folder to his assistant and headed straight for another room—cold shower, no hesitation. Teasing Elliana hadpletely backfired, leaving him aroused and barely clinging to hisst shred of restraint.
After Cole walked out, Elliana kept herself wide awake for a long while, gripped by the fear that he mighte back without warning.
The memory of their encounter yed on repeat in her head, each scene making her cheeks flush and her heartbeat drum against her ribs. Her phone buzzed abruptly, cutting through the silence. She snatched it up. “Hello?”
Darin’s voice came through sharp and furious, saying, “Elliana, who told you it was okay to take your mother’s things?”
Elliana let out a coldugh. “And why would I need your approval to touch my own mother’s things?”
“Those things carry my memories! They mean nothing to you. Bring them back. Now.”
Memories? Elliana felt a cold wave ofughter rise deep within her chest. “Mr. Jones, have you forgotten how you tossed your vows aside and paraded your mistress around like royalty? Don’t insult my mother’s memory by pretending you cared. If she knew you were still clinging to her, she’d be disgusted.”
The word “Dad” no longer belonged to him. Not in her mouth. Not in her memory.
Darin was struck silent, and Elliana caught the sound of a deep, weary sigh escaping him.
She kept their conversation curt. “Was that all? Or is there more, Mr. Jones?”
“If you’re refusing to hand over her things, then there’s something else you must agree to.”
“And what exactly would that be?”
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