Speed of My Heart (9 page)

The corners of his mouth turned up, and I was pretty sure he was fighting back laughter. "Well, first of all —it's not our first date. And secondly, while I think talking about wedding and kids is premature," he paused, winking at me, "you're definitely the kind of girl I could see that happening with one day."

Okay, my face was flaming hot. I probably looked somewhere between a beet and a lobster. I took a deep breath.

Cole laughed. "I'm teasing you, Mara. I know you weren't implying that."

I visibly relaxed, giggling. "Thank God." I looked down at my plate, which was almost completely empty. Yikes. When did I eat all that?

"The food was delicious. You did a great job," I complimented. "I ate way too much."

He stood up. "Glad I impressed you. I was a little worried, but I can see you liked it," he teased, looking pointedly at my plate, to which I narrowed my eyes at him in mock anger. He just laughed, saying, "Let's go watch that movie. I hope you like scary ones?"

I followed behind Cole, settling in next to him on the overstuffed sofa. I looked at him warily. Of course Mr. Adventure would like scary movies. Again, not my thing.

"As long as you don't mind me sitting in your lap the whole time and possibly calling you in the middle of night when I can't sleep?

He laughed, pulling me onto his lap. "I don't think I'll mind that at all."

Our faces were just inches apart now, with me seated snugly on his lap. "I was only joking, Cole."

"Oh no, there's no way I'm letting you sit over there scared to death. I like you right where you are."

I giggled. "Oh, well that's good to know, because I'm totally not joking about the middle of the night phone calls."

I settled with my back against his chest and was hyper-aware of where my bottom was positioned. I did my best to concentrate on the movie, but was having an extremely hard time considering where I was sitting.

About halfway through the movie, I almost came out of my skin when the murderer surprised a girl as she walked into her house late at night. I scrambled even closer to Cole, if that was possible, and was pretty sure I even screamed bloody murder.

Cole wrapped his arms around me, laughing huskily in my ear. "I knew there was a reason I picked this movie."

"Let's turn it off," I begged. "I'm going to have nightmares for a month as it is."

Cole pressed the power button on the remote, dropping the room into almost complete darkness. "Done."

"Thanks," I whispered. "Now what?"

"This." Cole's lips found mine in the darkness and my stomach flipped as I returned the kiss. It started out slow and sweet and became more and more demanding. I found myself turning around to straddle him, our chests pressed together and our hands exploring each other. Cole slid his hands up from my waist, his warm fingertips slipping under the fabric to slide their way up my sides. They came to rest just underneath my breasts.

And that just wasn't enough. I reached down, grabbing the hem and pulling the dress over my head, leaving me in just my panties and lacy pink bra. I heard the intake of his breath and then felt his hands slide behind me unclasping the hooks of my bra. The fabric gave way and I shivered at the rush of cool air on my skin.

Cole paused, his hands resting on the bare skin just above my hips. "You're beautiful, Mara." His voice was low and laced with need. Heat swept over my skin, leaving a slow burn. My eyes had adjusted to the darkness, and I caught the flash of desire in his.

"Are you sure you want this, Mara?" His voice was even and controlled.

"Yes." I was surprised at the breathiness of my own voice.

In one fluid movement, Cole swept me up in his arms, carrying me through the darkness and then laying me on his bed. I sat back on my elbows and he leaned over me, bracing himself with his arms.

Cole's voice had a slight edge to it, one I'd never noticed before, when he said, "If we do this Mara, that's it. I don't share, so you might want to think about that."

I was floored. I hadn't picked up on the alpha male vibe from him; well, maybe I had a little, but I had to admit; on him, I liked it.

"That's okay, because I can't think of another person I'd want this with."

Evidently, that was all he needed to hear.

*  *  *

Hours later, and we had barely sated the I-can't-get-enough-of-you feeling. I was lying under the cool sheets while Cole lay on his back next to me. Our breathing was just returning to normal. The guy had stamina, I had to give him that.

Cole rolled his head to the side to look at me, and I smiled at the adorable way his hair fell over his forehead, a complete mess. "That was better than any race I've ever been in. That's saying a lot."

I turned over on my side facing him and propped my head up on my elbow. "Interesting analogy. Don't know if I've heard that one before," I teased.

"Racing sates me like nothing else does. Makes everything in the world seem right. Gives me a high I can't get from anything else." Cole reached over, trailing his fingers down the bare skin of my arm, causing little goose bumps to pop up in their wake. "You do that to me too. That's not something any girl's ever made me feel before."

A delicious thrill ran through me. The guy was extremely successful; one that obviously placed racing at the top of his list in life. The fact that he would compare me to something he loved so much, was exhilarating.

I looked down, tracing an unseen pattern on the crisp white bed sheet while I let his words sink in. They weren't what I had expected from him. My earlier prediction, that this would last only as long as his visit, was being tested, and it left me floundering to reassess the situation.

I kept to what I knew for certain. I
really
liked him... a lot. I had also been through
a lot
in the last year and while it seemed like that chapter was finally over, I admit it left me feeling a little skittish.

But Cole was, by far, the best guy I'd ever met. And tonight had been in-credible. I could see myself wanting to spend every minute of the day... and night, with him.

I lifted my lashes. "I might even like being with
you
better than the feeling I get from dancing. And, for me, that's saying a hell of a lot."

"Sounds like we're on the same page, at least." He ran a thumb over my bottom lip and I couldn't stop myself from nipping at it. His eyes sparked with fire.

In one swift motion Cole rolled onto his back, pulling me on top of him. I braced myself with my arms, my long hair curtaining our faces.

He met my eyes with his intense gray ones. "I hope you weren't planning on going home yet."

I smiled daringly. "You've got thirty minutes. Make the best of it."

The rest of the week,
all
I heard about from Sadie was plans for the lake party that weekend. Sadie loved a great party, especially if it was hers.

I had always dreaded them considering the night usually consisted of me dealing with Marcus' drunken antics. And post Marcus, it usually consisted of getting hit on by other drunk guys. Either way, it wasn’t my idea of fun. But this time, with Cole, I knew things would be different, and I
might
even get to enjoy myself for once. I kept asking myself how I landed such an awesome guy. And I tried to ignore the fact that it would soon be a long distance relationship
if anything. As much as I wanted that to work for us, I was aware that it might not. Who knows how things would change for Cole when he got back to his racing career in Charlotte? And while I didn't want to ignore the possibility that things might not turn out the way we wanted, I wasn't going to let it stop me from making the most of it while we were together.

I was even letting Sadie get me excited about her party; something I rarely ever did. We'd gone shopping and I had purchased an adorable floral print strapless mini-dress that I planned on tempting Cole with all night long. The thought flitted at the back of my mind that it was nice not having to worry about what mood my date would be in and how it would effect his reaction to what I was wearing. I was confident that Cole was the kind of guy that would love whatever I wore, and that was a spectacular feeling.

As I climbed out of my car, I could see the bright orange flicker of flames against the night sky. The bonfire by the lake was already going full force and the steady beat of bass was filtering through the darkness. Sadie had gone all out; getting a local DJ to set up shop in a canopied area to the side of the gathering. I could hear the hum of voices and laughter coming from the large group of people already congregated around the fire. In the water, several clearly drunk guys were splashing around.

My eyes raked the crowd for Sadie's honey blonde head of hair. When they landed on her boyfriend Jack, I headed in that direction, knowing she would be nearby.

I found Jack talking with a couple of people near the food table. He was wearing rugged khakis and a white printed t-shirt; his usually spiky blond hair was covered by a navy baseball cap. He also had a beer in his hand that I knew from experience he’d nurse all night long. He wasn’t a big drinker
one of the many things I loved about him. Jack and I had been good friends since grade school and our close friendship had led to him and Sadie getting together. I had been a little leery about two of my best friends getting in a relationship, but they had been together for two years now, and so far, so good.

When I approached, Jack threw his arm over my shoulder and pointed to where Sadie was fluttering around a large table of food.

"Make her stop,” he begged. “She's been arranging and rearranging stuff on that table for an hour now."

I smiled as I watched Sadie pull more paper products from under the table and set them next to a huge pile of the same. Sadie loved hosting big parties, she just spent most of the night in a frenzy. Oddly enough, I was convinced
that
was the part about it she enjoyed most.

"Give her a drink. That usually works."

Jack looked over at me in horror. "Are you kidding me? It's way too early. She'd be out before the party even got started and I'd be stuck hosting. No way."

I just shook my head. Sadie was known for not holding her alcohol well and it usually only took several drinks before she was passed out in a corner somewhere.

I nodded agreement. "On second thought, that might not be a good idea."

Jack opened his mouth to respond, but was stopped short by a husky voice coming from behind us; the one that always produced a swarm of butterflies in my belly.

"You're making me jealous, Jack. Your arm is around the most gorgeous girl I‘ve seen all night."

 We turned around to see Cole standing behind us, looking utterly delicious in jeans and a vintage t-shirt.

I couldn't help but grin at his comment. And Cole’s eyes told me everything I needed to know about his thoughts on my new dress. No worries there. I slipped out from under Jack's arm and walked up to Cole, giving him a teasing kiss on the lips. "You're not bad yourself." I glanced around at the numerous sets of female eyes ogling Cole already. "And it seems I'm not the only one that thinks that."

Cole didn't even bother to remove his eyes from mine to see if what I said was true. "That would be hard for me to know," he told me, "considering I haven't been able to take my eyes off of you since I got here."

There were definitely some killer undercurrents of lust going on between Cole and I. I was beginning to think we should just forgo the party altogether in favor of another night at his house. Jack's disgruntled groan caused me to reluctantly pull my eyes from Cole's.

"Uh, please do us all a favor and find a room somewhere. Some people are here to party; not watch you two drool over each other." Jack was doing a great job of looking put out, but I had a feeling he was secretly happy to see Cole and I together. He had
never
liked anyone I'd dated before and the fact he wasn't completely ignoring my date was a great sign. It did help that the date was his cousin, but still. 

 I rolled my eyes at Jack before glancing over at Sadie, who was still way too obsessed with making sure everything went off without a hitch. "Jack, please go save Sadie from herself," I begged sweetly. "Cole and I'll be right here drooling over each other if you need anything."

Laughing, Jack took off in Sadie's direction, calling back, "As long as you two are just drooling. I don't want you taking advantage of my cousin, Mara."

I narrowed my eyes at Jack and stuck my tongue out at him playfully before turning back to Cole.

"Well, you heard him, I'm under strict orders not to take advantage of you. Damn," I said in mock disappointment, "and I had all kinds of plans for you."

Cole's eyes were sparkling with mischief as he pulled me closer and spoke softly in my ear. "I'm going to have to insist you ignore Jack's orders and show me exactly what your plans are."

"Hmm, I think you'll just have to wait and see," I teased. Grabbing his hand, I pulled him in the direction of the tent where Sadie had mounds of alcohol and drinks. Technically, a lot of the people at the party weren't old enough to be drinking alcohol, but somehow Sadie always provided and no one ever busted up our parties. It probably helped that they were thrown out in the middle of nowhere. And anyone that had been drinking and didn't have a ride, usually slept there and left in the morning. I grabbed a bottled water and handed Cole a beer before heading out of the tent. Cole led the way away from the mass of people and toward the quieter water's edge. We plopped down on the sandy beach and watched the few people brave enough, or drunk enough, to swim in the lake at night.

If it hadn't been for the full moon casting a glow over the water, I'm pretty sure we wouldn't have been able to see a foot in front of us.

I looked over at Cole's profile and the thought crossed my mind that he was definitely the hottest guy I'd ever met. I tried to ignore the little bit of dread that was pooling in the pit of my stomach that had everything to do with the fact this thing between us would be changing soon.

I took a deep breath and decided to broach the subject. "It sucks you're leaving next week."

I watched as Cole's eyes remained focused on the horizon just over the water. He seemed to be just as much at a loss as me on how things with us would turn out. And, really, I didn't expect him to assure me it would. I knew as well as he did that we'd just have to wait and see how it played out. 

After a moment, he finally spoke. "I think what makes it complicated, is that you're just starting your life. You're getting ready to begin college in a whole new place, with new people and experiences. On the other hand, I'm several years older than you, and my career is pretty stable. I know where I'm at in my life and where I want to go. I just don't want you to dive head first into something before you know for sure its what you want." He looked over at me, his eyes searching my face.

I bit my lip, looking away and staring ahead, letting his words sink in. They made a lot of sense. I had an idea of what my life was going to be like going to college, but I didn't know for sure how much time and energy it was going to take. And then I was hoping to make the dance team, which would be a huge time commitment.

When it came right down to it, I wasn't sure if I could even make a long distance relationship work.

I finally looked over at Cole, who was watching my internal struggle. "How about we don't define anything between us. We'll just let it play out naturally, with no boundaries and commitments."

One corner of his mouth turned up and he shook his head at me. "You are never what I expect, you know that?"

I raised an eyebrow. "What did you expect me to say?"

He chuckled. "Oh, the usual push for some well defined relationship status. You know, a label to put on us?"

I scrunched up my nose, pretending to consider. "A label for us... how about friends with benefits?" I joked. "Really,
really
good benefits."

Cole cut me a look that said
I'll show you benefits,
before turning serious again, "I'm not going to lie. I want more than friendship with you, but I'm a patient guy. You'll just have to let me know if you're ever ready for more."

God, I couldn't resist this guy when he was so perfect. Another characteristic I was finding I was attracted to —the ability to say exactly what I needed to hear. I scooted over in the sand and climbed onto his lap facing him. "Oh, I'm ready for more, alright," I murmured.

Our lips found each other in the dark and I had to remind myself we were out in the open: a fairly dark area, but the open, nevertheless. His hands had worked my dress high up on my thighs and I could feel his fingertips just below my panty line. I heard a couple of whistles coming from the water and realized that I was two seconds from dragging his shirt over his head, and popping the button on his jeans. I forced myself to pull away and stand up.

"I think we’re providing way too much entertainment for those guys. What do you say we get out of here?" I suggested. "Go back to your place?"

Damn it, I had one week left with him and I wasn't going to waste it.

Looking deliciously rumpled, Cole stood up. "Yeah, let's walk around the perimeter to our cars, though. I don't think I'm in a state to be greeting anyone." He grinned wickedly, looking pointedly down at the front of his pants, and I couldn't help but laugh.

*  *  *

We made it to our cars in record time, without running into anyone. I sent Sadie a quick text on the way, letting her know I was leaving and where I was going. Cole walked me to my car first, but as I walked around to the driver's side, I faltered mid-step and gasped. Cole slammed into me from behind, but I barely noticed. My gaze was fixed horridly on the doll hanging from my car door handle. The doll’s looks were strikingly similar to mine, with brunette hair the same length and large green eyes. A rope was tied around her neck and something that looked like blood was smeared across the dolls face. Written across the crisp blue dress she was wearing was the word,
bitch
, written in red marker.

I immediately started shaking, my eyes sweeping the dark night, looking for the person responsible. Could it be Marcus? I couldn't imagine anyone else who would do something so sick.

Cole stepped around me, snatching the doll off my car. He pulled his cell phone out and dialed a number.

Too stunned to care who he was calling, I just stood there, frozen in place.

I jumped at the sound of Cole's voice as he began talking to the person on the other end of the line. "Sam. It's Cole," he said grimly. "You told me to call if Mara had anymore problems, and we've got one."