Page 40 of Strip Search
“Almost ready, Molly?” Cody asks as he comes around the corner from his office.
“Yeah, I think so. Let me send this last email.”
I’ve struggled all day at work. Being in such close proximity to Cole and not being able to tell him what’s on my mind or feel his touch has been pure torture. I thought that after two days off, I would be ready to face him and deal with everything head on. But I’m not. I’ve spent most of today busying myself and doing all that I can to avoid him as much as possible. Something that is not a small feat when you feel like the walls of the office space are closing in on you.
“Okay. I’ll be ready when you are,” Cody says, then disappears into Cole’s office and shuts the door while I finish up.
He reemerges a few minutes later, just as I’m shutting down my computer and turning the phone lines over to our answering service.
“Hey. He wants to see you for a minute before we leave.” Cody nods toward Cole’s door and gives a slight laugh when I sigh and roll my eyes.
“I’ll make it quick,” I tell Cody.
“Shut the door, Mol. This might take a few minutes,” Cole says as soon as I step in his office.
“What is it?”
“A couple things. Business first.” He leans back in his office chair and laces his fingers behind his head. “Your car will be ready for pick up tomorrow morning.”
“Great.” I’m relieved that I won’t have to rely on Cody, or Cole, to get me back and forth to work. And that I won’t have to call for an Uber on the rare chance that I need to go somewhere else. “How much do I owe them when I pick it up?”
“It’s been taken care of.”
“Cole, that’s not what I asked. I don’t need you or anyone else to pay for my expenses.”
“Molly, I’m not paying for your expenses. It came out of company money because it happened during work hours, on work property. I’d do the same for any of my employees.”
“Fine. Whatever. Let the record show that I’m not happy about it either way.” I relent.
“Noted,” Cole smirks. “You’ll be happy to know that Candy confessed to having something to do with your car being tampered with. Now that they are all out of the picture, I don’t anticipate any further issues there.”
“Even better. Is that all?”
“Molly,” he warns.
“Cole.” My hands are on my hips now, and the annoyance is clear in my voice. “In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not in the Goddamn mood. Today has been brutal, and I want to go home.”
Cole immediately leans forward and gets to his feet. “Go home with me.” He grabs his keys from his desk and flips off his computer monitor.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa.”
Cole rounds his desk, and I take two steps back causing him to pause. “Problem, Molly?”
“I said I needed time. I’m not there yet.”
“Yeah, I heard you. I’ve watched you avoid me all day. Hell, you’ve avoided me for the last forty-eight hours or more. There’s taking time, and then there is shutting me out. What you’re doing is the latter,” he says, completely calling me on my bullshit. “Here’s the thing though Molly, you can’t hold my past against me if you want us to have a future. Yes, what I did was shitty, and Goddamnit, I’m sorry. It should have never happened. I can’t change it. I can tell you it won’t happen again.”
Cole moves closer to me. With each step he takes, I step back, until my back is against the wall, literally. His right arm goes above me, his left hand is on my hip as he leans closer. “Molly, at work, you trust me with your life, right?”
“Y-yes.”
“Now I’m asking you to trust me with your heart.” His eyes search mine in silence. “Trust me. Completely.” Leaning in a little further, he rests his forehead on mine. “Give your heart to me and let me spend the rest of my life proving to you that I’m worth it.”
“I’ve wanted this, wanted you for so long. And now that we’re here...Cole, you terrify me,” I confess. He already has my heart, which means he has the power to destroy it.
His hand moves and his knuckles trace gently over my jawline. “Funny thing, Molly,” he rubs his nose against mine and sighs, “you terrify me too, baby.”
“What you did, hurt. A lot. You’re not responsible for my past either, but years of hurt and rejection because I wasn’t good enough, because I wouldn’t put out on the first date, all of that came flooding back and reminded me just how wrong we are for each other.”