Rescue Me(31)

"Don't you think he'd just want you to be happy?"

She'd never really thought of it that way. Of course her brother loved her and wanted her to be happy. But he also worried too much about her. "I think he'd rather know that I can take care of myself and be successful in my own right. It's too much pressure on him to have to worry about me all the time."

Cole didn't look convinced. "I don't think he looks at it like that. Of course he worries about you. But I'd venture to say he's going to worry about you no matter what you do. That's just him. I mean, look at it this way. You've done more than an outstanding job of proving that you can take care of yourself and be successful, but he's still just as overprotective as it sounds like he's ever been."

Cole was right, she realized. Brandon still didn't seem to accept that she could do just fine on her own. But it was too late. She'd made her choices and this was her life. She would have to be content with this brief respite at the resort.

She stood, reaching her hand out to Cole. "I think that this conversation has gone on far too long. We have a beautiful afternoon and a wide-open ocean in front of us. Let's see where it takes us."

***





Meredith entered the dance studio, feeling refreshed after a shower and change of clothes. She and Cole had sailed all afternoon then fallen back into bed one more time before bringing the boat back to the marina.

They had decided to work on the dance class a little more now that she wasn't fighting to keep her distance. She arrived earlier than they'd planned because she had an idea for a dance class she wanted to work on. Just the beginnings of an idea, but it was exciting.

"Hey, lady," Katrina called out to her from where she was stretching on the floor.

"Hey, I thought you'd be gone. I'm sorry. Am I interrupting?"

"Girl, please." She shook her head, red hair flying out from her bun. "Come warm up with me. I just finished the last yoga class of the day. What are you up to?"

"I'm meeting Cole here in a bit to work on our dance," she said, not meeting Katrina's eyes as she lowered herself onto the mat next to her and began her stretching routine.

She clapped her hands and laughed. "I knew it."

Meredith turned sharply toward her. "Knew what?"

"You and Cole had sex."

"What?" she sputtered. "How could you know that?"

"So it's true," she exclaimed, pointing a finger at Meredith.

"Guilty as charged." She tried to look embarrassed, but couldn't keep the satisfied smile from spreading across her lips. "We're having a secret fling."

A frown settled on Katrina's face, but she didn't say anything.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Meredith moved into center splits and reached up and over toward her right leg.

Katrina stopped her stretches and pulled her knees up to her chest, resting her chin on them as she regarded Meredith. "I just don't take you for a fling kind of girl."

"I'm not," she admitted. "Or at least I never have been. But it's that or nothing. And after today I definitely won't settle for nothing."

Katrina giggled, but her eyes were still serious. "Just be careful. I kind of like you and I don't want you to get hurt."

"Thanks, but I'll be fine." She appreciated Katrina's concern but didn't think it was necessary. Still, it was nice to have a girlfriend to confide in. That was yet another thing she'd missed in the past few years. She and her coworkers had never quite clicked, and seeing how all she did was work, they comprised the bulk of her friends. But she felt a connection with Katrina. Maybe it was the shared passion for dance that made them kindred spirits. She lifted up from her stretch and repeated it on the other side.

"If you say so. Well, tell me all the details then. It looked as if you were about to catch the room on fire the other day, things were so hot in here."

"Details?" Meredith squealed. "I don't know about that. But let's just say after three rounds, and multiple orgasms, I am one happy girl."

Katrina's eyes were as round as saucers. "Damn. I knew he looked like a pure sex god, but—"

"Talking about me?"

Meredith and Katrina whipped their heads around to find Cole standing in the door, leaning against the frame as if he owned the place. Even after an afternoon of seeing every inch of his naked body, which was indeed divine, the sight of him still caused her pulse to kick into overdrive.

Katrina pressed a palm to her mouth and burst into a fit of laughter. Meredith's face flamed. "How long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough," he replied with the cocky grin that she both loved and hated.

Ignoring him as he waltzed over to where they sat, she completed her stretches by leaning forward, pressing her chest as close to the floor as possible, knowing full well the view she was giving him of her backside. Let his imagination go where it wanted, but she intended to show him just how a dancer's flexibility could benefit him.

Clearing his throat, he addressed Katrina. "You going to be here long?"

"Very subtle. But no, I was just finishing up."

Meredith remembered what she had wanted to talk to her about before the subject of Cole had come up, but it wasn't the right time. "Let's meet here in the morning. I have an idea I want to run by you."