And she was gone.
I screwed up.
Cole had to apologize for being terse with his cheerful doorman. Edward had simply made a polite inquiry about Cole’s day. How could he have known the benign question was hitting on a sore subject? Ever kind and fatherly, Edward had given him a sympathetic grimace.
“That bad, huh? Having woman problems?”
“Women are nothing but problems, Edward. I probably dodged a great big bullet. I should be grateful I found out in time.”
Edward had lifted a skeptical eyebrow, but wisely kept his mouth shut. Cole knew just what he needed to forget his troubles… a weekend at his ranch. Now, with Gus in the passenger seat of the truck, Cole did his best to put Brooke out of his mind as they started the hour-long trip. Ten minutes out, with no improvement in his mood, he switched off the radio and called Finn through the truck’s system.
Out of breath, Finn answered on the fourth ring. “Hey! Sorry! I was on the treadmill.”
“At six thirty at night? I thought you did all your exercise in the mornings.”
To combat the effects of cystic fibrosis, Finn was diligent about daily cardiovascular exercise, rising hours early to complete his health and fitness routine.
“It’s seven thirty here. I switched my routine. Now I do an evening workout with Laurie instead.”
“You changed your workout time?”
Cole must’ve done a poor job hiding his shock, because Finn laughed at him. “I know. Impossible to believe I would ever change how I do something, right? Especially to please a woman. But I don’t mind—she’s worth it.”
“You’ve changed. A lot.” Cole didn’t mean it as a compliment.
“Marriage is all about change and compromise. It’s hard work.”
“Yeah, that’s what someone else told me.”
“You were talking about marriage? That’s an interesting development,” said Finn. “Was it in preparation for the Millionaire Matchup show?”
“No way. I’m going to pay the penalty and back off the show. Sorry we won’t get that free exposure.”
“I’m glad you’re not doing it,” Finn said. “I hope you know whatever I might’ve said on that conference call, I was only teasing. I want you to get married if, and only if you find the right woman and the two of you love each other, unconditionally.”
“You’re the voice of reason I need right now. I want you to tell me how lucky I am that I’m not marrying Brooke next week.”
“Brooke? Is that the coffee girl?”
“Yes. The one from Hayward Home…”
Cole filled Finn in on the events of the previous two days. When the tale was done, Finn gave a long, low whistle.
“Cole, you know I don’t usually do this, but I’m going to be serious with you. I think…”
He paused for so long that Cole grew impatient. “Tell me!”
“I’m trying to choose the right words. I think Bran may be right. For whatever reason, you seem to care more about this woman than you have any other. And maybe…”
“Maybe what? You think we should get married?”
“No. I think the marriage plan was a terrible idea. But maybe you should at least go on a second date, if you can talk her into it. See where it goes from there.”
“Technically, we haven’t even gone on one date. I haven’t changed my rule about that.”
“That’s a sad fact,” said Finn. “The poor girl deserves a lot more respect, especially after that stunt you pulled today. The least you could do is take her on a proper date.”
“No chance of that happening. You didn’t see how mad she was. She’ll never forgive me.”
“I’ve learned that when you mess up, a sincere apology accompanied by chocolate goes a long way.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. The worse the crime, the more chocolate I buy.”
Could a box of chocolates really buy forgiveness? Maybe he could get out of paying that million-dollar penalty after all. He didn’t tell Finn he totally disagreed with his assessment of the marriage plan. Cole knew the short-term, platonic union would be his best chance to experience marriage. Especially after hearing how Finn had adapted to please Laurie. There was no way Cole would ever change his whole life to suit a woman, even one as sweet and attractive as Brooke.
Cole spotted the highway exit at the last minute and swerved off, stomping on his brakes to make the curve. Only his grip on Gus’ harness prevented the dog from tumbling to the floorboard.
“Any particular kind of chocolate?”
Brooke was trapped.
Thanks to her tantrum that afternoon, she’d driven straight to her apartment, too frazzled by the incident at the county clerk’s office and the bumper-to-bumper traffic to stop at the store on the way home. Hunger didn’t strike for another hour. But when it did, she didn’t get up and look inside her empty refrigerator for food.
