The Right Side of My Pillow, стр. 19
Jokingly, Doug said, “Every day that you make it to this office is a blessing. I keep expecting to get a phone call that Elise has killed you both. So that is, at least, another day to try and fix it with her.”
He let out a little laugh. “She just might. I can’t say trying to reconnect with Jade hasn’t been a strain on our relationship. I may not be gunning for marriage, but if I were, she would be a good fit.”
Doug put the ball back down on Cole’s desk. He started walking toward the door. “All I know is if you’re ever more than thirty minutes late for anything over the next several weeks, I’m calling the police.”
Cole laughed out loud. His laughter stopped just as Elise walked into his office. As he started to speak, his phone rang. “Hold on. Let me get this call. Thornton. No problem. Well, since your flight has been delayed why don’t you have dinner with me at my place? I’ll have my assistant send you the directions. Great. I’ll see you then.”
Cole disconnected the call and got up out of his chair to greet Elise, kissing her on the lips. “Hey, babe. I wasn’t expecting you.”
She shrugged. “I was in the neighborhood and thought I’d stop by. I was hoping that maybe I could convince you to take me to dinner?”
“That sounds good. Only, I just got a call from one of my clients. His flight was delayed overnight, so I invited him to my house for dinner.” Cole turned to Doug. “I know it's short notice but do you think you can make it?”
“If this means we have a few more hours to convince Sean to sign the contracts, then yeah. Let me go to my office and call Carmen.”
“Good. Then, meet me at my house around 7 pm.”
After Doug had left, Elise turned to Cole. “Why don’t we kill two birds with one stone? I’d love to come over and play hostess.”
Cole wasn’t really sure how he felt about that, but they’d been arguing so much lately, he decided to give into her request. “Okay.”
“Fantastic. I’ll make a few phone calls and take care of everything. You should probably give me your keys so I can let myself inside.”
He was hesitant about giving Elise a set of keys to his house. “Olivia should be home until 5 pm.”
She put her hands on her hips. “I bet Jade has a set of keys.”
Guilt made Cole walk around his desk and pull his key ring out of the drawer. He removed two keys. “The big one is for the main door, and the smaller one is for the garage door that leads to the kitchen.”
Elise had been dying to get her hands on a set of his house keys. Her smile covered her entire face. “Don’t worry about anything. I promise I’ll take care of everything.” She kissed him on the cheek. “See you at home later.”
Her parting comments left him feeling somewhat uncomfortable. Cole needed to sort out his feelings for Elise. He wasn’t sure when their relationship made the turn from casual dating to something a bit more serious. He rubbed his forehead as he sat back down in his chair. No one was going to solve the world’s problems in a day, and he wasn’t going to solve his either.
Cole needed to make one more call. He dialed her cell phone. After two rings she answered. “Hey.” She didn’t sound very thrilled to hear his voice. As a matter of fact, if he didn’t know any better, he would almost think that she was still angry with him. He couldn’t figure out what he could do to change their dynamic.
“Hey, Jade. I wanted to give you a quick call to let you know a client of mine’s flight was delayed. So, I invited him over to the house for dinner and drinks. Doug and Elise will probably come over too.”
Great. They were the last people she wanted to see when she got off from work. “It’s no problem. I’ll make myself scarce when I get off and see if I can find a good movie at the theater or something. What time do you think it’ll be okay for me to come back?” Jade was tired. She didn’t really want to go anywhere but to bed, but again that’s what happens when you live with somebody else. She couldn’t wait to get her own place. Unfortunately, she hadn’t had any success in her apartment search.
She also knew she was being cold to Cole. Her current irritation with him had more to do with her warring emotions about him than anything he’d actually done. After that night in the bathtub, after her imagination went wild, Jade actually kicked her job search and apartment hunting into overdrive. Jade knew it was crazy to still have feelings for him after all these years, but she did. Time had not diminished them.
“No, that’s not why I called. You don’t have to go anywhere. I just didn’t want to surprise you by coming home to a house full of people.” Cole paused for a minute as he dragged his hand across his face. “Jade…are we okay? Did I do something else to upset you?”
She sounded insincere even to her own ears. “Why would you think that?” Jade was being childish and needed to get herself together. She had her issues with Cole, but he hadn’t really done anything wrong. He’d actually been more than gracious.
“I don’t know? Last night when you came home, I was just concerned. You also seem a little more irritated with me than usual.”
Jade exhaled. “Honestly, I have been, but it’s not really you. My life is just a mess, and I’m wrong for taking it out on you. It’s actually me