No One to Hold Read online

  “You know, I brought my board shorts if you want me to go on the beach for more shots later.” We’ve been having a great time, but I want to turn things up a bit. See if she’s interested in me, or, at least, could be interested.

  “I’ve been having such fun today that I almost forgot we should get some photos on the beach. I’m sure your fans will eat them up.” She wiggles her eyebrows at me.

  “I’d hate not to get credit for all my time in the gym.”

  “I’ll make sure to put your trainer’s name in the post.”

  “Let me run back to my car and get my shorts. Why don’t we meet in the café over there?” I suggest.

  “Sounds good,” she says.

  My mind is racing as I turn and head back to my car. I’m enjoying today, and I’m pumped that she seems to be, too. Dating Rose is a scary line to cross, but shit, I’ve laughed more with her than I have with all my other blind dates combined. She gets me. Yeah, I’m falling for Rose Morgan.

  When I get to the café, I head straight into the bathroom to change into my shorts before joining Rose at the table. Time to turn things up another small notch.

  “Hey, beautiful,” I whisper into her ear. I take my seat, putting my sunglasses on the table and jeans on the chair beside me. “Thanks for getting me coffee.”

  She nods but keeps her eyes angled downward. Shit. Did I go too far? But before I can do or say anything, a blonde-haired woman comes over to our table. She looks vaguely familiar, but that’s par for the course.

  “Cole Manchester?” the blonde squeaks. Rose’s eyes snap to the woman’s face and she discreetly hides the camera on her lap.

  I lean in toward the woman, pitching my voice low. “Yes, but I’d appreciate it if you would keep your voice down. I’m trying to keep a low profile today.”

  The blonde looks blissfully happy to share a secret with me. “Your secret is safe with me, Cole,” she says, like we’re best buddies.

  “Thanks.” I wink at her, hoping she’ll go away quietly so I can get back to Rose.

  “Can I get an autograph?”

  Forcing a professional smile, I reply, “Sure, darlin’.” She pulls a pen and a piece of note paper from her purse, which I sign.

  “Here you go. Thanks for keeping my secret.”

  The woman, thankfully, takes the hint and leaves. It’s just Rose and me again. I clear my throat, trying to assess Rose’s mood.

  “I’m surprised she’s the first person to recognize you.”

  “Well, she’s the first one to approach me today. Doesn’t mean that others haven’t recognized me.”

  “True enough. She seemed nice, though. Not pushy or anything.”

  “They can be annoying at times, especially when I’m trying to drink a hot coffee in public,” I blow on the hot liquid and take a sip. “But, for the most part, they’re respectful. I owe everything to my fans, so I always take time for them.”

  Rose nods. “I’ve noticed. You’re a good man, Cole.”

  Wow, a compliment. I stifle the urge to do a fist pump at the table, but I’m not as successful at containing my smile. My dimple might even be showing. “Watch it, or I’ll think you’re flattering me.”

  We finish our coffees chatting about her plans for the photos. Rose gathers her things and we make our way to the beach, stopping off at the car to stow my jeans in the back seat. Once we’re by the water, Rose’s bossy streak comes to the fore. Stand there, turn here, put your arm this way. Smile. Don’t smile. Geez. I know that she wants to get a variety of shots for my social media pages, but did the woman ever hear of spontaneity?

  It’s time to take control. Ignoring Rose’s latest set of instructions, I strip off my T-shirt and tuck it into my back pocket. From the corner of my eye, I catch her checking me out. I’m going to give Zak a big tip at my next personal training session.

  Doing a 180, I start walking toward the ocean. Rose has no choice but to follow. I turn around and see her stumbling in the sand, tripped up by the sandals she’s still wearing. Does she ever loosen up? Well, I’m going to make her.

  Striding back to Rose, I stop right in front of her. I can tell from the look on her face that she has no idea what I’m about to do. Dropping to one knee in the sand, I reach for her right foot while directing her hands to my shoulders. Her ankle feels so delicate in my hands. I love the feel of her hands on my shoulders, although I wish they were holding on tighter. A few heartbeats pass before I look up at her, silently asking her permission. She inclines her head, and I remove her sandal and then watch as she places her bare foot in the sand. I repeat my actions with her left foot.

  Holding both of her sandals in my hand, I stand up and enjoy the feeling of her hands sliding down my arms, like a long crescendo. Rose looks up at me, mouth open. Smiling, I trace her lips with my finger.

  “Let’s get some more photos, Rose,” I murmur. Anticipation is good.

  I grab her hand and we stroll to a secluded spot at the water’s edge. She takes some shots of me out there, but I want more. Of her. Taking the camera out of her hands, I turn the lens on her and become the photographer.

  Mimicking her attitude from before, I start barking orders. “Turn left.” “Look at me over your shoulder.” “Yeah, that’s great Rose!” At first she’s camera-shy, but soon she’s smiling and sassing it up for me. Oh yeah, I’m really enjoying this side of Rose.

  The sun starts to go down. It’s now or never. Invading her personal space, I release her hair from that damn ponytail. Her gorgeous locks float around her head and shoulders. Her eyes dart left and right. I say, “Gruesome isn’t here to see you out of uniform. Relax. Enjoy. I know I am.”

  Rose’s posture is rigid again, so I step back and keep playing with her as my model. “Smile!” I click several shots in a row. “That’s it, Rose. Pretend I’m a journalist and you’re trying to convince me to write a good story. How would you get me to do your bidding?” She smiles, and it reaches her eyes. I suck in my breath. “With that smile, I think you’ve gotten me wrapped around your little finger.”

  I put my arm around her shoulders, positioning the camera to take a selfie of us. But as I’m about to take the photo, I shake my head. Reaching over, I take off her glasses and click the shot.

  “Why did you do that?”

  “Because I want this picture to capture the real us. No barriers.”

  Rose sucks in her breath and I can’t hold back any longer. The brilliant colors from the setting sun bring out the beauty of her blue eyes and silky reddish-brown hair. Her gorgeous body is like a siren calling my name. I must taste her. Wrapping her in both my arms with the camera off my shoulder, I look deeply into her ice blue eyes. Desire and anxiety seem to be at war in them.

  “Don’t be nervous, Rose. I’ve wanted to kiss you for a long time.”

  Add surprise to the list of emotions blasting from her eyes, right before they close. I can’t prevent this kiss any more than the waves can avoid crashing into the rocks. I stop a hair’s breadth from her lips and inhale her unique scent. My mind registers the smell of flowers and the ocean. Her face tilts up toward mine in silent assent. I’m lost.

  Finally, our lips meet in soft exploration. I move my hands down her back, pulling her soft body against mine. Her lips yield to my demands without hesitation. Her hands hesitantly climb up my naked chest and encircle my neck. She emits a low moan.

  That little sound encourages me to deepen the kiss. Her mouth opens. Soon our tongues are exploring and caressing. My cock hardens as passion erupts between us. Needing to feel more of her, my hands move lower on her back until they meet her ass. Her body is molded to mine. Cupping her luscious cheeks, the final bit of my restraint is gone. I crush her against my body, knowing full well she can feel my rock hard erection against her stomach. Her boobs rub against my chest in time with her erratic breathing. She moans again. Or is that me?

  All too soon, our lips break apart, foreheads touching, each of us panting for air. That odd sense of d
éjà-vu I experienced the other day, the first time after I saw her with her hair down, flits through my mind again. “You’re amazing, Rose.”

  I’m a little shocked at my body’s reaction to her. I’ve known her for five years, but this kiss changes everything. It has totally put me out of my depth.

  Still clutched in my embrace, Rose says, “Wow.” She lets me hold her for a few staccato beats. I can feel the second she comes back to herself. I wish professional Rose would stay away longer, but a part of me is relieved she’s back.

  “Let’s go back to the cars,” I offer as a graceful way to end this amazing interlude.

  Rose nods, and we walk up to the virtually empty parking lot, each of us looking in different directions and carefully not touching. When we reach the pavement, I hand her back her sandals and camera. While she’s busy putting on her sandals, I put my own sandals on and pull the T-shirt over my head. We continue walking toward the cars in silence.

  It’s like we’re denying the magic of what happened.

  I don’t want that. Hell, I might not know exactly what I’m doing, but there’s a spark between us. A bigger one than I expected.

  When we reach her car, I turn to face her. Looking into her eyes, I say, “Rose, thank you for today. I had a wonderful time.”

  “I did too, Cole,” she responds, her voice a little breathy.

  “Please send me that photo of the two of us.”

  “I will.” After a brief pause, she begins, “Cole, about what happened back there . . .”

  “It was a kiss, Rose. And if you’re waiting for me to say it was a mistake, you’ll have a long wait.”

  “Oh.”

  “Yeah, oh.”

  Her swollen lips call to me, but I tamp down my desire. For the moment. Opening her car door, I give her a quick kiss on the cheek. “Now you’d better get home before I do something totally outrageous.”

  I DRIVE BACK TO my place with a shit-eating grin on my face. I can’t stop thinking about Rose and that kiss. She arouses me like no woman has in a long time. If ever. And I know it’s not solely physical. I enjoy talking with her. I admire her wit and humor when she lets them shine through, and her insights never cease to impress me. While I certainly want to fuck her senseless, for the first time in my life I want something more.

  For our next date, I’d like to get her to relax more. I want to coax out more of her fun side. It doesn’t seem like Rose has too much fun. Other than work, I’m not sure what she does. She certainly doesn’t spend money on her car or housing. Her wardrobe doesn’t look cheap, but it’s also not top of the line. From the ponytail to the glasses and the matching suits, it’s the type of wardrobe that’s designed to blend in rather than stand out. Not for the first time, I wonder what Gruesome pays her.

  As I’m powering up my tablet to research some options, my cell rings and Rose’s face pops up. With a smile, I answer the phone. “Couldn’t stay away, huh, Rose?”

  Rose doesn’t answer. The line is filled with loud background noise. Did she butt dial me? I try to get her attention. “Hey, Rose.”

  Still no response from her, but now I hear sirens in the background. I’m instantly on alert. “Rose, tell me what is going on,” I demand.

  Rose’s voice comes over the line, although she’s not talking to me. “No, I don’t want to go to the hospital.”

  Grabbing my keys, I race out to my car. Hospital? I’ve moved from high alert to borderline panic. I shout into the phone, “Rose!”

  But the phone must still be in her pocket. Her voice has a higher pitch than usual when she says, “My place was trashed when I got home.” A man asks her a question that I can’t make out, and she responds, “No, I didn’t see anyone except for my roommate.” She catches her breath and continues, “Do you have any word about him?”

  What the hell happened? She was fine when we left the beach not even an hour ago. More sirens join the background cacophony, then the line goes dead.

  Fuck! I knew when I dropped her off at her place that she wasn’t living in the best of neighborhoods. But this? My car once was broken into while I was living in New York City, although all the thief did was break a window and take my GPS unit. I can’t even imagine how violated Rose must feel. Thankfully she wasn’t home when it happened. It sounds like her roommate might have been, though. A guy. I tamp down a sudden spike of jealousy toward her roommate. I just need to get to Rose, and press down on the gas pedal.

  Twenty-five minutes later, I pull up to her place. Barely taking the time to put my car in park, I spring out of my seat and race toward her front door. I stop abruptly upon seeing police tape surrounding her front lawn. At least five police cars, a fire truck and an ambulance are parked haphazardly on the street, and guys in uniform are milling about everywhere.

  I dial Rose’s number while scanning the crowd. When she doesn’t pick up, I walk over to a gathering of a bunch of people in civilian clothes, presumably Rose’s neighbors. I approach a friendly-looking grandmotherly type. “Excuse me, have you seen Rose Morgan?”

  The older woman eyes me up and down. “You’re a right pretty one, aren’t you? Good for Rose. She could use someone like you in her life. She’s over there.” The woman points to a police car. I smile in relief, although my heart rate accelerates. Before I can leave, the woman grabs my arm and pulls me down to whisper in my ear, “Now don’t you go hurting my little Rose, or you’ll have to answer to Grandma Gertie. Got it, Hot Stuff?”

  I smile at the protectiveness emanating from this cute elderly lady. It’s nice to know that Rose is well liked by her neighbors. Even though they won’t be her neighbors for too much longer, if I have my way. “I’ll take good care of Rose, Grandma Gertie. I promise.” She nods her white head and releases my arm.

  I make my way to where Rose is standing, talking with the police. It feels like weeks since we were taking those photos on the beach, sharing our first kiss. Rose looks exhausted, but at least she’s unharmed.

  “Rose.”

  She turns and her eyes find mine. They look liquid blue, not their normal icy shade. The fear and sadness isn’t what catches me off-guard; it’s the sense of defeat. I swear to myself that I will do whatever is humanly possible to rid that emotion from her world.

  I open my arms and she walks into my embrace without hesitation. Her body trembles against mine. Holding her close, I murmur, “You’re safe now, Rose. I’m here for you.”

  She looks up at me. I’m surprised that she hasn’t shed a tear. Any of the other women I’ve dated would have mascara tracks all down their faces, and probably every police officer in the county would be trying to console her. But not Rose. Somehow, she’s managed to hold everything together, at least on the outside. Inside, I’m not so sure.

  “You’re not alone anymore, Rose.”

  She takes a step back. “How did you find out about this?”

  I half-smile. “You butt dialed me.”

  Her eyes widen, then she looks down and shakes her head. “You didn’t have to come all the way. I’ll take care of this.”

  “Rose, there is no place I’d rather be.” The look on her face tells me she doesn’t believe me, but it’s not some line—it’s true.

  “Thank you for coming, but you can go back to your plans. I need to go to the hospital to see my roommate, and then I’ll need to start cleaning this mess up.” She gestures toward her house.

  An officer standing nearby joins us and chimes in. “Actually, Miss Bloomer, you can’t return until forensics does a thorough examination of your home. We don’t expect that to be completed until sometime tomorrow afternoon. Is there somewhere else you can stay?” He looks directly at me.

  “I—” Rose begins.

  “She will stay with me.” My tone brooks no argument, from her or the cop.

  Nodding his head, the officer takes out his notebook. Looking at me again, he does that double-take people do when they recognize me out of context. “Are you Cole Manchester?”

  “
Yeah.” Don’t cause a scene, buddy. Because I raced out of my house so quickly, I forgot any semblance of disguise. I don’t even have a baseball cap with me.

  Luckily, the cop is cool. “I thought I recognized you. Sir, I need to take down your address and contact information.” I give him my information, all the while rubbing Rose’s back to try to calm her. Her body stops trembling, which I take to be a good sign. Her breathing seems to have evened out, too.

  “Do you have any clues?” I ask.

  “There’s been a string of robberies around here lately, and it looks like the same group was responsible for this break-in. But this time was different because her roommate was home. They hurt him, but not too badly. I think he’ll be released from the hospital tomorrow.” I nod my head, remembering my discussion about this crime ring with my first blind date, Alicia the vegan reporter.

  “Mr. Manchester, I have a teenage daughter.”

  I raise my lips into a tired smile. He’s trying to be professional, but he doesn’t have to draw the lines for me. He’d have hell to pay if he tells his daughter about meeting me and doesn’t bring anything back for her.

  “Do you have something you’d like me to sign? Or would you like to take a photo on your cell? I don’t want to get you into hot water at home.”

  The cop gives me an embarrassed shrug. “Can you write her a note? Her name is Erica. She’ll be over the moon to get something from you.” He hands me a blank police report.

  “No problem.” I flip the pre-printed sheet over, write a quick note telling Erica what a great dad she has and sign it. He takes it back to his cruiser.

  Rose turns to me and says, “Cole, I appreciate the offer, but I’m fine. I’ll spend the night in a hotel after I go check on Tommy. I’m sorry to have bothered you.”

  “No. I’ll drive you to the hospital and then you’re spending the night at my house. I have four bedrooms and there’s only one of me.”

  Why does she have to be so stubborn? Something tells me she plans on sleeping in her car right here on the street, and I can’t let that happen.