Page 29 of Honey Bee Library (Sweet Tea and a Southern Gentleman #7)

COLE

I went to bed confused about what had happened between me and Willow.

One minute, we were sharing this mind-blowing kiss, and the next, she was pulling back and basically sprinting away from me.

I wanted to think that it didn’t have to do with me , but no matter how much I tried to gaslight myself as I lay in bed the next morning, I feared that I must have done something wrong.

And I had no clue how I was going to fix it.

All I knew was that I wanted to see Willow again. I wanted to touch Willow again. I just…wanted Willow. And I hoped that she wanted me.

I was going to go mad, lying in bed, overanalyzing everything that happened last night, so I threw off my comforter and rolled out of bed.

I was going to get up, make breakfast, and pray that when I saw Willow next, she would be looking at me the same way she looked at me when she climbed up onto my lap last night.

I showered and dressed in a pair of slacks and a white undershirt. My hair was damp, so I ran the towel over it a few times before checking my reflection in the mirror to make sure I looked okay.

Then I shut off my bathroom light and headed out into the kitchen.

I was midway through mixing up the batter for waffles when I heard a soft voice behind me. I startled and turned to see Willow standing there with her hands clasped in front of her. She was wearing a pair of floral satin pajamas, and her hair was pulled up into a messy bun.

My heart instantly took off running in my chest. Every part of me was responding to the sight of that woman, and it was taking all of my strength not to walk over there and kiss her again.

I settled on giving her one of my signature grins. “Morning,” I said with a wink.

Willow’s eyebrows went up, but I could tell that she was fighting a smile. “Morning.”

I glanced behind her. “Jasper up?” I asked as I moved to flip open the waffle maker that had been warming on the counter.

Willow glanced behind her and then back at me. “He’s still asleep.” She brought her wrist up to cover a yawn. “I don’t know what you did with him yesterday, but he is dead to the world.”

I finished mixing the batter and set the whisk in the sink. With the bowl in hand, I glanced over at her. “You could have kept sleeping. I’ve got breakfast handled.” I set the bowl down on the counter and grabbed the non-stick spray to coat the waffle maker.

“I was already up. Besides, I want to earn my keep while we’re here.”

I paused as her words settled around me.

Earn my keep . What did that mean? I was pretty sure that wasn’t how friends talked.

I was even more sure it wasn’t something people said after sharing a kiss that was burned onto the soul of at least one of them.

That was what acquaintances said to each other. Were we back to being acquaintances?

Was that what Willow wanted? It was sure as hell not what I wanted.

I’d come too far to end up right back where I’d been when I walked into the diner that first night.

And I wasn’t going to let Willow retreat back there either.

I’d been on the receiving end of that kiss.

If I made her feel half of what I felt while kissing her, there was no way she could stand in front of me and treat me like an acquaintance. I wasn’t going to let her.

She was stubborn, but I was bullheaded. There was no way in hell I was going to let her walk away.

I closed the lid of the waffle maker and turned to face Willow. Her right hand was grasping her left elbow as she stood on the outskirts of the kitchen. I was learning to speak Willow, and this was exactly the same way she started acting that morning when she thought Maddie was my girlfriend.

She was pulling away, and I wasn’t going to let her.

So I walked toward her. At first, she didn’t notice, but I wasn’t hiding it, and soon, her wide eyes met mine as she started backing up.

“Cole?” she asked, holding up both hands, but she only had one more step before she was going to run into the counter behind her. And then she wouldn’t have anywhere else to go.

I didn’t stop walking toward her. I could see her determination to stay away wavering as she stared up at me. It was cute, the way she jutted out her chin and met my gaze head-on as if she were daring me to make a move.

Oh, if she only knew.

“What are you doing?” The dip in her voice betrayed her. I took that as a win. Willow could pretend that she didn’t want me, but her body told the truth. Willow wanted me just like I wanted her.

“Kissing you,” I said as I cupped her face with my hands.

Her eyes widened but she didn’t pull back.

I took this moment to admire how beautiful she was.

Her bright green eyes, though startled, were framed by her long, dark lashes.

There was a splash of freckles across her nose that was turned up ever so slightly at the tip.

And her lips…those goddamn lips. They haunted me like a nightmare I never wanted to wake up from.

I lifted my thumb and gently stroked her bottom lip. It curved down in the perfect pout. Her gaze turned hazy as she tipped her head ever so slightly to the side as if begging me to keep touching her. That was all I needed.

She was mine.

I crushed my lips to hers with more passion and desire than I had last night. This time I needed her to feel—to know—that I wasn’t going anywhere. She and Jasper were rapidly becoming my home. The only place I wanted to come back to every night. I needed her to know that my heart pounded for her.

I knew my words would fall of deaf ears, a woman of divorce tended to only trust actions, and that was what I was doing, showing her how I felt.

When her arms wrapped around my neck to draw me closer to her, I knew that the wall she’d managed to throw up last night had come crumbling down.

I grasped her waist and lifted her up onto the counter.

Her legs wrapped around me, pinning my body to hers as our lips and tongues twirled and danced around each other.

My hands slid down from her waist to her hips and settled on the hem of her shorts. I wanted to feel her skin against mine again. It was warm and soft, and…damn, it did things to me.

She moaned against my lips and it sent my soul singing. Willow could pretend, but I knew she wanted me. She wasn’t that good of a liar.

“Mommy?”

One word. One voice. One kid was the only thing that could stop this kiss. That one kid had me sprinting across the kitchen to put distance between Willow and me as he rounded the corner with half his hair sticking up and rubbing his eyes.

I glanced over at Willow as I returned to the waffle maker, which was in the process of burning the waffle I’d started before I got distracted with kissing Willow.

Her cheeks were pink, and she was dabbing at her swollen lips as she slipped off the counter and hurried over to Jasper.

I couldn’t help my grin of satisfaction as I turned back to the crispy waffle.

I grabbed a fork to spear it so I could trash it and start over.

“You’re up,” Willow said. From the corner my eye, I saw her kneel down in front of Jasper before she reached up and attempted to smooth down his hair.

Jasper’s yawn was huge as he moved to evade his mom’s attempts to fix his hair. When that didn’t work, he swatted her hand.

“Come on, let’s go get dressed,” Willow said as she straightened.

My entire body lightened when her gaze met mine. I couldn’t help the smile that emerged, and I loved the fact that her cheeks reddened in response. She held the connection for a moment before she wrapped her hands around Jasper’s shoulders and hurried him out of the room.

I loved that I rattled that woman, especially since all she did all day long was invade my thoughts and confuse me.

Twenty minutes later, I was pulling the last waffle off the iron plate when movement to my left caught my eye. I glanced over to see Jasper coming in dressed in a dinosaur t-shirt and a pair of khaki shorts. His hair was damp and tamed.

“Hey bud,” I said, shooting him a grin.

Jasper met me with the same enthusiasm. “Can we show Mommy my seashells today?” he asked as he bounded over to me.

In that moment, Willow walked timidly into the room. She was wearing a floral dress that hugged her curves. My heart pounded, and even though I realized I was staring, I couldn’t pull my gaze away. She looked like a goddess.

“Sure, we can show your mom the seashells we found yesterday,” I said as I stood, keeping my gaze locked with Willow’s.

She looked so…lost. It broke me a bit inside. All I wanted was for this woman to tear down the wall she seemed determined to keep up between us. It seemed like when we were together, she liked me. But as soon as she left my presence, everything was cold and distant again.

She was infuriating. But I was stubborn. We were the perfect pair.

“Come on, Jasper, let’s get some food in that tummy,” Willow said as she stepped toward us and waved her hand for Jasper to follow.

He needed little coaxing to find a spot at the kitchen table. After he picked his waffle and drizzled it with copious amounts of maple syrup, he dug in. With Jasper distracted, Willow glanced over at me.

“Sit,” I said, nodding toward the empty chair next to Jasper. She studied me for a moment before she nodded and obeyed. “Coffee?” I asked as I pulled two mugs down from the cabinet above the coffee maker.

“Yes, please,” she said.

Once both mugs were filled, I grabbed their handles and headed over to set one down in front of her. Just as I moved to pull back, I paused right next to her ear.

“You look beautiful this morning,” I whispered.

Willow’s entire body stiffened, but she didn’t look at me. I smiled, loving that I had this effect on her. Today was going to be fun.

After breakfast, Jasper and I showed Willow his shell collection and then walked the beach a bit so he could find more.

Willow kept our conversation light as we trailed after him, and I didn’t mind.

When she did look at me, I didn’t hold back.

I wanted her to know how I felt about her even if her cheeks flushed and she dropped her gaze.

By the time we got back to my house, Jasper was hungry again. After Willow made him a sandwich and got him settled at the table, she joined me in the kitchen, where she leaned against the counter while I loaded the dishwasher.

“What else do you want to do today?” I asked as I slipped the knife she’d used to spread mayo into the utensil holder.

She glanced over at me. “We’ll be okay if you have to work.” She fiddled with the ends of her hair. “I was going to look into flights back to Harmony.”

I paused, staring at the dishes in front of me before I glanced over at her. She was ready to go back…of course she was. I’d spent so much time thinking about my feelings for Willow and how much I loved her being here, that I’d completely forgotten she was going to leave at some point.

Miami wasn’t her home.

“Oh,” I said, wishing I was better at hiding my disappointment. Silence fell between us. When I glanced over at her, I saw Willow studying me. I forced a smile. “I don’t have to go in to Obsidian until later tonight for the gala.” I gave her a wink. “Maddie’s good at her job.”

I wasn’t going to focus on the fact that Willow was going to leave. I was going to focus on making her time here with me unforgettable so she had something to remember when she got back to Harmony.

“I’m sure she is.” A soft smile spread across her lips. It was nice to see that Willow liked Maddie as much as she did.

“You’re still going to come with me tonight, right?” The question was out before I could stop it.

Willow’s eyes were wide when she met my gaze. She held it for a moment before she spoke. “Do you want me to come?”

That wasn’t even a question. There were a lot of things I wanted to do with Willow, but she was so determined to keep me at arm’s length that I was certain I was going crazy.

“Of course,” I said. With the dishwasher now loaded, I leaned against the counter and folded my arms. “But only if you want to.”

Willow blinked at my qualifier, but I wanted her to admit that she wanted to spend time with me. I needed to hear it. Her words were better at lying than her kisses were. I knew she wanted me. She knew she wanted me. I was ready for her to openly admit it.

She glanced to the side as she shifted her weight and then folded her arms. “I’d be happy to go with you.” She hesitated. “But who will watch Jasper?”

I waved away her worry as I stepped closer to her.

“Maddie’s got a kid sister who is majoring in child psychology and has already agreed to do it.

” I was a foot away from her now. “You said you’d be happy to go, but do you want to?

” Those were two very different things, and I needed her to differentiate.

Willow’s eyes were wide as she stared up at me with her lips slightly parted. “I…” She swallowed, but I wasn’t going to back down. I needed to hear her say this. “I want to go with you,” she whispered.

I held her gaze for a moment longer before I nodded. “Good.” I sidestepped her. “Now, let’s get the munchkin. I wanna take him to Miami Seaquarium ’cause he’s going to lose his mind.”