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Colin glanced up from his desk in his office and stared at Coco striding past, ignoring him. Then he sat back when Jackie followed but instead of ignoring him, she stared daggers until she was out of his eyeline.

He sighed. He was in the doghouse with Coco and her father, but he was hoping to change all that. He planned on taking all of them out for dinner, and afterward for a game of mini putt to try and break the glacier that had formed when he’d recklessly blurted out their engagement.

He remembered Coco had mentioned during one of their study sessions that their family liked to have fun and go mini-putting, where her father would have them all in stitches because he always liked to cheat and would try to be sneaky and feign innocence when they called him out on it.

Her laughter as she would tell him stories would have him laughing along with her, but also feeling a bit jealous that she had both her parents with her.

His mother was deceased and his father was off drinking, travelling, and bedding the next woman he’d meet.

He couldn’t remember a time where they all went out and had a good laugh together. He wished he’d had that.

His phone buzzed and he glanced at the message, his mood picking up. He left to go downstairs to the main doors of the building.

What he just brought back up would hopefully make her day. He wanted private time with them and to see what it was like to be around her and her parents.

When she walked past again, he got up and followed her into her office.

“Coco, stop giving me the cold shoulder.”

She sat down and pulled her papers toward her.

“Coco, I mean it.”

She glanced up, giving him a glacial stare, then continued to ignore him.

“Okay, I am sorry about how I handled things with Keith.”

She snorted and then said in a snarky voice. “Scout’s honor, Coco.”

He swallowed a laugh. She was so cute when she was angry with him. “Yes, well you know fully well I was never a scout.”

Her glare sent him to be buried somewhere.

He pulled a paper bag from behind his back and held it out to her as a peace offering. He’d contacted the chef from that night and requested he prepare her favorites, hoping this would pacify her a little and also for what came with the gift.

She eyed him and the bag suspiciously, but when he opened it in front of her, Coco’s face lit up. Delighted, she took one of the salt fish cakes out of the bag and had it to her mouth when her eyes met his. Then she lowered it.

“What is this for?”

“A small peace offering from what occurred last weekend. I am really sorry the way it came out at the party. But Coco, it would have come out eventually.” He rationalized.

She handed him back the bag.

“All right, I am sorry. Let me make it up to you and your parents tonight. I will take you all to any restaurant you want to go and then we can go and play mini golf.”

Her eyebrows rose. “You remembered they liked to play?”

“Yes, I remember everything about our time together.”

A look of surprise crossed her face, and she opened her mouth to say something but then looked like she thought better of it.

“I don’t know if my parents want to see you right now, especially my father. He got an earful from my grandmother when she heard from the woman that she buys her fish from about us being engaged.” Coco sighed. “That’s why we wanted to not tell anyone yet; she should have heard it from us.”

Colin winced. She was right and he needed to not be so hot-headed around her. But for some reason with her, he acted the fool sometimes.

He was known for his cutthroat ways in business with his brothers.

He was calm under pressure when running his restaurant and cooking for the elite and his cool distance with the woman that had been in his life, but with Coco, he felt possessive and admitted to himself after the bathroom scene he wanted her again as his own.

He could keep fooling himself that after all this he could walk away but this time she was different and so was he and he didn’t think that would be possible now.

Every minute in her presence exposed a new facet that he found endearing and fascinating, and he wanted her so bad he could taste it.

The need to kiss those lips and enter her sweet body kept him up at night.

Just the scent of her perfume or laugh had his body stirring.

His brothers would laugh and tease him if they saw him right now. He thought he had the game in the bag, but he was steadily losing.

Colin had a feeling that he was not going to let Coco go after all this and knew he was going to have a fight on his hands. He had a lot to make up for in the past and he wasn’t making a good impression on her with his heavy-handedness.

“Why are you looking at me that way?” Coco frowned.

“What way?”

“So intense.”

“Because you are beautiful and I like looking at you, always have.”

She got up and walked around him, then pinched his cheek, pulling the skin slightly away. “Okay, what did you do with the real Colin?”

He laughed and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close and giving her a kiss. She leaned away in surprise. “Just in a good mood. Got you to finally talk to me.” He smirked.

She made a sound with her teeth and pulled out of his arms.

“What was that?” He laughed again.

“It is called steupsing. It’s a sound of extreme annoyance.” She gave him a look of warning.

He grinned. “Seriously, can you call your parents and see if they will go out with us for dinner and the mini golfing?”

“Us?” Coco lifted a brow as she sat back down.

“Yes, they will come if they know you have forgiven me, and this invitation comes from both of us. We don’t have time for your family and you to stay mad; my grandfather has requested to meet you all.”

She nodded and went to pick up her office phone.

“And after you are done, I made an appointment for us to look at rings.”

The phone hung in the air.

“We are engaged.” He pointed out.

“Yes, but we can just get bands, no need to spend money on a ring that I won’t wear after the annulment.”

“My grandfather would expect it.” He said as his stomach clenched from her mentioning the annulment.

“I—”

“You can keep or if you don’t want it, I can return it or give it to someone else.”

He stopped when she scowled, then quickly wiped the expression off her face.

Hmmm, didn’t like that part, did you? His mood lifted again.

“Okay, fine, it’s your money to burn. Let me speak to my parents. What time is the appointment?”

He glanced at his watch. “It is for 2 pm.”

She nodded and hit the button on the keypad of the phone, beginning to call her parents, dismissing him. He turned, but then she said.

“Where do you think you are going with my peace offering? Bring them back here, NOW .”

He moved and handed the bag over as she cupped the top part of the phone between her ear and neck, her hand now busy reaching in and pulling out a fish cake. He tried to take one and left her office with a stinging hand instead for his trouble.