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Angie slowed down and walked to the gate. Her legs were burning and shaking. Sweat glistened on her skin and dampened her gray tank top. Her hair was coming out of the ponytail and she brushed off a few tendrils from her flushed face.
She felt his gaze on her. Her top and shorts felt too small. Her skin tingled and she suddenly didn’t know what to do with her hands. She wanted to cross her arms and hide her small breasts. She felt exposed.
She wasn’t sure why she felt this way. Cole no longer cared. Heck, at one time she thought he found her sexy. That only showed how delusional she truly was.
Resisting the urge to pull on a jacket or sweatpants, Angie grabbed onto the chain-link fence and started her cooling-down routine. “You’re up early.”
“I haven’t gone to bed,” he said quietly as he watched her stretch her legs. “I’ve been at the hospital.”
“I see.” She bent down and hesitated when she felt Cole’s gaze linger on her legs. “How is Heidi?”
“I’m told she’s awake,” he said gruffly. “I can’t get much information because I’m not a friend or next of kin.”
Angie grabbed her foot with one hand and slowly raised her leg behind her. She immediately realized her mistake. She wanted to stretch her quadriceps, but it required her to thrust her chest out. Her nipples tightened and her breasts felt full and heavy. She glanced at Cole just as he dragged his gaze from her breasts to her face. She abruptly looked away.
“Why are you here?” she asked as she dropped her leg. She could skip her cooling-down routine for today. “You’re not dressed for a run.”
“I need your help.” He reached out and offered her the water bottle she had placed next to the gate. “Heidi’s family in California hired me to track her down. I’ve done that and I informed my clients about what happened.”
“What does that have to do with me?” she asked. She grabbed the water bottle, careful not to graze her fingers against his.
“I have to find out what caused the accident. She had a wild lifestyle a while back. Her family wants to know if she’s still into that. If they need to get her some help.”
“I don’t know anything about Heidi,” she reminded him as she took a sip. Her throat didn’t seem to want to cooperate as Cole watched her drink. She wiped the water away from her mouth with the back of her hand. “I don’t think I can help.”
“You have access,” he pointed out.
She glared at him. “Is this about you going to the wedding? I already said no.” She didn’t even have to think about it. The word had fallen from her lips. She had been stunned by his request. How could he ask her on a date—even a fake one—when he had broken her heart? Didn’t he have any feelings?
“I need more than a wedding invite,” he explained. “I need total access. The rehearsal dinner. Behind the scenes.”
“It’s not necessary.” Angie shook her head and started for her car. “Heidi may be out of the wedding, period. She has a head injury.”
“But the people at the bachelorette party would be there,” he said softly.
She stopped and turned. “You don’t think it was an accident.”
“It could be an accident. The police think so, and I haven’t seen any information about her blood alcohol level,” he admitted. “I think someone may have tried to hurt Heidi. It probably had something to do with her private life. I just don’t know how they did it.”
“Private life?” She thought that was an odd choice of words and she thought about the other comments he’d made about Heidi. She lifted her chin when she realized what he was trying not to say. “You mean drugs. That’s why you asked if she was on something.”
His eyes widened with admiration. “Good catch. I don’t know if she’s still using.”
She pursed her lips as she tried to remember how Heidi had acted over the past few days. “I haven’t seen any signs of it.”
“You weren’t looking for signs, but maybe if I hung around while you were preparing for the wedding...” he said hopefully as he let his words trail off.
Angie sighed and crossed her arms. “Why do you have to drag me into this?”
“Why won’t you let me be your date?” he countered.
“I think it’s obvious.” It didn’t matter if it was a pretend date. Spending a day with Cole would remind her of what she once had with him. What she had lost.
Cole’s jaw tightened. “Are you taking someone else?”
She went still. Angie would love to lie and avoid any discussion on her nonexistent love life. But it wouldn’t take much for him to find out the truth. “No.”
His blue eyes darkened. “Will someone get jealous if you take me?” he asked stiffly.
She wanted to scoff at the suggestion. “No.”
He spread his arms out. “Then what’s the problem?”
He didn’t get it. How was that possible? For a private detective, Cole Foster was oblivious. “I don’t have to give you a reason.” She turned and marched to her car.
“Come on, Angie,” he said right behind her.
“After all,” she said, “you didn’t give me a reason why you broke up with me.”
“Is that what this is all about?” His voice rose with incredulity. “I told you why I needed to break up with you.”
“You weren’t ready for a relationship.” She yanked her car door open. “It’s you, not me.” She threw the water bottle into the backseat with more force than necessary. “Something about how I deserved better.”
“You do,” he said quietly.
She wasn’t going to fall for the sincerity in his voice. No, what Cole really meant was that he deserved better. “Are you dating anyone?” she asked huskily as the emotions clawed her throat. “Wouldn’t she be upset if you started hanging around your ex? Or would she understand that it was just for an assignment?”
“There hasn’t been anyone since you.”
Angie didn’t realize how much she needed to hear those words until he had spoken them. If he’d been in a relationship with someone else, it would have destroyed her. “I find that hard to believe,” she said hoarsely.
“It’s true.” He took a step closer. She took a step back and bumped up against her car. “I’ve spent all my time and energy building up my agency.”
“And what’s up with that?” she asked, her voice rising. “Not once did you talk to me about having your own business. You were passionate about what you did. About working with Missing Persons.”
“It’s still what I do,” he said, his eyes sparking with annoyance. It was clear he didn’t want to discuss it. “My agency specializes in tracing people. Reuniting families.”
“I thought everything was fine and then it was like you changed overnight.” And it wasn’t easy to ignore when his abrupt change occurred. It was right after she lowered her guard. Once she started taking charge in the bedroom.
Her face burned as she remembered that. She had felt sexy and desirable. Strong and assertive. She thought Cole loved it. That he wanted her to reveal this side she didn’t share with anyone else. Those moments had been special. Intimate.
She had only been fooling herself. Seeing what she wanted to see. She thought they were solid as a couple, but she was blindsided when he dumped her two weeks later. He had walked away, saying he couldn’t give her what she needed.
But what he really meant was that she was undesirable. Unwanted. Her fantasies were not his. She couldn’t give him what he needed. She had given him everything but she hadn’t been good enough.
“I didn’t mean to hurt you.” His whisper was heavy with regret.
She straightened up and offered a tight smile. “I’m over it,” she lied. “I just thought you were different from the other guys.”
Cole frowned. “What do you mean by that?”
“That you weren’t in it for the challenge.” What a few men had tried to do in the past. To take on Angie Lawson. Soften her up and tame the tomboy.
* * *
COLE TOOK A step back and stared at Angie. “You think I dated you because I like a challenge?”
Angie was a challenge, all right. She was stubborn and impatient. Independent almost to a fault. She was brazen but he also saw the insecurities she tried to hide.
“I don’t know why and I don’t care,” she declared. “All I know is that I’m not going to put myself through that again.”
“Angie, our time together meant a lot to me. I can’t tell you how difficult it was to leave you.” It had been the hardest thing for him to do, but it had been necessary. He had started to think he could be with Angie forever. That she could fall in love with him. But that was a fantasy. Even if he tried harder and tried to be better, he wasn’t worthy of love. His family had proven that to him years ago.
Cole stepped away from Angie and looked down. He didn’t want her to see the struggle in his eyes. “Angie, it’s very hard for me to ask, but I need your help.”
He felt her hesitation. She was the kind of woman who automatically offered her help, but it was different now. He knew how awkward it was to offer help to someone who had once discarded you.
“You were always there when I needed you.” He hated how his voice cracked. Hated how much her loyalty had meant to him. “And I was there for you.”
“We were a couple then,” she said softly.
“You are still very important to me.” She was the most important person in his life, but he couldn’t tell her that. Angie wouldn’t believe him, anyway.
“So important that you couldn’t stay in touch?” she asked bitterly.
He dragged his gaze to meet hers. Staying in touch would have been a constant reminder of what he couldn’t have. “I thought a clean break would be best. It hasn’t been easy for me, either. It still isn’t.”
“And you think that being my date for the wedding will make it better?”
“No, but I think we’re at a point where we can be friendly with each other. Do you really want to deal with that bride on your own? Think of me as backup.”
“She is unbearable,” she said as she considered his suggestion. “It would be nice to show up with a stripper boyfriend.”
He jerked back. “Say what?”
“Most of the wedding guests will think that you’re a stripper.” Angie bit her lip as she tried to contain her smile. “Patrick and some of the other guys will know the truth but I could tell them that our breakup sent you into a tailspin.”
He had crashed and burned once he left Angie. It had taken him nearly a year to get back on his feet. “You want me to continue the role as a stripper?”
“Why not? You’re the one who started it. And no one would question my sudden wedding date. After all, you showed me special attention last night. Thanks for that.”
He ignored her sarcasm. “You’re really considering this?”
“Brittany is going to have a fit that I’m bringing a date at such late notice.” She grimaced as if she were imagining the bride’s reaction. “I’ll talk to Cheryl, her assistant. She’s in charge of the details.”
“Think you can get me into Heidi’s room today?” He knew he was already pushing her, but he was running against the clock. If he didn’t get answers in the next few days, chances were he never would.
“I was going to visit her today after Brittany’s meeting,” she revealed reluctantly. “I’ll meet you at the hospital and we’ll go in together.”
“Thank you,” he said. He wasn’t sure if the relief he felt was because he could move forward with his assignment or because Angie was on his side once more.
Angie gave a sharp nod and got into her car. “By the way, my stripper boyfriend is totally into me,” she said. “He can’t believe his luck that he landed me.”
“I can do that.” He wouldn’t even have to pretend. He had felt that way since she had accepted his invitation for a first date. He had no idea what he did to convince her and often felt he was living on borrowed time. He knew someday she would wake up and see she could do much better than him.
“But I’m not really into him,” Angie warned Cole. “Everyone would get suspicious if I was all clingy and affectionate.”
Especially since she didn’t act that way in public, Cole thought. But when they had been alone, she was very demonstrative and explicit in her requests. “So it’s only physical attraction?” he teased.
She grinned. “Yeah, something like that.”
“Then that will be our cover. By the end of today, everyone will think we’re having a red-hot but brief reunion,” he promised. It had to be short-term for his sanity. One touch from her and he’d want another. One kiss and he wouldn’t stop. Unless this had a predetermined end date, he’d start to believe he had another chance. He’d forget that she never loved him—couldn’t love him—in the first place.
“A wild fling?” Her smile disappeared. “No one will believe that.”
“They will.” Because he was going to make the most of this temporary affair. “I guarantee it.”
5
“THIS WAS A bad idea.” Angie felt her ponytail swing against her shoulders as she strode down the hospital corridor. She was nervous and it showed. She took a deep breath and gripped the flower arrangement tighter.
“Don’t back out on me now.” Cole draped his arm around her shoulder.
A sense of longing crashed through her unexpectedly and she tried not to react. It had been common for Cole to touch or hold her whenever they were together. She shouldn’t be so surprised.
“Oh, are we pretending to be a couple already?” she asked lightly as she struggled with the opposing needs to shake off his touch and to curl into his body. “Heidi can’t see us from here.”
“You don’t start pretending the minute you walk into the room,” he explained. “You assume the role as soon as possible. And you never know whom you’re going to bump into on the way. What if we see someone from the bridal party?”
Angie pressed her lips together. Cole always had an answer for everything, but she didn’t think this was going to work. “No one will believe this.”
“That we’re together?” He stopped and looked down at her, his arm cradling her closer. “No one questioned it when we were dating.”
Was he kidding? His friends probably didn’t ask or care. She wished she had been so lucky. Her relatives teased her about how opposites attract. Her female clients asked if she used any sexual expertise in grabbing Cole’s attention. One acquaintance had asked why Cole was dating her when he could have any woman.
She guessed no one dared to ask Cole those questions. Lucky him. “I mean that no one would think I would hook up with a stripper.”
It didn’t help that she had done nothing different with her appearance. Angie knew she should have worn something suggestive or pretty. She winced at the thought. Instead she wore her favorite standbys. The white long-sleeve T-shirt and black track pants were comfortable and her running shoes were top-of-the-line.
She should have given her appearance more thought. After all, she was going to stand next to Cole Foster, whose masculine beauty was emphasized in a blue henley shirt and jeans. Most guys in Seattle wore that combination, but for some reason, Cole stood out in the crowd. It wasn’t just her opinion. She had seen more than one person in the hall give him a flirtatious glance.
“But it’s not unreasonable that you would backslide,” he argued. “Ex sex happens more than you think. Why do you think they give it a name?”
Ex sex. She didn’t like that label. It made something that was so emotional into something very casual. She imagined most people had sex with their ex because it would offer some familiarity and comfort. She never had that with Cole. When they were together it had been an exciting roller-coaster ride.
Sometimes the intimacy they had shared felt risky. There were moments that had changed her and made her see Cole differently. Those were the times when she felt they had formed a stronger bond. Backsliding wouldn’t let her recapture those life-transforming experiences.
She stumbled to a stop and pretended that she was reading the room numbers. Why was she thinking about that? They weren’t backsliding. Cole had no interest in having sex with her. If she responded to any of his gestures or touches, then she would be in trouble. She felt jittery and alive next to him. She was very aware of his clean, masculine scent, how warm and large his hand felt against her shoulder.
