A Way Out

Chapter 20

It had to be good, no, it had to be perfect. Everything I wrote so far about Dallas and Christian needed to be spot on, from grammar to character arcs. Cole was coming over today and even though Donovan Dane was the boss, Cole could make or break my ideas. I had to pitch those ideas to Cole in today's meeting so he could see if there was a market for it. In my opinion, there is always a spot for a whirlwind romance, but who am I right?

"Stop fidgeting, will you? You are making me nervous, Eve," Raleigh complained as she threw a pillow at me. Raleigh had always been a highly sensitive person, so she absorbed people's emotions. I did my best to control the nerves, angst, and anxiety within me, but so far, I was doing a shitty job. They melded themselves together and left a heavy ball within my stomach. I glued my eyes to the clock on the wall and I counted every second that passed.

Frankly, I had a double agenda for this meeting. Sure, the primary reason was my work, but I wanted to see if I could persuade Cole into telling me about Donovan. It had to be subtle, but I needed to know what I did wrong or if I had even done something wrong at all. After all, this man was still my mystery, one that I wanted to figure out. It even kept me up at night and as time passed, I felt like the chance of rapprochement slipping away.

The knock on the door brought my train of thoughts to a halt and I leaped out of my seat before making a direct beeline to the front door. My hand had a slight tremor as it turned the door handle and when the door opened a casual-looking Cole surprised me. I had pictured him coming over here in a suit since Cole struck me as someone who saw everything as strictly business. The bordeaux red sweater told me otherwise.

"Good afternoon," he greeted. From the corner of my eye, I could see Raleigh perk up at the sound of Cole's velvety voice.

"Come in," I said as I stepped aside, letting Cole into Raleigh and mine's personal space. The reason we met up at my place and not the office was because I wanted to be in a comfortable environment. Dane Publishing made me feel on edge and like I constantly should achieve higher and better goals, goals that were impossible to live up to.

Cole's eyes lingered over every corner of our living room, taking in his surroundings, and his scrutinizing eyes made me feel judged. Raleigh appeared beside me, poking me on the shoulder as she nudged her head towards Cole. I shook my head at her, causing her eyes to widen and hiss, 'now' at me.

"Mr. Hughes, this is my best friend and roommate Raleigh," I said with forced a smile as Cole turned around.

His apple-green eyes found Raleigh's indigo ones and I don't know what the hell happened, but I don't think I've ever seen Raleigh blush because of a guy. Cole's jaw dropped slightly, almost unnoticeable, as he held his hand out to Raleigh. "Just call me Cole."

Raleigh giggled and shook his hand. "Very nice to meet you. Can I get you anything to drink, Cole?" she asked while batting her eyelashes at him. What on earth was happening to my best friend, who oozed confidence every single second of the day?

"Please." Cole smiled at her and with another giggle, Raleigh disappeared into the kitchen, leaving me to give Cole a pointed look.

He rubbed his hand behind his neck as he said, "Shall we?" while pointing at the dinner table.

We took place at our oaken dining table and Cole got all his stuff out. "Eve, can you give me a hand?" Raleigh called from out of the kitchen. I rolled my eyes. Like the girl needed a hand. She probably needed Cole's hands.

"Excuse me," I gritted as I tried to plaster on my best fake smile.

This was just perfect. Today's meeting was one of the most important moments of my life, and Raleigh and Cole were low-key flirting with each other. The girl could deny it, but I'm not stupid. I wish Raleigh every happiness in the world, but this was just the worst timing of all. Hopefully, Cole could keep focus and keep his jaw off my floor.