Jamie Denton - The Secret Child

“I‘ll drive,” he told her. He placed his hand on the small of her back and steered her away from her car before she could argue.

Seated within the confines of Cole‘s sleek black Jaguar, Marni was surrounded by the scent of new leather. She concentrated on the country song flowing through the elaborate sound system. At least they still had the same taste in music, she mused, wondering when Cole had stopped listening to the heavier rock music of their younger days.

“Where are we going?” she asked, noting they were leaving the downtown area.

“A little place I found. I think you‘ll like it,” he told her while he guided the Jag onto the freeway on ramp.

About twenty minutes later, Cole pulled into a hamburger stand. Waitresses dressed in short spandex skirts and T-shirts a size too small roller-skated around the cars. Cole pulled into one of the parking slots, killed the engine and rolled down the window.

“This is it?” Marni asked incredulously, unfastening her seat belt. She wasn‘t certain what she‘d expected. A dark restaurant, maybe. Candlelight, perhaps. Certainly not a drive-in with carhops.

Cole shrugged, his expression noncommittal. “I thought you‘d like it.” He unfastened his own safety belt, then turned the key in the ignition so they could listen to the stereo as they ate.

A perky brunette skated up to the driver‘s side. “What‘ll ya have?”

“Two cheeseburgers, two fries and two root beer floats,” he said, and looked at Marni for approval.

She nodded slowly as realization struck her. The first time Cole had taken her out they‘d gone to the local drive-in restaurant in Elk Falls. Now, in his attempt to re-create their first date, Cole had even duplicated the menu. She couldn‘t believe he remembered. Marni couldn‘t even remember when she‘d last indulged in a root beer float, but she remembered other things, like the time she believed Cole loved her.

The waitress skated away and Marni reached out to him, placing her hand on his arm. When he looked at her, she said, “You were right. I do like it.” The soft expression in his eyes told her he was pleased.

“I wasn‘t sure you‘d remember.” His voice was low and seductive.

Marni removed her hand, uncomfortable with the sudden intimacy. Cole was close, too close, and she had to be careful. She had Jenna to think of, and she couldn‘t afford to lose her heart to Cole again. The price of loving him was simply too high to pay and had cost her dearly already.

Cole watched her retreat inside herself, and frowned. For an instant she‘d let her defenses down, but now the veil covering her emotions fell back into place. He wanted to shout in frustration. The questions that had plagued him for years needed answers, yet he found he was strangely reluctant to learn the truth. What if she had never experienced the same strong emotional pull he had all those years ago? Cole took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. He turned to face her, his arm resting on the seat inches from her hair. The jacket of her peach suit cast a soft hue against her skin. “You still like football?” Cole wanted to shake himself for being such a coward, for not asking what he really wanted to know.

A slow smile lit her face. “Football and classic movies. That‘s me.”

Cole couldn‘t help laughing. “You‘re the only woman I know who understands the offensive patterns of the Chiefs, then cries no matter how many times she sees Old Yeller. ”

He enjoyed the sparkle in her eyes. The yellow flecks appeared to shimmer with a blend of humor and indignation. She lifted a delicate brow. “One has nothing to do with the other. Besides, I thought it terribly unjust when they had to shoot the poor dog.”

“If I remember correctly, you even cried during the chariot races in that Heston movie.”

“I did not.” Her voice lacked conviction.

“Still a sucker for animals.” He shook his head. “You‘ll never change, Marni.”

“Oh, I‘ve changed.”

The laughter left her voice, and he wondered what had changed her. Had she met someone after leaving Elk Falls? No matter how painful, Cole had to know the truth. Things should have been so different for them. “Why did you leave Kansas so abruptly?”

“Let‘s not get into this. It was a long time ago. We were a long time ago.” She kept her eyes on the waitresses gliding back and forth, toting trays above their heads.

Cole drew his brows together. “Just answer my question.”

“What does it matter? I left town and you married Elizabeth.”

Cole froze at the coldness in her tone. He didn‘t know what to say, but he had to know the truth. “I only want to know why. I thought we had something special.”

Marni sighed and turned to face him. She noted the stubborn lift of his chin but couldn‘t understand why he didn‘t just drop the subject. The past was behind them. “It‘s not important.”

His tenacious expression was replaced by a brief flash of anger. “I think it‘s damned important.” His voice was hard. “One day we were planning our future together, and the next, you were gone.”

The harshness of his tone surprised her. Marni rested her head against the seat and closed her eyes. “Oh, God.” Maybe, just maybe, she had meant something to Cole. She wanted to weep for the years she‘d been cheated out of sharing his life, of the years Jenna had been cheated. At the time, she‘d thought she was doing the right thing by ending their relationship. Now she wasn‘t so sure. Perhaps they had both suffered needlessly. “I thought you would lose interest in me because I didn‘t fit into your world.” Tears blinded her eyes and choked her voice.

Cole reached across the front seat and gathered her into his arms. “Ah, Marni.”

She slid easily into his embrace and enjoyed the strength of his strong hands massaging her back in a slow, sensual caress. Laying her head against his chest, she drew comfort from the even, steady rhythm of his heart.

He tilted her head back until she was looking into his eyes, and her heartbeat skyrocketed. Slowly he lowered his lips, brushing them gently against hers in a feather-light touch. A dam had broken, destroying every ounce of sanity she possessed. He teased her mouth open and Marni welcomed the sensual invasion. Her senses came alive, spiraling in a wave of heat, and she returned his kiss, not at all shocked at her own eager response to his slow, drugging seduction.

When he pulled away to look at her, the emerald fire of his eyes matched the inferno inside her. Then his mouth slanted over hers and she fully understood the hunger they shared. A need denied to them for too many years.

Cole demanded and Marni responded. He took and she gave. Gave herself up to the passion enveloping them. She clung to Cole as if to a lifeline. Blood pounded in her ears as jolt after jolt of wild sensation rocketed through her.

An eternity later, he pulled his mouth from hers and slid his lips along her cheek, kissing her jaw, nibbling on the lobe of her ear, then moving on to her temple. Sanity slowly returned, and with it the realization of what she was doing–succumbing to a man who would break her heart when he learned the truth. That Carson had paid her off. She pushed against Cole in an attempt to right herself, but he held her tight.

She pulled back and looked into his eyes. Emotion choked her at the tenderness in his gaze.

He brought his hand up and cupped her cheek. “I‘ve missed you, Marni.”

“Don‘t.” She couldn‘t bear the gentleness of his voice, the way he held her in his arms. Pulling out of his embrace, she returned to her side of the car.

“Marni?” Cole‘s soft voice drifted over her. He reached out and caressed her cheek.