The Fidelity World: Retribution Read online

  “Umm…fine. Yes, I’m fine.” Annie fumbled, shoving away from the wall and Cole.

  “Okay. I’ll be back shortly if you need anything.”

  “Thank you.” Annie called.

  “Get out!” She demanded after giving the saleswoman ample time to walk away.

  “Things were just getting fun.”

  “You’re a pig. Get out.”

  “If I’m a pig, does that mean you’ll bathe me?”

  Cole wiggled his eyebrows at her and then turned and left her alone in the dressing room. Even though they had been interrupted, Cole was quite pleased with himself, and with Annie. The woman was a damned distraction he didn’t need, but he was finding that he wanted her. A few unsavory terms filtered out of the dressing room, along with a series of bangs before the door finally flew open with a rather flustered looking Annie standing in the opening.

  The dress she had on this time was quite intricate. Cole couldn’t figure out if she had it on wrong, or the damn thing was just a total mess of fabric with an outrageous price tag on the side.

  “I don’t even know what this is.” Annie finally said in a huff.

  “Neither do I. Next.”

  Annie vanished back into the dressing room, and the same scenario continued to play out for another forty-five minutes before they finally settled on a dress. Cole hadn’t been completely pleased, it still showed too much of her body for his liking, but it had been the most modest of all the bunch. The only thing that gave him any pleasure was that it hadn’t been Annie’s pick of the litter either. Watching her try to control her temper when he snatched it off the rack and paid for it had been the highlight of the entire shopping experience. The shade of blue her eyes turned when she was trying to suppress her anger was magnificent.

  Chapter Eleven

  Annie

  Cole dropped her off at his apartment and immediately left again. Annie couldn’t help but a feel a bit defeated. The afternoon had seemed to go well in her mind. Cole had actually smiled on several occasions, and their encounter in the dressing room made her breathless just thinking back on it. When he had dropped her off, he seemed annoyed and distracted.

  Annie hung her new dress up and headed to find something to eat. She quickly yanked out everything she needed to make herself a salad. Annie had never been much of a salad eater, but she also wasn’t much of a cook. After she finished her dinner, she watched reruns on television. She had never been so bored in her life. With nothing else to do Annie sauntered off to Cole’s bedroom and fell sound asleep.

  “Stop it.” Annie muttered, fighting against what she thought was another nightmare.

  It felt so real when a hand wrapped around her waist. She rolled over and tried to brush the nightmare off. As soon as she settled though, the weight of his hand was back. Annie’s eyes flew open when she felt the warm caress of his breath on her neck.

  She scrambled up in bed, kicking wildly.

  “Get off you son of a bitch!” She screamed stumbling out of the bed.

  “Annie, it’s me. It’s Cole.”

  “Cole?” She asked breathlessly, taking in her surroundings.

  “Cole. I’m in your home.” She said out loud to make sure she wasn’t still asleep.

  “Yes; more specifically, my bed; again.”

  “Your bed?”

  Annie wasn’t sure how to respond, realizing that she was in fact the one in the wrong. The clock on the side of his bed told her that it was almost three in the morning. Had he been about to cuddle with her? Annie felt like such a shit for having reacted so harshly, but it was the middle of the night.

  “Where have you been?”

  “What are you, my mother?” He grumbled, dragging his body out of the bed.

  “No, but for someone who I’m supposed to be dating it would be nice to know if you’re dating other people.”

  Annie wasn’t sure why she was getting so worked up. They had only known each other for a short time, but for some reason the thought of him with another woman pissed her off. Especially since he had been flirting with her earlier that day and had just crawled into bed with her.

  “I’m not dating anyone.”

  “Then what keeps a man out until the wee hours of the morning?” She blurted out before she could stop herself.

  Cole unbuttoned his shirt and slid out of it while he walked around his bed to stand directly in front of her.

  “I had a business meeting that ran late.” His deep blue eyes bore into hers, and for some reason Annie could only think about what his lips would feel like if he kissed her.

  “Any more questions, my Annie?” He said.

  “What? Oh, no. Sorry. I’ll go sleep on the couch.” She turned to leave his bedroom, but he quickly pulled her back against him.

  Her back was flush against his chest, allowing her to feel every beautifully perfect inch of him. Annie tried to control her breathing as his arm snaked around her stomach and moved up her body until it rested just below her breast.

  “You smell good.” He purred in her ear, as he nuzzled against her neck.

  Annie wasn’t sure how to respond, or if she would even be able to, so she remained quiet. His other hand danced up her arm, and then he moved the hair away from her neck. His lips pressed against the sensitive skin, and just as quickly were gone. Then he placed another soft kiss on her neck. Annie tried to turn around in his arms, but he tightened his grip, holding her in place while he continued to torture her.

  His tight grip around her sent her into a flashback of her time with Trey, and how he would tighten his hold to keep her still when she would try to fight him off. Her desire dimensioned, and she felt the first wave of a panic attack come on.

  “Let go.” She said, as she tried to break free from him.

  “Let go!” She screamed when he didn’t immediately let her go.

  He released her. Annie ran out of the room and into the living room. She collapsed onto the couch and put her head between her knees.

  “Annie?” Cole said her name softly, keeping his distance.

  “I’m fine. I’m sorry, I’ll sleep on the couch.” She said, hoping he wouldn’t push the topic.

  “Who hurt you, Annie?”

  “No one. I’m just claustrophobic.”

  Cole dragged a hand through his hair; his other hand on his hip. Annie couldn’t help but admire his naked chest while she looked up at him. Her panic attack passed, and she slowly sat up. Cole sat down on the far end of the couch. Annie sighed. She could tell he wasn’t going to let the topic go.

  “The relationship I was in before this—whatever this is—wasn’t the best…”

  “What’s his name?”

  “It doesn’t matter. I’m tired. I’m sorry I was in your bed.”

  Annie remembered Cole had said he was going to have a room ready for her. It only took her a couple of tries before she found the room that was in fact now fully furnished. The furnishings were beautiful and very feminine. Annie smiled at his thoughtfulness. The man could be a complete pig, but he could also be a total gentleman. Annie crawled into the giant bed and snuggled down in the floral sheets, safe in the knowledge that Cole was down the hall like her own personal watch dog, even if he was a bit handsy himself. The last thought she had before sleep took over was that she liked Cole’s hands on her.

  Chapter Twelve

  Cole

  The days turned into weeks, and before he knew it the day of the charity event had arrived. Cole knew Annie was struggling just sitting at his house all the time, so he had tried a little hard over the past few nights to leave the office in time to have dinner with her. Annie had acted refined yet reserved each time he had taken her out. Cole knew that’s how he should want her to act since the whole purpose of the contract was to help him promote a certain image. However, Cole much preferred Annie the way she was when they were alone at his apartment. When they were there, Annie was a force to be reckoned with; a menace. She argued with Cole about all kinds of thing
s, like what was a decent hour to return home, or how much coffee was too much. In Annie’s eyes, Cole was entirely too caffeinated. On top of it all, she started buying organic roasted coffee.

  He also had too many chemically enhanced foods in his house. Cole thought he did a decent job at eating healthy; much more so than Annie. The woman had a serious addiction to Reese’s cups, yet she argued with him over his choice of tomatoes. He had come home one day the week before, and Annie had started a small garden on his balcony. Not that Cole used his balcony much, but there was barely any room on it for one person to walk now with all the containers of plants.

  “Just wait until you taste a fresh tomato you grew yourself.” Annie had promised him, her eyes bright with excitement.

  Cole didn’t give a shit about tomatoes, but if caused her to light up that way, he had a feeling they’d be his new favorite food. Then he had to remind himself she was there under contract, and that they both had an agenda.

  “Don’t you mean the tomatoes that you grew?” He asked, trying to be annoyed with her.

  Annie ignored his exasperated tone and huffed in response. He loved her little huffs. If he was really lucky, she’d follow them up with a lecture on something else. Her passion for things was intoxicating. It was getting harder for Cole to keep his hands to himself. The thought of her putting that passion to use in the bedroom was intoxicating.

  “Cole, you really should be more concerned with these things.”

  “You realize that eating fresh tomatoes isn’t going to do much when you keep a bag of Reese’s cups in the freezer?”

  “Hey! It’s the eighty-twenty rule.”

  “Oh God, I can’t believe I’m asking this but what is the eighty-twenty rule?”

  “Eighty percent of the time I eat healthy and clean, the other twenty I get to splurge; Reese’s cups are my thing. What’s your thing?”

  “Oh baby, you’ll know my thing soon enough.” He purred.

  Her skin had flushed a beautiful shade of red. Cole loved when he rendered her speechless; mostly because it didn’t happen very often. One day he was going to smother her sass by kissing her senseless.

  Snapping himself out of his thoughts, Cole turned back to the research he was doing for the board meeting coming up. With several of his largest used oil contracts up for renegotiation, he was buried in his own work as well. Cole had been at the office since before six in the morning, knowing he had to leave in time to make it to the charity event.

  Cole picked up his phone and sent Annie a message to make sure she was getting ready. Her only reply was a thumbs-up emoji. He couldn’t help but wonder if she was still upset over him climbing into his bed with her and somehow managing to set off one of her triggers. In his defense, he hadn’t known she had triggers, and she had been in his bed.

  The charity event would be their big outing; that would make them official in the eyes of the elite social class in New York. Cole hated to play into the game, but he knew Jason was right. If he changed his public image, it could only further his plot to avenge his grandfather.

  “Mr. Bennett?” His assistant’s voice came over his phone monitor.

  “Yes?”

  “You have a Mr. Sinclair on line two; he says it’s urgent.”

  Cole rolled his eyes. Ted Sinclair was the point guy for his biggest used oil contract. Their contract wasn’t up for another six months, but he knew Ted would want to begin the discussion process soon. Cole wasn’t sure he had time to handle the long-winded man, but he figured if nothing else, he could promise the man a face-to-face meeting soon to appease him.

  “Ted.” Cole said, as he picked up the call.

  “Cole, how have you been?”

  “I’m doing well, and you?”

  “Doing good. I wanted to call because our contract is coming up soon.” Cole rolled his eyes.

  “I know, we still have six months, Ted.”

  “Yes, I know. I wanted to tell you though, this one will be different.”

  “Why?”

  “Unfortunately, my wife isn’t doing very well, so I won’t be overseeing the negotiations.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that, Ted.”

  Cole didn’t wish harm on the woman, but he was already counting on the extra percentages he would surely be able to get in negotiating with a newbie.

  “Me too. The new assistant operations manager will be handling our negotiations this round, and I wanted you two to get some face-to-face time, so he and I will be flying down next week.”

  “Sounds good. Please set something up with my assistant, and I hope your wife feels better soon.”

  “Don’t get too excited Cole, this kid is tough. He’s almost as good as you; almost.”

  “We’ll see. I look forward to working with him.”

  “See ya soon, Cole.”

  “Bye, Ted.”

  Cole transferred the call back to his assistant and decided to call it a day. He wanted to talk to Annie before they left for the event. Cole shut everything down and took off. When he stepped outside, he was greeted by the thick, humid summer air. He shrugged off his suit jacket and undid his tie. The photographers would no doubt want a slew of pictures taken outside of the venue as the guests walked in, which meant Cole was in for a night of sweating. He hated charity events. He had no problem donating money to charity but attending the over-the-top functions put together, so all the rich people could gather together and brag about their money was sickening to him. Once he had control of his grandfather’s foundation, he would be making some serious changes to how they ran their charity events.

  He made quick work of the drive back to his place. When he got to the door of his apartment, he could hear loud music. He walked through the house until he was at her bedroom door. Cole hesitated before knocking.

  Before he could knock though, the door flew open. Annie shrieked and jumped back.

  “Holy shit! Cole, you scared me.” She gasped.

  “Sorry.” He uttered.

  Her hair was a mass of beautiful curls, surrounding her freshly cleaned face. The only thing she had on was a satin robe that was parting just above her breasts, which made Cole’s mouth go dry.

  “I shouldn’t be long getting ready.” She said, breaking the silence between them.

  Cole nodded, and because he wasn’t sure what he was going to say or if he could keep his hands off her, he turned and stalked back to the kitchen.

  “Cole?” Annie questioned, from her bedroom doorway.

  Thankfully she didn’t follow him, though. He grabbed a beer from the fridge and sat down on the couch. The music suddenly quieted down. The woman was a damn menace. When thoughts of her weren’t distracting him at work, and keeping him up at night, she was blasting loud music or growing vegetable gardens in his apartment. His cell phone rang. Cole sighed when he saw that it was his mother calling him. Since he was already in a fairly sour mood, he decided to answer it.

  “Mother.” He said snidely.

  “Cole, I noticed that you’re on the guest list for tonight.”

  Cole didn’t say anything.

  “I think we should all arrive together. It’s been so long since you’ve attended one of these, it’ll be good to have us there to help you remember the way of things.”

  “My date and I will be arriving on our own. I don’t need you to show me the way of anything.”

  “Oh yes, your date. I hope you’re not bringing that dreadful hillbilly I met at Barney’s the other day.”

  “That dreadful hillbilly is my girlfriend, and you will treat her with respect.” Cole growled.

  His temper was getting away from him. If he was going to spend the night playing pretend with a bunch of people he couldn’t stand, he needed to get off the phone with his mother.

  “I need to get ready. Regrettably, I’ll see you later, Mother.”

  Cole hung up before she could say anything else. His phone immediately rang again. He turned it on silent and chucked it to the far side of the cou
ch. Annie came out, her face looking hesitant.

  “I take it your mother hates me.” Annie said softly.

  “Annie, the last person on this earth you should be concerned with liking you is my mother.”

  “I suppose you’re right. A year will come and go quite fast. She’ll be glad when you get rid of me.” Annie laughed.

  Cole wanted to tell Annie that wasn’t the reason why, but he decided against it. He didn’t want to talk about his mother any more.

  “I’ve never been to one of these things; will there be a lot of people there?

  “Yes, they’re usually quite large. I’m afraid it’ll be rather dull and annoying.”

  “You really don’t like people, do you?”

  “I don’t like these people.”

  “Oh.”

  “Well, I suppose I better finish getting ready. Cinderella doesn’t want to be late to the ball.” She said with a small smile and then turned to disappear back down the hallway.

  Cole finished his beer and then stood up to go get dressed himself. Cinderella indeed; only Annie would undoubtedly look more beautiful in her oversized shirt and shorts than a ballgown and makeup. He’d never known a woman with such natural beauty like Annie. His Annie.

  Thirty minutes later, Cole’s driver alerted him that he was waiting for them downstairs. Cole had been ready, he was simply waiting for Annie. He walked down the hall and knocked on her door.

  “Annie, we need to get going.”

  “Okay.” She said.

  Cole waited a few minutes, but Annie never emerged.

  “Menace.” He mumbled as he barged into her room.

  Annie was standing in front of the mirror. The dress dipped low down her back showcasing how wonderfully sexy she was. Cole wanted to run his hands down the curve of her spine.

  “What if I had been naked?” She questioned him.

  “It’s my house.” He said, knowing it would piss her off.

  He loved watching her blue eyes darken and narrow at him. She was pure fire. A smile threatened his lips, and he watched as she realized he had been pushing her buttons.

  “You really are a pig.”