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“Well, Mr. Mitchell—”

“Oh, come on, Rachel. I think you can call me Logan. We’re practically long-lost friends now,” he said as he slid closer to her on the couch.

Rachel held her ground as she looked up at him. “Okay, Logan. Obviously, you know that I’m here to see Cole. So, do you know where he is?”

Logan nodded and replied vaguely, “Yes.”

Rachel rolled her eyes with a small laugh. “Wow, why am I so surprised that you are just like him?”

“Oh no, that’s where you are very wrong, Rachel. Cole and I might both be apples, but when we fell from the tree, we fell further apart than expected. That’s all.”

Rachel frowned as she tried to read between the lines. When she came up with nothing, she told him, “Well, like him, you are very good at deflecting and acting vague, Mr. Mitchell.”

“Logan,” he corrected.

“Yes, okay. Sorry, Logan. So, are you going to tell me where Cole is?”

“Why? So, you can leave me all alone?”

Rachel reached up and scratched her brow. “Now, why do I find it hard to picture you ever alone?”

Logan’s smile fell back into place as he stood, holding out his hand to her. “Because I’m so incredibly charming?”

“If you have to point it out yourself, I believe the charm is negated by arrogance.”

Logan laughed loudly then, a full-on belly laugh, as she took his hand and stood.

“I can see exactly why Cole has grabbed on to you. Come, I’ll take you to him.”

“How very kind of you.” Rachel muttered as she followed him across the lobby,

When Logan opened the door to the offices and she moved to walk past him, it became clear that she hadn’t been as discreet as she hoped or he must have had supersonic hearing.

“I’m never kind, Rachel, but I’m also not stupid. If I don’t take you to Cole in the next…oh, let’s say five minutes, he’s likely to go apeshit, and that would ruin my lunch as well as yours.”

Rachel stopped and looked up into Logan’s now very serious expression.

“And why would he go apeshit?”

As he looked down at her, she thought the answer she would get would scare her, make her want to leave and never come back, but instead, the answer she got sent a delicious thrill up her spine.

“It’s simple really. He’d go apeshit because you are his.”

And apparently, that was that.

* * *

Cole looked up when he heard a light knock on his door. Logan pushed it open, and as Rachel appeared, Cole was shocked by the immediate sense of calm that washed over him. As she moved hesitantly into his office, he glanced at Logan as his partner tilted his head down with a smirk as if to say, I see exactly what you meant.

As Mr. Fogerty was wrapping up, Cole gestured to the couch, and Rachel immediately took a seat. Logan closed the door, and even though Cole couldn’t greet her, her stare made him feel her hello more eloquently than if the words had left her lips.

“Well, Mr. Madison, I believe that is all I can tell you right now, but I will be sure to send you the paperwork with the written statement as soon as possible.”

Cole watched Rachel as she slid back into his couch and crossed her wildly covered legs. All the while, she was watching him like this was the first time she had seen him.

“That sounds fine. As soon as I receive it, I’ll be in contact.”

Leaning back in his chair, he remembered the way she had looked last night, staring down at him as she traced her fingers over his body.

“Terrific. Listen, Madison, will you be at the function for the new DA at the Shedd Aquarium tomorrow?”

“Yes, I’ll be there. In fact, I’m hoping my lunch date today will be accompanying me.”

Through the speaker, the man chuckled. “You mean, you’re going to bring someone? Well, I’ll be damned. That’s a first.”

Cole’s eyes moved up to see Rachel’s blue ones staring back at him with questions.

“Well, I’ve never found someone worth bringing before,” Cole admitted, sitting forward as he rested his arms on his desk.

The man on the other end told him, “In that case, maybe you should give the little lady my number, so I can warn her all about you.”

“I will see you tomorrow, Mr. Fogerty, and you can warn her then.”

“If she says yes, my man. You still have to ask her.”

“She’ll say yes. I won’t let her say no.”

“That’s the way, Madison! See you tomorrow night.”

“I will see you then,” Cole replied and reached out to hit the end button on the speakerphone. Leaning back in his chair once more, Cole quietly requested, “Come over here, Rachel.”

Almost as though he were watching her in slow motion, he let his eyes track down her tight black dress and loose cream cardigan to her tall black boots, and he couldn’t help the tightening he felt between his legs.

She moved toward him but stopped on the opposite side of the desk.

“Here,” he said, patting his lap.

“I’m not doing anything in here, in your office,” she sputtered out almost hesitantly.

Cole tilted his head to the side and raised his gaze to hers. “Did I ask you to?”

“You want me to sit on your lap,” she pointed out.

“And that automatically means I am going to spread you across my desk and take off your tights?”

Looking around as if to make sure they were alone, she whispered, “The way you were looking at me—”

“Yes?” he coaxed. “Go on.”

“The way you are looking at me makes me question your motives.”

Cole stood then and watched as her hands gripped the back of the leather chair she was standing behind. Moving around the desk, he walked up beside her, and he was slightly amused that she continued to stare out the window behind his own chair, instead of facing him.

He reached out and traced her hand that was still clenching the chair, watching her closely as she sucked in a deep breath.

“Are you more scared of what I will ask you or that you won’t be able to deny me?”

Turning her head, she looked up into his eyes, and he could tell she was fighting some kind of internal battle.

“What’s going on in there?” he asked.

“Nothing,” she denied too quickly before looking away.

“You’re lying to me,” he pointed out. “Rachel, I will never make you do anything you don’t want to.” Leaning in close, he placed his mouth to her ear and whispered, “I suspect that’s the problem here, isn’t it? You want to.”

Cole continued watching her as she stepped away from him and moved over to the window to stare out at downtown Chicago.

* * *

Rachel couldn’t describe to him how she was feeling.

After Logan had told her so matter-of-factly that she was Cole’s, she had experienced such a rush of arousal and acceptance that when she had stepped through his office door, she had been hard-pressed to sit down on his couch and wait for him.

Then, he had sat there, running his eyes all over her, and he’d said words that had only ramped up her feelings.

Am I ready to let a man have such a hold over me again?

Whether or not I am ready doesn’t seem to matter though, does it?

He already had a hold over her, and as she stood staring out at the buildings surrounding them, she reminded herself that it was time to surrender to her feelings, not to second-guess them.

Time to give in, to trust.

“My father used to work in a building like this,” she told him as she glanced over her shoulder.

Cole slid his hands into his pockets and moved over to stand behind her. He didn’t touch her anywhere, but she could feel the heat emanating from his body.

“Did he? What did he do?”

“He was an accountant.” Rachel laughed softly. “A boring numbers man, he would say.”

“You say was. He passed away then?”

Rachel felt her heart ache as she nodded and wrapped her arms around her waist. “Yes. Both my mother and father have passed away.”

He didn’t touch her, and Rachel wondered how he knew that if he did, she would crumble to the ground. Instead, he offered condolences.

“They must have been amazing individuals to raise such a unique and beautiful woman.”

Rachel felt a small smile touch her lips. “My dad always encouraged us to be ourselves—hence the crazy hair and the fact that Mason loves to cook, which isn’t the manliest occupation.”

Without touching her, Cole’s mouth was by her ear. “I love your hair. It was the first thing that drew me to you…well, that and your miniscule skirt. As for your brother, he seems to be doing okay for himself.”

Rachel agreed, “Yes, he is. He’s a wonderful man, just like our dad was. It’s almost funny how similar they are. Dad used to teach us how to cook, and he would dance with me around the kitchen.”

She felt two large hands on her shoulders as they gently turned her, so she was looking up into concerned hazel eyes.

“How is it that you make me want so many things I had sworn I could do without?” Cole asked her.

Rachel felt a lump form in her throat as he reached out to cup her cheek.

“I don’t ever want you to change, and I will never make you do something that you don’t want to.”

Leaning down, he pressed his firm lips to hers, all the while keeping his eyes locked with hers.

“And, Rachel, for the moment, I am yours. And you? You are mine.”

As she stared up at him in breathtaking silence, he asked softly, “Well, now that I know you had the best dancing lessons available, will you come to a function that is being held for the new DA tomorrow night?”

Is there even a need for him to ask? Of course, I’m going to say yes.

But like he had said just a moment ago, he would never make her do something she didn’t want to.

With a warm smile, she placed her hand on his chest and spoke the only words she could think of. “I’d love to.”

Toward the end of her shift that night, Rachel moved up to the service window to hand one of the waitresses the dessert for table twenty-three, and that was when she caught a glimpse of Cole out of the corner of her eye.

Sitting by himself in the same seat he had been in the night before, he was looking up at Meredith the youngest server on staff, smiling at her as she scribbled notes down on her pad. Rachel noticed that Meredith was paying a little too much attention to the lone man at the table, but Cole…well, he seemed to be just ordering.

Rachel rested her hip against the stainless steel counter and continued watching, not out of jealousy but more curiosity. She supposed she was watching to see if Cole had the same effect on others that he did on her.

And God knows, he has the ability to reduce me to someone with one thing on my mind: sex. Hot, sticky, kitchen floor sex.

As Meredith tipped back her bleach-blonde head and laughed—louder than one would think was necessary—Rachel had her answer.

Rolling her eyes at the sheer absurdity of a man wielding so much power over the opposite sex, Rachel pushed off the counter and moved to turn, only to come face-to-face with Wendy, who was looking in the same direction she had been.

With a smirk on her face, the restaurant manager made her way toward Rachel. When Wendy stopped on the other side of the window, Rachel waited, knowing what was coming.

“Two nights in a row? Since Meredith wasn’t on shift last night, I guess she missed the memo on which staff member he belongs to. By the way, he must really like the food.”

Rachel almost choked on the laugh she held back at the thought of Cole belonging to anyone, let alone her. Placing her hands on her hips, she tried to glare at the petite blonde with the sleek ponytail, but she knew she was failing.

“Really? I hadn’t noticed,” Rachel said nonchalantly.

Wendy laughed and leaned over the window as she whispered, “Well, honey, you better because every other single woman on staff has, not to mention the female customers sitting at the bar.”

Rachel frowned and turned back to look in Cole’s direction again, and this time, she found his smoldering gaze focused on her. Swallowing slowly, she felt her palms begin to itch as a smile so decadently sexual spread across his lips.

I’m going to melt into the floor.

It wasn’t until Wendy spoke up again that Rachel realized the manager was still standing there.