Now and Forever (7 page)

“Cole.” She pressed her hands to her chest and smiled weakly. Her tears were happy ones, weren’t they? Cole knew he was just trying to convince himself. Something wasn’t right.

“Emma?” Panic seized his chest. He’d worried he’d say something wrong, or lose the ring, but he hadn’t considered the possibility she wouldn’t say yes.

She sighed. “I . . . wow. I wasn’t expecting this.”

“I thought unexpected was our thing,” Cole said, grinning up at her. He swallowed and turned serious. “Say yes, Em.”

She blinked and tears slid down her cheeks. “I just think we need to take some time. I know you’re trying to do the right thing, but—”

“No,” he cut in. “This isn’t about that. We’re together, and we’re serious, and this is the next step for us. I’m asking you to marry me because I want you to marry me.”

The corners of her lips curved into a small smile, but her eyes remained sad. “You want to marry me because I’m pregnant with your baby. You never got a chance to decide if you wanted to marry me. Just me.”

Cole scrubbed a hand down his face and got up from his knees. He was in a no-win situation here. What could he say to convince Emma this wasn’t about the baby?

“Baby, I love you.” He took her small hands in his much larger ones and locked his gaze on her big brown eyes. “That’s what this is about. I wouldn’t ask you otherwise. You’ve owned me since that day in the coffee shop, and I just want to make it official.”

“There’ll be plenty of time for that,” she said, squeezing his hands.

Frustration coursed through Cole, and he pulled away from her grasp. “This is about your dad, isn’t it? He doesn’t think I’m good enough for you, so now you don’t, either.”

“No! Cole, no. I’m mad at him because he was completely out of line.”

“What, then? Why won’t you marry me?”

Emma wrapped her arms around herself. “It has to be for the right reasons.”

Cole ran a hand through his hair and turned. “Why the fuck don’t I get to decide what my reasons are?”

“I can’t handle another . . .
thing
right now,” Emma said. “I’m pregnant, the construction loan payment on the bakery is overdue and my dad is on my shit list for the first time ever. I just need a little space right now.”

Bitter hurt made Cole’s temperature rise. An uncontrollable flush spread through him, and he closed his eyes. He needed to punch something, or run somewhere. Anything to get rid of this overwhelming sense of disappointment.

“Yeah, I’ll give you some space,” he said, heading for the kitchen without looking back at Emma. He grabbed his car keys and walked out the door, slamming it behind him.

***

None of the dresses she’d worn to countless college formals came close to the beauty of the ones in the bridal magazine Layla was thumbing through. She’d been a bridesmaid so many times, and now it was her turn to be the one on center stage.

But when she looked at the intricate beadwork on one dress, and then the billowing skirt of another, she wasn’t feeling either one. She didn’t picture herself as a glamour queen on the day of her wedding to Ben. When she did picture it, she saw her hair blowing loosely behind her in a light breeze.

She was never the star of the show in her daydreams about getting married. Ben was. She imagined his expression when he saw her coming down the aisle toward him. How it would feel to hear him make lifelong vows to her. The warmth of the kiss that would seal them together.

Her daydream was interrupted by the ring of her office phone.

“Layla . . . Carson,” she said, shaking her head. She’d been close to saying “Montrose” because she said the name “Layla Montrose” in her head at least 20 times a day. She’d never intended to hyphenate her last name, but Ben didn’t have to know that. Let him think he’d won one.

“Miss Carson.”

“Julian Pelham.” The British accent gave him away every time. He was an attorney she’d gone out with once before meeting Ben. His invitation over dinner to join what he called his “harem” had been quite resistible.

“What’s this I hear about you getting married?”

“It’s true -- I’m engaged.”

He gasped dramatically. “To that detective from Chicago PD? The bloody huge one?”

“His name’s Ben. And he
is
bloody huge.”

“Fuck me,” Julian muttered. “What about us?”

Layla laughed. “There never was an
us
, Julian. I considered your offer to join Team Pelham for about one and a half seconds, if that makes you feel any better.”

“There may’ve been an us when I decided to settle down in a decade or so,” he said, sounding offended. “But seriously, Layla, I’m happy for you. And for him, too. Hope he knows what a lucky bastard he is.”

“You’re sweet, thanks.”

“I’m actually calling on business and pleasure. My client Brian Winston is starting a real estate acquisition company and he wants to hire in-house counsel. You’re his top choice.”

“Me? I don’t have enough experience. And I just opened my own practice recently.”

“Apparently you come highly recommended. I told him I can only vouch for the quality of your cleavage.”

“Charming as ever, Julian,” she said wryly.

“I told him you’re a ball buster. He wants to meet with you next week.”

“I’m not interested in leaving my practice. Tell him thank you all the same.”

“He said he’ll make it worth your while. Better at least consider it, if you’re marrying a police officer.”

Layla rolled her eyes toward the ceiling of her office. “I’m booked next week, but maybe the week after? I’ll have to call and let you know.”

Julian made a coughing sound into the phone. “Um, sorry? You want me to tell Brian Winston that?”

“No, I want you to tell him no and save us all some time. But as a courtesy to you, I’ll meet with him at my convenience.”

“In that case I look forward to hearing from you.”

“I’ll be in touch, Julian.”

Layla hung up the phone and sighed at the unimpressive view from her small office window. Some things were more important than a luxurious office with a million-dollar skyline view. But she couldn’t deny there were days she missed it.

***

Though they were adults now, Dani’s open-mouthed glare at Emma brought her right back to childhood.

“I’m sorry – what? Rewind because I didn’t hear that right. Cole proposed and you said
what
?”

Emma glared back across the small table in her bakery. “Look, this is hard enough. Don’t give me shit about it.”

“What’s hard about it? You’re having a baby with your dream guy and now he wants to marry you.”

“It’s supposed to happen the other way around,” Emma said, pushing the last bite of a cinnamon roll around on her plate with her fork.

“Oh,
geez
.” Dani rolled her eyes. “I love you, Em, you know I do, but sometimes you are your own worst enemy. Are you having a pity party because you and Cole are so hot for each other that he knocked you up before you were married? No one’s gonna feel sorry for you.”

“I don’t want anyone to feel sorry for me,” Emma shot back. “My dad practically pulled a shotgun on Cole when we told them. I haven’t spoken to my parents since, and frankly, I don’t want to. I wanted the real thing, okay? I wanted a proposal that surprised me and a wedding in a dress without an elastic waistband with my dad walking me down the aisle. I wanted to know, without a doubt, that Cole wanted to marry me. If it makes me a whiner, then I guess I’m a whiner.”

Dani reached across the table for her hand. “I’m not calling you a whiner. I get what you’re saying. But this is where things are now, so stop pining for the impossible.”

Emma sighed and stared longingly at Dani’s large mug of coffee.

“What? Where’s yours?” Dani asked.

“I can’t have coffee. Or wine, or anything else that might make me feel better. I drank some water out of a wine glass last night, but my bloodstream wasn’t fooled.”

“It’ll be worth it for Cole Junior,” Dani said. Emma couldn’t help grinning at her words.

“Can you believe it?” she said. “Despite my outward freaking out, I am excited about the baby. The thought of Cole being there with me, and holding our child . . . it melts my heart.”

Dani buried a squeal by covering her mouth with her hands. “You’re having Cole Marlowe’s baby! I want to take out an ad on Facebook or something, so all the bitches we went to high school with will know. Lane and Cara and L—” She pressed her lips together.

“I know, Layla,” Emma said. “We’re past the Cole stuff now. She’s head over heels for Ben. And . . .” Emma looked at her lap, considering. “. . . I don’t think I could say this to anyone but you. I know how awful this is, but there’s a part of me that’s jealous of her. She’s getting the dream.”

“It looks to me like you both are. Em, how many people get to have the man of their dreams fall in love with them and propose? I think you need to be careful. Turning Cole down probably hurt him.”

Emma looked over at the bakery door and saw her sister walking in with a smile so wide her dimples showed.

“Hey, guys,” she said. “How’s it going?”

“Good,” Emma said.

Layla arched her brows. “Don’t give me that shit. I got your text about Cole proposing last night. I’ve been calling and texting you, where’s your phone?”

“Oh, sorry.” Emma rubbed her temple. “It’s in the back. I saw your messages but it was at 4:30 when I was on the way here and I figured you were asleep.”

“That doesn’t matter. I’m glad you’re talking to Dani, I was afraid you were upset and alone. I’ll pick you up here whenever you’re ready and we’ll go to dinner tonight, okay? I want to hear all about it.”

Emma sighed and nodded. “I’m usually out of here by five these days. I’m so tired all the time.”

“Five sounds great. I’ll see you then.” She turned to leave, but looked back over her shoulder with a wave. “Bye, Dani.”

“Bye.” Dani shook her head as Layla sailed back out the bakery’s front door. “Who was that woman and what did she do with the raging bitch that was Layla Carson?”

Emma laughed lightly. “Meeting Ben changed her. She finally seems to get that she’s good enough and an amazing man really does want to be with her for more than sex.”

“Hmm,” Dani mused. “I never thought Layla had issues with confidence. You, however, always have. Even when your dream man gets down on one knee, you still don’t see yourself as enough.”

“It’s not that—”

“It’s that,” Dani said, nodding.

“It’s not.”

“It is. I don’t have to work today, so I can do this for as long as it takes.”

Emma smiled. “I have to get back to work. But I love you for loving me, Dani. You’re the best, best friend ever.”

“Pretty much.” She gathered her coat and scarf and stood up. “So I’ll just have to text you several dozen times a day until you say yes to Cole.”

“He’s mad at me.”

“Find him and say ‘Yes, I’ll marry you and I want to celebrate with some dirty sex.’ He won’t be mad anymore.”

An older woman at the adjacent table gave Dani a horrified look.

“I’ll talk to you later,” Emma said, waving.

“I’m texting you right now.” When Emma looked over, Dani did, in fact, have her phone out. Her fingers flew across the screen and Emma shook her head as she walked back to the kitchen.

***

Ben slid out of his suit jacket, threw it over his chair and loosened his tie. The work day was almost over, and he was anxious to get to the gym. Layla was having dinner with her friend Melanie, and he was planning to lift weights and play pool with some friends at O’Malley’s.

A knock sounded on his office door.

“Yeah?” Ben called. “Come on in.”

One of the newest detectives, Flannigan, poked his head in the door. “Sergeant Montrose?”

“That’s me,” Ben said gruffly. “What’s up?”

“Well, uh, I’m sorry to bother you, but, uh—”

“Flannigan, get your ass in here. Don’t talk to me from the doorway.”

The rookie scooted inside the office, two other detectives on his heels.

“We just wanted to brief you on the Murphy-Kline investigation,” Flannigan said.

Ben looked up from the file he was flipping through. “Remind me which one that is.”

“The law firm where the partners reported money was siphoned into a secret account. It was a hell of a good job, but the IP addresses led us where we needed to go. It was an inside job. We’re ready to bring in the suspect.”

Ben held an arm out and motioned for Flannigan to hand over the file. He scanned the pages, stopping when he saw the name of the suspect. With a hand over his mouth and a small sigh, he tried to conceal his shock.

“What’s this?” he said from behind his hand. “Cole Marlowe? I know him.”

“Yes, sir. One of the junior attorneys. We’ve traced every transaction to his machine. It’s password protected and he’s usually the only one in the building when the transfers are made. They’re all before 5 a.m.”

Ben rubbed his chin and considered. “This isn’t like him, though. He’s not the sort to risk it all for something like this.” He read through the words and numbers in the file quickly. “How much money was it?”

“So far, $78,542.”

“Fuck,” Ben muttered, blowing out a deep breath.

Flannigan shifted on his feet. “So . . . we’re ready to bring him in.”

“I’ll do it,” Ben said.

“Are you sure—”

“Wouldn’t have said it if I wasn’t. I won’t take part in the questioning, but I’ll bring him in.” Ben looked up at the three detectives. “I’ll call you when I get back with him.”

“Yes, sir,” Flannigan said, leading the others out of the office.

Ben flipped back to the beginning of the file and started reading. If he was going to arrest his future-brother-in-law, he wanted to be sure his guys had the goods.

***

Cole cringed as he finished up an email to the Calcotte CFO praising Grayson’s abilities as an attorney. It was painful telling his biggest client they were in good hands with that manipulative prick, but Cole was a team player, so he did what he had to do.

He pressed send and took another bite of the sub sandwich he’d had delivered for lunch. It wouldn’t be long before he had Calcotte back anyway. He’d been working night and day. At his weekly meeting with McNeil in a few minutes, he could finally reveal that the owner of a hot new startup company he’d been courting for months was ready to sign a contract with the firm.