Total pages in book: 30
Estimated words: 29008 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 145(@200wpm)___ 116(@250wpm)___ 97(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 29008 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 145(@200wpm)___ 116(@250wpm)___ 97(@300wpm)
Embarrassed, I rub my hands together. “Uh, I also run the animal shelter across the street, and I was a little short on the rent. Uh, the landlord and I had a disagreement, and Cole stopped to help me.”
She’s smiling at me and nods. “And how did Cole help you?”
I lift my shoulders. “He uh, punched the guy when he called me a name and then bought the building.”
Her eyes widen, and she sits back. “He bought the building?”
I nod, and her smile gets even bigger. “I know this is fast to you, but I hope if my son wants to marry you, that you will hear him out.”
I open my mouth to argue with her, but something stops me. Instead, I ask, “You’re okay with Cole marrying some woman that he doesn’t even know… that you don’t know? I could be arranging this whole thing. I could be manipulating him.”
The smile never leaves her face. “You’re not.”
“How—” I start but don’t get more than one word out.
Eleanor leans forward. “Because I know my son, and if he says he wants to marry you, then I trust his judgment.” She reaches across the table and squeezes my hand. Her hands are soft, nails polished, gold on her fingers. The difference between our two hands shows exactly why she shouldn’t want me as a daughter-in-law. I do not fit in with her family.
I shake my head. Why am I even thinking about this? I’m not marrying Cole Kingston.
Eleanor squeezes my hand, bringing me from my thoughts. “Just hear him out. Can you do that?”
Dumbly, I nod. What else can I do?
Frank comes back, and Eleanor releases me so that he can set the food on the table. Eleanor waves at Cole to come back and slides over to let him sit down.
She picks up her coffee. “Give Paul my food. I just want coffee.”
I watch Cole pick up her plate and take it over to the man he was sitting next to. Eleanor explains, “Paul is my driver.”
I nod.
When Cole comes back to the table, he pushes my plate toward me. “Eat.”
Guilt fills me. I should be working. Frank and Peggy are working the tables around us, and they’re having to cover for me. It doesn’t sit well with me.
I take a bite of my food, but I don’t taste it.
“What’s wrong?” Cole asks.
I gesture around us. “I’m supposed to be working.”
Instead of being frustrated with me, he smiles softly. “Eat. I’ll help them out.”
Stunned, I watch Cole stand up, grab an apron off the hook by the counter, and then start bussing a table.
Eleanor slides back to sit in front of me. She points to my plate. “Eat.”
She watches Cole walk around the restaurant, talking to people, and she has a smile plastered to her face.
She nods toward him. “Looking at him now, no one would guess that he’s some ruthless billionaire.” She meets my gaze. “You are going to hear a lot of things about our family, and I’m not going to sit here and tell you that they are untrue. A lot of them are very real. But I am going to ask you to get to know him. He’s hard because he has to be, but there’s a side of him that no one sees except for the people he cares about.”
I’m about to remind her again that we just met earlier today, but instead, I nod. We talk for a few minutes, and I eat as much as I can before the guilt just overwhelms me. “Thank you for sitting with me, Eleanor, but I really should get back to work.”
She nods. “Yeah, I should go.”
She stands up, and Cole comes toward us. They hug, and then Eleanor surprises me by hugging me too. She grabs both my hands. “I look forward to us getting to know each other, Luna.”
I nod and watch her and her driver walk out the door.
Cole stands next to me, watching me. “You okay?”
I nod. What am I supposed to say? I’m nowhere near okay. All of this is happening too fast, and none of it makes sense. But instead of saying any of that, I cross my arms. “I need to get to work before I get fired.”
I raise my hand to stop him when Cole opens his mouth. “And before you say I won’t get fired, I still need to work. I have bills to pay.”
He sighs in defeat. “Can we talk when you get off work?”
“Yeah, sure.”
I walk away and go back to serving. Cole busses a few more tables, and when he’s caught up, he sits back down at his booth. He pushes his uneaten food away, and I feel bad that he didn’t get to eat when it was warm.
I fully expect him to leave and meet up with me later, but he stays in the booth for the rest of my shift, watching me. By the end of the night, I’m completely on edge and aware of every step I take. I’m torn between asking him to leave and asking him to take me right here, right now.