An Unconditional Love (BWWM Romance Book 1) Read online

  “It’s not that big of a deal, I just stayed out of her way. Plus I knew that if things got too bad all I had to do was call Joe.” She said, pulling Cole away from the room. “Let’s go have a cup of tea. I might even have some of those spice cookies you like so much.”

  “Okay, but I don’t think cookies are going to make me feel better.” He said, following Blanche into the kitchen.

  Blanch was more than just his housekeeper, she was like family. She’d come to work for his family when he was only eight, only twelve years older than him, she was more like a sister than an employee. In fact the title housekeeper was not really representative of her role in his life, especially since his mother’s Alzheimer diagnosis five years ago.

  She functioned more as his assistant than anything else since she’d come to work for him. He paid her a small salary to keep his home running smoothly, but most of her time was spent building the catering business that had always been her dream. He’d remodeled the kitchen, opening the space to allow her to cook for as many as she needed.

  She and her husband lived in one of the many outbuilding on the property, a converted barn that Blanche had worked hard to turn into a home for her family. He counted himself lucky that her husband Joe was one of the best gardeners in the state and through his diligent work the grounds of his estate were a masterpiece of design and color.

  After she’d gotten them tea and cookies, she sat down next to him and put her hand on his arm. He knew that some great piece of wisdom was headed his way when she did that and prepared himself for what she had to say. Ever since his mother had begun to decline Blanche had taken on the role of counselor, giving him advice and soothing his broken heart time after time.

  “Cole, I think it’s time for you to reevaluate your life. Has it occurred to you that the harder you try to find someone the worse the situation becomes. I know how much you want a family of your own, but you’re trying too hard.”

  “If I don’t try, how will I ever meet someone? I’m 30 years old, old enough to know that time is passing me by.”

  “Do you know how old I was when I met Joe? I was your age. Much like you I’d been running around trying to find that special someone to spend my life with. The harder I tried the more desperate I became. After one especially bad break up, my mother suggested that I take some time and look at my life, what I discovered was that I was choosing the wrong men.”

  “You think I’m choosing the wrong women?” Cole asked.

  “Yes. When I took the time to look at what I’d been doing I realized that I was choosing men who needed to be fixed. The problem was that those men didn’t think they needed to be fixed and maybe they didn’t.”

  “But what does that have to do with me?”

  “I think you’re in the same situation, only you’re trying to find a woman who will love you like your mother loves your father. The problem is that you’re forcing it, trying to make these women into something they’re not.” Blanche said, getting up from the table to get them some more cookies.

  Cole thought about what Blanche had said and realized that she was right. He’d been so focused on finding that special someone, he’d ignored who the women he’d dated really were. It almost took his breath away to think how blind he’d been. Maybe it wasn’t that they’d changed after they started dating him, but that over time he just saw who they really were.

  “Then what do you suggest I do? Just sit around and wait for someone to appear in my life. That may have worked for you and Joe but not everyone is so lucky.” Cole finally said.

  “That’s exactly what you should do, let fate guide you. You’ll see once you stop working so hard at finding love, it will appear in your life. I think the problem is that you don’t know what kind of woman is perfect for you, most people have no idea who would be good for them and don’t give fate enough time to show them. Don’t make that same mistake Cole.”

  “So now fate is my matchmaker.”

  “Exactly.” Blanche had said, patting his arm again.

  It had only been three weeks since they’d had that discussion, but Blanche had been right about one thing. Since he’d decided to stop actively seeking a mate, life had been easier, and certainly a lot quieter. He’d resigned himself to being single for a while and his reaction to Lauren had surprised him.

  He’d felt that strong attraction to other women, including Mandy, but that had been different than what he’d felt today when Sadie had introduced them. Still, he wasn’t going to leap into anything too fast, he’d done that before with disastrous results. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to satisfy his curiosity about Lauren as soon as he could. He wanted to explore that strange reaction he’d had to her, that feeling of connection that had sprung to life when their hands had touched.

  Chapter 3

  Lauren and Sadie had retreated back to the table under the trees when they left Cole and his father. Summer was in full swing and the temperature had been steadily rising, even in her sundress Lauren welcomed the shade. She also welcomed the fact that Sadie wasn’t dragging her around the park introducing her to everyone in town, but she soon discovered that she’d end up meeting everyone whether they walked around or not.

  Sadie was obviously well know and liked by many people, as they sat there a steady stream of people made their way over to them. Most only stayed a few minutes getting caught up on the latest gossip then moved on. But when a slim woman dressed in what even Lauren could recognize as designer clothes plopped down next to Sadie with a carafe of white wine in her hand, Lauren knew this was going to be a long visit.

  “Lauren, I want you to meet Bethany Markelson, she’d the head of our PR department. She’s also my best source for gossip.” Sadie said, laughing.

  “It’s nice to meet you Lauren. I’ve heard a lot about you. But please call me Beth, Bethany sounds much too formal.” She said, filling Lauren’s glass as she talked.

  “It’s nice to meet you too.”

  “I hear that you’re a travel writer. Sounds like an exciting job, traveling the world, exploring places most people never get a chance to see.”

  “It’s all I’ve ever done. I think I’m addicted to the thrill of pushing my limits, but I’m afraid I pushed a little too far on my last trip.” Lauren said, gesturing to the scar on her leg.

  “Sadie told me about that, it was all I could do to keep her here when she found out you were hurt.” Beth said, making herself more comfortable in the lawn chair she’d taken for her own.

  “That doesn’t surprise me, she’s been taking care of me since we were kids.”

  “Speaking of taking care of you, Beth wants to talk to you about joining the team at DeYoung Enterprises.” Sadie said.

  “Not to be rude, but I don’t see how I would be of any use to a software company. I have zero experience with software, in fact I can barely run a computer.” Lauren said, clearly mystified that they would want to hire her.

  “That’s the thing, we need someone with zero experience. Cole is introducing a line of software that coverts your home into a smart house. You know, voice control, security, and remote access to all of it.” Beth said, clearly getting worked up about the new product.

  “I still don’t see how I could be of any help with that.” Lauren said.

  “We need someone to create a blog, someone whose experience is closer to what our customers have. It’s important that our system be easy enough to use that anyone can manage it, no matter their experience with computers and electronics. You’d have the system installed in your home then you’d blog about the experience. I’ve seen your work and you have all the qualities we’ve been looking for.”

  Lauren took a few minutes to let the idea of writing a blog sink in. It was something she’d never been able to do since most of the places she visited didn’t have any internet access. “I’ve never written a blog, it wouldn’t have worked in the places I used to travel. I don’t know if I could do it.”
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br />   “Nonsense, for a writer of your caliber it should be a breeze. Just try it for six months, if you don’t like it we’ll part ways.” Beth said. “I know you’re saving to climb Everest, finish the six months and I’ll make sure you have enough to make that happen.”

  “That’s quite a tempting offer but I don’t even have a place to live yet. Someone would have to teach me how to do the blog, I really don’t know anything about computers.” Lauren rattled off all the excuses she could think of.

  Beth waved her hand in the air as if that was not problem. “It’s easy, I’ll teach you myself. Sadie told me that you were going to take the garage apartment down the street from her, so I don’t see housing as a problem.”

  “I don’t know, that’s a lot to think about.” Lauren said, feeling overwhelmed.

  “Oh say you’ll do it. I’ve been looking for the right person forever and now you’re here.” Beth was almost begging. “The only thing that’s holding us back from releasing the product is finding someone to be our guinea pig.”

  “It’s perfect for you, you can still write and when the time comes, your trip to Everest is covered.” Sadie chimed in.

  Lauren felt that she had no choice but to say yes. It was a good opportunity and it felt good to hear someone say she was talented. Lately she’d been doubting her skill as a writer, after all, writing travel articles wasn’t that hard.

  “Okay you’ve talked me into it, but remember I’m not sure I can do it.” Lauren said.

  “I know you can. Let me show you some of my ideas.” Beth said, reaching beside her for her purse and pulling out her tablet.

  They were soon so engrossed in what they were doing that no one noticed when Cole came strolling up to the table. “What’s this I see? Are you working?”

  Beth looked like a kid caught with her hand in a cookie jar, she quickly pushed her tablet back into her bag, and tried to look innocent. “Sorry Cole, I know how you feel about that, but I’ve finally found the perfect person to write our blog. This is Lauren, she’s a travel writer but I think she’s just the person we’ve been looking for.”

  Cole smiled at Lauren making her heart leap in her chest. “We met earlier today. Beth you know my rules about working at these things, there will be plenty of time on Monday to get Lauren up to speed. Now get out of here and go have some fun, I hear the desert bar is open.”

  “That’s all I needed to hear. Lauren I’ll see you Monday morning, come in with Sadie and she’ll help you find me.” Beth said, grabbing her purse and joining the crowd making their way to where the deserts were set up.

  “Beth does love her sweets.” Sadie said, “Personally I try to stay away from them but this is a special occasion and I heard that there’s ice cream, the one sweet I can’t resist. I’m going to join the crowd, want to come?”

  Lauren had already eaten more than she should have and the thought of desert made her feel a little sick. “I think I’ll skip desert, I’ve eaten so much there’s just no room. You go on ahead, I’ll wait here for you.”

  Much to her surprise Cole said, “I think I’ll wait here with Lauren, get to know her a little bit. After all, she’s our newest employee and I don’t know anything about her.”

  Lauren had expected him to follow the others so she was a bit off balance when he took a seat right next to her. He was a few feet away from her, but she could feel the body heat radiating off of him. Along with it came the wonderful scent of what must have been a very expensive cologne.

  It wasn’t overpowering but it stirred something in her, it was the same feeling she got when she smelled chocolate chip cookies fresh from the oven. But with the alarming addition of sexual attraction mixed in. It was both exhilarating and discerning at the same time. She was no stranger to sexual attraction, but this was different somehow, she couldn’t exactly put her finger on how it was different.

  “So you’ve agreed to take on Beth’s blog, although I guess I should call it your blog.” Cole said, his eyes meeting hers making her heart pitter patter in her chest.

  “Against my better judgment I let Sadie and Beth talk me into it. I’m not sure I can do it, but I’m going to give it a try.” She said, happy that she was able to put together a coherent sentence considering how Cole’s closeness was fogging her brain with thoughts of what it would be like to kiss him.

  “If Beth thinks you can do it then I wouldn’t worry too much, she’s almost never wrong about people.”

  “I’ll take your word for it.” Lauren said, trying not to look at his mouth which only made her wonder what it would be like to kiss him.

  Cole was already intrigued by Lauren, she seemed so different from the women he normally found himself attracted to. “Sadie said that you were moving back to town, did you grow up here?”

  “Yes, my family’s home is on the other side of town. I left when I was eighteen and have only been back once.” She said, hoping that he wouldn’t ask more.

  “Did you go to school here? I don’t remember you.” Cole said, searching his mind for any memory of her.

  “I did, but I don’t think you and I were in the same groups at school. I wasn’t really involved in any extracurricular activities in school. I was needed at home.”

  “That explains it then, but it’s too bad you had to miss out on all the fun, high school is supposed to be one of the best times of your life.”

  Without even thinking about it she said, “My mom was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis when I was thirteen and I had to help take care of her. My dad left shortly after her diagnosis so there was only me and the one nurse we could afford.”

  “Wow, that’s tough. I can’t imagine having that kind of responsibility so young.” Cole had said, surprising Lauren. She’d stopped telling people about her childhood long ago finding that their sympathy did nothing to make her feel better, and even worse, they always treated her differently after they found out.

  Before she could stop herself she said, “It was hard, I thought my parents had the perfect relationship, but in the end my dad couldn’t take the reality of what we were facing. It broke my heart, and then to have to watch my mother struggle to live a normal life just added to the pain. I left Prospect when she passed away after I graduated. I think she waited until she knew I was going to be okay on my own.”

  Cole was silent for a long time, this woman had faced more before she was eighteen than he’d faced in his entire life. His mother might be failing now, but he’d had her during the most important years of his life and sometimes, on her good days, he still had her.

  He was tempted to say that he was sorry for all her troubles, but he sensed that she wouldn’t want his pity so instead he said, “That must have been difficult for you. I can’t imagine how hard that must have been. Is that why you haven’t come back very much?”

  Surprised at his reaction she said, “It was hard growing up in a small town where everyone knew your business. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciated all the help we got from people, but once she was gone I wanted a fresh start. I had a scholarship to college and once there I never looked back.”

  Cole was silent for a long time, thinking about what she’d said, trying to put himself in her place but found it nearly impossible to imagine what it must have been like growing up that way. He might have felt different about Prospect if it held those kinds of memories for him.

  “I can understand why you would want to leave and never come back, but you’re here now and I’m glad you are.” Cole said, as surprised as Lauren to hear those words coming out of his mouth, but knew they were true.

  Lauren didn’t know what to say to that, she had been regretting telling him all that she had, he was a stranger and she rarely shared her story with someone she didn’t know. It hurt too much to remember the pain and anger of that time in her life. But strangely she hadn’t felt those emotions while she’d been talking to Cole, instead she felt like she was talking to an old friend.

  It wa
s a bit discerning to feel a bond with this man so quickly and she was sure it would result in nothing but problems later, it had happened before. Once people knew her story they always seemed to treat her differently, like her experience had left her weaker than other people.

  “Honestly I haven’t decided if I’m glad to be home or not, but it’s nice of you to say that.” Lauren said, still a little off balance.

  “I know it’s not the same situation, but I think I understand what you’re talking about. My mother has Alzheimer’s and people always treat me differently when they find out. At times their sympathy can be more annoying than comforting.” Cole said, putting his hand on her arm.

  Lauren’s mind when blank for just a second as pulses of electricity seemed to radiate from where his hand touched her arm. She looked at his hand and then into his eyes, instead of seeing the usual look of sympathy in his eyes, there was a look of respect.

  “I’ve never met anyone who understood that.” She said, emotion making her voice come out a squeak.

  “Well now you have.” Cole said, removing his hand from her arm, breaking the connection between them.

  Lauren was both relieved and sad that he’d moved his hand, it had felt nice to have him touch her. She had no idea what to say to him, her thoughts were still in a jumble. So much had happened in only a few days, she had a job and a place to live and now for some unknown reason she’d told a virtual stranger about her disturbing childhood.

  “I think that’s enough serious talk for one afternoon. Tell me about some of your adventures, I heard that you’re quite the thrill seeker and you have the awards to prove it.”

  Lauren actually blushed, something she hadn’t done in a while. “I’ve had some wonderful opportunities to explore the world, I was just lucky enough to get paid for it.”

  “Tell me about the first one, I’ve never been all that into the outdoors and the thought of climbing a mountain is a little scary.”

  Lauren was surprised that Cole would admit to being scared of something, part of the reason she’d never really been involved with a man was that they often felt challenged by what she did, one in particular had insisted on going with her on an especially difficult climbing expedition. It had ended not only their relationship but her desire to try and connect with anyone again.