Cole's Christmas Wish Read Free

Cole wasn’t about to ignore the
challenge. He tightened his hold incrementally, smiling all the while, knowing
he could outlast just about anyone in the handshake wars. It took all of fifteen
seconds, maybe twenty, before Andrew gave up and released his grip.
    Score one for the home team.
    “Good to meet you, Kyle, ” Andrew
said as he flexed his fingers. “It’s nice to finally put a face to the man that
Rachel considers a brother.”
    “Friend. Best friend,” Rachel interjected. “But yes, I made it
clear how important Cole is to me. And now we’re all
here! Isn’t this wonderful?”
    “Wonderful,” Cole replied, resisting the childish urge to punch
“the one” in the face. He nodded toward the table and retook his seat, saying,
“Glad to meet you, too, Andy . Up until a week ago, I
hadn’t heard one word about you, so I’m sure you’ll understand my concern...and
my questions. Seeing I’m ‘like a brother’ to Rachel, it’s my duty to look out
for her welfare.”
    Andrew scowled but didn’t immediately respond. He helped Rachel
with her coat before removing his own. Once they were seated, he refocused on
Cole. “Oh, I understand,” he said with a nuance of sarcasm. “I think this will
be fun...getting to know each other. Don’t you?”
    Rachel glanced at Cole and then at Andrew and then back to
Cole, her eyes beseeching him to ease the awkwardness, rather than edging it
on.
    “Absolutely.” Cole lifted his coffee mug in a faux toast,
deciding he’d give Andrew one more chance at playing nice. For Rachel’s
sake.
    But if “the one” continued to push at Cole’s buttons, he’d pony
up and meet him at the gaming table. Even if he didn’t, Cole now knew he was in
this for the duration. Somewhere in between seeing Rachel and having her in his
arms, he’d made a decision. He was done waiting for the right time, the right
words, the right moment, or the right anything.
    This was war.
    * * *
    Well, that had been a rocky
start.
    Rachel Merriday leaned back in her seat to wait as Cole and
Andrew went to get their coffees. Would they find a way to get along? Certainly,
once Andrew realized he had no reason to be envious of Cole, he would relax.
Cole, she knew, had simply responded to Andrew’s slight antagonistic attitude,
and when that ended, would be more than happy to meet him halfway.
    Or so she hoped.
    The two had a lot in common, not that either one of the
stubborn fools would believe that on her say-so alone. While they didn’t look
alike in any way whatsoever, they were both handsome, virile men. Where Cole was
dark—black hair, deep brown eyes and what Rachel described as caramel-coated
skin, Andrew was light—ash-blond hair, steely gray eyes and a bordering-on-fair
complexion that was more like her own.
    Each was tall and fit, but also in different ways. Cole had the
look of an athlete, lean and naturally strong. Andrew’s slightly more muscular
physique came from hours spent in the gym each week and a rigorous low-fat,
low-calorie, low-everything diet. But, yes. Both handsome. Both virile. Both
sexy as all get-out.
    No woman alive could deny that. Or, Rachel amended, no sane woman.
    The real similarity between them, though, existed beneath their
skin. Sure, Andrew tended to be more serious than Cole, but his heart was just
as big, just as sincere, just as honorable. They were protectors. Guardians,
really, of the people they loved. It was that trait in particular that had first
drawn her to Andrew.
    Continued to draw her, if she were to be completely honest.
    But was she ready to settle down and have babies with him? She
didn’t know, couldn’t quite get there, couldn’t yet take the leap from wanting
to believing to being. The idea of marrying the wrong person petrified her. The
thought of having children in a loveless marriage pushed her into a blacker
realm of fear.
    She knew all too well what that did to a kid, to the adult that
kid became. No. Rachel