22. Sunny

If I thought negotiating a no-strings-attachedspring fling with Cole Benton had been weird, it was nowhere near as awkward as what came next.

Stalling for time, I reread the typewritten parts of the contract with new eyes.

I noticed things I hadn"t before. Like that it had a termination date about six weeks away—the last Tuesday of March, for whatever random reason. I guessed Cole figured that would be all the convincing Nora needed before "going home," as my grandmother called it when she was waiting out her own passing. There was also language about giving each other twelve hours of notice before all "dates." And, of course, the line I"d overheard him quote to Juliet: Either party may terminate this contract at any time with an oral or written announcement.

Cole extended the pen to me."Don't change your mind."

Then, as if remembering our conversation from earlier, he added the tersest "Please" I'd ever heard.

His "please" tugged a chuff of laughter out of me. "That was so hard for you."

More glass chewing. Then: "I"m the CEO of a multi-national hotel, resort, and casino conglomerate. I can do hard things."

I raised my eyebrows. "Are you reassuring me or yourself?"

He arched an eyebrow right back at me. "Are you honestly asking or just stalling?"

Well, damn. Both.

Feeling a little called out—but also reassured by the part that said either of us could call this off whenever we wanted—I scrawledmy name next to the little tab indicator before I could think too hard about it.

"There, it"s signed. Happy now? We can have no-strings-attached sex without getting to know each other like two very obviously emotionally-stunted people who have no idea how to conduct a healthy relationship."

I expected him to ignore my side comment or, even more likely, explain in that cold monotone of his why signing what basically amounted to a prenup for sex should be the gold standard for how anyone conducted their relationship.

Instead, he crooked his head and asked, "Did you get to know the last guy? The real boyfriend?"

"I thought I did. But not well enough." I sighed and admitted, "My two-year drought might have had less to do with helping Tony look like a totally not-queer Filipino boxer to his family and community and more about me not being ready to date again."

"But you"re over that ex now?" He stepped forward, erasing the space between us. So close, I could feel the surprising heat radiating off his Ice King body.

"Totally over him," I realized and answered at the same time. There was no way I"d be this…Several words volunteered their service, like tormented...intrigued...consumed...turned on, but I went with shook. There was no way I"d be this shook by Cole if I was still hung up on my supposed do-gooder ex, who"d turned out to be anything but.

"In fact, this kind of relationship might be good for me." I lifted my head, and our noses touched. But our lips—not quite. The anticipation made my heart race, even as I reasoned, "I"ll get in some sexual experience points before I put myself out there for a real relationship."

I was agreeing with him after having finally signed his insane contract.

But for some reason, he stilled. And I swear, I could feel his body icing over before he took a step back to inform me, "The contract states that each of us must give the other a minimum of twelve hours before a sexual assignation."

He looked at his watch. "It"s one thirty-seven."

"Oh, I..." I blinked. Reset. "After all of this, are were seriously not going to..."

I trailed off at the word seriously. Cole"s icy return stare let me know, "Of course, we"re not going to have sex. Because you"re always serious. About everything."

If Cole considered that an insult, it didn"t show. "That will also give us both time to get the required tests."

Yep, yep, that had been in the contract, too. But... "I don"t think the clinic I go to can turn around a panel that fast."

"The Benton has a concierge nurse for VIP guests." Cole pulled out his phone and started texting. "Agnes will arrange the tests and tell you where to go."

Of course the Benton did. And, of course, his weirdly on-call assistant would make sure everything went exactly the way her boss wanted it to.

"I"ll see you tomorrow, Sunny," he said—more like informed me as he slid his phone back into his jeans pocket and turned to walk up the steps.

Yeah, the Ice King was definitely throwing off "you"re dismissed" energy.

Really, this was for the best, I told myself. It was late, and I could use the sleep....

But before I could stop myself, I called after him. "Cole?"

He stopped halfway up the steps. But didn"t turn around. "Yes?"

"I"m a little..."

Everything that had happened in the twenty-four hours since he first offered me this contract flashed through my head: what turned out to be my last shift at the Tourmaline, dance class, the hotel room kiss, Rich Harrison, getting fired, getting evicted, Tony"s fight, the guy chasing after me—the one who turned out to have a gun.

My heart sped up with a weird mix of panic and fear. The only way I could think to describe it was, "...overwhelmed. I"m a little overwhelmed by everything that went down tonight. Do you mind if...?"

I swallowed, chickening out at the last moment.

But the hawk turned around and looked down at me from his perch on the stairs.

"Do I mind if what,Sunny?"