Read Accounting for Cole (Natural Beauty) for Free Online

went to shit. I notice things. Understand people. For example, I’d bet my truck that your friends down there who were snatching flyers from people earlier are probably the sorts to get themselves into a lot of scuffles.”
    “That they do. Lucky me for being their keeper.”
    He cringed. “Yeah, lucky you.”
    “So, you went from being a journalist to this ? It doesn’t seem like a logical progression.”
    He shook his head and his forehead furrowed. “Not quite. My son goes to School of the Arts. I pay his out-of-state tuition, which is astronomical by the way. He might as well have been from Beirut for what they charge. Anyway, I wanted to be able to eat while footing his bills, and it was either this or what I was doing. This pays better.”
    I perked up and turned to stare at his perfect profile. “You have a son?” I figured that meant…
    “Yes, a son and an ex-wife.” He smirked, stood upright, and let the curtain fall back closed. “She left when I started seriously considering going back into theater.”
    College-aged son, so he was definitely in the realm of forty. I wondered how he felt about younger women. “So, you’re an actor at heart?”
    He nodded before walking to the champagne stand and grabbing one of the beers by the neck. He pointed to another and gave me an expectant stare.
    I shook my head. Beer gives me indigestion.
    “Did a few productions off-Broadway during my twenties when Bradley was young, but had to give it up.”
    “Why?”
    Cole laughed. “You ask why. Most women would say That was smart, or It was probably for the best . I knew I liked you for some reason from the moment I bumped into you. Good judge of character.” He took a long swallow of his beer and dropped the empty bottle into a bag marked recycling .
    “Well, why? I’m curious now.” I sat on the edge of the king-sized bed next to the pile of clothing he had stripped out of after his performance. I hooked my thumb beneath the waistband of the leather miniskirt and read the label. XL.
    “The usual. Pressure from my ex-wife and her family. They said I was hanging around deviants and should concentrate on my career.”
    “Ironic.”
    He grinned. “Yeah. Anyway, I went into teaching at one of the professional schools in New York, but then I heard about this gig and what it paid, auditioned, and they took me.”
    “Way to go, stepping out on faith like that.”
    “Honey, sometimes if you don’t take the leap, you do worse than stay stuck.” He met my gaze and took a step closer to me, ending just shy of my toes.
    I craned my neck up to meet his gaze, and his expression was now serious. Contemplative. “What’s worse than staying stuck?”
    He reached out, tentatively, and pushed my bangs from my eyes. “Going backward. Never go backward, Macy.”
     

CHAPTER FOUR
    “Was that your stomach?” Cole was on his knees, untangling his costume parts and stowing them in a steamer trunk. He’d stopped and looked up at me when I walked past him on my way back from the bathroom. He’d given me one of his button-up shirts to wear and permission to soak my ruined blouse in one of his two sinks.
    I wondered if the rest of his troupe were wallowing in so much luxury, or if they’d been relegated to the cheap rooms.
    My face burned hot, and I covered my belly with my arms as I perched on the edge of his bed. I couldn’t deny it. The rumbling had been loud and unmistakable. “Sorry. I haven’t had a decent meal today. The girls wanted sushi for dinner and one doesn’t really fill up on vegetable rolls.”
    “Ah.” He resumed his trunk-stuffing, but now had a knavish grin on his face. “You didn’t have any balls tonight?”
    I didn’t think it was possible, but alas, my face burned even hotter. “Funny. No, I felt silly eating them. Beth and Gretchen thought they were a goddamned hoot.”
    “Most of our guests do.” He closed the trunk lid and stood, brushing his hands off on the thighs of his shorts with an