It was still warm from his body. The scent of his skin filled Elinor's nostrils, detonating memories more sweet and powerful than his most potent smile. Would she ever forget the special scent of him as he held her in his arms?
Cole tugged his shirt over her shoulders, his fingers gentle against her wet skin. "Here. Give me your hand right through here."
"I am fully capable of dressing myself," she told him icily, jerking back to thread her arms through the sleeves of his borrowed shirt.
"I used to think so before I saw you in that outfit," Cole commented, his voice dry. "Now I'm not so sure."
She drew in a deep angry breath as she pulled the too-big shirt down over her hips. "Now, will you go away and leave me alone?" Bending, she retrieved her purse from behind the dunking booth.
"No way, sweetheart. You promised you'd hear me out."
"Fine." She crossed her arms over her chest in anything but open body posture. "Let's just get it over with."
"Come on, I'll drive you home." He put an arm around her shoulders, guiding her gently toward the parking lot.
"But I came with Daisy—"
"I'm sure she'll figure out that you got home. She's probably heard about our dunking each other from ten or twelve people by now."
Cole's gleaming luxury sedan sat in the parking lot, wedged between an ancient pickup and an equally aged Cadillac. He unlocked her door.
She balked. "I can't get into that leather seat like this. I'm drenched."
"Screw the leather seats," Cole responded amiably.
Elinor shrugged and climbed in. She knew she should deplore his casual attitude about the luxury car, another sign of his moral decadence when it came to money. But she felt too full of sorrow and anger to add anything else to the tally against him.
In minutes, they were on the road, headed for her cottage, the silence between them thickening as her nerves stretched taut.
When he made no move to launch into an explanation, the angry words buzzing in Elinor's head spilled out. "I used to think you were slick, but it's clear now that you are the lowest form of life on two legs. You set me up from the beginning. You charmed me and chased me, knowing all the time it was just part of the plan to set yourself up as King of Bayville."
Cole's eyes remained on the road, his face impassive.
"Well," she goaded, "where's the explanation? Aren't you going to try and convince me there are extenuating circumstances?"
He swung his gaze to her face for a second. "Go on and spill the rest. Get it out of your system."
"Out of my system?" she nearly shrieked. "Do you think this is some minor problem? Like a virus I'll get over?"
"Probably not." He swung the car into the dirt road that led to her cottage.
"I trusted you and you used me and lied to me from the beginning. Anything to get what you wanted." Water squished beneath her as she leaned back in the leather seat in a huff. "I hope owning Oakleigh is worth it. You certainly hustled to get the whole ball of wax—factory, the house, and a roll in the hay." Her voice broke. "You must have had a hard time keeping a straight face when you told me that you don't need to go to bed with a woman to close a deal."
Cole stopped the car in front of her house. Elinor got out quickly. She'd given him a chance to defend himself and he hadn't even bothered.
Rounding the vehicle, she came to a stop when she found him out of the car, blocking her path.
"You're wrong about a lot of things, El—" He held up a hand to stop her interjection. "But you're right about a lot of things, too. I screwed this up big time."
Never had his blue eyes seemed more serious. "I didn't know you when I made the offer to buy Oakleigh. You never entered into it. But once I was here and we had met . . ." He shook his head. "I should have bailed out the minute I realized I was falling in love with you."
Elinor felt her heart clench in pain. Two days ago she'd been ready to commit her life to this man. Now she wavered between wanting to shoot him and wanting to throw herself into his arms.
"You have every right to be furious with me." Cole's hands gripped on the open door. "But I'm not like your father. The house, the money, they couldn't mean less to me without you. Nothing is more important than you. But I let my biggest fault mess me up. I gambled that I could get it all. Oakleigh and you."
He pushed a hand through his damp hair. "I've gotten to where I am in life not by disregarding people but by finding ways around obstacles. I'm pretty good at discovering win-win options, El. I tried to do that in this situation with you. And now, I might lose it all."
Leaning into the car, he pulled a manila envelope from under the seat. "I understand your being angry. But I want you to know that I never lied to you, except by default when I didn't identify myself as the buyer of your house. Everything else that went on between us came from my heart."
Elinor searched his face. Could she trust him? Despite the evidence to the contrary? He hadn't been totally honest with her before. How could she know he was being truthful now?
"I made love to you because I love you," Cole said quietly, "and I asked you to marry me because I love you." He handed her the envelope. "Maybe nothing could convince you of that, but I have to give it a shot."
He turned back to the car then, and without another word got in and drove away.
Surprised by his sudden departure, Elinor stood staring down the drive, her fingers clutching the envelope.
Chilled in her damp clothes, she turned and went into the house. Her mind worried over his every word, every inflection of his voice. The look in his eyes had given her pause. If Cole was ever going to be serious, that would be the way he'd look, arrow-straight and sober.
Laying the envelope on her bed, Elinor stripped off Cole's shirt and the tattered remnants of her milkmaid dress. She stared at the envelope he'd given her as she shrugged into her robe.
The brown manila paper felt dry and stiff beneath her fingers. She pried open the clasp and drew out a slim sheaf of legal-looking papers.
The documents shook as she read them, her hands growing less steady as the words penetrated her brain. Elinor sank onto the bed, shock reverberating through her.
The papers in her hand gave her full ownership of Oakleigh and its environs, taxes paid in full.