Heaven And Hell novel Chapter 128

"Sure. Why not?" He shrugged casually and even smiled. Then he glared at Delilah. "But I'm sending for Gazelle. There is no way I am riding a cow."

With a little giggle, I nodded and went toward Delilah. But, as I looked over my shoulder, I couldn't help but feel a bit giddy. Okay, so he wasn't so bad.

He wasn't so bad at all.

As soon as Colton's magnificent horse stopped at the back of my relatives' manor, he -- despite his aches and pains -- gracefully leaped down and efficiently held me to my descent, as well. My heart fluttered a little bit, but it's not the way you think. I was nervous because Aunt Mary might spot him, then she'd be fangirling again like the rest of the nation, and I just couldn't deal with that right now.

Yet when I opened the back door leading into the kitchen, my aunt and uncle were nowhere in sight. They must still be in the barn. Good. It'd take around fifteen minutes for them to hike all the way back here. I quickly gestured to Colton, who had just finished tying Gazelle's lead around a tree. Delilah wandered gently near the house.

"Hurry, before my aunt spots you." He looked at me quizzically as I pushed the door behind him. He quickly walked inside, then we began striding ahead. "I mean, I love my aunt; she's amazing. And maybe you guys can be friends too? Just like, well, um, us? But of course that'll be for another time. Right now we should focus on mending our shaky friendship."

"You'd make a fine diplomat, Olivia Mathison," Colton said with a rare grin as we entered my relatives' cosy living room.

"Call me Livvy," I said quickly, tucking a stray hair behind my ear as I walked ahead of him.

"What?"

I turned halfway to look at him. "If we're going to pretend we're engaged, then I guess it's only fair to call me the way my family and friends do."

"I didn't recall asking you to marry me." He raised an eyebrow.

I now had a wild red tone on my cheeks. "I didn't mean it that way."

Colton continued staring at me, making me feel like blushing, then he nodded. "Well, Livvy, I suggest you call me Cole, as well."

Cole. I liked that.

"God knows only my grandmother, aunt, and all my other ancient relatives call me Colton. Mostly they're too old and stubborn to call me any other name besides that, and believe me when I say that, at their age, it's practically lethal to make any big changes such as saying my nickname."

"Wow..." My eyes shone brightly at him. "Did the Cole Cutting actually make a joke?" I teased.

He smirked. "I rarely do. Consider yourself lucky."

I placed a hand over my chest. "Oh, I do."

"Where'd your feline run off to?"

I blinked at the sudden change of topic. "Brad," I pressed, clearly believing the beast was his own beast, and not anyone else's, "has been sleeping on the sofa for well over an hour now," I announced sardonically, pointing across the room.

I gaped. "I thought you hated Brad? No! I thought you hated animals?"

He looked up at me with one eyebrow raised. "If I hated animals," he answered, "then I wouldn't have my horses, now, would I?"

I scowled. He had a point.

"But you hate cats," I grumbled.

"Ah, but not Brad."

"But --"

"And furthermore, I'm growing to like this beast. Most likely because he vexes you, which makes it all the more fun, don't you think?"

"No," I said through gritted teeth, "I don't think so."

He lifted Brad with his arms like Simba, then grinned wolfishly. "But it's fun for both of us, yeah?" he asked the cat, wiggling him from left to right, making Brad's stubby legs jiggle.