by Amy Andrews
She just wished she didn’t like his company so much.
“Well.” She sat forward and scrambled to her feet, her dress falling to her ankles as she turned to face him. “I’m going to go and catch up on some business stuff.” There was no point pretending she was going to sleep when she was going to lie awake half the night thinking about that rain check. “Are you sure you’re going to be okay?”
He flopped his head against the cushions, looking up at her. His broad frame and the wild spring of his dark curls somehow looked extra masculine against the floral pattern. “Yep.”
She offered her hand, even though she already knew he wouldn’t take it. “Need some assistance?”
“I think I’ll…” He patted his hip. “Sit for a bit longer.”
“Okay.” Jane nodded even though she wanted to point out it would be quicker and easier for him to take her assistance. But she was used to recalcitrant males in her life. Finn never did anything the easy way, either. She dropped her hand. “Good night, then. See you in the morning.”
“I’ll be seeing you in my dreams first.”
The way he was looking at her left Jane in no doubt they were going to be very dirty dreams. She gave a half smile. “Ditto.”
…
As she suspected, Jane didn’t sleep all that much, and her concentration was shot all the next day.
She gave up on the tile removal at just before three after damaging her sixth segment of wood due to her inattention. Sure, she could fix them with some putty, but any extra restoration work meant time, and—although she was catching up, thanks to Cole looking after Finn—she didn’t have a lot of wriggle room.
And now she was thinking about Cole again.
Cole kissing her. Cole touching her. Cole sliding his hands inside her panties and making her come. Cole taking a rain check on so much more than some R-rated groping.
She’d had to put Carl back in his cage because she was sure the animal could read her mind. Finn had requested that Carl hang with her while he was at the clinic, and yesterday, Jane had been fine with that—the chameleon had mostly dozed in the sunny patches of floor beneath the windows. But today, it had spent a lot of time sitting and staring at her with those freaky eyes like he knew exactly what had gone down last night. And was judging her.
Like a multicolored Jiminy freaking Cricket.
“I’m leaving, Carl,” she announced as she gave his cage a quick spray of water before departing. The animal stared at her, his eyes unmoving. “To see Finn.” More staring. “At the park.”
Even more staring.
“Okay, yes…to see Cole, too.” The staring was really freaking her out now. “Give me a break, Carl. I’m only twenty-six. I need some loving, too. It’s not hurting anyone.” She squirted the mister in his direction, and the damn animal’s eyes still didn’t move. “I don’t need your permission, Carl.”
Which was just as well, because clearly she wasn’t going to get it. “Why am I even talking to you?” Jane put down the mister and fled the bathroom.
Ignoring the urge to change into something more…girly than her shorts, T-shirt, and work boots, she grabbed her bag and keys, tromping down the stairs and heading out the front door to her car. It took less than ten minutes to get to the park, during which time she tried to mentally justify her decision.
It wasn’t weird she was going. She’d told Finn she’d try and stop by the clinic this afternoon, and it was exactly what she was doing.
Exactly as any mother would do.
And Finn was thrilled to see her, running toward her as he spotted her, a grin so big on his face her heart swelled just as big in her chest. But it also gave a funny thump that had nothing to do with Finn as Cole greeted her with a nod and a “Jane” that might’ve sounded perfectly normal and innocent to anyone else observing but, when combined with the way his gaze brushed her body and lingered on her mouth, was pure, unadulterated anticipation.
He’d greeted her the same way this morning in the kitchen right in front of Finn with absolutely no sign of the exacerbation of his injury from last night. Just those eyes roving over her like he had X-ray vision and he knew exactly the color of her bra and panties.
No wonder she hadn’t been able to concentrate all damn day.
“Mommy, we’re going to play a game now. Aren’t we, Cole?”
Cole hadn’t taken his eyes off her. “Uh-huh.”
“Cole says playing is the best part. Isn’t that right, Cole?” Finn continued innocently, totally unaware of the vibe going on between his mother and the man he clearly adored.
A small smile hitched up one side of his mouth. “I like playing best of all.”
Jane swallowed. The fact the man was probably a player in more ways than one didn’t even penetrate right now. She just wanted to play so freaking bad. “That sounds like fun.” How long had it been since she’d had fun?
He grinned. “Oh, it will be.”
Then he lifted a whistle to his lips and turned away, giving it a hard, sharp blow and motioning to everyone to gather together. Jane stood aside, finding a shady tree to watch Cole from a distance as he organized the clinic participants efficiently, dividing players up into age groups and giving instructions to both the players and the helpers, who were also hanging on his every word. He may need a stick to help him walk, but his masculinity, his authority, was undeniable.
Everyone was looking to him, and he was leading. Hell, if that didn’t make Jane another degree hotter.
“He’s quite commanding, isn’t he?”
Jane dragged her eyes off Cole to find Della from next door standing on her right. They’d met the day Jane had moved in and had indulged in several neighborly conversations since. Betty, her Cavalier King Charles—apparently named after Betty White—had collapsed at Della’s feet, also watching Cole with her tongue hanging out.
The dog sure had a good eye.
“I’ll say,” agreed the woman to her left. Jane had met Winona Crane one day at Annie’s diner when she’d stop to buy pie because Annie’s pies were legendary. Della, who’d also been at Annie’s, had introduced Jane to the erotic romance author who had moved to Credence the previous summer.
“I think it’s the accent,” Della said.
Cole sounded very Australian among all the American accents. The kids certainly looked at him like he was Steve Irwin and Crocodile Dundee rolled into one. The mothers were looking at him like he was the three Hemsworth brothers morphed into one delicious package.
Winona laughed. “Yeah…I don’t think it’s that.”
Jane didn’t, either. In fact, she knew it wasn’t. Clearly, Winona also had a pretty good eye, too. “You ladies rugby fans?” she asked because she knew neither of them had children.
“Nope.” Della shook her head. “I’m just here to ogle Tucker.”
“Okay.” Jane laughed. She hadn’t even realized Tucker was here. “I get that.” Tucker and Della lived together, and he was a good-looking guy. Also, clearly besotted with Della.
“And I get to ogle for a living,” Winona added. “It’s research.”
Another laugh escaped Jane’s throat. That seemed fair enough. Jane assumed that writers were keen observers of the human condition. Although Winona did seem to have her gaze fixed on Arlo, who just happened to be Della’s brother.
They stood there in companionable silence for a while and ogled while Cole yelled encouragement, gave directions, and refereed from the sidelines. He really was magnificent; his physicality, even as he limped up and down the sideline of the makeshift field, was a palpable force reaching out across the distance.
“You’d think he’d be more hindered by that stick, wouldn’t you?” Della observed.
“Yeah,” Jane said, utterly distracted by his agility.
“Arlo never seems particularly hampered by his limp,” Winona observ
ed with a certain lasciviousness.
Both Jane and Della glanced at Winona, who was, definitely for sure this time, checking out Arlo as he also prowled up and down the sideline on the other side. Jane hadn’t even been aware that Arlo had a limp, so she didn’t know the story behind it, but it was clear Winona had spent a lot of time observing Credence’s chief of police.
“Arlo would never dare let something as trivial as a prosthetic leg slow him down,” Della said with a wry kind of affection. Jane had about two seconds to absorb that tidbit of information before someone yelled, “Catch it!” as a kick went wrong, the ball flying across the field only to be plucked from the air and caught in a running dive by Tucker. “Great catch, honey,” Della yelled, clapping enthusiastically. Tucker turned and bowed in her direction, his look playful but also heated.
“You two need to get a room,” Winona teased.
Della blushed a little, and a spike of jealousy lanced Jane to the spot. God, she wanted that. A man to look at her with open adoration and lust.
Well…not just any man. The sharp blow of a whistle dragged Jane’s attention back to the game, and she watched as Cole patiently explained something to a boy of about ten who was looking at him like he was a god. When he was done, he handed the ball to the kid and walked back to the sideline, rubbing absently at his hip.
Jane frowned. Was he suddenly dragging his leg a little more? Was he overdoing it?
She could probably help him with that. Wait…what? No. Get a grip, Jane. She shouldn’t help him with that. At all. She should leave him alone to rest up and sleep off any fatigue the last two days had wrought. She should give him a chance to recover from the physical demands of the last two day and any lingering niggles from the fall.
But God…she did not want to leave him alone at all. She wanted to be all over him. She wanted him all over her. She wanted to feel more than his fingers moving inside her. She could be gentle. She’d told him as much last night, and she meant it. She’d be happy to be on top and do all the work.
In fact, she was totally on board with that.
Hell, the idea of it was titillating in ways that were growing on her at a rate of knots. Old Jane was horrified at this new sexual impatience. Old Jane didn’t go after things like this. There were too many demands on her time and too many consequences if she screwed up. But old Jane could go jump in the lake. There was a window of opportunity here that was only going to be open for a brief period of time, and new Jane wanted to crawl right through it.
Hell, new Jane wanted to smash it to smithereens, and to hell with the consequences.
Cole blew the whistle again, and Jane closed her eyes as a rather vivid image of her on top of Cole, riding him in a teeny tiny cheerleader uniform, formed in her head.
Her grandmother would not be pleased. There weren’t enough Hail Marys in the world for that fantasy. But yeah…fatigued or not, tonight was the night.
Chapter Ten
Jane’s plan to entice Cole upstairs for his nightly performance appraisal after Finn was put to bed went to hell. Her phone rang just as she was about to get into the shower. It was Frank, the manager of her LA store, with a problem about their supply chain. Four hours later, after multiple phone calls and emails, she finally had it all sorted.
She’d have to follow up tomorrow, but for now, everything that could be done had been done. Which left her back at the beginning.
Cole.
A wild fluttering in her belly kicked to life. She’d have thought the stress of the last few hours would have killed off any lusty urges, but obviously not. Libido and biology were demanding little suckers.
She’d heard him vaguely as she’d worked from her laptop in the kitchen. Heard him go outside, then come back in again about half an hour later, when he’d no doubt given up waiting for her to appear. Heard him go into the parlor and the low murmur of the TV. Heard him tromping up the stairs about an hour ago to his room, she presumed, because she hadn’t heard him come down again.
But…was he asleep? Or was he lying up there awake, hoping she’d come to him? It had only just turned eleven.
Jane dithered. Maybe if she did things like this more often, she’d be more au fait with what to do in this situation. But she was a single mom who hadn’t gotten laid in a seriously long time, so she was making this shit up as she went along. All she knew was that, despite four hours of stress and worry about her business supply chain, which normally might conclude with her wanting to throw up and/or blow in a paper bag, she wanted to go up to his room and fuck Cole Hauser’s brains out.
Maybe he wanted that, too?
Deciding to find out for sure, Jane headed for her en suite again, shutting the door so she wouldn’t wake Finn and showering in record time. Stepping out onto the mat, she grabbed her towel and proceeded to dry herself, her gaze falling on a scaly critter staring out at her from his cage.
“Stop it,” she whispered, glaring at the animal. Unaffected by her irritation, Carl continued to sit on his branch in the cage that she’d built for him and silently judge. “I’m going to him, and there’s nothing you can say or do to stop me.” Carl stared some more. “Did my grandmother send you?” she asked, narrowing her eyes as she leaned in a little closer.
Carl just sat and stared.
“You are a chameleon. Not my conscience,” she told him, then turned her back, finished drying off, stepped into clean underwear, and left the bathroom without a backward glance.
Going to a seduction with condoms in her pocket—thank you, Credence general store—seemed illicit and kick-ass, and Jane felt incredibly empowered. Of course, having a baby monitor in the other pocket added a certain element of realism that made her feel significantly less kick-ass. But she was here now, standing outside his door. All she had to do was knock and pray he asked her to enter.
A zillion doubts assailed her, and Jane’s heart hammered. Her hand shook as she raised it, but she was determined to see this through as she gently tapped on the door. What followed was the longest pause of her life. In reality, it was probably only two seconds, but it felt much longer.
It felt like forever.
Then a muffled kind of “Come in,” or something vaguely similar, made its way through the door, and Jane didn’t hesitate. She turned the handle. It was that or have a silent heart attack in the hallway without ever having experienced the special sexy times she knew this man could deliver.
Special sexy times or death. That was a no-brainer.
It was dark inside his room, but there was some ambient light coming through the window, and the glow from his phone lit his face as he peered in the direction of the door. “Hi,” he said, tossing the phone aside as he levered himself into a sitting position.
“Hi,” she replied, her voice stupidly husky as her eyes roamed over his naked chest. The sheet pooled at his waist and hid his legs, so she had no idea if he was wearing anything else, but, as she stepped inside the room and gently closed the door, she seriously hoped she’d get to find out.
God…he was so big and broad, and Jane remembered from last night how the balls of his shoulders had so easily filled her palms. She also remembered that pelt of dark chest hair from that first night. It was plentiful without being woolly, covering not only his pecs but lower, narrowing only slightly as it traversed the central section of his abs all the way down to where the sheet cut off her view.
Jane’s fingers curled into her palms. She wanted to touch it, to pet him. Hell, she wanted to lick around those nipples and feel the hair tickling her cheeks and her chin and her tongue.
“Everything okay?” His voice sounded husky, too, and damn if that didn’t do funny things to legs that already felt a little on the wobbly side. “I poked my head into the kitchen a couple of times, but you seemed preoccupied.”
Jane’s eyebrows lifted in surprise. She may have thought she’d been super aware of his movem
ents, but clearly not every second. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know you had—”
“No, it’s okay.” He shook his head. “I figured something was going down.”
She grimaced. “Yeah. You could say that.”
“Is it sorted now?”
“Yes.” Jane smiled. “Or at least it will be by tomorrow.”
“Do you…want to talk about it?”
She shook her head. She really, really didn’t. Jane was so over talking. Hell, she was over thinking. She had other plans for them. “Nope. But it’s very sweet of you to ask.”
“Sweet.” He grimaced and clutched at his chest. His very fine chest. “Don’t tell anyone else. It’ll ruin my tough guy reputation.”
Jane laughed, then muffled it with her palm when it came out louder than she’d intended. “It’ll be our little secret,” she said, dropping her hand after a beat or two.
“I like the sound of that.”
It may have been dark, but Jane saw his nostrils flare and felt the hot probe of his gaze from across the room. “Me, too.” That’s what Cole was going to be. Her delicious little secret. A memory of this time in her life when she allowed herself to live a little. Something she could pull out and cherish in the years to come.
“So…did you come to…” He smiled. “Tuck me in?”
Slowly, Jane shook her head, her eyes locking on his. “Nope.” She knew he was teasing, but it was safe to say the last thing she wanted to do was cover this man up.
“No?” He cocked an eyebrow, feigning surprise, a small smile playing on his lips.
“We missed your performance appraisal.”
“Oh yes…” His smile got even bigger. “We did, didn’t we?”
“That was remiss of me.”
He nodded. “I agree.”
“I figured we could do it now.” Jane’s pulse sped up as she took her first tentative steps toward the bed, skirting around it to the far side, where Cole was closest.
