“I’ve been busy.” He might’ve been talking to Jeff, but his eyes were holding Robin’s. She tried to look away—but she couldn’t.
His eyes told her she was avoiding him.
Hers answered that he’d been avoiding her.
“I guess you have been busy,” Jeff was saying. “I haven’t seen you in days and days and days.” Blackie squeezed through the hedge and Jeff fell to his knees, his arms circling the dog’s neck.
“So how’s the baseball going?” Cole asked.
Jeff sent his mother a disgusted look, then shrugged. “All right, I guess.”
“What position are you playing?”
“Probably outfield. I had a chance to make pitcher, but I can’t seem to get anyone who knows how to catch a ball to practice with me. Kelly tries, but she’s a girl and I hate to say it, but my mother’s worthless.”
“I did my best,” Robin protested.
“She catches with her eyes closed,” Jeff said.
“How about if you toss a few balls at me?” Cole offered.
Jeff blinked as if he thought he’d misunderstood. “You want me to throw you a few pitches? You’re sure?”
“Positive.”
The look on her son’s face defied description as Cole jumped over the hedge. Jeff’s smile stretched from one side of his face to the other as he tore to the opposite end of the yard, unwilling to question Cole’s generosity a second time.
For an awkward moment, Robin stayed where she was, not knowing what to say. She looked up at Cole, her emotions soaring—and tangling like kites in a brisk wind. She was deeply grateful for his offer, but also confused. Thrilled by his presence, but also frightened.
“Mom?” Jeff muttered. “In case you hadn’t noticed, you’re in the way.”
“Are you going to make coffee and invite me in for a chat later?” Cole asked quietly.
Her heart sank. “I have some things that need to be done, and...and...”
“Mom?” Jeff shouted.
“I think it’s time you and I talked,” Cole said, staring straight into her eyes.
“Mom, are you moving or not?”
Robin looked frantically over her shoulder. “Oh...oh, sorry,” she whispered, blushing. She hurried away, then stood on the patio watching as the ball flew across the yard.
After catching a dozen of Jeff’s pitches, Cole got up and walked over to her son. They spoke for several minutes. Reluctantly, Robin decided it was time to go back in.
She busied herself wiping kitchen counters that were already perfectly clean and tried to stop thinking about the beautiful woman she’d seen with Cole on the Wharf.
Jeff stormed into the house. “Mom, would it be okay if Mr. Camden strings up an old tire from the apple tree?”
“I suppose. Why?”
“He said I can use it to practice pitching, and I wouldn’t have to bother you or Kelly.”
“I don’t think I have an old tire.”
“Don’t worry, Mr. Camden has one.” He ran outside again before she could comment.
Jeff was back in the yard with Cole a few minutes later, far too soon to suit Robin. She forced a weak smile. That other woman was a perfect damsel to his knight in shining armor, she thought wryly. Robin, on the other hand, considered herself more of a court jester.
Her musings were abruptly halted when Cole walked into the kitchen, trailed by her son.
“Isn’t it time for your bath, Jeff?” Cole asked pointedly.
It looked for a minute as though the boy was going to argue. For the first time in recent memory, Robin would’ve welcomed some resistance from him.
“I guess,” he said. Bathing was about as popular as homework.
“I didn’t make any coffee,” Robin said in a small voice. She simply couldn’t look at Cole and not see the beautiful blonde on his arm.
“That’s fine. I’m more interested in talking, anyway,” he said. He walked purposefully to the table and pulled out a chair, then gestured for her to sit down.
Robin didn’t. Instead, she frowned at her watch. “My goodness, will you look at the time?”
“No.” Cole headed toward her, and Robin backed slowly into the counter.
“We’re going talk about that kiss,” Cole warned her.
“Please don’t,” she whispered. “It meant nothing! We’d both had a hectic week. We were tired.... I wasn’t myself.”
Cole’s eyes burned into hers. “Then why did you cry?”
“I...don’t know. Believe me, if I knew I’d tell you, but I don’t. Can’t we just forget it ever happened?”
His shoulders rose in a sigh as he threaded his long fingers through his hair. “That’s exactly what I’ve tried to do all week. Unfortunately it didn’t work.”
Five
“I’ve put it completely out of my mind,” Robin said, resuming her string of untruths. “I wish you’d do the same.”
“I can’t. Trust me, I’ve tried,” Cole told her softly. He smiled and his sensuous mouth widened as his eyes continued to hold hers. The messages were back. Less than subtle messages. You can’t fool me, they said, and I didn’t want to admit it either.
“I...”
The sense of expectancy was written across his face. For the life of her, Robin couldn’t tear her eyes from him.
She didn’t remember stepping into his arms, but suddenly she was there, encompassed by his warmth, feeling more sheltered and protected than she had since her husband’s death. This comforting sensation spun itself around her as he wove his fingers into her hair, cradling her head. He hadn’t kissed her yet, but Robin felt the promise of it in every part of her.
Deny it though she might, she knew in her heart how badly she wanted Cole to hold her, to kiss her. He must have read the longing in her eyes, because he lowered his mouth to hers, stopping a fraction of an inch from her parted lips. She could feel warm moist breath, could feel a desire so powerful that she wanted to drown in his kiss.
From a reservoir of strength she didn’t know she possessed, Robin managed to shake her head.
“Please,” he whispered just before his mouth settled firmly over hers.
His kiss was the same as it had been before, only more intense. More potent. Robin felt rocked to the very core of her being. Against her will, she felt herself surrendering to him. She felt herself forgetting to breathe. She felt herself weakening.