“Cole?” His name sounded strangled coming from her lips.
“Yes?”
“Put some clothes on, please.”
He wasn’t sure why she’d mentioned it until he glanced down. The sheet he’d tossed over his bare body rode low on his abdomen. Another couple of inches and he’d have given her quite a show.
Cole smiled, recalling a time when that wouldn’t have been an issue. “I’ll show you mine if you show me yours,” had been said more than once as things had heated up between them. Until one night, she’d unbuttoned her shirt. And he’d unzipped his pants.
He looked up at the sound of the door clicking shut behind her. Cole expelled a harsh breath and reached for the brace beside the bed. Those days of playful banter and lustful thoughts were long gone.
All he cared about now was getting stronger so he could take care of Charlie on his own.
He glanced down. Too bad his body hadn’t gotten that message yet.
Charlie came out of the bathroom, hands still dripping water, eager to set the table.
Meg took the Fiesta dinnerware from the cupboard and placed it on the counter where Charlie could easily reach it.
“Your face is red.” The little boy picked up a bright orange plate and stared into it as if trying to see his reflection. “Are you hot?”
“A little.” Actually, Meg found herself in the uncomfortable position of fighting off a surge of lust. You’d think it had been decades instead of a little over a year since she’d seen a man naked.
Granted, Cole hadn’t been completely uncovered but that sheet had dipped precariously low. His muscular chest and washboard abs told her he hadn’t been sitting around eating Cheetos and watching television all his life.
“I’m not hot.” Charlie laid the plate carefully on the table. “I’m not cold. I’m just right.”
The way he changed the pitch of his voice reminded Meg of Goldilocks at the home of the three bears. But his face was serious so she bit back her laughter.
She knew there would be times when Charlie would be sad, but the way he’d begun to adjust told her that moving in with her and Cole had been the best thing for the boy.
So, if being here meant putting up with the man who’d once broken her heart, it was a small price to pay.
The grocery store parking lot seemed surprisingly empty for the Saturday before Christmas. Meg glanced at the clock on the dash of Cole’s SUV. “We have an hour before we need to pick up Charlie.”
Cole slanted a sideways glance in her direction. “He seemed happy this morning.”
“I thought so, too.” Unbuckling her seat belt, Meg pushed open the door then turned back to him. “Are you sure you’re going to be okay without your crutches?”
When they’d left the house, Cole had insisted on leaving his walking aids behind, asserting it had been two weeks now and it was time to move on.
“I’m good.” He turned toward the door, his brow pulled together in concentration as he eased himself out of the passenger side.
The grocery store parking lot had been bladed, but snow still crunched under Meg’s boots when she stepped onto the pavement. She put on her physical therapist’s hat and her experienced gaze turned sharp and assessing.
The slippery path to the brightly lit store entrance was an accident waiting to happen. One fall would undo all the work the surgeon had done to reconstruct Cole’s ACL.
Meg hurried around the front of the truck and took his arm as he shut his door.
He glanced down at the arm which now held him tight then lifted his gaze back to her face, a smirk on his lips. “Why, Meg, darlin’, I didn’t know you cared.”
“I don’t, Cole, sweetheart,” she said in the same phony Southern drawl. “But if you fall on your as—ah, backside, it will impact not only Charlie’s quality of life, but mine, as well. I’m simply making sure that doesn’t happen.”
She swore he chuckled. All she cared was that he didn’t protest as they made their way across the lot. Strangely, while holding on to the arm of a man she didn’t care about—at all—she felt like part of a couple. Which was crazy for so many reasons, but most of all she couldn’t recall ever feeling this close to him, not even when they’d been seeing each other.
“Do you realize,” she said when the treacherous trek ended and the automatic doors slid open in welcome, “that even when we were dating, I never held your hand or took your arm?”
“That’s because,” he said, “you wouldn’t allow it. You didn’t want anyone to know you were dating me. Especially not any of your Honor Society pals.”
For a second Meg was struck dumb by the hint of bitterness underscoring his words. “That’s not how it was at all,” she protested when she finally found her voice. “You—”
“Meg. Cole. What a nice surprise.”
Meg whirled.
Lexi Delacourt, social worker extraordinaire, looking absolutely lovely in navy leggings and a bulky navy-and-white cable-knit sweater, stood next to a cart filled with sacks of groceries, her husband, Nick, at her side. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”
The curious look in both their eyes told Meg it wasn’t seeing her that was such a surprise, but seeing her holding on to Cole.
“There was no food in the house.” Meg released her grip on his arm as if it were a hot potato.
“It was either brave the grocery store aisles or starve.” Cole’s curious gaze settled on Nick.
“Where are my manners?” Lexi said with a little laugh. “Meg has met my husband, but you haven’t.”
The pretty social worker made quick work of the introductions.
“A family-law attorney,” Cole said after he and Nick had shaken hands. He cast a quick glance at Meg before returning his attention to Nick. “I bet you found the provisions of Janae and Ty’s will very interesting.”
Meg’s heart sank to the tips of her boots. He knew. Somehow without her saying a word, Cole knew Nick was the attorney she’d consulted about the will.
“My wife doesn’t discuss her cases with me,” Nick said, an easy smile on his lips.
“Lexi may not, but I did.” Meg lifted her chin. She had nothing to hide. “Nick verified the provisions were completely enforceable.”
Instead of offering up his normal remark to the tune of “we’ll see about that,” Cole simply smiled.
“Mary Karen tells me the two of you are living together.” Lexi’s eyes were bright with interest.
“Living in the same house,” Cole clarified.
“Not together, together.” Meg’s cheeks burned as Cole’s lips twitched.
“What Meg is trying to say is—” he paused to place a hand on her shoulder “—we’re not sleeping together.”
“Not yet anyway,” Lexi said with a devilish gleam in her eyes.
Nick chuckled. “You’ll have to excuse my wife. She has the soul of a matchmaker.”
For a second Meg was tempted to make it clear that Cole Lassiter would be the last man on earth she’d ever sleep with, or—she shuddered—to marry, but she stopped the words before they made it past her lips.