by Cindy Kirk
Meg cocked her head.
“’Cause they can see us eating popcorn and playing games. They know we’re not alone anymore.”
Out of the mouth of babes…
Cole swallowed the lump that rose to his throat. On his deathbed, his dad had told him and his brother that he would always be in their back pockets. That no matter where he went or what happened, he would be with them.
It was a good thought, but Cole had longed for an earthly father. Someone to play ball with him and come to his games. Someone to guide and support him as he grew up.
Losing a parent could be devastating, but at least Charlie wasn’t alone. Charlie had him. God willing, would always have him.
Cole’s gaze drifted to where Meg sat, an arm looped around his son’s shoulders, smiling at something the child had said.
In that moment Cole knew Charlie had been right. He had no doubt that Ty and Joy were looking down from heaven, grateful that their son had found a home with two people who loved him. Which meant severing all ties with Meg once he gained full custody was no longer an option.
For Charlie’s sake, Meg would have to remain in the little boy’s life.
Consequently, she would remain in his, as well.
Chapter Ten
By the time Charlie fell asleep, exhaustion had wrapped itself around Meg’s shoulders like a heavy shawl. Since the child’s room was only a couple doors down the hall from hers, she was tempted to go straight to bed.
The only thing that stopped her from doing just that was the knowledge that Cole was still up. He’d tucked in Charlie then headed downstairs ostensibly to get some ibuprofen for his aching knee.
Meg knew that had been a ruse, a ploy to give her more time alone with the boy, in case there was anything Charlie needed to share before he drifted off to sleep.
But Meg knew Charlie was done talking about his parents, at least for the evening. About an hour before bedtime, Cole had pulled out a box of action figures and from that point on Charlie’s whole focus had been on Castle Grayskull and the Masters of the Universe action figures.
Meg thought it was cool knowing these were the same toys Cole had played with when he’d been Charlie’s age. Though they’d tried to give her the Man-at-Arms action figures, being therapeutic and empathetic for much of the evening had sucked the energy right out of her. She’d been content to watch Cole and his new son play with Skeletor and He-Man.
It had felt good to simply chill and regroup. She’d been a little over her head today. When Charlie had begun to confide his fears, she’d immediately begun to worry. What if she said the wrong thing and traumatized the child more? She’d hoped Cole would jump in, but it quickly became apparent he was yielding to her expertise.
Meg snorted. As if being the oldest girl in a family of eight children or raising teenagers had given her extra insight into a small boy’s brain.
Still, Charlie had gone to sleep with a smile on his face. Unfortunately, Meg now faced an even more daunting task—dealing with Cole and THE OFFER.
The way they’d left it made it appear she was considering his proposition. Which she wasn’t. What he had proposed was totally out of the question. That was the reason she aimed her feet toward the stairs. She needed to set the record straight.
And she must do it now…before she convinced herself that having an affair with Cole Lassister made some sort of crazy sense.
Cole looked up from the magazine he’d been flipping through when he heard Meg’s footsteps on the stairs. The chill he’d felt when he’d shut off the fireplace turned to heat the second he turned his head and saw her.
Her red-brown curls lay in a tangled mess around her shoulders. Sometime during the evening she’d shed her shoes and her lipstick. Still, even at the end of a long day, with fatigue bracketing her eyes, she remained a beautiful woman.
Of course, he knew lots of beautiful women.
He lifted a brow when she dropped into the chair opposite the sofa where he sat.
“Charlie asleep?” he asked, determined to keep the conversation neutral until he ascertained the reason for her late-night visit.
“Out like a light.” She smiled and rested her head against the back of the chair. “I honestly believe this evening’s discussion was harder on us than on him.”
Cole had always known Meg was smart and had a quick mind. Tonight he’d seen her sensitive side. The way she’d comforted Charlie had been amazing. “You did a superb job of helping him understand that his parents didn’t die because of anything he did.”
“Thank you,” Meg said, but worry still clouded her eyes. “I think he’s doing okay. I hope he is.”
He placed the magazine on the coffee table. “How about you?”
“What do you mean?”
“Is parenthood what you thought it would be? How are you holding up?”
“Despite the challenges, I’m liking it.” Meg leaned forward, resting her arms on her thighs.
The V-neck of her sweater gaped, giving Cole a good view of the swells of her breasts. Suddenly, talking no longer seemed quite so important. He swallowed past the dryness in his throat.
“As much as I initially didn’t want to live under the same roof with you,” she continued, “I’m happy it worked out this way.”
“Because you get to see me every day at my best?” He kept his tone light, though his eyes never left hers.
He didn’t flinch when her gaze took in his hair that was probably going in all directions. He even managed to hold steady when she let her gaze linger on his cheeks, which had to be dark with stubble by now.
“That’s definitely part of it.” Her lips curved into a slight smile. “But it’s not the number one benefit.”
Meg moistened her lips with her tongue, and his body surged in response. Was she speaking in cryptic terms of their time on the bed? He wondered why she didn’t just come out and say being in the same house would make it much easier for them to sleep togeth—
“Having the chance to coparent with you on a day-to-day basis has been the real blessing.”
What? Whoa. Coparenting?
This had to be some sort of joke.
“I’d forgotten what a nice guy you are.” A dusky pink settled on her cheeks. “Living here has shown me what a good father you’ll be.”
Though Cole had told himself he didn’t care what she thought of him—what she’d ever thought of him—the satisfaction surging through his veins told him he did.
“I—I think if we’d immediately set up separate households, it wouldn’t have been good for Charlie. I think seeing us getting along is helping him cope.” She straightened, the soft fabric of the sweater now hugging her large breasts.
Cole pulled his gaze away and cleared his throat, trying to decipher what she was really saying. Something about getting along was good for Charlie.
Admittedly, she’d fallen into the mother role with an ease he envied. And Charlie seemed to like her. “I agree.”
He thought of the DNA test kit that had come in the mail today and was now safely ensconced in his dresser drawer. Cole planned to do the test as soon as Meg was out running errands and he was alone with Charlie. Once the results came back and he could prove the boy was his biological child, his attorneys had the papers ready to petition for sole guardianship.
Cole was still determined to continue with that plan. This ease between him and Meg changed nothing. Still, seeing how Charlie responded to her made him realize that cutting her completely out of his life might not be best for the boy. She would need to retain some role in his son’s life.
But what kind of role should that be? Contemplating the question made his head hurt.
A song playing on the radio in the background caught his ear. While checking out local country stations, he’d come across the one he’d always listened to when he’d been in high school.
Cole reached over and turned up the volume, then pushed himself to a standing position and held out a hand. “Care to dance?
”
“What? Why?” she asked, yet rose to her feet without waiting for an answer.
“The station is playing hits from the late nineties tonight.” His hand closed over hers and he pulled her into his arms. They touched from chest to thighs, but by the time she opened her mouth to tell him she couldn’t dance, they were swaying to a romantic ballad tailor-made for slow dancing. “This song was number one on the charts the spring of our junior year.”
“How do you remember that?” She tilted her head as they moved side-to-side in a sensual rhythm.
Cole tried not to think about how good she felt in his arms.
“I’ve a good memory for songs,” he said simply. It was the truth, just not the whole truth.
They’d been seeing each other only a short time when he’d started saving his money. He’d planned to ask Meg to the junior-senior prom. Each time he heard a slow song on the radio he imagined himself holding her body close as they danced under the glittering mirror ball in the high school gymnasium.
Thankfully he’d found out what she really thought of him before he asked her. No one saw his disappointment. Living with a mean drunk had taught him the art of hiding his emotions.
Though Cole had told himself he no longer cared what Meg did or with whom, as the date for the big event drew near, he’d found himself wondering whose arms she’d be in that night. He’d concluded it would be Ed Rice. The guy followed her around like a lovesick puppy.
Then her parents had been killed. Neither she nor Travis went to prom that year. And once the school year ended, they were gone.
“Do you know I never went to a single high school dance?” Meg closed her eyes and rested her head against his shoulder.
“That’s hard to believe.” He tightened his arms around her. “You were so beautiful.”
The compliment came out before he could stop it.
Meg laughed as if he’d made a joke. “Give it up, Lassiter. Back then no one, including you, thought I was beautiful.”
“I always told you how beautiful you were.”
“Yes, you did,” she conceded, but there was a disturbing edge to her tone. “Back then you said a lot of things that weren’t true. Lies geared toward getting me in the backseat of your Chevy.”
Cole narrowed his gaze. “Lies?”
“I’m simply stating facts.” Meg pushed him away and took a step back. “You showered me with compliments and told me how much you cared. After we made love, you dropped me. A girl doesn’t need a degree in mathematics to come to that conclusion.”
Cole couldn’t believe it. She was attempting to make him out to be the bad guy in their breakup.
“When I gave you that locket for Valentine’s Day—” Cole paused, feeling the muscle in his jaw jump “—I meant every word.”
“You didn’t return my phone calls. You ignored me at school. It was as if I didn’t exist. Those aren’t the actions of a boy in love.” She gave a humorless laugh. “Of course you said you loved me. You might have even believed it. What hormone-ridden high school boy hasn’t used those words to get into a girl’s pants?”
“Believe what you want.” With his jaw set in a hard angle, he jerked her back against him. Despite a twinge in his knee, he executed a series of turns that left her breathless.
“What I want is answers,” Meg said.
“Really?” he said between gritted teeth. “Appears to me you think you’ve got it all figured out.”
“I want to know why you stopped calling. One day we were the perfect couple. The next day you acted like you didn’t know me.”
The perfect couple? This time it was his turn to laugh. She hadn’t even wanted anyone to know they were dating.
It had been the first of many clues he’d missed. She’d insisted they keep their “relationship” from her family and friends. She’d given him some bull about it being more special when it was their little secret. He realized now that she’d been embarrassed.
He came from the wrong side of the tracks. He hadn’t been in the accelerated classes like all her friends. Honor roll? He’d been lucky to maintain the C average he needed for football.
Perhaps Cole should have told her that he knew she’d betrayed his trust and told Ed he couldn’t read well. Yet, merely recalling that time brought back a flood of painful memories and feelings he’d done his best to forget. The past was the past, he told himself. It couldn’t be changed.
For Charlie’s sake, they needed to move on.
“We were young. We made mistakes,” Cole said when he realized Meg was waiting for a reply. “I don’t know about you, but I look back on that time with a whole litany of regrets.”
Regrets like he wished he’d set out for Texas the day he’d gotten his driver’s license. Meeting and moving in with his uncle had changed the course of his life. If only he’d done it sooner.
He wished he’d slugged Ed Rice. Though he firmly believed violence was rarely the answer, wiping that smirk off Ed’s lips with his fist would have been worth the fallout.
Most of all, he wished he’d never gotten involved with Meg.
With his hand on the small of her back, he steered her with gentle caresses to the beat of the music. Considering his knee, he made a surprisingly good dance partner.
“I have regrets, too,” Meg admitted after a long moment.
She thought about her parents and how she’d lied to them about her relationship with Cole. She hadn’t wanted anyone to know they were dating because deep in her heart she’d known the relationship wouldn’t last. He was the handsome football star every girl wanted to date. She was the red-haired science geek who’d never even kissed a boy.
She wished she hadn’t believed Cole when he said he loved her. Most of all, she wished she’d never gotten involved with him.
“We could start over,” he said in an offhand tone as if it didn’t matter to him one way or another. “Pretend we’ve just met.”
Meg could see where he was going with this. He was asking a lot. Yet, he had been only a boy when he’d treated her so badly. Since she’d been back in Jackson Hole, she’d seen no evidence of that callous youth in the man he’d become. Though he hadn’t openly apologized, at least he had admitted he had regrets over how he’d behaved.
“I’m game if you are,” she said finally.
For Charlie’s sake, she told herself. She was doing this for Charlie’s sake.
Meg prayed that was true. Because if it wasn’t, she could be headed for big trouble.
Chapter Eleven
“Now that we’ve settled one aspect of our relationship, I want—” Cole took a step back and held Meg at arm’s length “—to talk about the proposition still on the table.”
Meg could feel her face warm even as her eyes, which seemed to have suddenly developed a mind of their own, zeroed in on the area directly below his belt buckle.
“I’ve thought about it,” she said quickly. “I don’t think us becoming physically…intimate would be wise.”
She lifted her gaze. The eye contact quickly turned into something more, a tangible connection between the two of them.
“Then I’ll settle for another dance.” He tugged her back into his arms, placing his hands on her hips while she reluctantly twined her fingers behind his neck.
To be so close didn’t seem prudent, especially considering what had happened on his bed earlier. Yet to refuse seemed…childish. After all, it wasn’t as if she was afraid of him.
More like afraid of myself, Meg thought with a wry smile.
“It’ll be like we’re dancing at prom,” she murmured, finding comfort in the words. After all, kids went to such events in high school all the time. Those nights rarely ended with the couple having sex. “Dancing should be safe.”
Even as she reassured herself, Meg shivered with desire. The mere feel of his body against hers brought a fresh rush of longing.
“Safe?” Cole chuckled, a low, pleasant rumbling sound. “If you say so.”
“I can’t deny that your offer is tempting,” she said slowly. “But we have to be smart about this.”
His hand, which had begun to caress her back while they moved in time to the music, stilled. “You think I’m stupid?”
There was an edge to his tone that she didn’t understand. Meg tilted her head back and met his gaze. “I was simply saying that becoming physically involved when we’re trying to find our way in our relationship with each other and with Charlie could be problematic.”
Chuckling, Cole kissed the corner of her mouth. “It’s such a turn-on when you talk like a schoolteacher.”
Though warning bells went off in her head, Meg had to laugh. “What am I going to do with you?”
“Kiss me,” he whispered, the tip of his tongue circling her ear. “One kiss.”
A smoldering heat flared through her at his suggestion, scaring and thrilling her at the same time.
“One kiss?” She spoke then paused, not sure what she wanted.
“That will be the plan,” he said in a nonchalant tone. “But if you change your mind and want more, we don’t have to stop at one.”
One little peck on the lips. What would be the harm?
Still, Meg hesitated.
“You want to kiss me,” he said, his voice a husky caress. “True? Or false?”
“True,” she reluctantly admitted.
“And I want to kiss you. In fact, right now I’m finding it hard to think of anything else.”
Time seemed to stretch and extend. The music took on a seductive beat. Do it. Do it, the pulsating rhythm urged.
“C’mon, Meg,” he murmured, twining strands of her hair loosely around his fingers. “One little kiss for your prom date.”
After the tiniest hesitation she nodded. Anticipation fluttered through her.
One kiss, she told herself, maybe two.
He caught her hand in his, brought it to his mouth and pressed a kiss in the palm.
She pulled her brows together. “That’s it?”
Cole laughed. “You are so demanding.”