She still couldn’t believe that her first real kiss had been with Cole Parker. The man was practically a god in her mind. Only in her most private fantasies had she ever envisioned meeting him on the streets of Atlanta and him finding her so irresistible that he had to get to know her.
Last night had overshadowed her fantasies by a mile.
The way he made her feel...it twisted her in knots. On the one hand, it was exciting to be pursued by the biggest crush she’d ever had. Her entire body reacted to his presence. She’d never felt this level of awareness with anyone else. They connected on a number of levels, so she knew it wasn’t just physical.
On the other hand, she couldn’t help but wonder what this all meant to Cole in the scheme of things. Sure, they were spending all of this time together right now, but he needed her to help him recover from his shoulder injury. If not for that, would he have even thought twice about having her over for dinner? He’d admitted that he hadn’t dated anyone in a couple of months because of his shoulder injury. Could he just be using her as a handy fill-in for his usual social entertainment?
The thought hit her harder than she liked to admit. So she pushed it to the back of her mind.
Thinking about her chart-topping first kiss was much more fun, anyway. Even if things with Cole never progressed beyond where they now stood, she could honestly say that her relationship with him was the best thing that had ever happened to her.
“Everly, the equipment is ready for another blast.”
Everly looked up from the filing cabinet where she’d been sorting patient forms and caught the gaze of Casey, one of the rehabilitation managers. “All right. I’ve only got a couple more forms to file here and then I’ll take care of that.”
Casey tilted her head, her blonde ponytail sliding forward over her shoulder. “There’s something different about you today.”
“Is there?” Everly focused on the filing, knowing her cheeks would burn if she dwelled on why there was something different about her.
“Yes. You’re always good at what you do, but today there’s been more, well, confidence behind it.” Casey smiled. “It’s great to see. You know, once you complete your DPT program, I hope you apply for a position here. I think you’d fit in well.”
Everly froze, then lifted her gaze. “Thank you, Casey. You know this will be the first place I apply.”
“Great. In the meantime, that equipment has your name on it.”
Exchanging smiles with her, Everly closed the filing cabinet and headed to the large workout area used in the treatment of their patients. She got the disinfectant and a clean rag and began the process of sterilizing everything. As she did, she considered Casey’s offer.
She’d been volunteering at the center for more than four years. Yet only today, due to what Casey mentioned was an increase in her confidence, did she extend the idea of future employment.
Wow. What a difference a kiss could make.
Her mood soared as she finished her tasks and headed home. Since Cole had asked her to, she texted him as she walked out to her car.
Headed home. Think your kiss got me a job.
She grinned as she sent the message, then got into Champ and buckled in. When her phone chimed, she picked it up.
Got u a job as what??
Her smile widened as she typed her response.
Use your imagination.
She started the car and flipped on the heat. Just as she started to shift into reverse, her phone chimed again.
Been doing that all day.
That made her bite her lower lip. Was he joking around, or did he mean it? Was she really an object of Cole Parker’s fantasies?
Well, there was no harm in thinking that, was there?
She texted back, Me, too.
Then she pulled out of the parking lot and headed home. Her mind was fully on Cole as she drove. The sun was setting, reminding her that she’d have to throw something together for dinner when she got home. She’d also have to review any notes left by Jonette from earlier in the day in case there were any changes to her grandpa’s treatment plan.
As she pulled into the driveway, she realized there was a car parked there that she didn’t recognize. For a brief, exhilarating moment, she thought Cole had surprised her with a visit. Then she realized the car was a white Ford Taurus, something he would never drive.
Anxiety seized her as she quickly parked and grabbed her bag. She rushed up to the side door of the house, then stumbled to a halt when it opened. Her back teeth clamped together when she saw the person standing in the door’s frame.
“Hello, Everly,” her father said.
* * *
“Uncle Cole, who would win in a fight...Spiderman or Batman?”
Cole ducked as his five-year-old nephew, Sam, swung the two action figures in his hands to illustrate his question. As Sam was sitting right next to him on the sofa, Cole knew to watch for the maneuver. His nephew was nothing if not oblivious to the potentially breakable things around him.
“That, my man, is one of the all-time Jedi mind trick questions,” he said. “Pitting two heroes against each other? Just plain crazy.”
Sam considered that, pausing to look carefully from one action figure to the other. Then he said, “You’d pick Batman, right?”
“Hands down.”
“How come? Spiderman’s stronger ‘cause he got bit by the radio-dictive spider. Batman’s just a guy in a suit.”
Cole ruffled Sam’s dark hair. He was seriously in love with his sister Avery’s kid.
“Just a guy in a suit?” he repeated in an appalled voice. “You’re talking about The Dark Knight, my man. He’s a brilliant billionaire who can create every type of device ever needed to defeat Spiderman.”
Sam considered this. Then he slipped off the sofa and went to his pile of action figures on Cole’s parent’s carpet. When Avery rounded the corner, Batman was beating the pants off Spiderman in a brutal superhero battle. J.J. sat nearby, watching the action with a wagging tail. Cole figured the mutt was going to pounce any moment.
Avery rolled hazel eyes very similar to Cole’s own. “Did he ask who you thought would win in the Spiderman versus Batman battle?”
“We might have discussed it.”
“Who’d you pick?”
“That’s for me and Sam here to know,” Cole replied, winking at Sam. “No girls allowed.”
Making a pfffft sound, she knelt on the carpet and grabbed Sam’s hand as he went in for another body slam of Batman into Spiderman.
“Sam, honey, it’s time to go. I promised Daddy that we’d have dinner on by the time he gets home, and we’re already late. And before you argue, I’ll point out that dinner tonight is hotdogs and mac n’ cheese.”
Cole watched with open admiration as Avery collected Sam and his toys, worked around their parents’ typically lengthy goodbyes, and managed to get Sam into her two-year-old SUV without a single outburst from any front.
“Thanks for coming out,” he told his sister as she opened the driver’s side door of her vehicle. Sam was making bomb noises from the backseat. “I know it’s a hike for you.”
“Only an hour,” she said. “We’re always happy to see you.”
“And I feel guilty for not making the time to see y’all more often.”
She grinned and brushed her dark hair from her eyes. “So you should, especially with Christmas coming up. When you’re wondering what to tell your housekeeper to buy, I like Crate and Barrel or Pottery Barn and Sam will enjoy anything you would have loved at his age.”
“I do my own shopping, thank you very much,” he grumbled.
He just hadn’t done it yet.
“Uh-huh.” She reached out and hugged him. Then she leaned up and whispered in his ear, “Heads up, Mom’s on one of her missions. Code word: Grandbabies.”
He stilled. “Take me with you.”
“No way, little bro. I dealt with it while you were entertaining Sam. Now it’s your turn.”
/> “I’m too young to be a dad.”
“That excuse won’t hold up in Mom’s court. I was your age when Sam was born.”
Releasing her from their prolonged embrace, he asked, “Can’t you and Mike just pop out another one and save me from this misery?”
Her smile faded. “It’s not for lack of trying, Cole. These things happen when they happen. Look at what panned out for Mom and Dad...eight years between Wyatt and me and five years between me and you.”
“I’m sorry, Av,” he said, rubbing her shoulder. “I was just joking around. I’m a prize dumbass. It’ll take a forklift to unwedge my foot from my mouth.”
“Yeah, well, it’s not your fault that God gifted me and Wyatt with the brains,” she said. “Just cling to your guilt while doing your Christmas shopping and we’ll be all good.”
He returned her smile. “You can bet on it. Thanks for the warning.”
After he waved her off, he reluctantly turned back to the house. Since he’d already gotten the grand tour of his parents’ many home improvement projects, he didn’t hold out hope that he could distract his mother with that. Maybe he could convince his father to tackle another project while he was there. Could he make it seem that the downstairs bathroom urgently needed painting?
It spoke volumes that he’d rather paint a bathroom than endure his mother poking into his social life. She always got so hopeful when he mentioned dating someone. When his relationships didn’t work out, he usually felt worse about upsetting his mother than he did about the relationship ending.
He knew that she just wanted all of her kids to be happy. Wyatt and Avery were both in solid, committed relationships. Avery had Mike and Sam, and Wyatt and Rowan had discussed adopting a couple of kids once Prix Fixe was firmly off the ground. Now, at least in his mother’s mind, it was Cole’s turn.
His thoughts turned to Everly. He considered her disinclination to connect with people on a personal level. Then he thought about his outgoing family who tended to treat everyone like a long-lost friend, plying strangers with questions and offering support at every turn—even when it wasn’t wanted or requested.
He stopped in the driveway and considered the significance of that thought. Had he ever envisioned one of the women he’d dated meeting his family? He didn’t think so.
Yet he was thinking of his physical therapist that way. He thought of her constantly, actually. Hell, he was even wearing the T-shirt she’d worn to bed just so he could have the scent of her with him.
So what in the world did all of that mean?
Chapter 25
As he entered the house from the garage, his phone buzzed. He pulled it out as he stepped into the aromatic kitchen and saw that Everly had texted.
Headed home. Think your kiss got me a job.
“What has you smiling like you just won a prize?” his mother asked from her position at the stove. She was stirring something in a saucepan.
“Just a text.” He sat at the table in his parents’ eat-in kitchen as he texted Everly back.
“From anyone I know?”
“Don’t think so,” he said as he waited for Everly’s reply. When it came through, he had to read it twice to make sure he hadn’t misunderstood.
Use your imagination.
Was Ms. Wallace actually cyber-flirting with him?
“You’re being deliberately vague,” his mother said as he typed in his reply to Everly. She pointed at him with the wooden spoon she held, instantly invoking a guilty hunching of his shoulders. “It’s making me suspicious. Are you texting a girl?”
“Geez, Mom. I’m not fifteen anymore. I don’t text girls.”
“All right. A woman, then.”
He read Everly’s response of Me, too and almost laughed. He wondered if her imagination was as vivid as his.
Since it was awkward to indulge in a sexual fantasy while sitting in his parents’ kitchen, he stuck his phone back in his pocket and stopped putting off the inevitable.
“Yes, I was texting a woman. No, I’m not marrying her tomorrow with the intent of procreating and filling your house with grandbabies.”
She clucked her tongue and gave him The Look. “A mother has every right to know what her children are up to, Cole Dylan, regardless of their ages. I don’t deserve mockery because I care about you.”
Ugh. The dreaded two-name call-out.
He sighed and got to his feet. Then he walked over to her and kissed her on the cheek. “I know, Mom. I’ve been on a streak with saying dumbass things, so you’ll have to forgive me.”
“You know I don’t like that kind of language,” she chastised. Then she looked sideways at him. “But you were being a dumbass.”
“That I was. You got any beer around here?”
“Top shelf on the left. I wouldn’t mind one myself, actually.”
He grabbed two bottles and twisted off the tops, carrying them over to the table. “Come on, Mom. Take a load off for a few.”
“Don’t mind if I do,” she said, reducing the flame on the gas stove and covering the saucepan. After peeking in the oven, she joined him at the table and lifted her beer. “To dinner with my baby boy.”
He touched the neck of his bottle with hers and took a swig. Then he gestured at her. “Go on. I know it’s killing you.”
She had the grace to look mildly embarrassed. Then she shrugged. “All right. Who’s the gir—woman you’re texting?”
“Her name is Everly Wallace.”
A line appeared between her eyes. “Everly? There’s a student Wyatt mentions every so often with that name.”
“That’s her. We met through Wyatt, actually. Everly isn’t only a student of his. She works at Prix Fixe.”
“Oh.” She took a sip of her beer. “A waitress?”
He tried not to get irritated over the slight tone of judgment in those two words. Everly worked very hard as a server and put up with a lot of crap from people. She deserved everyone’s respect.
“Yes. She also volunteers at several sports rehab centers in the city. She’ll earn her doctorate in physical therapy by the end of next year.”
“Oh?” Now, she perked up. “A doctor, huh? Just how old is this woman?”
“She’ll be twenty-three in a couple months.”
“Goodness. She must be brilliant to achieve so much at such a young age.”
He smiled. “She is brilliant. And determined.”
“I see.” His mother studied his face in that way only moms can do. Then she asked, “How serious is your relationship with her?”
“Mom...”
“You know I’ll nag you until I find out. Has she been to your house?”
He hesitated. His family knew that the mark of how serious he was about a woman was whether or not he invited them to his home. He’d never done so before. But Everly came to his house all the time for his treatment. There wasn’t a great way to dance around that.
“Well...”
His mother carefully lowered her beer after taking a sip. Her eyes widened. “She has?” She brought a hand to her chest. “Oh, my word. It must be serious. Why haven’t you brought her here so we can meet her?”
Dear Lord. This was getting out of hand.
“Mom, it’s not exactly like that, okay? Everly’s great and I enjoy spending time with her, but—”
“Cole Dylan, are you sleeping with this young woman?”
“Geez, Mom.” He rubbed the back his neck. This line of questioning was worse than usual. “No.”
She folded her hands and just looked at him for a long moment. Every one of his transgressions from childhood until that moment flitted through his head under that intent stare. The local police should tap into her talent, Cole figured as sweat beaded on his forehead. She’d crack a hardened criminal inside of two minutes.
“Tell me more about her,” she said at last, taking another sip of her beer.
He barely avoided letting out a huge, pent-up breath. “Okay. What do you want to know?”
“Where’s she from? Where does she live? What’s her family like?”
“She’s originally from the Atlanta area. She lives with her grandpa, Jake Wallace, not too far from the stadium. He’s got pulmonary issues, so she helps take care of him. The money she earns at Prix Fixe goes toward paying for his in-home nurse and the special equipment and evaluation he needs.”
His mother’s face softened. It was subtle, but he noticed it. His shoulders relaxed a fraction.
“That must be hard,” she murmured. “So much responsibility for such a young person. Is there no one else to help?”
“No.” He hoped she didn’t ask for specifics about Everly’s family. Even he didn’t have all of those answers. “It’s just her and Jake.”
“I see. Has she asked you for any money to help in her grandfather’s treatment?”
He frowned. “No.” Although he was paying her a lot of money for her services, he knew in his gut that Everly wouldn’t ever ask him for a dime. “She’s not like that.”
“All right.” She finished her beer and got to her feet, returning to the stove. “Do you think Everly and Jake would like to come here for Christmas dinner?”
The question surprised him. “Um, I don’t know.”
“Why don’t you ask them?”
He thought again of Everly interacting with his family. Outside of the fact that it might make her uncomfortable, there was an even bigger element to consider. Inviting her here as the woman he was dating put his relationship with her in an entirely different light. Right now, she was his physical therapist whom a few people thought he was dating because they needed a cover story. He wasn’t about to invite a pretend girlfriend to Christmas dinner.
The first question in his mind was whether he wanted to maintain the pretense and end things with Everly when she went back to school.
The second question was, could he?
Chapter 26
“What are you doing here?” Everly asked her father in response to his greeting.
The XOXO New Adult Collection: 16 Full Length New Adult Stories Page 45