Evan studied her, his gaze warm, full of more admiration than anything else, and she wasn’t uncomfortable. Maybe they could repair their friendship, after all.
“That man so does not deserve you,” Evan said.
She stepped back and leaned against the counter. “Can we please not discuss Cole?” To her mortification, her voice cracked on his name.
“I told him if he hurt you, I’d kill him.”
“He didn’t hurt me. Not in the way you think. He never lied, led me on, or told me I could expect more. That’s all on me.”
Evan wrapped a friendly arm around her shoulder. “Come on. Let’s go sit down.”
She liked this side of Evan, she thought, as she walked with him to her family room.
“Well, this is unexpected.”
Erin jumped at the sound of Cole’s voice, and Evan stiffened.
“Ever hear of ringing the bell, Sanders?” Evan asked.
“The door was partially open.” Cole shot a look at Erin that said she ought to know better.
Erin’s breath lodged in her throat. So much for distance making it easier to deal with him. He looked delicious in a black T-shirt and jeans, and her heart swelled with happiness before she immediately reminded herself he didn’t want a life with her—and sex wasn’t enough.
“What are you doing here?”
She watched as he visibly blew out a long breath, then clenched and unclenched his fists in an obvious effort to control his temper over finding her with Evan. She didn’t make it easy for him, instead waiting for an answer.
“I need to talk to you,” he said at last.
Erin wondered if Kelly had been in touch with him already.
Evan stepped away from Erin. “Are we all finished?” he asked.
“Yes, I think we covered everything.”
Evan nodded. “Then I’ll go and let you two talk.”
Cole’s jaw worked back and forth but he said nothing.
A part of her had expected Evan to get into an argument with Cole, but surprisingly her boss didn’t bait him.
“Take care of yourself. Don’t come back until you’re ready.” He turned to Erin and kissed her cheek.
Cole growled but Erin ignored him. So much for Evan not provoking, she thought wryly.
“Thanks for being so understanding,” she said, walking him to the door.
She waited until Evan had left before turning to face Cole. Hands behind her back, she leaned against the now-closed front door.
He stared back, his eyes warm, his lips almost turning upward in a smile. Not Cole’s normally deep, serious, unapproachable look. No, tonight it was Erin going for unapproachable, and she prayed she succeeded.
“Are we really going to do this awkward thing?” He gestured between them. “I mean, I can stand here and stare at you all night, but you’re supposed to be resting.”
She frowned. “How would you know?”
He raised an eyebrow. “I spoke to your lawyer on the way here.” No hint of a smile this time.
“Oh.” She swallowed hard. “Maybe sitting down is a good idea.”
“Nervous?” he asked, following her back to the family room.
Erin settled into her normal place on the sofa. Cole didn’t take the chair everyone else usually did. Instead he sat beside her. So close his thigh touched hers. She shut her eyes and forced air into her lungs. Big mistake, since his musky, masculine scent overwhelmed her, making her want to crawl into his arms, bury her face in his neck, and drink him in.
“I asked if you were nervous.” He stretched his arm along the back of the sofa, too close to her neck. Her skin tingled at the whisper of sensation he effortlessly evoked.
“Why would I be?” Her voice sounded rough to her own ears.
“Your lawyer called me about custody agreements, visitation, and child support.” The words rumbled out of him on a low growl.
“I thought we should finalize things quickly, before you go undercover again.”
He nodded as if he understood, but those warm eyes of his were boring into hers, and now she was nervous.
“What makes you think I’m going back under? How would you know what I plan, when you won’t take my calls? Answer my texts? When you wouldn’t see me in the hospital after you were nearly killed?” he asked, the tension suddenly radiating from him in waves.
“Are you saying you’re not?” she asked.
“I’m the one asking questions. How would you know what I’m doing? What I want?”
“I wouldn’t.” She swallowed hard. “But I thought I did. You told me when the threat was over, you were leaving. Well? The threat was over. I was just making a clean break.” She folded her arms across her chest.
“What if that’s not what I want?” He reached out, grasped her around the waist, and pulled her onto his lap.
She blinked, stunned. “This isn’t a good idea.”
“Hear me out.”
“Not while I’m sitting on your lap.”
“Trust me.”
She opened her mouth, then closed it once more. “Talk, and make it quick.” Before she started squirming against him.
“I’m not leaving you, our baby, or Serendipity.” He pushed her hair off her shoulder, kissing the sensitive skin of her neck. She shivered but was determined to remain in control.
“You have a job.”
“I quit.”
She straightened her shoulders. “I . . . you . . . what?”
“I quit. Went to the city and did it in person.”
Erin’s eyes opened wide. “Why?”
“Isn’t it obvious?”
She shook her head, afraid to think, to breathe, and lose the moment or find out she was dreaming. “Maybe it’s obvious to you, but to me this has come out of left field.”
He placed his hand beneath her chin and turned her face toward him. “I love you, Erin. It’s that complicated . . . and that simple.”
A wave of dizziness assaulted her. “You love me. Enough to quit your job and settle in Serendipity.”
Cole nodded, but he knew a simple yes wasn’t enough for this bright woman. “I love you, yes. I also love the fact that you fought for me. For us. That you opened my eyes to what I was missing, and to what I needed.”
She expelled a breath of air, a small sigh escaping. He leaned in and kissed her parted lips. “What do you need?” she asked.
“You, sweetheart. I need you and everything that you bring with you. You gave me back my father, or at least a shot at having him; you showed me I could have a life, friends, a family. You make me feel like I matter, and I want to give you anything you want in return. Even if that’s just a pancake breakfast.”
“Oh, Cole. I love you too.”
Her eyes sparkled with laughter and happiness, and the knot that had settled in Cole’s chest since the shooting finally eased.
“Besides, I never did learn to cook,” she said with a grin.
“Say yes to me and you’ll never have to.”
Erin leaned back to look him in the eyes. “Say yes to what?” she asked, more serious than he’d ever seen her.
He reached into his pocket for the other thing he’d taken care of in Manhattan and pulled out a small jewelry box. “You’re already having my baby. Marry me—”
A huge smile lit her face. “Yes!”
A light airy feeling he didn’t recognize suffused him and he realized what it was. Happiness, something he’d never before truly experienced. She’d given him that too.
“Are you sure?” he asked, teasing her. “You haven’t even seen the ring.”
“That’s just icing on the cake. All I ever wanted was you.” She ran her hand down his cheek. “But go ahead. Show me.”
He snapped open the velvet box, revealing a solitary diamond in a white-gold band. Simple yet elegant, like the woman herself.
“How can you . . . I mean . . . it’s—big!”
“I never had anyone to spend money on before.” He slipped the ring o
nto her finger, knowing it would fit perfectly. He’d already asked her father for his blessing and her mother for Erin’s ring size.
“Oh my God.” She held out her hand, admiring the glittering diamond. “I love it because you gave it to me.”
One more thing, he thought, drawing a deep breath. “I bought us Nick’s spec house.”
“What?!” she squealed in excitement. “Why?”
“You love it, for one thing. For another, we’ve already lived there together and you have to admit, it’s a perfect fit for our family.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him close and kissing him hard. “I don’t know what to say. You’re right. It’s perfect for us, our baby.” She sighed softly. “Our family.”
He held her close and nodded, groaning in satisfaction. “It’s just more icing, honey.”
She laughed. “Are you sure you won’t miss the job?” she asked, sobering.
“I’m starting a business I know will work well. I’ll explain it later, but it involves security and a lot of guys I used to work with over the years. I’ll be fine. Want to know why?”
She nodded.
“Same answer every time. Because I have you. Everything else—”
“Is just icing,” they said at the same time.
“I love you,” she said, sliding her hand beneath his shirt.
“I love you too.”
Erin snuggled into his lap, her arms around him, her head on his shoulder, and Cole knew the icing was nice, but she was all he needed or would want. Ever.
Epilogue
“Are you sure the baby seat is strapped in right?” Cole asked, both hands on the steering wheel of the brand-new GMC Ford Yukon he’d bought to bring the baby home from the hospital. “Is she buckled in?”
“It’s fine. She’s fine.” Erin stared at the bundle wrapped in pink, strapped into her car seat, blissfully unaware that her daddy was freaking out in the front seat.
Erin, sore from the experience of bringing their beautiful baby girl into the world, looked at her husband and managed a laugh. She’d opted to sit in the back with the baby while he drove them home from the hospital.
Not only did they have a new truck, fully loaded and very safe, according to Cole, but they had a new digital SLR camera with home movie capabilities, and the house had been wired with video cameras so they could watch the baby in any room. To say Cole had lost his mind was an understatement.
But Erin loved every minute of his involvement, knowing what a change it was from the solitary, withdrawn, disinterested man he’d been when he came back to Serendipity.
“You okay?” he asked.
“Glad you remembered I had something to do with this too,” she said, chuckling.
“Oh, I remember. Every last second of making her to you giving birth to her.”
Erin tried her best not to blush. It might be natural, but it was still a mortifying moment, at least until the pain had wiped every last thought from her head.
But she was worth it, Erin thought, stroking her daughter’s cheek, enthralled with her soft skin and tiny features. She wasn’t paying attention, and it seemed like only seconds had passed when Cole pulled into the garage of the house, shutting the electric door behind them.
A few minutes later, he’d helped Erin out of the car and placed the baby in her arms. He let her go ahead, and she slowly made her way upstairs. Although the baby had her own room, they’d agreed to keep her in their bedroom, at least for a little while.
They settled her into the bassinet and Erin eased herself onto the bed.
Cole joined her, stretching out beside her. “Your parents wanted to be here when you came home, but I talked them into waiting until this afternoon.”
Erin grinned. “Good thinking.” It would have been too much to have people here waiting for her, even if it was her mom and dad.
Ella and Simon had been at the hospital, so they hadn’t been deprived of time with their granddaughter.
“I wanted my girls all to myself for a little while.” His eyes were alight with joy, and Erin hoped she’d never again see the bleakness that had been there nine months ago.
“Say that again,” she said, staring into his handsome face.
“What?”
“My girls.” Erin would never get tired of hearing him refer to them that way.
“You are my girls. You were mine since the day I laid eyes on you at Joe’s. I was just too stubborn to admit it.”
She smiled. He was that. “I’m just glad we were able to pull off the wedding before she was born.”
“I still wish you’d had a big wedding with all the trimmings. You deserve that.”
Erin shook her head. “I deserve you.”
They’d had a small wedding at the house on December 15, with Erin’s family. Cole’s mother and Brody had come—and to everyone’s surprise, so had Jed, who had been on his best behavior. He hadn’t stayed long, but he’d witnessed the ceremony, and they took what they could get from him.
“My dad gave me away and I walked down the aisle to you. The rest would have been icing.” She loved that expression of his. “And you give me enough of that every day.” She cupped his cheek in her hand. “I love you,” she said, her voice catching. She shook her head. “Sorry. I’m still overly emotional.”
He clasped her hand in his. “You think I’m not? Never, not once in my life, did I think I’d have . . . this.” He swept his arm around for emphasis. “I didn’t think I deserved it.”
That truth never failed to upset and anger her. “You were so wrong.”
“It’s in the past.” He brushed a kiss over her lips.
“Not far enough if you can still remember it,” she muttered.
He grinned. “Did I ever tell you I love how protective you get of me?”
“You might have mentioned it once or twice.” Each time she’d put Jed in his place, she thought, and it had been more than just once or twice.
“He’s trying and you know it. What’s that expression? You can’t teach an old dog new tricks? But he’s getting better. He catches his own slips now.”
She frowned. She thought Cole was too forgiving of Jed’s personality, but she supposed he had a point. The older man had stepped up, making an effort to be more of a father and to get rid of his bad attitude, but sometimes things slipped. That’s when she couldn’t help but step in and call him on his behavior.
Cole ran his fingers through her hair. She’d been letting it grow, and he liked to wrap the longer strands in his hand. “Jed’s coming over with your folks later too.”
“So are Mike and Cara, and Sam.”
Cole met her gaze. “Umm, Nick and Kate asked if they could stop by too.”
Erin burst out laughing. “For a man who didn’t like to be surrounded by people, you sure have done a one-eighty.”
“I do love our families, but I’d much rather be alone with you. Don’t worry, I’ll kick them out in due time.”
She grinned. “I’ll hold you to that.”
A small squeaking noise sounded from the bassinet, and Cole shot to a sitting position before Erin could manage to roll over. She is going to be one spoiled little girl, Erin thought, smiling.
“Is my Angel hungry?” he asked, his face and voice softening when he talked to his tiny daughter.
The squeaks turned into a full-fledged wail. “I think she wants you,” he said, laughing, as Erin unbuttoned her blouse.
He handed her to Erin. “Her name fits, you know.” They’d named her Angela, but already Cole had taken to calling her Angel, and Erin knew the nickname would stick.
He nodded. “She’s my Angel, just like you are.”
Erin smiled up at him. “And that makes us both very lucky girls.” Lucky in life, lucky in love.
Like Cole, she never dared to dream she could be this happy, or thought she deserved so much, but she’d do everything she could to appreciate her good fortune—and remind Cole every day of all the reasons he was w
orthy of it all too.
And now a special excerpt from Carly Phillips’s next Serendipity’s Finest novel . . .
Perfect Together
Coming February 2014 from Berkley Books
“There is no way in hell I’m going on a date with Margie Simpson.” Sam Marsden glared at his sister-in-law, Cara, from across their respective desks at the Serendipity police station, unable to believe she’d make such a ridiculous request.
“Her last name is Stinson and you know it.” Cara frowned back at him. “Come on, Sam. Her parents are the biggest donors for the Women’s Heart Health Valentine’s Fund-raiser, and the Serendipity Police Department is a co-sponsor. Do you want to be the one to tell the hospital, who will be the recipient of that shiny new medical equipment, that the Stinsons pulled their donation because one of our Finest wouldn’t escort their daughter?”
“She’s more like a pit bull,” Sam muttered. “And isn’t there another single cop you can get to take her? What about Hendler?”
“He’s too old.”
“Martini?”
She shook her head. “Too young. Besides, Margie wants to go with you.”
He shuddered. “All the more reason for me to say no. I don’t want to give her the wrong idea.” Margie was one of those women who assumed that just a look implied male interest. Sam didn’t want to go there. No way, no how.
“Are you giving my wife a hard time?” Sam’s brother, Mike, strode over to Cara’s desk and placed a possessive hand on her shoulder.
“More like she’s giving me one. Call her off, will you?” Sam asked his older brother.
Mike laughed and shook his head. “I like my life just the way it is. Sorry, bro. You’re on your own.”
Sam rolled his eyes. Ever since his bachelor brother had fallen—hard—for Sam’s sometime partner and best friend, Cara, he was now wrapped around his wife’s cute little cowboy boots—when she wasn’t in uniform, that is. Where she went, Mike followed. Sam was happy for him, except that his single friends were dwindling fast. First Dare Barron, then Mike and Cara, and even their sister, Erin, had fallen.
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