“Well, we spent some time gettin’ to know each other,” Margaret said as she scooped the finished batch of pancakes onto a warming plate and began pouring more batter into the cast iron skillet on the stove.
Cole hadn’t thought to prep Everly for this type of conversation with someone who didn’t know about their professional relationship. Trying to act casual, he pulled down a mug and reached for the coffee pot.
“Did you?” he said at last.
“Yep,” Everly replied. “I told Ms. Margaret all about how you indoctrinated me last night.”
The coffee pot made a loud clatter as it almost fell from his hand. “
What?
”
Her eyes were bright with unissued laughter. “You know…into
The Avengers
fan club.”
He dipped his head and gave a look that said,
Really?
“What did you think I meant?” she asked, batting her eyelashes.
“Yeah, Mr. Cole,” Margaret chimed in. “Is there somethin’ else I should know?”
Shaking his head, Cole turned back around and filled his mug. “It’s too early for this conversation,” he grumbled. “How am I supposed to come up with a witty comeback when I have no caffeine in my system?”
Everly gestured with her fork as she stood up. “You’ll think of one this afternoon when no one’s around to appreciate it.”
“That’s a given.”
“No more pancakes, Ms. Everly?”
“No, thank you, Ms. Margaret.” Everly walked her plate over to the sink. “I’m stuffed. But they really were the best I’ve ever had.”
Margaret winked at her. “With that kinda talk, you’ll have to come back soon.”
“I hope to,” Everly said. She put her dishes in the dishwasher. “It was nice meeting you.”
“You, too, child.”
Cole set down his mug and walked with Everly to the guest bedroom. She was already wearing her workout clothes, which they had washed while
Iron Man
was playing. Her hair was in a braid today, he noticed. He rather liked it.
“Sorry I didn’t think to warn you about Margaret,” he said when they were alone.
His gaze fell on the black T-shirt of his that she’d worn as pajamas. She’d made the bed and left the folded shirt on top of it.
She picked up her coat and started putting it on, waving off his comment. “Don’t worry about it. Once I remembered where I was, I realized who was in my room. It only freaked me out for half a second.”
He rubbed the back of his neck and fought the urge to apologize again. “So, what did you tell Margaret so we have our stories in line?”
“The truth.” She buttoned up her coat and picked up her bag. “You invited me over to use your gym and we had dinner together, then watched a movie. When we realized the roads were iced, you offered to let me use a guest room.”
That made sense. Just leave out the part about the PT. He really needed more caffeine.
“Okay. I’ll walk you down.”
They headed downstairs after Everly gave Margaret another cheerful wave. When they walked past the pool, Cole smiled over the memories invoked from the night before. This was quickly becoming his favorite part of the house.
“Well, thanks for having me over,” she said when they reached the door.
“I’m glad you came.”
It occurred to him that it was going to be a couple of days until he saw her again due to their conflicting schedules. The thought dampened his mood.
“Is everything okay?” she asked.
“Yeah.” He forced a smile. “Be safe. The roads are probably still iffy.”
“I will. You, too. Have fun at your parents’.”
They stood there a long moment just looking at each other. Then he reached up and brushed the backs of his fingers across her cheek. Her pupils dilated slightly. He took that as enough of an invitation to kiss her goodbye.
Since she was quite tall in her boots, he didn’t have to bend far to reach her mouth. The sound of her bag hitting the floor was the last thing he registered. Then it was all about Everly.
Her taste. Her scent. Her exploring hands.
There was no hesitance on her part today. She boldly met the strokes of his tongue with her own. She even captured his lower lip in her teeth for a moment. The sound he made over that could only be described as a growl.
Once again, he separated them. His breath left him in ragged draws. She grinned from ear to ear.
“Thanks,” she said, reaching down and picking up her bag. “I’ll be thinking about that until we see each other again.”
He smiled. “Me, too.” Then he leaned forward and gave her a brief kiss on the lips. “Text me when you get to the center, okay?”
Somehow, her grin widened. “I will. Bye.”
He watched her leave, then headed upstairs. Margaret had finished with the pancakes, leaving them in the warmer for him to eat later, and had started cleaning the kitchen. Her gaze moved to him as he added some of the hot coffee to his mug and then went for the creamer. He felt like he was getting the third-degree even though she didn’t ask a thing.
“I didn’t sleep with her,” he blurted.
“That wasn’t hard to figure,” she said with a chuckle.
He frowned as he put the creamer back. He took a sip of his coffee, then said, “Everly’s not like other women.”
“Know that, too. Or she’d have been in your bedroom ‘stead of her own.”
He took another sip of coffee as he considered that. “All right then. So long as that’s clear. Guess I’ll get showered and head over to my parents’ house.”
“You’ll have to give ‘em my best.”
“I will.”
Before he left the kitchen, Margaret called his name. He turned and looked at her.
“I like her a lot,” she said.
He smiled. “I do, too.”
Chapter 24
Everly did daydream about Cole’s kisses the entire time she was at the rehab center. A couple of the employees she knew pretty well commented on her smile. She knew they were curious about the cause of her happiness, but she wasn’t about to tell them. It was fortunate that no one expected her to share anything personal since she never had in the past.
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?”