planned on asking that question, because he was pretty sure he knew the answer, but suddenly he needed to hear it—out loud. From her lips. “I know he exasperates you, but you get along very well. You seem…close, still.”
“Yes, he does exasperate me. No, I’m not in love with him. But he’s Finn’s father. He’s always going to be in my life. Always. Because he’s always going to be in Finn’s life. So I’d rather it be pleasant for everyone concerned than adversarial.”
That all seemed eminently sensible, but no, I’m not in love with him was pretty much the only thing Cole heard. A very definitive answer to his question, and a flood of who-knew-the-fuck-what rushed through his veins.
She dropped her arms to her sides, suddenly brisk and businesslike again as she performed a half turn. “If we leave now, we can be in Credence by one and I can do another sand of the floor.” She headed in the direction of the exit, and he followed, both of them dodging clusters of people and their pull along bags. “Have you booked your flight home yet?” she asked, not taking her eyes off her path.
Like Cole needed any further indication she was trying to extricate herself from their…situation. “Not yet.”
She glanced at him then, the sweep of her gaze on his profile brief and quizzical. “When do you start?”
“If I take the job? Two weeks.”
Jane stopping dead in her tracks almost caused a collision with the woman following directly behind. It was only fast reflexes that prevented the crash, not that Jane seemed to register the near miss as she stared at him with a cranky little V between her brows. “You didn’t take the job?”
Cole also stopped but slid his hand on to her arm and urged her to keep walking beside him. “I’m thinking about it.”
“Why?”
“I…don’t know.” He should have said yes on the spot.
“But…what’s to think about?” she asked as they stepped out of the terminal, a blanket of heat instantly enveloping them, the smell of someone’s cigarette smoke adding to the mix as they came to a halt again away from the main entrance doors. “This is what you wanted, isn’t it?”
She looked genuinely perplexed, and it pissed Cole off. Sportscasting had been his best option at a life that still involved rugby, but did he want it? Really want it? He didn’t know. He wanted to be able to play rugby again, but even that ambition, when he looked at Jane, became fuzzy and indistinct.
He needed some distance so he could make the right decision for his career. And make it with his head, not his dick. Not his…feelings.
“Come on,” she said, sliding a hand onto his arm. “It’s this way.”
But Cole didn’t move. He couldn’t go back to Credence with her. Back to the house. Back to her bed. Because they would end up back in her bed and muddy the decision even further.
“I’m going to stay in Denver for a couple more days.”
“Oh. Okay.”
“Business,” he said, feeling crappy about being vague and lying, but he needed to sort his shit out, and he couldn’t do it with Jane filling him up twenty-four seven. Even now, her hand on his arm was being felt everywhere. “I’ll be back sometime in the week. Pick up my stuff and the rental car.”
Jane, Tad, and Finn had driven to Denver yesterday in her car rather than messing around with changing Finn’s car seat between the vehicles, and Cole had followed in Tad’s rental, which Tad had returned to the airport today.
“Sure.” She nodded, and it seemed evenly modulated and reasonable as she dropped her hand, but he could feel her take one more mental step back. And it was another little paper cut. “I can drive you somewhere if you like.”
“It’s okay. I’ll get an Uber.” He half turned and pointed behind him. “That’s them over there.”
“Okay. I guess I’ll…see you later?”
“Yup.” Cole jammed his hands in his pockets, shit scared he was going to show that he was much more affected by this than her by reaching over and scooping her up.
She gave him the saddest of smiles then, hinting at a thousand regrets, before taking two steps backward, turning away, and disappearing into the ebb and flow of the crowd.
Chapter Fourteen
Cole holed up in a suite at the Sheraton for two days.
What was the point of having money if he couldn’t splurge, right? The suite was the kind of luxurious he expected at a five-star