to her advance—quite the contrary—but she didn’t believe in giving guys mixed signals.
Hell, she didn’t believe in giving herself mixed signals.
Jane knew she had to say something. They couldn’t just sit here and pretend she hadn’t kissed him and he hadn’t kissed her back. She owed him an apology. She’d fessed up to being the instigator, but she hadn’t said sorry. And they really should clear the air.
Or, option B—pray for a giant bald eagle to come swooping down and carry her away.
“So that’s a yes to the rugby clinic?”
Jane blinked. Or option C—ignore it altogether? “Um…yes.”
“And I take it…” He turned his head to look at her, and there was that slight smile on those swollen lips again. “I’m cleared to look after Finn again tomorrow?”
She gave a confused kind of half laugh. Okay, they were going to ignore it. Jane couldn’t decide if she was relieved or not, but frankly, she was too chicken to push. “Yes.”
“And you still want a performance review tomorrow night?”
Oh dear god. Jane should not want that. She should run a mile from the mere suggestion of it. Cole was clearly capable of looking after Finn, and the last thing she needed was to revisit this…intimacy. Because that’s what it was between them, sitting on the steps side by side, drinking booze in front of an eastern Colorado sunset, their chemistry stirring like crazy.
Intimacy.
It’d been like that last night, too; she just hadn’t recognized it. But maybe Cole had. And that’s what he was really asking. Is it wise to put ourselves in this situation again?
Another very good question.
Jane did not want intimacy. She hadn’t been looking for it, nor could she afford to want it. Especially not with a guy who was here on vacation and lived on the other side of the planet. But, even now, she knew not even wild horses could keep her away from this porch tomorrow night. Because, as much as her head was telling her she didn’t want this kind of closeness with this man, her body was telling her something entirely different.
And, it turned out, her body was a demanding little hussy.
“Of course,” she said briskly, then tipped the bottle back and drained it dry in several long swallows. Standing on legs that felt much stronger than they had a few minutes ago, she mustered all her nonchalance. “This time tomorrow.”
And damn if it didn’t sound more like a promise than a threat.
…
It was two o’clock the next afternoon before Cole had more than a brief exchange with Jane. She had looked him straight in the eye with a daring kind of defiance earlier this morning, like she wasn’t going to apologize for anything—which suited Cole just fine; he hadn’t wanted nor expected her to—but her pink cheeks had betrayed her somewhat. As had her speedy handover of Finn and her even speedier exit out the door to the red sitting room.
She was clearly more rattled by their kiss last night than she was prepared to admit to him or maybe even herself. Cole could definitely relate. After her explicit no-more-kissing instructions to him the night before, her move had been unexpected. Especially when he’d been resisting the urge to do exactly what she’d done.
Because she’d asked him not to.
He’d busted his arse not kissing her. And then she’d laid one on him. He’d thought about that a lot today. Her contradictions. How she blew hot and cold. And the blatant attraction roaring between them. Also, he’d thought about that dress. How it had bared her shoulders and slid silkily over her legs, falling between her thighs, clinging to their outline. Apart from that first night in a tank top and her underwear, he’d only ever seen Jane in her work clothes of T-shirt, shorts, and boots.
Last night, she’d worn flip-flops.
After he’d taken Finn to the park, they went to the library. It was only a small library, but the summer break program was in full swing, and they just happened to luck upon children’s reading hour. Cole and Finn spent two hours there reading books and doing some art in the activity corner. Well, Finn had. Cole had just gone through the motions as his brain had relived that kiss.
Like it was now, when he should be concentrating on his supervision duties of Finn as he poured three glasses of milk. Pulling his brain back into line, Cole placed the glasses on the tray next to the plate of chocolate chip cookies. Finn had