right? Maybe it was wrong to admit it, but everything was such a jumble right now. “You got a problem with that?”
It would be good if he did. Like…really good. The last thing she wanted was to keep kissing a guy who wasn’t really into it.
“Nope.” He shook his head slowly. “Not even a little bit.”
And damn if that denial didn’t worm itself right between her legs. “Okay, then,” she said and forced her feet to keep moving. She was almost at the door when his low voice floated to her on the sultry night air and her step, once again, faltered.
“What happens when we want more?”
“I won’t,” she denied. Except she would. God help her, she would.
“Yeah. Me neither.”
Jane had never heard less conviction in a voice—ever. But she was willing to cling to any denial right now, no matter how unconvincing.
…
Cole found it hard to believe that a little over a week ago he’d never met Jane Spencer. Had never known she existed. A week ago, he’d been on a plane, flying to the other side of the world to hole away from everything and everyone and feel sorry for himself in buttfuck nowhere while he waited on a job offer.
And, for all intents and purposes, he had. But there was more than hibernation going on in Credence, Colorado. Way more. And it felt…big.
A woman who knew her way around a toolbox, a woman with a kid, a woman who kept kissing him every night, then running away, had burst into his life and yanked him out of his pity party. A woman he hadn’t known a week ago and who he really should leave well alone.
Yet…he could think of little else.
Thank god for this rugby clinic today giving him something else to think about other than Jane’s declaration last night that kissing him may just become a regular occurrence. And how long before it went beyond kissing?
So far Jane had kept a pretty tight leash on what was happening on those steps. It was as if she was allowing herself a little indulgence each night before bed but no more. Rationing herself to only one wrapped chocolate from the box in case she got greedy and devoured the whole lot in one sitting. And Cole was 100 percent fine with that.
Kissing Jane was pretty much the best thing he’d ever done with his mouth.
But he definitely wouldn’t say no if she wanted to indulge in a little more. If she wanted to devour every last inch of him. And that was a problem, because while a fling might be a most excellent distraction from his woes and exactly what he needed right now, Jane Spencer had not been put on this earth to be Cole Hauser’s distraction.
She obviously had to be more circumspect about things, and he respected that.
It was clear Jane wasn’t someone open to a one-night stand or even a short-term fling. In his experience—and yes, thanks to rugby, he did have a bit of experience in this department—women who only wanted a quick tumble in the sheets were exceptionally forward about their desires, either verbally or physically. Which was fantastic. He’d been more than receptive to such an arrangement from time to time, and he admired women who were up-front about their needs.
He also knew when women wanted something deeper than physical fun, when they were after a relationship and weren’t prepared to indulge in one without the other, something that Cole also greatly admired. And he had, on a handful of occasions, gone there as well. There’d been a few longer-term girlfriends over the years.
But Jane was a curious mix of neither. She clearly did want him, did find it hard to resist him, but didn’t fall into the first group, despite it probably best suiting her circumstances because, he had little doubt, if Jane Spencer had set her heart on fucking him, Cole would already be well and truly fucked.
Hell, he’d have third-degree elbow burns right now from all their fucking.
Nor did she fit into the second group. She wasn’t hanging out for more; she wasn’t acting familiar; she wasn’t talking to him about dating and taking things slowly. In fact, she wasn’t talking to him at all. Not about their situation, anyway. About Finn, yes, and about a dozen inane topics when Finn was around, which was 90 percent of the time.
And during the other 10 percent? She was grabbing him and kissing him. But with absolutely zero suggestion they take