white towel that sat on the table and dabbed her forehead. “Why are you really here?” He’d come all the way from his restaurant in Toronto, when usually nothing could make the man take a day off work. Not to mention they were two weeks away from launching his new project—the Madewood Boys and Girls Club. A project born out of guilt and anger because one of the students in his cooking program had been stabbed.
He puffed out his chest and crossed his arms over those hard pecs. “I’m here because…”
“Because?” Her fingers wrapped around the arms of the lounger, and her stomach tensed. Was he finally going to open up and tell her something, anything, that resembled a true emotion?
In an unsurprising move, he simply shook his head as if shaking off the rest of the sentence. “You need a partner to win the Foster Cup.”
Be still my fucking heart.
He was here…for her.
To help her win the Foster Cup—the trophy given out to the winner of her father’s ridiculous sporting challenge at the annual family vacation. That damn trophy still didn’t have her name on it. Because she hadn’t won—ever—not once in twenty years. She’d certainly bitched about it at work enough for him to remember. And boy, did she need his help. She’d already been partnered with her niece, Sara, for this morning’s challenge.
And that was why she never won. All her siblings were happily paired off with their competitive, athletic spouses, and that left her to partner with one of the kids.
“Oh, I get it.” She kicked her legs over the side of the lounger and slipped her feet into her beige, plastic flip-flops. When she looked up, he was eyeing her choice of footwear with a confused look. “You’re here to help poor Penn. She’s too spazzy to win the cup and needs help from a big, strong man.”
His hands clenched. “You’re not spazzy.” He shrugged. “Maybe just unlucky?”
She snorted. “And you’re going to be my good luck charm?”
A group of kids ran past them and jumped into the pool. Cole dodged out of the way and a splash narrowly missed him, but the ricochet of the water hitting the concrete had a welcome cooling effect against her hot skin.
She gathered up her sunscreen and water bottle and threw it in her cerulean-colored straw bag. She sighed and stood. “Look, Cole, I appreciate the offer, but there are rules, and you can’t just show up and help me.”
The Foster Cup had started off as innocent family fun, but became increasingly more competitive—and embarrassing for her—as the years went by.
“Let me help you.”
If she had Cole on her team, she’d have a really good chance at winning.
For the very first time.
Not to mention other intriguing possibilities.
“It’s not that easy. My father…he’s…”
She’d spent her entire adult life trying to be the opposite of her parents and her siblings. It might be selfish, but there was a method to her madness. Her loving family of six had been outwardly picture-perfect—mundane and boring. Inwardly, however, they were critical and judgmental.
As soon as she’d had the opportunity to fly the coop, she did, choosing not to follow in her father’s footsteps but follow her own interests. Instead of teaching credentials, she earned degrees in both public relations and marketing. Her first job out of college was as an assistant copy editor for a marketing firm. But she’d ended up having an affair with her boss, and when she’d gotten promoted for no good reason other than her skills in pillow talk, she severed the relationship and found another job. There was no way she was going to build a career on her knees.
Which was why Cole being here wasn’t such a great idea. The man had been her temptation for the last three years, and while she refused to let anything real happen, she could have told him every dirty thought she’d ever had about him and it wouldn’t have made a difference. She loved teasing him because he was so cranky and easily embarrassed, and they’d slowly become friends, but the man was impenetrable. Completely immune to her charms.
Which was why there was no reason for him to be standing here next to the pool with her on vacation.
A squeal pierced her eardrums like an air raid. She knew exactly who that squeal belonged to. “Pennie!”
She froze. “Oh. Shit.”
“Pennelope!”
“Go away,” she ordered Cole through gritted teeth. “Go before they see you.” She pulled at his bicep and yanked him, but