be shuttled back and forth between two houses; he’d be with him. With his father. But too much had already been said on the topic. Changing the subject seemed wise.
“I like it here, too.” Cole spoke in a hearty tone, hoping Meg would pick up on it and play along. “My bed is so comfortable that it’s difficult for me to get up in the morning. In fact, right now I’m thinking about sinking into that soft mattress and taking a nap.”
“Naps are for babies,” Charlie asserted, though Cole could see the lines of fatigue around the boy’s eyes.
“No one ever told me that,” Meg said. “I take naps all the time.”
Cole pretended to yawn. “I think I’m going to stretch out on that big bed of mine and rest my eyes.”
“Maybe we could all rest our eyes for a few minutes?” Meg said.
“I’m all for it.” Cole forced an extra-hearty tone.
“I’ve an idea.” Charlie bounced up and down on the sofa. “We’ll all take a nap together on Uncle Cole’s bed. Doesn’t that sound like fun?”
Out of the corner of his eye, Cole caught the look of startled surprise that skittered across Meg’s face. Because the light had returned to Charlie’s eyes, Cole shoved aside his own misgivings and grinned. “Great idea, son. What do you say, Meg? Care to join me in bed?”
Chapter Eight
Meg kept her arms firmly plastered to her side and tried to tell herself that lying on top of Cole Lassiter’s bed was no big deal.
After all, Charlie was between them and she had on all her clothes. Not to mention the California king went on forever. You could easily have five people on it and they’d never touch. Which was good because touching Cole was the last thing on Meg’s mind this afternoon.
She’d heard the challenge in his voice when he’d asked if she wanted to join him in bed. He’d been taunting her. Confident she’d turn him down. Which she wouldn’t have had trouble doing if it hadn’t been for Charlie and the pleading look in his eyes.
Talking about her and Cole going their separate ways and sharing custody had been an error in judgment. Charlie had lost his parents only weeks ago. To even mention more change to the boy at this time didn’t make any sense.
Cole realized it, too. She knew that’s why he’d started talking about naps. And why the three of them were now lying on his bed with the shades drawn.
Meg closed her eyes. She’d almost drifted off to sleep when Cole murmured something to her, something she couldn’t quite hear. Hoping he didn’t expect to have a conversation with Charlie already asleep between them, Meg pushed herself up on one elbow.
She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that his eyes were shut and his lips now silent. She hadn’t realized that he talked in his sleep. Of course, that was understandable considering they’d never spent the night together.
Even when they’d been sneaking around seeing each other, she hadn’t known all that much about him. Oh, she’d known that he loved animals and had a sense of humor in sync with her own. She knew he had a lot of friends and rarely said an unkind word about anyone. He’d even befriended Chip before championing the underdog was cool. Still, what made him tick had remained a mystery.
Other than the time he’d confided that he had difficulty reading, he’d shared very little personal information. The fact that he’d graduated from college and started his own successful business made her wonder if the confession had been merely a ploy to make her think he was sharing something of importance with her.
She’d believed him. Had worried about his reading difficulties. And, though Cole had sworn her to silence, she’d even sought the advice of her father—an English teacher at the local high school—on how to help someone who’d reached seventeen without being able to read well. Her father had asked who this person was, but all she’d told him was “a friend,” not wanting to betray Cole’s confidence.
It hadn’t mattered. Within days of his confession, in fact the day after he’d taken her innocence in the backseat of that old Chevy, he quit calling. When she saw him in school he walked by as if she didn’t exist.
Being young and foolish and convinced she was in love, she’d waited a couple of days before tossing aside her pride and calling him. She’d realized it was over when he