Second Chance Family - Cindy Kirk Page 0,40

so important. He swallowed past the dryness in his throat.

“As much as I initially didn’t want to live under the same roof with you,” she continued, “I’m happy it worked out this way.”

“Because you get to see me every day at my best?” He kept his tone light, though his eyes never left hers.

He didn’t flinch when her gaze took in his hair that was probably going in all directions. He even managed to hold steady when she let her gaze linger on his cheeks, which had to be dark with stubble by now.

“That’s definitely part of it.” Her lips curved into a slight smile. “But it’s not the number one benefit.”

Meg moistened her lips with her tongue, and his body surged in response. Was she speaking in cryptic terms of their time on the bed? He wondered why she didn’t just come out and say being in the same house would make it much easier for them to sleep togeth—

“Having the chance to coparent with you on a day-to-day basis has been the real blessing.”

What? Whoa. Coparenting?

This had to be some sort of joke.

“I’d forgotten what a nice guy you are.” A dusky pink settled on her cheeks. “Living here has shown me what a good father you’ll be.”

Though Cole had told himself he didn’t care what she thought of him—what she’d ever thought of him—the satisfaction surging through his veins told him he did.

“I—I think if we’d immediately set up separate households, it wouldn’t have been good for Charlie. I think seeing us getting along is helping him cope.” She straightened, the soft fabric of the sweater now hugging her large breasts.

Cole pulled his gaze away and cleared his throat, trying to decipher what she was really saying. Something about getting along was good for Charlie.

Admittedly, she’d fallen into the mother role with an ease he envied. And Charlie seemed to like her. “I agree.”

He thought of the DNA test kit that had come in the mail today and was now safely ensconced in his dresser drawer. Cole planned to do the test as soon as Meg was out running errands and he was alone with Charlie. Once the results came back and he could prove the boy was his biological child, his attorneys had the papers ready to petition for sole guardianship.

Cole was still determined to continue with that plan. This ease between him and Meg changed nothing. She would need to retain some role in his son’s life.

But what kind of role should that be? Contemplating the question made his head hurt.

A song playing on the radio in the background caught his ear. While checking out local country stations, he’d come across the one he’d always listened to when he’d been in high school.

Cole reached over and turned up the volume, then pushed himself to a standing position and held out a hand. “Care to dance?”

“What? Why?” she asked, yet rose to her feet without waiting for an answer.

“The station is playing classics tonight.” His hand closed over hers and he pulled her into his arms. They touched from chest to thighs, but by the time she opened her mouth to tell him she couldn’t dance, they were swaying to a romantic ballad tailor-made for slow dancing. “This song was number one on the charts the spring of our junior year.”

“How do you remember that?” She tilted her head as they moved side-to-side in a sensual rhythm.

Cole tried not to think about how good she felt in his arms.

“I’ve a good memory for songs,” he said simply. It was the truth, just not the whole truth.

They’d been seeing each other only a short time when he’d started saving his money. He’d planned to ask Meg to the junior-senior prom. Each time he heard a slow song on the radio he imagined himself holding her body close as they danced under the glittering mirror ball in the high school gymnasium.

Thankfully he’d found out what she really thought of him before he asked her. No one saw his disappointment. Living with a mean drunk had taught him the art of hiding his emotions.

Though Cole had told himself he no longer cared what Meg did or with whom, as the date for the big event drew near, he’d found himself wondering whose arms she’d be in that night. He’d concluded it would be Ed Rice. The guy followed her around like a lovesick puppy.

Then her parents had been killed. Neither she nor Travis went to prom that year. And