Page 55 of Perfect Fling
And him learning to rely on things from another human being. Erin had begun to do his laundry, something he’d tried unsuccessfully to prevent. She was doing hers anyway, and since she came home from work and had a routine she followed, he’d started to let her scoop up his towels and things along with her own. She left him the newspaper to read because she only scanned the comics and “Dear Abby,” a weird choice for such a bright woman, but it amused him to watch her small smiles as she read while she devoured his food.
Little things that he’d miss when he was gone. None of which meant he wanted this psycho to continue to toy with her life. The very thought made his blood boil. Nobody wanted to catch this bastard more than he did, but her brothers were at a standstill.
To top things off, he’d gotten a couple of voicemail messages from his boss, asking when he’d be ready to go back under. Normally the answer was yesterday, but no way would he leave Erin alone when she was being stalked. And with the baby on the way, he admitted to needing time to get his head on straight. Not that he’d tell his superiors any such thing. He wanted space, and after the years he’d put in, he was entitled.
He’d just served them both and was about to call Erin when the doorbell rang. Knowing she’d learned not to answer, he felt for his weapon and headed to see who was there at ten o’clock on a Sunday morning.
A look outside and he froze.
“Who is it?” Erin asked from the top of the stairs.
“Jed.” Cole didn’t turn around.
“Oh. Umm, I’ll let you handle it,” she said, and he sensed rather than saw her head back to her room. He appreciated the privacy since nothing about this visit could possibly be good.
Cole opened the door and faced his old man.
“You took your sweet time letting me in.”
“Good morning to you too. What brings you by? Want to see Erin?” he asked, on the slight chance he could avoid the inevitable confrontation.
He shook his head. “I had breakfast with Ella and Simon. ’Course I knew you were here playing bodyguard. Despite it all, I figured you’d take decent care of Erin, but damn it all, couldn’t you keep it in your pants?”
Cole grabbed his father by his good arm and pulled him inside. In a public condo unit, he didn’t need Erin’s older neighbor coming outside and getting an earful.
“None of this is any of your business,” he said, shutting the door behind Jed.
His father ran his good hand through his hair. The cast had been removed on his other arm, leaving him with just a sling. “You feeling okay?” Cole asked him.
“What do you mean, it’s none of my business? She’s the daughter of my best friend, the former police chief of this town. Not to mention an assistant DA.”
“Still don’t see where it’s your business,” Cole said, then mentally counted to ten to calm his temper. “Do you think I planned this? And before you ask, of course I used protection, so don’t go there.”
“You’re still a goddamned moron. Who do you think you are, touching a girl like her?”
Cole set his jaw. “She’s a woman, Dad. It was mutual.”
“She’s a damned nicewoman,” Jed barked at him. “You should have known better than to lay a hand on her. You’re just going to hurt her when you leave her high and dry.”
“That’s between Cole and me, don’t you think?” Erin walked down the stairs, dressed for a day at his cousin Nick’s cabin on the lake. “Sorry, Cole, but I couldn’t help overhearing, and there’s no way I’m going to let him pin all this on you.”
Cole’s head began to throb. “Erin, go back upstairs.” She didn’t need to hear his father beat up on him once again. And he didn’t need her sticking up for him or attempting to fight a battle he’d long since learned he couldn’t win.
She shook her head. “It’s my house; that gives me some rights. Jed, if you’d like to stay and congratulate us on having a baby, that’s great. If you came to cause trouble, I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”
Cole was torn between admiration and frustration.
“Erin, I’ve known you since you were a little girl. What were you thinking?”
She tipped her head to one side, eyeing his father as she would a defendant in a courtroom—much like he envisioned her going after a bug she wanted to squash. Cole decided his father deserved whatever he was about to get.
“I was thinking I couldn’t find a better man than your son to sleep with when I was lonely.”
Cole didn’t know which admission hit him harder, that she found him a good man even then, or that she’d gone to Joe’s that night because she’d been looking for company.
He didn’t have time to chew on either because she wasn’t finished with Jed. “And until you can find it in yourself to see Cole the way I do, you aren’t welcome here.” She stepped around Jed and opened her front door, making it perfectly clear she wanted the older man gone.
“I see my son’s manners are rubbing off on you. Your mama would be disappointed.”