Page 57 of Perfect Fling
“Nothing.” He took two steps forward, and she stopped him, putting a hand on his arm.
“Tell me.”
He raised an eyebrow. “How do you read me so damned well? I’m an undercover agent, for God’s sake. I’m good at hiding things.”
She grinned, pleased he thought she could get past any façade he tried to erect. “I’m just good at knowingyou. Now talk.”
He let out a groan. “I don’t do this. See family. Hang out with friends. Just... be.”
Her heart twisted at his hesitantly admitted words. “I know. Just try it. If, after a little while, you want to leave, just get my attention and tug on your ear. I’ll take the hint and make an excuse to go. Fair?”
“More than fair.” He slid his hand over her cheek, cupping her face and holding her in place for a kiss that was rich for all he didn’t say, but there was a wealth of feeling behind it.
***
Friends and family.Cole might not know from them, but he spent the day surrounded by both. Nick had invited everyone from his mother and sister, April, to people Cole hadn’t seen or spoken to in years. There were the three Barron brothers: Ethan, whom Nick remembered from high school, his brothers Nash and Dare, and their wives. Cole recognized some of the women too, including Ethan’s wife, Faith, who’d grown up in that mansion on the hill, and whose father was spending life in prison for a monster Ponzi scheme rivaling Madoff’s. Others were new to town, like Nash’s wife, Kelly, whose smart-mouthed teenage sister, Tess, joined them midway through the day. Dare, another cop and a friend of Erin’s, had married Liza McKnight, an architect.
Then there were the babies and toddlers running around, whose ages Cole couldn’t remember, never mind which kid belonged to which parent. Nick and Kate opened their home, happy to have everyone hanging out together, neither seeming the least bit overwhelmed by the sheer number of people or the noise level of the screaming, laughing, and sometimes crying kids.
Cole expected to feel so far out of his element, his skin would itch with the need to get back to what he knew—pretending to be someone else, living a lie, the pretense manageable because he was doing what he did best, doing his job for the greater good. And because he didn’t know how to do things any differently.
Today was giving him a glimpse of what he was missing. Hell, the past few weeks with Erin had been doing that too. And despite everything he’d once believed about himself, he couldn’t deny the appeal of his cousin’s type of life. The same one he was currently living. Except Cole’s current situation, just like his undercover one, was a pretense built on necessity. As soon as Erin didn’t need his protection anymore, Cole could go back to his old existence, which suddenly didn’t hold as much interest as it used to.
“Hey, you okay?” Nick asked, joining him on a lounge chair beside his, overlooking the lake.
“Fine. Just taking a breather.”
“Yeah, it can all be a bit much,” the other man said, laughing. “Where’s Erin?”
Cole tipped his head toward the pier Nick had built near the shallow part of the water. She, along with some of her friends—Macy included—were with the toddler-aged kids. Erin was holding one child beneath her little arms, despite the round tube encircling the girl’s stomach. Shrieks and laughter would occasionally reach his ears.
One thing was for sure—she looked... happy. No stress of a stalker anywhere in her beautiful face. Cole couldn’t tear his gaze from her bathing-suit-clad body. Though she’d chosen a one-piece that covered her stomach, it was cut high enough on her thighs and low enough on her cleavage to entice him and make his mouth water. Her long legs beckoned, reminding him of how they felt wrapped around his back as he slid into her hot, wet body.Shit,he thought, shifting in his chair to conceal what that thought did to him.
“Someone’s got it bad.” Laughing, Nick handed Cole a cold bottle of beer. “You two seem to have come to an understanding.”
Cole shrugged, still not used to personal conversations like these. Still, this was Nick. “Erin figures if we’re together right now, there’s no reason to hide it. Once her pregnancy becomes obvious, people will know I’m the father anyway.” He took a long pull of brew, which tasted good in the summer heat.
“Why do I hear abutcoming?”
Cole groaned. Wasn’t it obvious? “But my job hasn’t changed, and I’m not here to build white picket fences. I’m not built for that life.”
Nick raised an eyebrow. “You’re looking pretty comfortable surrounded by the proverbial one right now,” his cousin pointed out.
“It’s temporary. She knows that. So do you, asshole.”
Nick snorted. “Yeah, like Erin’s going to be easy to walk away from.” He gestured to the water, where Erin lifted her little charge up high and pressed her lips to the girl’s cheek, causing her to shriek with delight and kick her little legs in excitement.
Something warm unfurled in Cole’s chest. He told himself it was that she’d be a great mother to their kid, nothing more. “I do what I do. I’m not going to leave her here wondering when my cover’s over, when she’ll hear from me. Or if she’ll get a call that says my cover was blown and I’m not ever coming back.”
Cole shook his head, remembering the last guy whose wife had to receive that kind of news. No way would he put Erin through that hell.
“I still say it’s her call to make,” Nick insisted.
Cole exhaled hard. “That’s not how it is between us. It’s forced proximity and just sex.” He winced as he spoke the words that felt like a lie coming from his lips and a betrayal to everything Erin stood for.
Nothing about Erin wasjustanything. Still,whatever it is, for as long as it lasts, she’d said, and he’d agreed. If she’d developed deeper feelings for him, she was smart enough to keep them to herself because he’d made his future plans clear.
Nick tipped the bottle back and drank before addressing Cole. “Keep telling yourself that. I’m sure it’ll keep you warm when you’re undercover. I’m through hitting my head against a wall. Did I tell you I bought property on the edge of the lake and built a house on spec?”