“You don’t mind?” she asked as they walked back toward the slush around his truck. Simultaneously, she stared off after the Windham’s large snowmobile trailer leaving the lot. Cole’s truck started before they reached it, impressing her once again.
Cole opened the door for her. Saylor did her best to kick snow free of the soles of her boots before climbing in. Assuring himself that she was settled, he closed the door and crossed to his side.
Warm air blasted Saylor. She closed her eyes, letting it sink into the chill threatening its way into her bones.
“Remember the trail I mentioned?” he said once he’d seated himself and turned down the radio. “The girl I followed here?”
Saylor nodded, not sure she really wanted to know, but grateful all the same. He was still talking to her. The night wasn’t a total loss.
“Let’s just say I’ve got my own drama there.”
“Glad I’m not the only one,” she said, sinking lower into her seat.
Cole flashed a smirk. “You take pleasure in my pain?”
She laughed at his joking, formal tone.
“I’m just glad I’m not alone in the experience.”
“You’re not,” he said, easing back out onto the main road. “No one is. We just have the good to balance out the bad, right?”
From across the console separating them, he offered his hand. A wave of pleasure spurred in Saylor’s stomach. She accepted, grazing her palm into his.
“How are your hands so warm?” she asked, feeling instantly warmer in his touch. Their clasped hands perched between them, and he smoothed a thumb across her skin.
“Gloves.”
“I wore them too, but my hands are freezing.”
He shrugged. “Mine are better.”
She laughed again and settled in for the drive home. They filled it with talk of their favorite music and YouTube channels, including the exchange of several of the best Bad Lip Reading videos available. Before long, they were driving back through Twin Falls and turning onto Saylor’s street.
Wordlessly, they both exited the warm vehicle. Inclining his head with a smirk, he offered her his arm again and walked her to her front door. The sidewalk leading up to it had never seemed so short before. It didn’t give her pulse time enough to slow to its usual pace.
She wondered what would happen now. Would they shake hands, hug? Would he kiss her?
Her mouth went suddenly dry.
It was far too quiet, and the addition of the snow around them made everything that much more hushed. She waited for Cole to say something—anything—about seeing her again. What if he didn’t bring it up? Should she?
He released her arm. His hand gently rested at the small of her back, and though she could hardly feel it through her coat, it brought a small amount of comfort.
Saylor bit her lip and stepped onto the square of cement situated before her rusted screen door, cringing at the ice built up there. Though there wasn’t much room, Cole joined her, standing in the feeble light of the small bulb.
“I had a great time tonight,” he said.
Her pulse rocketed. Higher. And then higher still. He was standing so close to her. She forced herself not to look at his mouth.
“So did I. Thanks for inviting me.”
Silence swirled in the freezing air around them, in the blanket of eavesdropping snow, in the rustle of coats—everywhere but his eyes. His eyes were noisy with delight and were looking right at her.
She tilted her chin up, just enough.
His smile deepened, and he leaned in, pulling her into a firm hug. She breathed him in, taking in the feel of him, the coolness of his coat against her cheek, his scent of spice and musk. It wasn’t a kiss. But sometimes an affectionate hug was better.
“Are you working tomorrow?” His chest rumbled, his voice deep and resonant.
She pulled back just enough. His hands kept her to him. “I made sure I had the day off so I could spend it with Parker. But...” Her throat tightened. She couldn’t believe she was about to say this. “But we wouldn’t mind some company, if you’d like to come over.”
She chided herself. Sure, that was all Parker needed right now, for her to start dating someone new, too. She told herself it would be okay.
Cole dipped his head enough to shake his hair out of his eyes. It landed seductively across his forehead. Saylor fought the urge to reach up and touch his face. Or better yet, feel his lips against hers after all.
“I’ll see what I can do.” He stroked a thumb across her chin before saying goodbye.
Chapter Nine
Saylor hugged Parker long and hard the next morning. His little body snuggled against hers just as hard for several seconds. The trail of snow he’d left on the orangey-brown carpet gradually melted behind him, leaving small puddles near the door. David had dropped him and his bag off with nothing more than a nod in her direction before he’d left.
When Parker tried to pull away, she held tighter, inhaling his watermelon soap and the scent of his shirt, trying to scan this into her brain so she never forgot what it felt like to have him in her arms.
“Mommy. Mommy, you’re too tight.”
She released him with a smile and stared into his brown eyes. “Sorry. I just missed you.”
He grinned, lighting the freckles dusting across his nose.
“The tooth,” she said, unused to the sight of him with a hole in his smile. “Did the tooth fairy come?”
Parker trotted off just enough to toss his coat onto the floor. With a gentle reminder from Saylor, he hung it on the peg behind the door instead.
“Uh huh. Five bucks under my pillow.”
“Five?” Her heart sank. Way to make things easy for her, David. When she was a kid, it was a quarter. She brushed it off the best she could.
“That’s amazing,” she went on, reaching to help him with his bag. It was much fatter than it’d been when she’d packed it for him. “We should put it in your piggy bank so you
