She curled up on one end of the couch, resting her head against the plump arm. She was feeling a tad sluggish thanks to the painkillers she’d taken. It was probably the sluggishness that didn’t make her object when Cole scooted in beside her and wrapped his arms around her from behind. The position was too romantic, too intimate, but at the moment, the feel of his strong embrace was incredibly soothing.
“This is nice,” she murmured.
“It is,” he murmured back.
“By the way, what did your private investigator say when you called him?”
“He’s fully on board. He’s going to start investigating all my employees and business contacts. Discreetly, of course.”
“Good.”
“I also spoke to Ian,” Cole told her, gently skimming his fingers up and down her uninjured arm. “Apparently the company that wants to buy me out doubled the offer.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
He went quiet, and they lay there in comfortable silence. Jamie couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt this content. Surprising, since only an hour ago she’d been flat on the grass dodging bullets. But the serenity also succeeded in making her edgy. This thing with Cole was about sex, not intimacy. Even if she wasn’t investigating his ex-wife’s murder, they probably still couldn’t make it work. She lived in Charlotte, was pretty much married to her job. He lived in Chicago when he wasn’t in Serenade, with a job that was just as demanding. He was a millionaire, she came from a trailer park.
As uneasiness moved through her body, Jamie twisted around to meet his dark eyes. “What are we doing here?”
“Well, we’re lying down on the couch, and in a bit, you should probably take a nap because, after all, you were shot.”
“You know that’s not what I meant.”
He swallowed. “I know.”
“Are we being foolish? I mean, I know we have chemistry together, but neither of us want a relationship. So why bother? Why spend all this time together when it won’t go anywhere?”
His chest heaved as he exhaled. “I don’t know.” He hesitated, then spoke in a gruff voice. “All I know is that I like being with you.”
She bit the inside of her cheek. “I like being with you too. I feel so comfortable with you, Cole. And I like how you don’t seem bothered by my job. A lot of men think a woman doesn’t belong in law enforcement.”
“Well, I can’t say I like that you hang out with killers all day long, but I respect what you do, Jamie.”
It warmed her heart to hear him say it. In the past, her career had gotten in the way of her relationships, a cold snippet of reality that had made her wonder if she’d ever find a man who could respect her work.
“I respect what you do too,” she told him. “Even if you do end up selling your company.”
“I don’t know what I want to do,” he confessed. “Ever since I moved to this town, I’ve had a tough time leaving. I’m not sure I want to travel so much anymore.”
She totally understood. Everything was so simple and beautiful in Serenade.
Except for the crazed killer roaming about.
The memory caused her to sigh. “There’s no reason to even talk about this. Neither of us is in a position to make any kind of real decisions until we find whoever killed Teresa.”
“And whoever’s trying to kill you,” he said roughly. His arms tightened around her. “I won’t let this bastard hurt you again, Jamie. I swear, I’m not letting you out of my sight until we catch him.”
Her heart did a somersault, and suddenly her vocal chords had a life of their own. “I don’t know what I feel for you,” she whispered. “Mostly confused.”
“Tell me about it. I’ve been confused since the day you showed up at my door.”
She shifted around again and saw the bewildered expression on his chiseled face. “I truly didn’t think I’d ever want to be in another relationship,” he added. “After the divorce, I shut down.”
“That’s understandable. People tend to do that after they’ve been badly hurt.”
“I was more than hurt,” he said hoarsely. “That woman destroyed me. I gave her everything I had and she always demanded more. In the end, I had nothing left.”
“You have a lot left,” she said, bending close to brush her lips over his.
His tongue teased the seam of her lips, bringing a shiver to her skin. He kissed her softly, one hand toying with her hair, which she’d released from her ponytail. He played with the auburn strands as his mouth moved over hers. After a few breathless moments, he pulled back and said, “You should really take that nap. You just got shot.”
“I’ll do it only if you join me.”
“If I join you, we won’t get any sleep,” he growled.
His reply made her grin, and the confusion and indecision she’d felt a moment ago dissolved as she leaned in to kiss him again. Who needed to talk about the future? For the first time in her life, she was living in the moment, focusing on something other than her job, and right now, she wanted to cling to that liberating feeling just a little bit longer.
“I don’t need sleep,” she murmured. “Maybe if the bullet went through…but it was just a graze, and the cure for grazes isn’t sleep.”
He shot her a dubious look. “Yeah, then what’s the cure?”
“Sex. Lots and lots of sex.”
Chapter 13