Easing out from under her son’s sleepy embrace, she tiptoed to the bathroom, hoping to grab a shower before Nicholas woke again. But before she could start the spray warming, the scent of fresh brewed coffee found her and like a heat-seeking missile, she found herself staggering into the kitchen in search of the promised caffeine.
Reid was standing in the kitchen in a pair of sleep pants slung low on his hips. Only a pair of sleep pants. His feet were bare, as was his chest, and Penelope couldn’t say which intrigued and tantalized her more.
“There’s fresh coffee, if you want some,” he said without turning. Considering she hadn’t spoken, hadn’t made any significant noise in her bare feet, she wondered how he’d known she was there.
“And I bought three different kinds of cereal yesterday, along with a bag of powdered-sugar donuts and some fresh fruit.” He glanced over his shoulder then, and his gaze traveled the length of her in a manner that felt uncomfortably intimate.
Penelope tugged the edges of her cardigan together at her sternum and cleared the morning frog from her throat. “Coffee sound great. Thanks.”
“What will the tyke eat? I bought eggs, too. I could scramble one up for him.”
She arched an eyebrow. “Based on your steak experiment last night, I think I should do the cooking around here.” She paused when he grinned, then slugged him in the arm. “You rat! That was your plan. Convince me you suck at cooking so I do all of it?”
The taut muscles and warm skin she encountered with her play-punch didn’t escape her notice. She tucked her hands under her armpits, pretending to be miffed, but using the time to tamp down the tingle in her fist that spread to her belly.
He choked on a sip of his coffee. “What? No!” He laughed as he shook his head. “I swear I would not waste good beef that way. If I wanted you to do all the cooking, I’d just say, ‘Pen, I don’t know squat about the kitchen. If you want edible food, you should do all the cooking.’”
She narrowed her eyes and gave a mock growl. “Eggs are easy. I’ll teach you. As for Nicholas, he’ll be thrilled with some dry cereal he can snack on from a cup.”
“In that case, what do you say we get busy going through files?” He carried his coffee into the next room where he’d already logged on to his laptop.
Cradling her own mug of joe between her hands, she scooted a chair up next to his desk chair to read over his shoulder. “A second computer would be nice. We could go through this stuff twice as quickly.”
“I can probably arrange that later today. Borrow one from the ranch or just buy a new one.”
She blinked and gave him a slack-jawed look. “Just...buy a new one.” She gave a soft scoffing laugh. “You really don’t have any idea how it sounds to ordinary people when you say things like that.”
He gave her a what-the-heck side glance as he tapped the keyboard pulling up folders to search. “What are you talking about?”
“I bet you pay retail price without blinking.”
He stopped working and gave her his attention now.
“As a Colton, you’ve never had to worry about where the money will come from for any purchase. That’s not something you should take for granted. It is a blessing and something most people never experience.”
For long seconds he only stared at her, his dark blue eyes searching hers, his brow beetled in thought. “You’re right. I am blessed. I’ve spent most of the last eighteen months feeling bitter because I left my job, felt persecuted, had no one special in my life the way Zane and T.C. and the rest have. I’ve been pretty focused on the negatives, and haven’t given much thought to all I do have.”
“Believe me, I know how easy it is to get caught up in your losses and forget your haves. But when I focus on Nicholas, it’s hard to stay negative. He’s a gift. I have him, my health and a house that’s paid for thanks to Andrew’s life insurance.”
Reid dragged a hand over his mouth and gave her a gentle smile that speared her heart. “You are something else, you know that?”
She dismissed his compliment with a shrug. “I’m no guru. I’m just muddling through life like everyone else.”
He reached for her cheek and her pulse skipped a beat. A tremble raced through her as his thumb traced the curve of her chin. “You keep me on my toes, though. Even when Andrew was alive you had a way of hitting me with reality checks when I needed one.”
She was too aware of his touch, too affected by the glide of his skin against hers. Catching enough breath in her lungs to speak without squeaking took effort. “Someone has to keep your head from getting too big.”
Her attempt at levity did little to dispel the toe-curling familiarity of the moment. Intimacy was not supposed to be on her radar. Especially with Reid Colton. She gave her head a brisk shake, effectively ending the moment and stood to pace.
She had precious little time before Nicholas would wake again, and she wanted to use it helping Reid with the gigantic search ahead of them.
Spying the backpack he’d had with him at her father’s house, she remembered seeing Reid slip a file from the desk under his shirt and then later into his backpack. She crossed the room and hoisted the pack to a chair. “What about the paper file you recovered? I could start there. Maybe there’s—”
Reid’s head whipped around. “Pen, stop! Leave that alone!”
Startled, she raised her hands, letting the backpack slump. “What?”
His chair scraped the floor as he shoved it back and hurried to snatch his pack away from her. “I just...don’t want you going through my stuff.”
She lifted one eyebrow in pique. “Says the man who searched the office of my childhood home and is currently invading my father’s private files.”
His mouth tightened and he tossed the backpack aside. “This is different.”
Peeved by his hypocrisy, she folded her arms over her chest and cocked her head to the side. “Oh? How, exactly?”
Reid rubbed his hands on the seat of his jeans. “That file is not related to the case. It’s something personal.”
She furrowed her brow. Personal for Reid? In her father’s office? “Uh...about your father?”