A Late Thaw (5 page)

COLE BIT THE INSIDE
of his cheek to stop laughing and hurried across the room as soon as he saw her heading back. He hadn’t witnessed the Kiley method of egg collecting employed for several years. It was every bit as entertaining as he remembered.

She was a little afraid of chickens, he was sure, but she’d never admit it. Kiley
was fearless. She wouldn’t accept anything less from herself. It was one of the things he loved about her. She could have just said the chickens bothered her and asked him to get the damn eggs himself, but instead she armed herself with a broom and screamed like a banshee.

He went back to slicing mushrooms and let her play it casual when she came back in.

“You’ve got more Reds now.” She said it calmly, as though she was just making conversation.

“Yeah, they’re good layers.”

“Mmm-hmm.”

“There’s a colander hanging over the stove if you wouldn’t mind giving them a quick wash.”

Cole couldn’t make eye contact yet. It was still too hard to keep a straight face and not accidentally cut off his finger. When he finished slicing the veggies, Cole pulled butter, milk, and cheese from his fridge and arranged them on the counter. Everything had to be prepped and placed in exactly the right spot. He wasn’t exactly a natural in the kitchen; a missed step could mean disaster.

He hadn’t been lying; his mother
had spent the weeks before moving south giving him intense cooking lessons. Cole was proud to say that he could make eggs two ways and bake potatoes, fish, or chicken. Pasta could be hit or miss. All that watching and checking was too much work, but most of the time his pasta was edible too, as long as it was smothered in sauce. Hell, pasta sauce and cheese could save just about anything.

The laundry lessons had been more problematic; in the end, she’d told him to buy all-temperature laundry detergent and dark clothes.

Kiley turned the water off and reached for the towel hanging by his hip. “These are all clean.”

He smiled at her. It was nice having company in the kitchen. It reminded him of the times his mother made his fath
er be her prep chef. She’d bark a request, and with the precision of a television surgical team, Dad would place the required tool or ingredient into her hand. They were always like that—a perfectly matched pair. His parents were partners in every way. Cole wouldn’t settle for less.

“Thanks, I’ll need four. The rest can go in the fridge.”

“Got it.” She gingerly placed four light brown eggs on a towel and then put the basket in the fridge. “Anything else I can do?”

Kiley rested her hands on her hips. She looked good in his old plaid shirt. She’d look fucking fantastic out of it
, too, but in it she looked like she was his. His jeans grew about as snug as the ones she was wearing.

“Earth t
o Cole. What can I do to help?”

“
Right. Umm. You could—” He was stopped by the sound of scratching at the door. He laughed. “You could let Tom in.”

“Tom?” Kiley opened the door and giggled as the large orange and white cat rubbed along her legs in greeting. She immediately crouched down to pat him. “When did you get a cat?”

“He used to hang out in the barn. A couple of months ago he started showing up at the door and demanding dinner. There’s some kibble in that cabinet.” He gestured with a spatula.

Kiley laughed. “Hey, Cole? You do realize Tom here is a girl, right?”

He shrugged. “You think?”

“You never checked?”

“Seemed rude.”

“Well, seeing as Tom is quite pregnan
t, I’m fairly sure he’s a she.”

“That does seem to settle things.” Cole put down the spatula, pulled a bowl out of the cabinet
, and poured in some cat food. “So I guess that means you’re eating for two, buddy.” He put down the bowl and gave the cat a quick scratch behind his/her ears. Now that he gave the cat a good look, Tom did appear to be carrying a litter. Maybe he could talk his cousin, Robin, into taking a couple of kittens for her kids. He grinned. It’d probably work best if he showed up with a couple of the furry monsters and let the kids talk her into it.

“You have a pregnant cat named Tom.”
Kiley grinned. She was gorgeous when she grinned.

“Yup.” He leane
d closer, eyes on her pretty pink lips.

She pulled away
, her cheeks tinted pink. “Don’t you think we should talk about this? I mean, one night is kind of crazy and we can pretend it didn’t happen, but this—” She met his eyes for only a second before looking down at the cat.

“Pretend it didn’t
happen? You’re running away. You’re already running away again.” It was too much. Like a punch to the gut, it hurt too much.

“Running…I just went to school.”

He shook his head, kept his voice as calm as he could. He couldn’t lose her now, not after getting so close. “Stop it, Kiley. You can’t keep pretending not to know how I feel, not after last night.”

“How you—what are you talking about?”

“We’re good together, Ki. You have to see that.” He clenched his fists, fighting the urge to pull her closer.

“Together? As in you and me, together?” Her eyes were bright and wide.

The surprise on her face bothered him, but Cole plowed forward. “Don’t you think it’s time?”

She stood up
and started pacing. “Don’t I think it’s time? Me?”

“Yeah, Ki. You and me.”
He followed her back to the corner near the kitchen sink.

She held her palms out in front of her chest.
“Okay, stop this—whatever this is—you barely noticed I was a girl before last night.”

“Of course I noticed you’
re a girl. You’re hot. You’re a hot girl. How could I not notice that?” He dragged his hand through his hair.

Kiley stared at him for a moment as though she wasn’t entirely sure she could believe her
own ears. “You never, ever acted like that.”

“I asked you to the
prom!”

“You know that doesn’t count.” She actually rolled her eyes.

“How does that not count?” He’d put on a clean shirt, bought flowers, and waited for her to finish her shift at the grocery store only to be shot down without any explanation.

“Don’t. We both know that was a pity offer. Everyone in town heard my mom’s oh-
so-helpful and humiliating hints about it. You felt sorry for me and threw me a pity offer.” Kiley said it as though even the words tasted bad.

“That’s insane.” She’d been a little shy but always plenty cute. She could have easily had another date if she’d wanted one.

“That was not a real offer.”

“It was.”

She stepped closer. Her chin was lifted and her eyes glittered with an unreadable mix of emotions. “You gave me dead roses!”

“They were half off at the pharmacy. I thought it was a good deal.” He hadn’t realized they weren’t good
ones until he’d overheard his mother chatting with a neighbor about those “sad pharmacy flowers”. Cole still wasn’t sure he could identify good flowers. As far as he could tell, women were just wicked picky.

“Cole, seriously? You must have said ‘no big deal’ like three times.”
She slouched dramatically and impersonated him. “‘So, I was thinking—no big deal—we could go together—no big deal.’”

“Talking isn’t
… I was a little intimidated, maybe, but I wanted to go with you.”

“Intimidated
,” she repeated quietly before turning away and fidgeting with a kitchen towel. “You had another date within a day. You went with that cheerleader.”

“Amber Sullivan. She asked me.”

“And you accepted.” Kiley turned back and lifted her hands, palm up, as though she’d proven her point.

Cole fought the urge to punch the wall. She was the most frustrating woman in the entire world. “You turned me down. You acted like I was being ridiculous for even asking. So yeah, when Amber asked
—I said yes. I saw no reason to hurt her feelings.”

“But you
…you…”

He reached over, put his hand on her shoulder
, and turned her back to him. “The whole town was talking about that stupid prom. It made Ma all nostalgic. She was going on and on about hers and how that was the night she knew my Dad was the one. It made me think about the future and that made me think about you. It was a real offer, Kiley. I guess it was a lame offer, badly done, but it was definitely a real one.”

“Oh
, God.” She held a shaky hand over her mouth and stared at him.

“You had no idea how I felt about you?” He
sighed, his anger fading like a teakettle running out of steam.

She shook her head.

“Then why did you stop talking to me? All that last summer you got distant and then when you did come home…you weren’t you. We weren’t us.”

“It’s gonna sound really stupid.”

He chuckled hoarsely and squeezed her shoulder. “Worse than me when I’m asking a pretty girl to the prom?”

He tr
ied to lighten the mood, but she broke into tears.

“Hey, hey.” Cole pulled her into his arms.

She clutched his shirt and dragged his mouth to hers.

COLE PULLED AWAY. KILEY
tried to follow, pressing her lips to his, unwilling to end the kiss.

“Hey.” He rubbed her cheek. “I thought you wanted to talk this out first.”

“I’ve been in love with you forever.” She shrugged. “That’s it. That’s my big, dark secret.”

His
chest rose and fell quickly as he processed her words. She’d said it. Finally. The words slipped out, all cool and smooth, only to leave her waiting breathlessly for a response.

“That’s
…that’s a good secret, Ki.” He held her chin, his callused thumb angling her face up toward his. “I—”

“You don’t have to say it back
,” she inserted quickly, smiling as broadly as she could. Her skin was so brittle that her cheeks might crack. “I understand. I’m not going to get upset. I just thought I should explain why I acted so weird. It hurt. So, I avoided you. But I know you don’t feel—”

He kissed her hard and fast. “Since when are you the expert on how I feel?”

“I didn’t mean it like that. I don’t want you to feel like you have to say—”

“That I love you
, too?”

“Right.” Her heart stopped. Everything stopped.

Cole brushed her hair away from her face. “Maybe I should just show you.” He kissed her again before her mind had a chance to twist the meaning of his declaration. His hands slid around her waist and under the hem of her shirt, kneading her lower back. He pulled her close and rested his forehead against hers. “I wanted to say it last night. So many times—nearly killed me.”

“Oh!”
She clutched his forearms. Was this what swooning felt like? Could she actually faint from happiness? She tried to take a deep breath, but even his scent was intoxicating.

“I’m not good w
ith words, Kiley. Not like you.”

Her eyelids fluttered shut
as he dropped kisses down the length of her neck. “You’re good at this. You’re good with your—”

“Hands
.”

“
Umm-hmm. You are so good with your hands.” He also had a good heart, the best heart. She’d have told him if he hadn’t been making it so hard to speak. She managed to repeat “good hands” in a wistful tone.

As if to demonstrate, Cole brought his
palm up, cupping her breast.

Giggling from both nerves and euphoria, Kiley pushed Cole away. “We can’t have
…we can’t do this in your mother’s kitchen.”

He pulled his shirt off and dropped it on the floor. “This is my kitchen, girly. It could be yours
, too, if you married me.”

“Married?” She held up her hands and stepped away.

“Stop panicking, Ki. I know you’ve got to finish school first. I’m not expecting you to find a dress tomorrow. But, yeah, you’re gonna have to marry me.”

“Have to?” She couldn’t help it. Even in the midst of the proposal she’d been hoping for since she was ten years old,
everything in Kiley rebelled against being told what to do.

He
smirked and hooked his thumbs in the pockets of his jeans, tugging them down to reveal an extra inch or two of stunningly flat abs. “Yup.”

He was trying to rile her. The bastard was actually trying to get her to fight with him.
Why disappoint him? “You can’t tell me what to do.” She barely kept a straight face. “You’re not the boss of me.”

As the initial shock wore off,
Kiley’s answer was obvious. Of course she’d marry him. She’d find a position closer to the farm. Maybe she’d get lucky and be able to telecommute or she could teach some courses at the local community college. There were details to work out, but that’s all they were…details.

That crooked grin of his beamed on her like sunshine. “God
. I love you, Kiley.”

“I love you
, too.”

“So maybe you could stop tormenting me and make me the luckiest man I know.”

Once the truth started rolling out, Kiley couldn’t stop it. “I hate the chickens.”

He laughed. “I know. My Ma does
, too. I’m pretty sure that’s why they had me. We could have ourselves a couple a rug rats to deal with them.” He winked. “Until then, I’ll do it.”

“I won’t be a lot of help on the farm. I love it here, but I’ll still want to work somewhere else.” Her heart pounded viciously, painfully.
Was Cole looking for a farming wife?

Cole
cradled the side of her face. “I don’t need help with the farm, Kiley. I need you.”

“I need you
, too.”

He leaned down to give her a sweet kiss. “Marry me?”

“Okay.” She moved to kiss him, but he grasped her shoulders and held her a few inches away.

“Okay? What happened to all those fancy words of yours?
I asked you to be my wife, and all I get is ‘okay’?”

“I was going to give you a kiss
, too.”

He grinned. “Just a kiss?” He reached for her.

“Not in the kitchen!” Kiley giggled and darted out of his grasp.

“Then you better get your cute little self out of my kitchen.”

“I thought it was going to be our kitchen.” She faked right and then snuck under his left arm into the living room.

Catching her and pulling her on to the couch beside him, Cole shook his head. “Not until I get you in a ring.”

His hands snuck under her shirt again.

She laughed
and gestured between them. “But we can do this, even without a ring?”

“Don’t underestimate us; we can more than do this. We rule this. We bring this to a whole new level.”

And he thought he wasn’t any good with words.