Anything but Love (16 page)

Both Jami and Max ran to her side. “Dr. Matthews, how are you? You should have gotten a wheelchair,” Jami scolded her. “You probably shouldn’t be at work.” She looked at Max. “Get a wheelchair for her. She shouldn’t be walking.”

Kendall appreciated the concern, but it was a little unnerving to have people fussing over her. “Jami, I’m fine. Max, if you value your life, don’t you dare get a chair.”

Jami stared at her with big, disappointed eyes. “Sorry, Dr. Matthews, I was just trying to help.” Jami started to walk down the hall back to the nurses’ corner.

Both Max and Cole stared daggers at Kendall. Cole leaned down and whispered in her ear, “You need to fix this.”

She already knew that. “Jami,” she called. But Jami kept walking. “Jami, please don’t make me come after you.”

Jami stopped walking, but didn’t turn around. “Yes, Dr. Matthews?”

“Please look at me.”

She did and walked back to Kendall. “You wanted me, Dr. Matthews?”

“Yes, Jami. I’m very sorry for snapping at you and Max. I appreciate you guys caring so much, but this is still a little new to me. You’re going to have to give me some wiggle room on being thankful. Okay?”

Jami smiled and wrapped her arms around Kendall, almost knocking her off balance. “Oh, I’m sorry.” Jami stepped back. “I’m just glad you’re all right. I’ll get you some tea.”

“No, I’m fine. Cole stopped for lunch before he brought me here.” All at once, her knee began to throb with a vengeance and the hallway went dark.

When she woke again, she was lying horizontal on her couch. Cole and Max were sitting in the leather chairs and staring at her. “How long was I out?” She struggled to sit up.

Cole glanced at his watch. “About thirty minutes. Now do you still doubt my infinite wisdom? I told you you needed to stay off your leg, at least for today. But no, you didn’t want to listen to me.” Cole continued his martyr speech. “I’m just a mere man, so I have no idea what I’m talking about.”

“Oh, will you please stop it. I feel like they should be carrying you on the cross.” She took a deep breath. “I thought I could handle it.”

Cole smiled at her. “So does that mean you’re ready to go home?” He stood and reached for her hand.

“Whose home?” Kendall smelled a rat, and his name was Cole.

“Mine, of course. Jordan is there, you know.”

Kendall was too exhausted to argue. The little outing had zapped her energy; she was totally drained. “Only to pick up my dog. Then you’re taking me home, right?”

“Sure, babe. Your wish is my command. Whatever you tell me you want to do, then that’s the agenda for the evening. Just remember that tonight when you’re begging for it.”

“Coltrane Highpoint, I’m going to kill you.”

Cole laughed. “Oh, you know you want me.”

The truth was she did, but she couldn’t let Cole know that. “Just take me home.”

CHAPTER 19

Kendall wasn’t sure what she was expecting when Cole parked in front of his house, but her mother’s Lexus parked in the driveway wasn’t it. She wasn’t quite ready to face her fireball of a mother. “What’s my mom doing here?”

Cole shrugged, shutting off the engine. “Mom said something about running into Zenora at the mall and inviting her for tea. I thought she meant her house, not mine.”

Something in the way he said it made her mistrust him. She knew he was up to something. “Cole, what’s going on?”

He got out of the SUV and walked to the door and helped her down. “I told you I don’t know. You know how our mothers are when they get together.”

She did know. They were holy terrors. “You don’t think they’re here to tell us we need to get married?” She didn’t need this right now. She needed aspirin, and lots of it. The thought of what her mother had in store for them overwhelmed the slight pain in her knee.

Cole scooped her up in his arms and carried her to the front door. “I think my mom told your mom that you hurt your leg and she wants to see if you’re really okay.”

Kendall groaned. She’d forgotten about her mother. Not an easy feat, but somehow Kendall had managed it. “Quick, Cole, just take me home. My house. Now.”

He laughed and shook his head. The knob started to turn and the door opened. “Too late,” he said. “Hello, Zenora,” he said to her mother.

Zenora smiled at him. “Hello, Cole. Thank you for taking care of my headstrong daughter.” She opened the door wider and motioned them inside.

Cole walked to the couch and deposited her. As if on cue, Taylor walked in with a tray that held a bottle of water and a large bottle of Tylenol. She took out two pills, mumbled thanks to Taylor, and swallowed them. After she drank the water, she turned to her mother and tried to explain.

Zenora, seated in the loveseat with Cole’s mother, listened to her feeble excuses like a good mother and nodded on occasion. “I quite understand, dear.”

Now that didn’t sound like her mother. “Mom, I really am sorry for not calling,” Kendall said. Cole put a pillow under her knee and sat at the opposite end of the couch.

Zenora nodded. “It’s okay. I’m just happy Cole was there to rescue you from that horrible James. Max said he was at the hospital this morning looking for you, but Jami got rid of him.”

Kendall exhaled. “Thank goodness. I really don’t want to deal with him right now. This is all his fault, anyway.”

The women nodded, so Kendall knew they knew the story of how she’d hurt her leg. The much larger question was the identity of the rat who’d told. She stared at Cole until he finally looked in her direction. “You told?”

Cole didn’t answer her. Zenora did. “He didn’t have to tell me. I knew something was wrong, so I called the hospital.”

“Jami didn’t tell me you called.”

“That’s because I didn’t talk to Jami. I talked to my own personal spy, who shall remain nameless. This person told me you weren’t in. The rest was easy.”

“Max?” Kendall doubted it could have been Max, since he didn’t know of her accident until she arrived at the hospital. Now this was going to eat at her until she found out who the snitch was. She hated not being in total control.

“Nope.” Zenora chuckled and elbowed Martha in the side.

Kendall really didn’t like the fact that these two women were in cahoots and that she was the intended victim.

* * *

After they ate a meal prepared by both mothers, Kendall settled down for a nap on the couch. Taylor took Jordan for his evening constitutional, so that left Cole to contend with Martha and Zenora and their quest for a wedding.

And contend was putting it lightly. Cole sat in his home office listening to the women as they chattered endlessly.

“I think you should have a holiday wedding,” Zenora offered. “I think around Labor Day. You know, it’s not too hot, it’s not too cool.”

Cole wanted nothing better, but knew it would take more than that to convince Kendall that he truly loved her. “Zenora, I think you’re way ahead of the game. We’re fine for now. When the time is right, we’ll see.”

His mother grunted her disapproval. “Sounds like a bunch of rubbish to me. In a few weeks it’ll be the Fourth of July. I say let’s aim for that.”

He had two stubborn women on his hands. “You know I appreciate the help, but if the two of you want a wedding, I suggest you convince Kendall that I’m very sincere. Because her first husband was—is—a first-class jackass, my work is cut out for me.”

“Not just you. I see the scars of your ex, too,” Zenora said. “You both have some trust issues to work through first. Don’t get me wrong, I do want you to marry Kendall, but I don’t want either of you going into this for the wrong reasons.”

Cole shook his head. “I don’t believe you for one second, Zenora. What a load of crap. You want the same thing as Mom, and if you two start meddling it’s just going to make her dig her heels in against getting married.”

Zenora poured a cup of tea. “Do you love my daughter? Or is it because she is a challenge and you find that fascinating?”

Cole knew the answer to the question, but didn’t want to voice his feelings to anyone but Kendall. Besides, the choice to marry would ultimately be theirs, not their parents’. “I care for her a great deal.”

“Is this that man-protecting-his-woman thing?”

“Partly, Zenora. But I do see a future with her.” Now if Kendall saw that same future, everything would be great.

“You know you could always get her pregnant on purpose. People do that all the time,” Zenora hinted.

Martha also nodded in agreement.

Cole knew that. That was how he’d ended up being married the first time. He’d been living with his ex, Gabriella, for over four years when she became pregnant. “I’m like the guy in those romance novels. I want to marry for love.”

Zenora looked at him with happy eyes. “That’s good in theory. But you know you have your work cut out for you. I can do a lot, but I can’t make my headstrong daughter love you if she doesn’t.”

“And I wouldn’t want you to. It’s just going to take a little time, that’s all. But first things first. I need to make sure my son is comfortable with all this before I can move forward with my plan.”

Martha spoke up this time. “Oh, we’ve already covered that territory. He wants you to be happy. I got the feeling he’s not certain of your feelings concerning him ’cause of what his mother told him over the last few years.”

Cole could strangle his ex for what she’d done to Taylor. But at least he knew where to start. “I have a plan to work on Kendall, but it’s going to take some time and maybe a little help from you guys. My son, however, is my first priority. Are you game?”

“Of course.” Zenora winked at him. “You haven’t had a vasectomy, have you?”

He wasn’t shocked she asked, but thought she could have been more subtle. “No, I haven’t. Don’t worry, Zenora, we use protection.” Almost every time, he thought. His memory quickly floated to the time when passion had overtaken good sense and they had had unprotected sex. He smiled at the memory.

“I know that look,” Zenora said. “Am I going to be a grandmother sooner than I expect?”

Cole shook his head. “Afraid not.” He hoped with all his heart it wasn’t a lie. The last thing he needed was another kid.

* * *

“Cole, I demand you take me home this instant!” Kendall insisted a few hours later. He was carrying her up the stairs to his bedroom. “I feel perfectly capable of taking care of myself and besides, Jami is there.”

He ignored her protest and entered his bedroom, depositing her on the bed. “Why?”

Kendall crossed her arms over her chest. “Because I need to be there. Jami is there all alone and this will be the second night. It’ll look like I don’t want to sleep in my own house ’cause she’s there, and I don’t want her thinking that.”

“She’s not alone.”

“I know that. Dylan is there.”

Cole shook his head. “No, Max is there.”

“What?”

“He needed to talk to Jami.”

“Cole, he needs to stay away from Jami until he decides what he’s going to do about his wife. I don’t want either of them to get hurt. They need some space.”

“Is that your prescription for their problem? Space? I think they need to tackle the problem head-on. See if what they have will last.”

“And put Jami and Dylan in the line of fire? You don’t understand what’s at stake here. Caitlin is from one of the wealthiest families in Dallas. They’ve already offered Max a load of money not to pursue the divorce. If they find out there’s a woman involved who’s not only married herself but also is black, what do you think will happen?”

Cole sat next to her on the bed. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know. He called while you were asleep and he was crying. Actually crying. I didn’t know what else to tell him. He needs to sort his feelings out for Jami before he can go any further. I thought if he talked to her, he’d see how happy he could be and ask for a divorce. I didn’t realize I’d be putting Jami in harm’s way.”

Kendall sighed. There was no easy way out. “I know you didn’t mean to, but now we’ve got to fix this.”

“What do you mean,
we
?”

“I mean you, me, and your big mouth,” Kendall said softly. “Come on. Help me downstairs so we can drive to my place.”

Cole muttered something under his breath, stood and walked to his bedroom door. “Taylor, Kendall and I have to go out for a little bit.”

“Okay, Dad.”

Cole looked at her long and hard, marched to her, and scooped her up in his arms. “Ready?”

Kendall nodded, not believing the chain of events. The next thing she knew, they were in the garage and Cole was settling her in the passenger seat.

After he made sure she was belted in, he stalked to the driver’s side and slid behind the steering wheel. Without another word he started the Range Rover and opened the garage door. He put the SUV in gear. “Okay, I hope you have your speech ready. You have about two minutes.” He backed out onto the street, closed the garage door, and headed for her house.

In much less than two minutes, they arrived. Kendall had no idea what she was going to say. She spotted Max’s truck in her driveway and hoped she wasn’t too late.

Cole parked the SUV, got out, and helped her out. “Cole, you don’t have to carry me inside,” Kendall said. It would look too much like a romance novel entrance. She needed a level head when she talked to Jami and Max.

Cole helped her to stand and put a protective arm around her waist. “I could have carried you. You don’t weigh that much.”

He was being polite, she told herself. Why did the remark about her slight weight hurt so much? “I’m not that skinny,” she muttered.

Cole chuckled as they walked slowly to the front door. “I don’t get women. They complain if you say they’re too heavy, and they complain if you don’t. A guy just can’t win.”

She realized he was right. “Sorry, Cole. It has nothing to do with you.”

He grunted, and without another word, he scooped her up in his arms and continued walking to the door. “The ex, I’m betting. But we’ll deal with that later.” He stopped at the front door. “Where’s your key?”

“At your house. In my purse.” She pushed the doorbell. “You didn’t give me a chance to get it.”

Before Cole could respond, the front door opened and a very shocked Jami let them inside.

“Kendall, are you okay? I didn’t think you’d be home tonight,” Jami said. “Dylan wanted to see you and Jordan, but I told him he’d have to wait until tomorrow.”

Kendall knew Dylan was probably more concerned about Jordan than her. Then she remembered. “Oh no, I promised him a trip to the toy store. I totally forgot.”

Jami shook her head. “Oh, that’s okay. I told him you hurt your leg. Is everything okay?”

“Hey Jami, who was at the—Kendall?” Max stood beside Jami. “I didn’t figure you’d be here tonight.”

“I wanted to talk to you guys,” Kendall said, realizing they were standing in the entryway to her house and she was still in Cole’s arms. They probably did look like the cover of a romance novel. “Cole, put me down.”

“Not until we get to the couch.” He walked into the living room and placed her on the sofa. “Now we’re all going to talk like adults and figure a way out of this mess you let me get involved in.” He sat at the opposite end.

“I got you in?” said Kendall in a tight voice. “You got your own behind in this mess, giving out horrible advice for a situation you know nothing about.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “I can’t believe you’re trying to blame me!” Just like a man to shift the blame, Kendall thought. If her leg didn’t hurt so much, she’d give him a good swift kick in that very muscular ass.

“You know how much I get turned on when you get all hot and bothered.” He moved closer to her and pulled her into his arms. He kissed her gently at first, then added power as she joined in.

Max chuckled. “Now that’s what I called a power struggle.”

* * *

Kendall eased out of Cole’s embrace and cleared her throat. So much for decorum, she thought. “Sorry about that. I got lost in the moment.”

Jami smiled at her. “I hope you don’t mind that Max dropped by.” She sat down in the loveseat next to Max. “We were talking.”

Kendall nodded. “That’s what I wanted to talk to you guys about. Jami, as you know, Max and I have been friends a long time, so he has told me his side of things. I want both of you to know I’ll be here for both of you, but I want you to think about the consequences before you act on impulse.”

“Thank you, Kendall. Those are the same words I just told Max. I want forever. I want someone supportive, caring, and nurturing, not manipulative and a bully. Max can’t make a decision about his future, so I just did. He was getting ready to leave.”

Kendall wasn’t expecting Jami to be so rational and practical. “Jami, are you sure about this?” Kendall looked at Max, but his expression broke her heart. He was truly a man with a dilemma.

“Yes, I’m sure. Dylan and I deserve it. And I want to make sure this is what Max wants. He has a lot of issues he needs to work through, and so do I. I don’t want Dylan caught up in a bad decision. So we’re friends, right, Max?”