She laid her hand over his and he went completely still. She could feel the hitch in his breath as it stuttered over his lips.
“I want to go, Cole. I’ll take the pill and I’ll be fine. I’m looking forward to our . . . date.”
He touched his knuckle to her face and brushed it down the curve of her cheekbone. Then he simply leaned in and kissed her forehead. “So am I.”
CHAPTER 29
“OH my God, I’m stuffed,” P.J. groaned as she pushed her plate away. “That was so freaking good.”
Cole had taken her to this little hole-in-the-wall restaurant that resembled a shack twenty minutes from his house. They served a variety of country-style food, but the seafood was out of this world.
She’d ordered the seafood platter and damn near ate the entire thing.
“I practically live here when I’m home,” Cole said. “Not that I can’t cook, but the food is great and the prices are reasonable. No sense cooking for one when I can come here.”
“If I had a place like this to eat, I’d never cook either,” she said.
“Glad you enjoyed it. You need a few more meals like this one.” His tone grew serious. “You lost a lot of weight over the last six months, P.J. Weight you couldn’t afford to lose. You could stand to pack on a few more pounds.”
If he didn’t sound so genuinely concerned, his comment would irk her. But it was obvious he was worried, and she couldn’t fault him for that. She’d had plenty to say to him when he was convalescing after taking a bullet. It was her turn to shut up and take it.
The waitress walked up and P.J. sat back with a satisfied sigh while Cole settled the bill. So far this dating thing had been . . . nice. They’d had a great meal and casual conversation. It had been fun, and when was the last time she could say she had a good time?
The last months had been anything but fun.
For that matter the only fun times she could recall were the times she spent with Cole and her team. They were who she felt at-home with.
“You ready?” Cole asked, shaking her from her thoughts.
She pushed back her chair and then braced her palms on the table, keeping most of her weight on her hands until she had her feet under her.
As she turned toward the doorway, Cole slid his arm around her waist, pulling her into the shelter of his body. She fit perfectly underneath his arm, her head just on level with his shoulder.
Without giving it a second thought, she wrapped her arm around him in return as she limped toward the exit.
There was a chill to the air tonight that had been absent the night before. Spring was still deciding if it was here to stay and winter was fighting a losing battle.
She shivered lightly as the wind picked up, and Cole rubbed his hand up and down her arm to warm her.
“I’ll build us a fire when we get back to the house if you like. We can kick off our shoes, get in some comfy clothes and park it on the couch to watch our movies.”
“Mmm, that sounds nice.”
It sounded . . . romantic. A cozy evening on the couch at home watching movies. It was something she’d have done as a teenager, and now, knocking on the door to thirty, she was just as giddy as her teenage self used to be.
“Hey, how old are you, Coletrane?” she blurted.
He stopped in the process of opening his truck door for her and looked at her with a raised brow. “Thirty-two. Why?”
She shrugged. “No reason. I just realized I never knew how old you were.”
“And it occurred to you that you just had to know right this moment?” he asked with a chuckle.
He opened the door and waited as she slid into the seat. Then he walked around to get in on his side.
“Well, yeah,” she said as he pulled out of the parking lot. “It would be kind of weird if you were younger than me.”
He glanced sideways at her. “Why the hell would it be weird? And am I younger than you?”
“No. I’ll be thirty this year. And I don’t know why. I’ve just always assumed you were older.”
He shook his head. “You get some strange ideas, P.J. Age is irrelevant. Whether you were older or younger than me wouldn’t change how I feel about you. I hope to hell it wouldn’t affect how you felt about me.”
The last thing she wanted was to cause dissension between them.
“Honestly, I was just curious. It’s no big deal.”
She had her elbow propped on the console, and he reached over, sliding his fingers down her arm until he got to her hand. Then he simply picked it up, curled his fingers around hers and rested their joined hands between them.
For a long moment she simply stared at his hand cupped over hers. Warmth spread up her arm and into her chest. It was the simplest thing in the world. At her age, it shouldn’t send an odd flutter through her chest or make her feel like a breathless teenager on her first date.