The three of us looked up to see Tommy waving at her.
“Be right there, hon,” Maggie called back. She turned to me, her voice warm.
“Adele, it was wonderful to see you. Let me know your thoughts,” she added, gesturing toward the barn.
“Of course.”
She hurried off, leaving Cole and me alone in the parking area. He was still sitting in my car with one hand dangling casually over the steering wheel. Somehow, doing essentially nothing, the man was stillsexy.My belly fluttered and my pulse took off at a gallop.
“Thank you for giving me a ride home,” I said.
“Of course. Let’s go.”
I stepped back as he climbed out.
“Should I roll up your window?”
I hesitated. “Yes, please. I don’t need more destruction,” I murmured.
“Oh, it won’t even start for me to roll it up.”
“I should’ve never gotten a new car. I need one with roll-up windows, you know? The old hand-crank type.”
“There’s something to be said for the older things,” he said with a small grin. “We can tape something over it.”
Next thing I knew, he had grabbed a tarp and some duct tape out of another truck.
I blinked. “Do you have everything everywhere, all the time?”
“I grew up in Alaska, just like you.” He shrugged.
“Yeah, but I don’t keep a tarp and duct tape in the back of my truck. That’s like…kidnappy.”
Cole’s chuckle was low and rumbly, and it sent my nerves spinning. “We do a lot of stuff here. Construction and so on. You never know when you might need a tarp.”
After he quickly taped the tarp over my open car window, he glanced my way. “Come on.” He tipped his head toward the truck he’d fetched the items from.
He startled me when he opened the passenger door for me, gesturing gallantly. “Oh. Thank you.” My voice squeaked.
“I’m a gentleman. You’ve met my mom. You think shewouldn’tinsist we have manners?”
I tried to ignore the heat rising up my neck and into my cheeks as I climbed in. The truck was a little high, and my foot slipped on the runner. I stumbled, rightinto him.
Cole caught me with one arm. Becauseof coursehe did. He was all muscle, easy strength, and quick reflexes.
I twisted to the side, completely falling against him, practicallyplasteringmyself to him. As a result, I felt every inch of his hard, muscled chest and the way his strong arm curled around me.
“Easy there,” he murmured.
To top it all off, his voice—low, with just a touch of rasp and gravel—was like a live wire to my nervous system and sent sparks flying inside me. Goose bumps prickled over the surface of my skin.
Flustered and genuinely breathless, I opened my eyes and glanced up. His face was right there. I almost kissed him.
“Oh my God. I’m so sorry,” I gasped.
“It’s okay. I’ve got you,” he said easily. And he did, in fact, have me.
He didn’t move to release me right away. I’d fallen in such an awkward way that I was sort of trapped between the seat I hadn’t quite managed to get onto, him, and the truck door with one foot barely balanced on the edge of the running board.
