Page 137 of The Single Dad

“Us, too,” says Declan. “You’ve got our support. Just give us a call.” Sophie nods along with him as he speaks.

Reed goes to gather all of their jackets from the coat check, and they get ready to leave. Before they do, Declan taps me on the shoulder.

I turn toward him, startled.

There’s a serious look on his face. “Take care of him, will you?”

“Of course,” I say automatically. It’s only after Declan has walked away, following Sophie and Reed, that I realize what he was implying.

That he was treating me like Cole’s girlfriend.

As we drive home, Archie, who has been very quiet throughout the whole funeral, starts to open up again, relieved to be out of the sad, dreary church. Cole and I sit in silence, listening to Archie chatter about nothing in the backseat.

Back at the house, the three of us eat a dinner that Cole whips up. Cole then puts on a movie to entertain Archie, and the three of us sit on the couch, watching together.

The events of the day have tired Archie out, and he doesn’t have the energy to make it through the full film. He ends up falling asleep with his head resting on my arm.

Cole lets him stay there, gently snoring, until the movie ends. Then Cole picks him up easily, without disrupting his sleep.

“I’ll put him to bed tonight,” he says. There’s a note of vulnerability in his voice as he adds, “Wait for me here?”

“Of course.”

He nods, holding my gaze for another moment before he turns and carries Archie from the room.

I’m still sitting on the couch when Cole returns a little while later. He stops in the doorway, and I turn to look at him over my shoulder.

“How’d it go?”

He leans against the door frame, his eyes fixed on mine. Deep and blue and alive. Hungry. Aching. Somber. Full of desire.

“He’s asleep.” His voice is strained and low.

I nod, swallowing hard. My heart patters faster as I watch Cole’s chest moving up and down.

“Good.” My own voice is no more than a croak.

It’s late, but I’m anything but tired. My pulse kicks up at the way Cole is looking at me.

He bridges the space between us a split second later.

In the next breath, he’s kneeling beside me. His hands are in my hair, on my face. His tongue is in my mouth. He groans, and a rush of his warm breath tickles my cheeks, sending goosebumps traveling across my skin.

In a single motion, he picks me up, and I wrap my legs around his waist as he carries me toward his bedroom. There are no words spoken between us in this moment, because we don’t need any.

He closes his door behind us, and we make it to the bed. Cole sits down on the edge, settling me onto his lap.

“Thank you,” he murmurs into my neck, his lips brushing my skin.

“For what?” I whisper back, turning my head to kiss him again, greedy for his touch.

“For today.”

“You’re welcome. I was glad to be there to support you.”

Something passes through Cole’s expression, and he reaches around and unzips my dress. He undresses me, carefully and deliberately, then lays me out on the bed.

He worships me with his mouth and hands, taking me apart slowly until I’m panting and begging for more. Then he finally shoves his own clothes off, hooks my legs under the knees, and slides into me.

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