Page 65 of The Murder Between Us
Jacob should have jumped in, insisted on taking Cole out since he couldn’t do it that first night. But Jacob was oddly silent. “Come eat dinner with me, then,” Noah said.
Cole’s eyebrows shot up. “I thought you had plans with your daughter.”
Jacob’s gaze slid from Cole to Noah.
“Join us.” Noah smiled. His hands were in his pockets, hiding how much they were shaking. Jacob wasn’t stupid. And neither was he. He knew what he was doing. He’d have come out to John first, but—
And this wasn’t really coming out. He wasn’t saying the words. He wasn’t asking Cole out on a date or kissing him in public, for Christ’s sake. If he woke up in a panic, he could always explain this away. Dismiss this moment as stress and no sleep and the intoxication of Cole and everything he’d ever wanted within reach. Fantasies building up. Fantasies tumbling down. He shook his head.
“Are you sure?” Cole asked softly. Sure about dinner. Sure about what he was doing.
Jacob’s eyes lasered into him.
“Yeah. She’d love to hear more of your stories. She’s really interested in you.” Something released inside of him, a clench he’d held on to for years and years. He exhaled. The ache that had always been there and had shifted into agony around Cole was ebbing.
“Okay. Sure, yeah. I’d love to.” Cole was babbling, standing and trying to close his files and not trip over himself. He was flustered. Cole was never flustered. Noah smothered a grin as his heart soared.
“Hey, Cole?” Jacob asked. “You ever been to the Vegas conference?”
“Uh… yeah.” Cole wouldn’t meet Jacob’s eyes. “Yeah, I have. I present there sometimes. BAU, you know.” He almost tripped as he slipped his bag over his head and across his shoulder and tried to push in his chair. “We always have a workshop there about what we do. How we can help investigations.”
“It’s a good presentation.” Noah nodded. “It’s why I asked John to call in the BAU.” He met Jacob’s gaze.
Jacob laced his meaty fingers behind his massive head. A tiny, teasing smile played over his misshapen face. The chair screamed in protest as he leaned all the way back.
Cole smiled, nearly ran into the wall, and scooted out of the conference room. Jacob’s eyes glittered.
Noah leaned inside. “Go home, Jacob.”
“Have a good night, Noah.”
* * *
His nerves came roaring backon the drive to Katie’s high school. What if this was a terrible idea? What if Cole and Katie didn’t get along? What if Katie ended up hating Cole?
Well, then… He glanced sidelong at Cole. It was too painful to think… and it was pointless to propel himself into the future and imagine either the best or the worst outcome. The world and everything in it—all the choices he had to make, all the actions and reactions, the interactions of the people he cared about most—was a murky, hazy mist, like fog in front of his SUV.
The night was clear, and he focused on the pavement ahead of him. Dinner. The next few hours. That was what was important right now.
Cole fidgeted as he pulled off the highway, playing with the strap of his laptop bag. He’d been quiet on the drive, staring out the window, and that was a whole new set of worries for Noah to chew on. Did Cole not want to go to dinner? Was he being polite, especially in front of Jacob? Was this dinner something Noah was pushing on Katie and Cole both? Had he misread everything again?
Fantasies building, fantasies tumbling.
Katie was waiting on the brick half wall surrounding the flagpole, dressed in her cheer outfit with her leggings on beneath the skirt and her warm-up jacket open on top. Her hair was still done up with ribbons in blue and gold, the school’s colors. She’d reapplied her makeup, too. Usually, when he picked her up after practice, her eyes were scrubbed clean, no liner or eyeshadow left, not after sweating in the summer sun. He eyed her as she bounded into the back seat, sloughing her cheer bag and backpack before leaning forward and giving him an over-the-seat hug. “Hey, Dad. Hey, Dr. Kennedy.”
“Hey, K-Bear.” He kissed her cheek.
“Hi, Katie.” Cole half twisted in his seat. His smile was almost shy. Was he…
Noah watched Katie sit back and pull her seat belt on. She smiled back at Cole. It was weak, tentative. Hesitant.
His daughter had never been tentative in her life.
Noah’s stomach sank.
* * *
Whatever he’d beenafraid of, he was an absolute idiot.
