The Birthday List(54)

“Slave driver,” she grumbled as I dragged her to the counter.

Behind us, Cole chuckled as he followed.

The restaurant was empty—hence our cab ride—but soon the takeout crowd would be coming in to pick up meals on their way home from work and the dinner rush would be in full swing. But for now, Molly, Helen and I were enjoying the lull and getting caught up on prep work.

“I’d better head to the office to pay some bills. Holler if you need help.” Molly filled a glass from the large pitcher of lemon water, then smiled at Cole as she disappeared into the kitchen.

“Hi, Cole.” Helen peeked out from under her eyelashes as she rolled silverware behind the counter.

“Hi, Helen.” He smiled at her and the pink in her cheeks turned bright red.

“Can I get you something?” I asked Cole.

He sank into the stool across from me—the one next to Randall’s, which Jimmy had claimed as his own—and sighed. “I’ve got a bitch of a headache. I thought some caffeine might help.”

“Sorry.” My hand reached for his temple but froze when I was inches away.

That’s what I’d always done whenever Jamie had gotten a headache. I’d rubbed his temples and combed his hair with my fingers until the pain had eased away.

My eyes wandered from my hand to Cole’s gaze. His eyes were waiting, quietly begging for my touch. With a racing heart, I placed my palm on the side of his face. My thumb was at his temple as my fingertips threaded into his hair and massaged his scalp.

Cole closed his eyes and relaxed his head into my hand. When he let out a sigh, the whole restaurant disappeared, leaving just me and Cole—my hand in his soft hair.

After a few minutes, he opened his eyes. “Thank you.”

“Better?”

He nodded. “Much.”

“Good.” I reluctantly pulled my hand from his face. “What kind of coffee do you want?”

“Surprise me.”

Smiling, I turned back to the espresso machine, getting to work on my personal headache killer—a triple-shot mocha with an extra pump of chocolate.

As I worked, a deep-seated contentment moved into my bones. Having Cole in the restaurant felt . . . right. In the two weeks that I’d tried to push him away, I hadn’t felt like this except for the times when Cole had come in for dinner. Those nights I’d been too “busy” to sit with him.

Who knew what would happen between us. Maybe Cole and I would end up just being friends. Maybe he’d not want kids or turn out to be a slob or transform into a Fantasy Football fanatic during football season. No one knew what we’d become.

But I wanted to find out.

And I trusted that he’d take care with my damaged heart.

His coffee done, I set it down, then went to the fridge to get him one of the banana cream pies I’d made earlier. “Here. Caffeine and sugar. You’ll be good as new before you leave.”

He grinned and dug right into the pie. “Damn, woman, you can cook.”

“I’m glad you came in. I need to ask you something.”

He stopped chewing. “Uh-oh.”

“It’s not bad and you don’t have to say yes. I can always ask Finn.”

He shook his head and swallowed. “No, I’ll do it.”

“You don’t know what it is.”

Cole shrugged. “Doesn’t matter.”

“Sure it does.”

He shrugged again. “Not really.”

“What if I ask you to buy me tampons?” Jamie had always refused to go down the feminine products aisle at the grocery store. I was sure Cole would be the same.

“Text me what you need and I’ll go to the store later.”

As he took another bite of pie, I tapped my fingers on the counter. “What if I ask you to take me to a foreign film?” I was sure he’d pass on that one. I’d never met a man who liked foreign films, not that I was crazy about them either.

“They aren’t my favorite, but as long as they have popcorn and Milk Duds, I’m in.”

“Okay. I’ve got one.” I gave him a smug grin. “What if I ask you to break the law?”

“Like pull a damn fire alarm?” He scoffed and pointed his spoon at my nose. “That’s one you’re not going to cross off the list, by the way. Not when you could end up with a huge fine or a year in jail.”

I frowned. I had no idea how I was going to finish that item from Jamie’s list, but clearly, I wouldn’t be asking Cole for help. Maybe I’d see if Jimmy had any ideas.

Cole swallowed another bite of pie. “Are you going to ever ask me your question or just play hypotheticals all afternoon? Because at some point, I do need to get back to the station, and it would happen a lot faster if you just realized that outside of breaking the law, I’ll say yes to anything you ask.”

I smiled and leaned closer. Molly would definitely have swooned over that one. “I have to go to a wedding on Saturday. My freshman roommate is getting married and I’d like to go.” I hadn’t seen her in a few years but she was about the only friend from my past that didn’t treat me differently because my husband had been murdered. “Would you go with me?”

Cole looked up from his pie. “Like a date?”

Date.