Perfect Fling (Serendipity's Finest 2)

Mike inclined his head, obviously satisfied.

Once he left, Cole turned to Erin. “Let’s get you reshowered and changed. You’ll feel better, and then maybe you’ll want to eat.”

Erin rose. Her color looked better, a touch of pink in her cheeks. “I can handle myself. I’ll meet you back in the kitchen in a few minutes.”

He backed off, recognizing that despite everything, she was still in withdrawal mode. He’d noticed it this morning but let it go without a fuss. Although he preferred her soft and giving, he understood self-protection only too well.

Besides, he didn’t want Erin getting attached to him, and her accepting how things needed to be was a good thing. He’d laid out the rules—no commitment, just sex—and today she was giving him the space that defined those boundaries. Part of him approved because it was safer that way, for both of them. But damned if her turning away from him hurt more than it should.

And it grated that she’d pulled into herself, since she so obviously needed someone to lean on. Another thing he liked about Erin: She might need him, but she wouldn’t let herself depend on him in that needy way some women did. His thoughts immediately traveled to Victoria Maroni and her begging him not to leave or to take her with him. It’d been a goddamned case, and she had made it sound like he was bailing on an actual relationship. He hadn’t slept with the woman or sent her mixed signals, that he knew for sure.

He refocused on Erin, guilt riding him that she’d been alone through three months of misery, when he was equally responsible for causing her pregnancy. Now she’d mentioned a doctor’s appointment he’d known nothing about. He was shocked by how possessive he felt about her in such a short time, warning signals going off in his brain. She didn’t want him hovering, but suddenly he needed to be there for her, to take care of her, to show her she wasn’t alone.

Which went against every instinct he had that told him to encourage her to preserve her independence because she’d need it when he was gone. But he couldn’t let her go through this alone when he was here, now. Especially because once he was gone, she’d be needing that independent streak of hers once more.

• • •

Already exhausted before her day had even begun, Erin made her way back downstairs, her nerves shot from this morning. What kind of sicko would leave a dead animal outside her door and not get specific about what they wanted from her? Leave who alone? Which case? Why?

Her stomach grumbled and she realized she was so hungry she could barely think. Well, at least the nausea had passed.

She found Cole in the kitchen with a delicious-looking breakfast of French toast and orange juice waiting for her at the table. “You really missed your calling,” she said with a grin.

He’d shocked her with his culinary skills, and she suddenly had an urge to learn how to feed herself this well. Not to mention her child.

“Not really. I just like to eat,” he said with an endearing grin.

“Would you teach me?” she asked. “You know, so I can give little him or her the kind of Sunday meals my mom gave us?”

Cole’s eyes warmed as she spoke. “Yeah, I can do that.”

She reached for the maple syrup and smothered her French toast. “I remember how my dad would go get the papers, and when he came home, mom would have the most amazing pancakes waiting for when he came back and we all woke up.” Erin would love to have that in her future.

Of course Cole wouldn’t be part of that scenario, an

d she quickly glanced down at her plate, not wanting him to see the disappointment in her eyes.

Instead she cut herself a piece and tasted. “Oh my God, you are a magician.”

He laughed and began eating his own food. “So tell me more about this doctor’s appointment you have today.”

She shrugged. “Nothing much to tell. Just a normal monthly appointment. You can just drop me off at the hospital. My doctor sees me there, and I’ll call you when it’s time to pick me up.”

“Erin,” he said, a distinct edge to his voice. “Just because you were alone before doesn’t mean you are now.”

She glanced up, noticed the tight set to his jaw, and realized he was worried about her safety. “You can sit in the waiting room if it makes you feel better, but nobody’s going to hurt me in a hospital.” She drank a long sip of orange juice and her body thanked her by perking up a bit more.

“Try again, sweetheart.”

She narrowed her gaze. “Surely you don’t want to sit in the same room while the doctor examines me!”

His grip tightened around his fork. “That’s exactly what I want.”

“But it’s just me and my doctor! Nobody can get near me!” Not even her brothers would make such a ridiculous demand, and they were as overprotective as they came.

“This has nothing to do with someone being after you.”

She placed her glass back on the table. “Then what? I don’t get it, and you’re going to have to lay it out for me.”