“I already know you could out-lift me in a heartbeat,” Finn had responded. “You can say you won. Whatever. Just go talk to her.”
But now, as Finn watched their easy exchange, a lump formed in his throat. Cole’s grin. Her unaffected laugh. In contrast, the look she sent Finn’s direction could’ve sliced him open. Knowing it was more of a challenge than anger, he almost stuck out his tongue, but thought better of it. Cole must’ve said he thought she needed encouragement, and she probably took that as an insult.
Hoping to put her at ease, Finn mustered up a benign smile. Her brows knitted deeper, but perhaps she was simply in pain from exercising. Cole said something else, coaxing a reluctant grin from her lips. Then he stretched his arms over his head, one of his signature moves, designed to show off his muscles. Yet her eyes didn’t bug out the way most women did in response to Cole’s deliberate display.
Finn hoped she wasn’t immune to Cole’s charms. If the two were to hit it off, Cole would treat her like a treasure, despite the fact he currently changed women as often as he changed his socks. Cole wasn’t a bad guy. It wasn’t his fault he’d been betrayed by the one woman who most mattered. It was high time Cole learned to trust a woman, and he couldn’t do better than Laurie.
Her eyes continued to shoot daggers at Finn. No doubt, she assumed he would tease her after her workout, and had this happened yesterday, that’s exactly what he would’ve done. But not now. From this moment on, he would make every effort to avoid her and let nature take its course with Cole.
But if Cole doesn’t cooperate, I’m willing to give
Mother Nature a little help.
Chapter 3
After the workout, Finn settled at his desk, ready to face a daunting number of unanswered emails. After reading the same line three times with zero comprehension, he gave up and closed his laptop. His mind drifted to his conversation with Cole a few months ago. Though Finn had pushed them together, he found himself worrying whether Cole and Laurie would be a good match, after all. Cole had never had a long-term relationship. He’d once joked in his Texas drawl, “Some cowboys have too much tumbleweed in their blood to settle down.”
Finn had criticized him. “Cole, you’re not even a real cowboy. You live in a mansion in Houston.”
“Shhh!” Cole had put a finger to lips that curved upwards. “Don’t tell anybody. The women don’t know I’ve never ridden a horse.”
Finn had the idea that Laurie would help Cole settle down, but what if he broke her heart, instead? Was Cole the type who’d lead a woman on and then dump her if things turned serious? Finn didn’t want to be responsible for Laurie getting hurt.
His office door opened, startling him out of his musing. He relaxed when Jarrett’s face appeared. That is, until he saw his friend’s grave expression.
“Jarrett?” Finn was on his feet, moving toward him. “What is it? Did something happen to Laurie?”
“Don’t come close.” Jarrett waved him off, pacing in front of the row of windows that looked out over the city. “I have a cough… sort of.”
“Are you sick?” Finn leaned against his desk, a respectful distance away, worried the cough meant he had a respiratory infection.
Shaking his head, Jarrett grimaced. “I don’t think so. I’ve had a little cough for about a week with no other symptoms. But today, on the treadmill, my chest started hurting, and it hasn’t stopped. And the coughing has picked up.”
“Which means?” Finn’s heart stopped beating. He had to ask, though he was afraid of the answer.
“It doesn’t necessarily mean anything.” Jarrett pushed his hand through his short dark hair. “But if the cancer ever came back, the lungs are the most common place.”
“So maybe it’s nothing?”
“Right. Maybe it’s nothing. But I need to get it checked.” His face twisted, and Finn read the worry in his eyes. The osteosarcoma that took his leg as a twelve-year-old wasn’t to be trifled with. He could’ve lost his life.
“You have to go.” Finn tried to sound buoyant. “It’s probably nothing, but you can’t take any chances.”
Jarrett’s throat convulsed as he swallowed. “I don’t dare waste any time. I have to get to my oncologist right away.”
Finn nodded as the lump in his throat fell into his gut. “Of course. Go. We’ll take care of things here. Have you told Branson and Cole?”
“Yes, they both know. The problem is the LA Fundraiser. I’d ask Cole to do it, but he’s going to have his hands full with the fiscal-year report, at least for the next two weeks. Will you take it over?”
And be stuck working with Laurie? The blood drained from his face.
“Why not Branson?”
“Bran doesn’t know my donors in LA.”
“I don’t know all of them, either.”
“But you know most of them.” As Jarrett flattened his hand across his chest, his jaw muscles flexed. “I’ve already done most of the groundwork. I don’t think you’ll have any trouble.”