When You Were Mine (Second Chances 2)

“None, surprisingly. I think she already knew it was going to happen. She’s got an eerie radar about this stuff.”

“Are you sure she doesn’t have your place bugged? I could call a guy,” Cora suggested with mock seriousness.

“I’m not entirely against the idea,” Jamie said, laughing. He cleared his throat and said, “So. This is probably a bad time to ask, but a couple weeks from now my mom is doing her big Memorial Day picnic. Would you want to go up with me? We could stay the night and come home the next day?”

To her credit, she didn’t laugh at him. “Let me think about it,” she said.

He knew the more she thought about it, the less likely she would actually go with him, so he broke out the big guns. “Donnie is doing his beer brats and brisket.”

“Thought about it. Sounds like fun,” she said, perking up.

Donnie was big into meat smoking and curing. He’d seen people cave for as little as some beef jerky. At least she’d held out for brats. Whatever it took, he decided.

“I would have come with you anyway,” she said as she curled up against him. “As much as they infuriate me sometimes, I really like your family. Oh, and I want to find out who instigated the bet.”

“Michael,” Jamie answered. “I already did the research, babe.”

Cora pulled her head back and gave him a confused blink. “Michael? Really!”

“According to him, the reason you avoided me at the birthday party is because you wanted me to chase you,” he said. “He guessed way too ambitiously, though. He was thinking within the week.”

Snorting, Cora said, “It was more nerves and trying to avoid a weird scene in front of your family than anything. I’m revoking his armchair psych license. And seriously, a week?”

“I know. He’s too much, sometimes,” he agreed as he stroked a hand through her blonde tresses. “I told him he was off base but, that’s what prompted the whole bet.”

“Taryn is making him give the money to charity,” Cora said, her eyes drifting closed.

“Home for the Terminally Nosy?”

“Well,” she said as she laughed softly. “It seemed the most appropriate under the circumstances.”

“I figured it would have been Patty,” Jamie said.

“Me too,” she said. A moment later her eyes fluttered open and she examined his face as she asked, “You’re sure you had no idea I worked in that building?”

“I didn’t even occur to me,” he said. “It probably should have though. She was acting funny all morning.”

“I’ll never tell her this, but I’m glad she meddled,” Cora said softly.

Unable to help himself, Jamie leaned down and brushed a kiss against the crown of her head. “Me too.”

Stifling a yawn, Cora asked, “How did your consult go? The crane people, right?”

“Pretty well. They’re actually a bigger operation than I thought, based on our first conversation. They’ve

got a few offices across the country and in Canada too. It could be a really good opportunity.”

“Awesome,” she said, as she nuzzled further into his chest.

Jamie could feel his own eyelids getting heavy again, and clearly Cora was down for the count.

“Baby,” he said, shifting her gently. “Let’s go to bed. You’re falling asleep.”

Sluggishly, Cora moved off of him and said, “Mm. Good idea.”

He watched her sleepily shuffle toward the bedroom for a moment before he scooped her up and carried her the rest of the way there.

She clutched on to him, buried her face against the side of his neck and said, “That wasn’t entirely necessary, but it’s appreciated.”