“That’s one thing.” He blew out his breath. “There was a lot, stuff about the past, about my dad, about the future. I want you in mine, and I’m doing everything I can to think forward instead of backward.”

“Like forgiving yourself?” she asked.

“Something like that. I’ve come to see that that one night, that terrible fight didn’t define what my dad thought of me. I know he loved me, and I loved him, no matter how much stuff I screwed up. And there was a lot.”

“None of that matters to me, Cole,” she said, running her finger along his jawline. “I love every part of you.” She eased him closer with her hand and kissed him, slowly, thoroughly, with every drop of love running through her veins for this man.

As the kiss heated up, she trailed her hands down to his waist, needing to feel his flesh under her fingers. She had to untuck his shirt from his pants, and that reminded her… “You never said why you’re dressed more like Gabe than you.”

He let out a lazy growl, as if he’d rather kiss than talk now. “It seemed appropriate for my visit to Nancy Callahan, one of the company lawyers and a family friend. We discussed setting up a baseball scholarship program in memory of my dad. It’ll go toward things like private baseball coaching for kids who can’t afford it, all ages, all skill levels. Because that’s what my dad loved and what he was good at. He loved the sport, loved teaching us boys the fundamentals, loved going to our games. Baseball is the reason he opened the business in the first place. There’s a lot of kids out there who might want to play baseball but don’t have a dad like that, maybe don’t have a dad at all.”

“This was your idea?” she asked, impressed, excited for Cole, and even more in love with him than she’d been five minutes ago.

“About six a.m.,” he said, “after a night on the ball diamond where he taught me to pitch.”

“And you’re planning to fund it?”

“With a part of my share from the company,” Cole said.

“You accepted it from your brothers? Signed the papers?”

“Right before my appointment with Nancy.”

She pulled him in for a tight hug. “That’s wonderful, Cole. I’m so happy for you. Not because you’re now loaded enough to buy the Eldridge Mansion if you wanted to—”

“I don’t, unless you really wanted to work on that specific building that badly…”