She wanted wine, ice, and acetaminophen in the next five minutes. But once she took the edge off the throb in her not-broken ankle, she wanted to get personal with Cole. Work policy be damned. Because she’d been thinking about what Hayden had said all week, and her points were all valid. Maybe Cole was special, maybe it was significant that he was the first guy to make her want to break her own rules.

“Stay for dinner,” she said, still perched on the edge of the cushion with her bum leg elevated, intent on getting him to agree. “We’ll get carryout. My treat. To say thanks.” She added that last bit hoping it would sway him.

He exhaled as he straightened, seeming to consider what she’d thrown out there as an order more than a proposal. “Plus you need someone to do the carrying out,” he said, the corners of his mouth tugging upward.

“I know people at Clayborne’s. I could get it delivered.”

He gazed down at her. Whether it was because they were away from work in a private place or because she’d just been hanging on to his neck like a damsel in distress, his uptightness from the past week had disappeared completely. Weekend Cole was back.

“I’d planned to get you settled in, make sure you have whatever you need for the night,” he said finally. “I’ll pick up some food. And I’ll stay for dinner.”

Chapter Thirteen

It was becoming a pattern, Cole thought as he walked down the brick sidewalk of Hale Street toward Clayborne’s. Once again, he was choosing not to play it smart where a certain brunette was concerned.

He could’ve said no to dinner, but he’d meant what he said about making sure she had what she needed for the night. Because he couldn’t help being concerned for her, caring about her. He’d been attracted to her for years, but those blurred lines were fucking with his head, making him think it was more than physical.

Bottom line, he was staying for dinner because he wasn’t ready to go to his quiet apartment. Because he wanted to spend a little more time with Sierra.

While he’d borrowed her shower to get the work dirt off, fighting not to think too hard about her standing in that same space naked every day, afterward changing into clean jeans and a long-sleeved thermal shirt from his duffel, Sierra had called in their order. It still took several minutes once he got to Clayborne’s, due, in part, to the Friday after-work crowd that already filled the place. Since there was a band playing later tonight, it would only get worse. He waited by the counter, nodding at Ivy and Violet, who sat at a high-top table halfway across the room.