He shifted, prepared to stand with her cradled in his arms. “Bed or couch?”

“Couch,” she said.

He stood, gently set her back in her corner, refilled her wineglass, took their dinner trash to the kitchen.

“Anything else I can get for you before I leave?” he asked.

She peered up at him with a mischievous sparkle in her eyes, and he thought she might try one more time to get him to stay—and he wasn’t sure he could refuse again. After a pause, she shook her head. “I’m good.”

Cole bent down and kissed her on the lips, pulling himself away before he was ready, then straightened, went to the door, and walked out.

Once the door between them was closed, he stood there, eyes shut, and reminded himself that the best way to protect her from being hurt was to stay the hell away from her.

Chapter Sixteen

As soon as Cole pulled up to his mom’s house Sunday evening, he shot out of his truck as if his shirt was on fire. It might as well be, as he’d felt like he was coming out of his skin ever since walking out of Sierra’s apartment Friday night. He hadn’t talked to her since except to check in with a text message on Saturday to see how her ankle was.

Much better, she’d responded and added an overly happy emoji. Thanks for being my knight.

He wasn’t a knight and that was a weird-ass thing for her to say. He’d shrugged and simply said, You’re welcome. He’d started typing a dozen other things then, like Let me know if you need anything, How about if I bring some carryout? and Do you need a ride to the doctor? but he’d deleted every one of them, acknowledging that he was looking for an excuse to see her, and if he gave himself that, he’d do something ill-advised, something he’d regret, like kiss her some more.

He’d parked along the curb in spite of the double driveway, having learned years ago how likely it was to get blocked in. According to the vehicles in the driveway, he was the last to arrive—Drake’s Dugati, Mason’s Audi, and Gabe’s Tesla were already there.

As he went up the wide walkway to the front porch of the traditional two-story, he noticed the yard needed some attention. Though the oak tree was holding on to its yellow leaves, the maple had shed all of its foliage, littering the yard and the usually manicured beds on each side of the walkway. One of them would have to do some raking in the next few days so their mom didn’t have to worry about it.