Page 51 of Clumsy in Love

Rick had done some damage, but she had a feeling Cole had the capacity—if she let him get too close—to crush her completely. Time to build a wall around her bruised and fragile heart. And that started with a commitment—No more mind-melting kisses.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Cole sat at a picnic table in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by a town full of local yokels, gobbling up the best homemade chocolate chip cookie he’d ever had.

Holly had taken off with her friends to buy an apple pie—said it wouldn’t be the Fourth without it. He used the break to get his priorities in check.

He’d kissed Holly.Whyhad he kissed Holly? And in front of the whole town. Clearly, this place was making him crazy. There were too many trees and too much fresh air to think straight. Sure, it was his job to protect her, but it was starting to feel like something more. Something he hadn’t felt in a really long time—if ever.

Over the last week, she’d gone from an annoying, clumsy out-of-towner to a confident, sexy equal. She handled wild bears and douche-y ex- fiancés just as easily as she coped with being stalked by a murderer. She was brave in the face of danger and so no-nonsense.

And don’t get him started on that long, lean body. When she’d stripped down to her bikini at the lake, he had to look away so she wouldn’t see him blush.That’swhat was hiding under that ugly park ranger uniform?

No more, he told himself. No dancing, no kissing, no ogling. It was complicating things that were already complicated. Plus, it was unfair of him. After he went home, she would be the one who had to reap the consequences of his meddling.

Holly and her besties returned with a huge apple pie, paper plates, and forks.

“You didn’t get enough cookies?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Shut up,” she said, handing him a plate. “You’ll understand once you get a taste.”

They dished up, and at Holly’s first bite, a glob of gooey filling fell onto her shirt.

“Damn it. I was doing so well.”

“Too bad,” Tess said. “Gotta put the days-without-a-spill scoreboard back to zero.”

Holly picked up a napkin, poured water onto it, and dabbed at the mess. After two seconds of trying and giving up, she went back to the pie. Her tongue flicked out to lick a crumb from her lips, and Cole looked away. Watching her eat was detrimental to his newfound resolve.

The six of them finished off the pie in no time. “You were right,” he admitted. “That was delicious.”

An explosion made him jump and quickly check their surroundings.

“Just fireworks,” Holly said. “No one’s shootin’ anyone.”

“For now.” Cole sighed.

“Cruz is in New York. He can’t hurt me today. Relax.”

“I’m trying. It’s harder than it sounds.”

Cruz had evaded conviction for a very long time. The police would arrest him, the DA would prosecute, but something would always happen that enabled him to get off scot-free. Holly was the glue that would make this case stick. Which meant Cruz wasn’t going to let this go. She had a point though. The detectives were monitoring flights and would advise him if Cruzheaded their way. And unless he turned right around at JFK and flew back here, Cole had a few hours at least to relax.

Holly and her friends started packing up. “Now what?” he asked.

“You’ll see,” she said. “Show will start soon. And the best place to watch fireworks is out of town. Where it’s dark.”

They had the timing of everything down to the minute, as if they’d done this same routine for years, perfecting it over time. They drove out to an old wooden barn, her friends parking behind them.

“Tell me we’re not going in there,” Cole said when they parked. “It looks like it’s about to collapse any minute.”

“How would we watch the fireworks frominside?” she asked.

He ignored the obviously rhetorical question. Once all the headlights were off, it was eerily dark with only a half-moon and the stars to see by. The only noise was a loud duet of crickets and frogs. Something wet and cold touched his leg, and he jumped, doing a little dance step to escape it.

“Lady,” Holly said. “Leave poor Cole alone.”

Just the dog.Calm down, Robinson. “This reminds me of a horror movie. Right before a killer pops out of the woods and slashes everyone to death with an ax.”

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