Page 59 of Clumsy in Love

“A snakeanda bear? Yeah, I can see how that would be a buzzkill,” Tess said. “No way I’m gettin’ naked surrounded by wild animals.”

“Do you like him?” Juliet asked. She was quiet, but intuitive. Shy, but good at reading people.

“I don’t know.” Holly shrugged. “It doesn’t really matter, does it? We live completely different lives. And I don’t just mean in different states. He was so out of his comfort zone here. He did offer me a place to crash when I go to testify.”

“Really?” Faith made the word five syllables long and waggled her eyebrows. “So this ain’t over yet.”

“I ain’t heard no fat lady,” Alex said.

“All right,” Holly said. “You guys are stalling. Time to get to work.”

With so many hands helping, it only took two hours to get everything cleaned—furniture righted, broken dishes swept up, clothes washed and put away. Anything Cruz touched, they scrubbed down.

They finished off the pizza, and Holly thanked them for their help. As they filed out, she thought about how they would do anything for her. They weren’t just her friends. Like Cole said, they were her family. The only family she had.

She fell into bed, still exhausted from the poor night’s sleep. Cole texted to say he was on the ground in New York, but nothing else. She could spend hours trying to figure out what had happened between them—or whatwashappening between them—but why bother? It wasn’t like he was long-term material.At best, a fling when she returned to the city to testify. But she’d cross that bridge when she came to it.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

It was after eleven o’clock by the time Cole arrived home. The brief nap he’d taken at Farmer Jen’s seemed like ages ago, and the cab ride to the airport only added to his weariness.

Within minutes, he’d figured out why Holly had been so cagey about Rudy Ryder. He’d apparently missed his calling to be a comedian. Passengers turned to victims in the back of his taxi, as there was no escape from his one-man act. So, rather than catching a nap, Cole listened to terrible jokes and pity-laughed his way through the ninety-minute trip.

As soon as he opened the door to his apartment, he sensed something was off. Quickly and quietly, he retrieved his gun from his suitcase and tiptoed through the rooms, clearing them one by one. He pushed open his bedroom door and found someone sleeping in his bed.

“Freeze,” he commanded. The person wasn’t moving, but he couldn’t think of what else to yell.

“Cole. It’s me,” the groggy voice of his sister Stephanie said.

“Steph?” Cole laid the gun on the dresser. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Mom said you were out of town.” Steph sat up and shrugged. “I didn’t think you’d mind.”

His sisters used his place like a cheap hotel. Whenever they were out late in the city and didn’t want to schlep home to Brooklyn, they’d call and crash with him. “I don’t, but you should have called or texted. I almost shot you!”

“Well, thanks for not.”

“Why aren’t you in the guest room?” Since he never had guests, his sisters had taken over the furnishing and decorating of the second bedroom. It was basically “their” room for when they shacked up with him.

“We need to get a new bed for in there,” Steph said. “Yours is much more comfortable.”

“Well, Goldilocks, time’s up. I’m exhausted and plan to sleep inmybed. Beat it.”

Stephanie stood and stretched. “That’s fair,” she said, yawning. “See you in the morning.”

Cole fell into bed and was unconscious until several hours later, when the smell of coffee roused him. Stephanie hummed in the kitchen, and soon, the aroma of bacon wafted in with the coffee. There was no resisting that one-two combo.

He rolled out of bed and into the kitchen. “This is the best part of you guys staying over.”

“Oh, you mean the bacon? I only made enough for one,” Steph teased.

He shot her a look, and she laughed.

“New Hampshire didn’t turn you into a morning person, I see.”

He grumbled as he poured himself a cup of coffee. “I spent the night in a glorified lean-to, surrounded by bears and coyotes. We had snakes and spiders for roommates. I didn’t sleep a wink.”

“Understandable. Who’s we? The lady you went to protect. What’s she like? Is she single? Is she pretty?”

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