Page 89 of Love Me Gently

Thirty-One

Trina

“I’ll clean up,” I told Cole when dinner and dessert were winding down. The girls were getting restless, and I was still reeling from the regret of what I’d done to our child.

I needed space, my own room to get my head back on straight before I lost it in front of June and Ella. Great first impression for them to take back to their mom.

I took Cole’s plate from him. “Go have time with the girls.”

His brows furrowed, creating a deep line in between his brows. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing.” I plastered on a fake smile he could probably read from a mountaintop away.

Scurrying around him, I began rinsing off plates and loading them in the dishwasher. Cole might have known I was faking my smile, but he certainly wasn’t going to talk about it then, because he told his girls, “All right you two. Take your plates to Miss Trina, and then we’ll get you ready for baths.”

“Ugh,” June groaned. “Ihatebaths.”

“Can I pick the books, Daddy?” Ella asked.

Cole ruffled the top of her head. “Only two tonight though, but yes, you can choose.”

“Shealwaysgets to choose,” June pouted.

I turned away to hide my smile from them. June was a handful, and she loved things her way, but her scrunched-up pouty face was too cute for words. Probably why she got her way a lot, too.

“Go on,” Cole said. “We’ll discuss books and baths for the week. Maybe write out a calendar of nights you girls get to choose to make it fair. How’s that sound?”

“I like calendars,” Ella declared, and that didn’t surprise me either.

I’d been around these girls for a day and their differing personalities were clear as glass.

Their socked feet thundered down the hallway, and after a door clicked closed, Cole was there, behind my back, arms out to my side on the counter.

He caged me in at the sink, and I couldn’t move. The warmth from his body held me captive, and I glanced at his hands. There was strength in them, but they were tender too. They were the hands of a man who worked hard, but I could see those same hands cradling the girls when they were small, tucking their little bottoms close to his chest when they cried.

Ireallyneeded to get out of there.

“Want to tell me what’s going on?”

“Nothing.” I shook my head and grabbed a plate on the counter. His closeness prevented me from moving much, and the rinsing was awkward, but if avoidance was all I had, avoidance was what I’d do.

“Is it Wolf? Is that why you went silent at dinner and turned into a robot?”

“No.” For once, my fear of him had been overridden by something else.Someoneelse, really. “I just wanted to help.”

“Trina.”

“What?” I reached for a bowl that held cheese.

Cole slapped the water off on his faucet and turned me to face him. I hugged the bowl to my chest, putting the space between us.

“What’s gotten into you?” His brows were furrowed, his tone bordering on annoyed. “If you’re scared of?—”

“I’m not. Or, well, Iam, but really, Cole. I’ve been around the girls all day. I thought it’d be good to give you time alone with them.”

He reached out, his thumb brushing along my chin, and he tilted my face up so I was forced to look him in the eyes. “You’re lying, but I’ll let you, because I know you’ll tell me when you’re ready. But think about this while you’re worrying about everything going on in your head that you’ve probably twisted up over the years.”

“I don’t?—”

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