Cole for Christmas by Darlene Gardner

Author:Darlene Gardner
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

7

“TALK?” COLE PRAYED his hearing had gone bad but knew with a sinking certainty that his ears worked just fine. He’d hinted at seduction and she’d suggested conversation. He swallowed, trying not to let frustration overwhelm him. “Okay, fine. What do you want to talk about?”

“Are you a body builder?”

He rubbed his forehead with his thumb and two fingers. How was he supposed to get his mind off what his body wanted when she’d made his physique a topic of discussion?

“Can’t say that I am.” He tried to make it seem as though the question were perfectly appropriate. “I work out at the gym a couple times a week but that’s as far as it goes.”

“I’ve seen guys who work out at the gym and very few of them look as good as you do.”

He blew out an agonized breath. “Anna, do you really think telling me you like my body will get our minds off sex?”

“Sorry,” she whispered. “I was curious, that’s all. About the muscles, I mean. Not the sex.”

That hurt. “You’re not curious about the sex?”

“Of course I’m curious.”

Her admission made him want to bury himself in her so badly that he could barely think, but he couldn’t help but chuckle at her frank answer.

“Curious isn’t the word I’d use,” he said. “I’d go with something like craving.”

“Could you please stick to the topic?” she asked, but her voice sounded more shaky than irritated. Good.

“What was the topic?”

“How you can barely work out and still look like that.”

“I guess it’s mostly genetics,” he said, thinking about Arthur Skillington. His father had been a defensive lineman for the University of Pittsburgh. So, too, had his grandfather. “I come from a long line of football linemen.”

“If you have athletic genes, how come you can’t ski?”

“I’d probably be an okay skier if I worked at it.” He gave a self-deprecating chuckle. “That is, if I got over the fact that my center of gravity is so much higher than most people’s. But, to be honest, the sport doesn’t appeal to me.”

“You mean, not like football. Where did you play?”

“I didn’t.”

“But you just said…” Her voice lost steam as she considered that. “Why didn’t you play football?”

The answer was more complicated than she realized, but he could give her the simple version. “Probably because my mom wasn’t into sports. She wanted me to use my brain instead of my brawn.”

“How about your dad?”

Because he assumed she was asking about the father who raised him, he answered, “He’s a nuclear physicist. He used to take me to scientific exhibits instead of ball games.”

“Why didn’t you become a scientist, then?”

Cole put his hands behind his head and settled back against the pillow. Talking hadn’t yet taken the edge off wanting, and he figured he’d be less tempted to reach for her this way.

“You wouldn’t ask that if you’d heard nuclear fusion explained as many times as I have,” Cole said. “My father’s a great guy. Unfortunately, he suffers from a terminal disease.”

“Oh, no,” Anna cried.

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