Page 59 of Ruff and Tumble

“Hailey Lincoln,” he said, as one issuing a formal proposal, “will you please accompany me to the hospital after work tonight?”

“Why?” she asked again.

“Because I’m scared,” he admitted. “Because you have experience with this kind of thing. Because it would mean a lot to me to have you there, and I don’t think I can face it alone.”

She didn’t hesitate. “Of course, Cole. I’d be happy to go with you.”

The tight feeling that had been mounting in his chest loosened. He hadn’t realized until that moment how much he’d needed Hailey to agree—not just because it would make it easier for him to get in the door but because he genuinely wanted her by his side.

“Thank you,” he said and meant it.

He might have added more, but he caught sight of Regina leading both Garrett and his reluctant new puppy back in the side door they’d escaped through. If Cole knew his sister—and he did—he had about two seconds before she came over and dragged both him and Garrett back to practice by the ear.

She was a woman of substance who accomplished things that mattered, too.

Chapter 14

“You bought my dadflowers?”

Hailey glanced down at the bouquet in her hand and blushed. She’d had to dash out on her lunch break to grab something, so the bouquet was a somewhat paltry assortment of gas-station carnations dyed in a variety of neon colors, but it had seemed better than showing up empty-handed.

“Doesn’t he like flowers?” she asked. They were standing in a highly visible location outside the front doors to the hospital, and she couldn’t help but be in awe of how easily Cole could ignore the reactions he elicited from the general public. She’d already heard several people comment on the likelihood of his identity—and even more disconcertingly, one man who seemed to know whoshewas.

“That’s his good-luck charm,” the man hissed as he’d pushed his heavily pregnant wife up the ramp in a wheelchair. “The one who’s going to get them to the final game.”

Either Cole had long since inured himself to the stares and comments, or he genuinely didn’t care, because he leaned down and kissed her as though they were the only two people in the world.

“If a kiss like that doesn’t get us in, I don’t know what will,” the wife hissed back.

Not surprisingly, Hailey was hot enough to melt the dusting of frost on the ground by the time Cole let her go. She’d have liked to blame it on the embarrassment of being recognized, but that would have been a lie. Cole kissed the same way he played football—all in. This was no salutary peck on the lips. There was tongue and teeth and a warm hand on the back of her neck holding her in place.

She was being handled like, well, a football. And Coledefinitelyknew what to do with one of those.

How he could stand there afterward, looking so cool and gorgeous after a kiss that quaked her knees, was beyond Hailey. She might have quailed at so much poise in such a confident package if it weren’t for the way he began anxiously toying with the cellophane.

“I don’t know if my dad likes flowers,” he said, plucking at the edges of the petals. “I’ve never asked him.”

Partly to comfort him and partly to save the carnations from further damage, she slipped her fingers through his. Her small, unremarkable hand with its jagged nails and chipped polish felt insignificant against his massive, powerful one, but she could hear him letting out a breath of relief.

“They’ll cheer up his room at any rate,” she said. “I was either going with these or a pair of Cole Bennett socks to keep his feet warm. People in hospitals always have cold feet.”

“There’s no such thing as Cole Bennett socks,” he protested.

“Um, yes there are. There’s a local woman on Etsy who knits them. They have your little face on the toes.”

Cole’s demand to see a picture of the socks carried them through the hospital doors and past the reception desk. His incredulity at how inaccurate they were got them up the elevator. And Hailey’s blushing confession that she had not just one but two pairs in her sock drawer had him laughing by the time they reached the nurses’ station.

“If someone had told me I’d one day become a knitwear sensation, I wouldn’t have believed them,” he said, barely noticing that they’d arrived at his father’s door. “People should be ashamed of themselves.”

She reached up and brushed imaginary dust from his shoulders and adjusted the perfectly straight collar of his pullover. The actions seemed to bring him comfort, though she wasn’t sure whyhewas so nervous. She was the one crashing a family hospital room without an invitation.

Before she had time to check her own shoulders and collar, the door swung open. Mia rocketed out of the room and latched herself onto Cole’s and Hailey’s legs without hesitation.

“Uncle Cole!” she cried. “Puppy lady!”

And just like that, Cole regained his confidence. “Favorite niece!” he cried in the same excited tone. He planted a kiss on her forehead. “And before you ask, no, Miss Hailey isn’t going to give you her phone so you can watch her puppies.”

The girl’s face fell in a comical frown.