The last months had been anything but fun.

For that matter the only fun times she could recall were the times she spent with Cole and her team. They were who she felt at-home with.

“You ready?” Cole asked, shaking her from her thoughts.

She pushed back her chair and then braced her palms on the table, keeping most of her weight on her hands until she had her feet under her.

As she turned toward the doorway, Cole slid his arm around her waist, pulling her into the shelter of his body. She fit perfectly underneath his arm, her head just on level with his shoulder.

Without giving it a second thought, she wrapped her arm around him in return as she limped toward the exit.

There was a chill to the air tonight that had been absent the night before. Spring was still deciding if it was here to stay and winter was fighting a losing battle.

She shivered lightly as the wind picked up, and Cole rubbed his hand up and down her arm to warm her.

“I’ll build us a fire when we get back to the house if you like. We can kick off our shoes, get in some comfy clothes and park it on the couch to watch our movies.”

“Mmm, that sounds nice.”

It sounded . . . romantic. A cozy evening on the couch at home watching movies. It was something she’d have done as a teenager, and now, knocking on the door to thirty, she was just as giddy as her teenage self used to be.

“Hey, how old are you, Coletrane?” she blurted.

He stopped in the process of opening his truck door for her and looked at her with a raised brow. “Thirty-two. Why?”

She shrugged. “No reason. I just realized I never knew how old you were.”

“And it occurred to you that you just had to know right this moment?” he asked with a chuckle.

He opened the door and waited as she slid into the seat. Then he walked around to get in on his side.

“Well, yeah,” she said as he pulled out of the parking lot. “It would be kind of weird if you were younger than me.”

He glanced sideways at her. “Why the hell would it be weird? And am I younger than you?”

“No. I’ll be thirty this year. And I don’t know why. I’ve just always assumed you were older.”

He shook his head. “You get some strange ideas, P.J. Age is irrelevant. Whether you were older or younger than me wouldn’t change how I feel about you. I hope to hell it wouldn’t affect how you felt about me.”

The last thing she wanted was to cause dissension between them.

“Honestly, I was just curious. It’s no big deal.”

She had her elbow propped on the console, and he reached over, sliding his fingers down her arm until he got to her hand. Then he simply picked it up, curled his fingers around hers and rested their joined hands between them.

For a long moment she simply stared at his hand cupped over hers. Warmth spread up her arm and into her chest. It was the simplest thing in the world. At her age, it shouldn’t send an odd flutter through her chest or make her feel like a breathless teenager on her first date.

But he had that effect on her. She felt like she was being courted. God, what a silly, outdated word, but it was so appropriate. Cole seemed to have an old soul when it came to relationships, and she thought it was kind of cute.

The men she was used to going out with forwent the courting phase and went straight for the fly of her jeans. There was nothing slow or patient about their methods. It was usually a question of “do you want to fuck or not?”

Clearly she’d been hanging out with the wrong guys.

“You’re quiet,” he said.

She laughed. “I was just thinking that I’ve been hanging with the wrong guys.”

“Oh? Do tell. What prompted that epiphany?”

“The guys I was with in the past were douche bags. I can’t think of a single one who ever held my hand, offered me pain medication, cooked me breakfast or wanted to watch cheesy disaster movies on the couch.”

“Appalling,” he said in mock shock.

“I know, isn’t it?”

He picked up her hand and kissed it. “I’m glad you’ve seen the error of your ways.”

She smiled and leaned back against the headrest. Damn but she could really fall hard for this guy. Her teammate. Someone she had no business entering a relationship with. It could fuck up all sorts of things. Or it could end up being the start of something truly wonderful.

Oh, to have a crystal ball.

It was completely dark by the time he pulled into his driveway. The porch light glowed warmly, illuminating the homey feel of his house.

Welcome home, it seemed to say.

Cole cut the engine and hopped out, hurrying around to her side as she opened her own door. He reached in to take her hand and helped her out.

Still holding her hand, he shut her door and then headed toward the porch, matching his step to her awkward, slower one. She leaned on him a little harder when she navigated the steps but was pleased with the progress she was making.

He flipped on the lights as they entered the house, and he took her to the couch first, insisting she sit back. He lifted each foot in turn and slid her tennis shoes off, tossing them to the side. Then he dragged the ottoman from its position in front of the armchair over to the couch so she could prop her leg up.

“All comfy?” he asked.

“I couldn’t be any more comfortable,” she replied.

“I’ll just go get us something to drink and throw a bag of popcorn in the microwave and then we’ll crank up the end-of-the-world movies.”

“Awesome!”

She watched as he walked away and continued staring when he disappeared from sight. She was falling so hard for him and she was awash in the giddy sensations of a new relationship. When everything was new and fresh and every little thing was exciting. When each touch was a thrill and you savored even the briefest contact.

They’d already had sex, for God’s sake, but this was completely different. It was as if that one night they’d shared together was a lifetime ago and erased from the equation. They were starting brand-new, as if they’d just met, only the ease in which they got along hinted at a long-standing friendship that was charting new territory.

He returned five minutes later with a bowl of popcorn and two cans of cola. He handed her a drink and the popcorn and then went to the television to retrieve the remote.

As he settled onto the couch beside her, he turned on the TV and started flipping through the menu of movies they could watch.

“So what’ll it be? The world taken over by aliens or the world engulfed by a giant tsunami?”

“Definitely the aliens. Can’t kill a tsunami. The alien movie will have lots of gratuitous violence.”

“Excellent choice. Aliens it is.”

He leaned back, putting his arm over her head and then down around her shoulders. He pulled her close, and she was happy to snuggle into his side. The popcorn was sitting on his lap within easy reach, and she munched idly as the movie began.

“You realize how unrealistic this is,” P.J. said, an hour into the movie.

“I would have never guessed,” Cole said dryly.

“Well come on. Put KGI up against the aliens. We’d take them out in two seconds flat. These aren’t even scary aliens. Why do they keep fighting them hand to hand? Just throw a fucking grenade and take out the lot of them.”

Cole laughed. “You have a point, but then there’d be no action and no conflict, thus no movie.”

“Speaking of like dudsville for an alien movie, remember that Mel Gibson movie with the aliens and there’s all this tension and hoopla over the alien invasion and he and his kids survive the night and then they hear on the radio the next day that some tribe in Africa discovered a way to kill them all and boom it was over? Talk about total letdown.”

“Well, if I remember right, the aliens weren’t really the point of that movie,” Cole said.

“Yeah, well, they should have been. It was more interesting than the hokey come-to-Jesus moment the guy supposedly had.”

Cole laughed and shook his head.

“I don’t want to have to think during a movie,” P.J. said. “I just want brainless violence and lots of cheesy action.”

“Are you trying to tell me your IQ isn’t setting the world on fire?”

She elbowed him in the gut and he let out a yelp. He wrapped both arms around her, trapping hers against her body, and then he grinned triumphantly at her.

“If I didn’t have an injury, I’d totally kick your ass right now, Coletrane.”

“Yeah, yeah, all bark and no bite.”

His mouth hovered precariously close to hers, so close she could feel the warmth of his breath over her lips. She glanced up, meeting his gaze, wondering if he was thinking the same thing she was thinking.

“I’m going to kiss you, P.J.”

Evidently he was.

“I was hoping you would,” she whispered.

His mouth covered hers, warm and sweet. He relaxed his grip on her arms and slid one hand up to her face to cup her cheek as he deepened his kiss.

His tongue delved over hers, salty from the popcorn, with a hint of butter and the sweetness of the cola. His fingers dug into her hair, around to the back of her head and then down to her nape.

“Make love to me, Cole.”

He pulled back in surprise, his eyes narrowing with concern.

“I don’t want to push you into anything, P.J. It’s probably better if we wait until you’re ready.”

“I’m ready,” she said, plunging ahead recklessly. “I want this. I want you.”

He stared at her a long moment as if he couldn’t make up his mind. She pulled him down into another long kiss, this time making sure she was the aggressor.