Complete Me (Book Three of The Kirkland Family)

Complete Me: Chapter 17

Chapter 17

An hour later, Copper arrived for her shift, Rose excused herself to feed the kittens in the office, and Cole trailed in not long after that. Rose immediately smiled from cradling one of the females and asked if he had any luck finding a mattress.

Sweat dripped from his brow. "Yes," he said, wiping his handkerchief over his face. "Have you been outside any today? It has to be nearly ninety degrees already."

Rose noticed that the store had gotten warm during the morning. The air conditioning unit strained to keep up in the heat of the summer. "I suppose it will only get hotter," she said. "Late June is just the beginning of our summer."

"Back in Houston, I usually didn't go outside after ten in the morning during the summers. It's a jungle of glass and concrete." He smiled as he tucked his handkerchief away. "They are getting bigger already."

She laughed at the kitten suckling the bottle. "Yes, I suppose."

He leaned against the doorframe, crossing his arms casually across his chest. "I don't suppose I could borrow the van again, to bring back the mattress?"

"Sure," Rose said.

"For a few hours?"

She blinked, but answered, "That's fine. I have no scheduled deliveries today."

"Thank you," he replied, clearly relieved. "Ellie offered to bring it by during one of their deliveries this afternoon, but since I popped a tire on the way over there, I need to swing by somewhere to get it patched, as well as do some grocery shopping for dinner tonight. It's been an eventful morning. You don't have any food allergies, do you?"

"No," Rose said. "What did you have in mind, or is it a surprise?"

"I get the impression you don't particularly like surprises," he replied easily. "So, how about shrimp tacos? It's easy enough for me to fix with my limited cooking supplies."

Rose set the female kitten in the basket and gazed at him from under her eyelashes. "Cole...I should have mentioned it days ago, but... Well, you are welcome to take anything you need from the store to use, if you need it. I noticed that you brought back some things from Mr. Shaw's house, and...and well, this store is half yours."

His mouth tilted in a half smile. "Wouldn't that be more paperwork for you? I believe you said that to Charlotte and Bucky this weekend." He glanced at the filing cabinets crowding the small office. "You are very thorough. I wouldn't want to mess up your system."

She felt the blush rise in her cheeks, even as she said, "I wouldn't mind...for you."

His brown eyes fell upon her again, and he stared at her for a long moment. Rose fiddled with the feeding nipple for the next kitten, her fingers shaking. Then he shrugged away from the doorway, quietly closing the door as he stepped into the office. Rose swallowed the nervous flutter in her throat. Crouching down in front of her, he gently took the feeding equipment from her, pulled her hands into his, and lightly kissed her palms, nuzzling his mouth against her flesh until she shuddered.

"Cole..." she began breathlessly, "I'm at work."

"I know," he said. "That's why I'm only kissing your hands." With a deep breath, he released her, stood up, and grinned. "I'll go get our dinner, and then I'll browse around the store if I think I need anything, okay?"

"I can...I can gather up the basics while you're gone," she offered.

"Only if you have a free minute," he said. "Don't put yourself off-schedule for me, Rose."