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"Do you want a cup too, Cole?" she asks politely while getting mugs out of the cabinet.
"Yeah, thanks." A grin sets on his lips. His attention flies to me before returning to his daughter. "Samantha?" he asks in a calm voice. "Can I ask you something?"
While she continues making drinks, she answers. "Sure."
"What is your favorite food?"
Her hands stop mid-air, shocked by this personal question. "Uh... self-made pizza."
Her feet shuffle until she's facing us, and she bites her lips while investigating her father. "Why do you want to know?"
"Maybe... What do you think if we try to prepare some tomorrow, together?"
"Can you cook?"
Cole throws his head back and lets out a deep laugh that resembles rumbling thunder. I watch in awe as his whole face transforms from closed to open and approachable. The sound is contagious and causes Samantha to crack a smile.
Emma and Nick walk in and stop.
"What's so funny?" Emma asks.
Cole places his hands on his hips and answers with a generous grin. "I stunned these two ladies with the fact that I can cook."
"What?" Emma shouts. "Why in the hell do you order dinner from the restaurant every day if you can cook?"
The men exchange a look, and they smirk. "Explain it to them, Nick. Before Emma, you did the same."
"It's simple. If you're a hardworking, handsome bachelor like Cole, why cook if you're alone? Ordering dinner is much easier. I did the same before I met my angel," he says, placing a kiss on his wife's cheek.
Emma wraps an arm around him, and with a sassy grin, she replies, "Baby, you had to order. You're a disaster in the kitchen. They might have chosen you as Boston's best-looking bachelor once, but if they held a contest for the worst cook, you’d win, too. Our seven-year-old daughter is better at cooking than you."
Cole and I burst out into laughter, hearing Emma's answer.
"You two have a daughter?" Samantha asks inquisitively.
Nick nods.
Samantha's eyes squint. "But you two haven't been together that long?" she asks while biting her lip.
He smiles at Samantha. "You're right. Charlotte is Emma's girl. But I adopted her after her father passed away."
"Oh, I'm sorry for asking," Samantha stumbles.
"Don't be, sweetheart," Emma states with a caring smile. "You can ask us anything. But to be clear, the little guy in here," she says while rubbing her hands over her growing belly, "is ours."
"You two are having a son? Congratulations."
"Thank you, and I'd love for you to come over one day and meet Charlotte. She's excited to see you."
Samantha giggles. "Oh, I'd love to meet her."
Cole is watching Samantha's delighted expression with a closed-lipped smile, but when his eyes reach mine, my knees get weak.
What's happening to me?
My heartbeat increases as a rush of intense tingling dashes through me. A few hours ago, I wanted to bang his head against the wall, and now I want—shit, my mind and body are playing a cruel game with me. Why give me these feelings when I'm not able to act on them?
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