Coda Books 04 - Strawberries for Dessert (MM)

needed to learn to let things go once in a while.
    I took my hand away from his head, and he sat up. He put his lips against my ear and asked in a teasing whisper, “Better?”
    “Oh my God,” I gasped as my laughter finally started to fade.
    “ Yes !”
    “You should relax more often,” he teased.
    “I think you might be right.”
    He kissed me once on the cheek, then pulled away from me and started digging in the glove compartment. “I hope you have napkins in here somewhere. Otherwise I’m going to be stuck to my pants by the time we get back to your place. We may never get them off.”
    “That would be rather unfortunate,” I told him, still smiling.
    He smiled back and winked at me. “I’m glad you think so, love.”

    MY FATHER arrived early. I hadn’t even set the table. “Dinner’s not quite ready yet,” Cole told him as they sat down at the table, “but Jonny can get us some wine, right, love?”
    My dad looked a little bit nervous, I suspected because Cole was so obviously sending me out of the room so they could be alone, but I did as he requested. I went into the kitchen and opened the wine and got three glasses out of the cabinet.
    “I need to take some time off this year,” my dad was saying as I came back in from the kitchen.
    “Really?” I asked, surprised. “Dad, you never take vacation.”
    “I know. And that’s why my PTO bank is maxed out. They’re telling me I have to take some time off.”
    “What are you going to do?”
    He shrugged. “I haven’t decided,” he said. “I’d like to travel, but it’s so expensive, and I’m not sure where to go—”
    “Oh, honey,” Cole jumped in. I kicked him under the table for calling my dad “honey.” He gave me a dirty look, but didn’t slow down. “You just have to know the right people, and now,” he batted his eyes jokingly at my dad, “you do! I don’t know if Jonny’s told you or not, but I have homes all over the place. You can use any of them you want. Where would you like to go?”
    “Well,” my dad said with obvious discomfort, “I’m not sure—”
    “How about Paris?”
    “Paris?”
    “Of course, honey. Who doesn’t love Paris?” He leaned forward in his chair, tucking one bare foot underneath him. It brought him a little closer to my dad, like he was about to tell him a secret. “I usually spend half the summer there, and Christmas too, of course. I have a condo there that is completely adorable. Really, it’s more convenient than any hotel, and it’s free, so that’s even better, isn’t it? Just tell me when you want to go and—”
    “Cole,” I said, but he ignored me.
    “—I’ll call Alain and let him know you’re coming. It’s rather small, but unless you’re planning some kind of soirée, it should suit you fine. Now, the lady next door has a bichon frisé that will bark its fool head off any time you walk past her door, which is terribly annoying, but don’t let it worry you. And don’t let any of those magazines in the bathroom scare you. Just toss them under the sink—”
    “Cole,” I said again, but he still ignored me. “—before you open them, or you’ll be in for shock. It has a full kitchen of course, so you don’t even have to go out, which is infinitely cheaper than restaurants every night, I’m sure. I’ll give you Alain’s number, and you can call him and let him know what you want him to buy, and he’ll have everything ready for—Wait! Do you speak French?”
    My dad looked like he was barely managing to keep up with Cole’s monologue, but he said “No.”
    “Well then, you better not call Alain, honey, because his English is terrible . I think it’s all an act because he doesn’t like Americans, but if we’re not careful, he’ll fill the kitchen with Spam. You let me know what you like to eat and I’ll make sure the kitchen’s—”
    “Cole!”
    This time he didn’t ignore me. “ Good l ord , Jonny!” he said, turning to me in exasperation, “ What is so urgent?”
    Now that I had his attention, I realized I didn’t actually know what to say. “You can’t bribe my father with use of your condo in Paris.”
    “Whyever not?”
    My dad made a snorting sound—I was pretty sure he was trying not to laugh—and ended up covering it by coughing.
    “Because,” I stuttered, “it’s not appropriate.”
    Cole pretended to be surprised—I knew him well enough to tell that he was faking—and turned back to my father with his “I’m