He smiled at me again, but shook his head. “No, I take my mom and little sister to church Sunday mornings. You’re welcome to join us.”
“Church? Me?” Um, no thanks.
“Come on, it’s probably not as bad as what you’re thinking. Come with me, and we’ll get breakfast together after—just the two of us.”
I have no idea what possessed me to say yes, but somehow I found myself nodding. I don’t know if it was to make up for my obvious dismissal of him after he admitted his deepest secrets, or just because he was impossible to say no to, gazing down at me with those beautiful blue eyes, telling me he’d missed me, but whatever the reason, I found myself showered and dressed and back on my porch to meet him thirty minutes later. Lord, help me.
Cohen strolled down the stairs, dressed in pressed khakis and a button-down shirt. He looked handsome, and even younger somehow. Even his normally messy hair was fashioned into place with some type of styling product. It was hard to take my eyes off him walking towards me, which was why it took me a second to notice that Bob was with him.
“Does Bob go everywhere with you?”
He rolled his eyes. “My sister Grace got this dog for me when she found out that our fire station dog was killed. Bob was her birthday present to me. But she’s really attached to him too, so I bring him to my mom’s house whenever I go home.”
“Gotcha.”
We walked to the curb where an antique-looking blue Jeep was parked.
He secured Bob in the back and then came around the side to open my door and help me inside.
He surveyed my most modest knee-length black shirt and burgundy top. “You clean up nice.”
“Thanks,” I mumbled, climbing into the Jeep.
His mom lived on the south side of Chicago, about a twenty-minute drive, and we kept up an easy conversation on the way.
“How old is your little sister?”
“She’s eight. My mom had this boyfriend—a real dirt bag. He stuck around until she was eight months pregnant and then took off.”
He strummed his thumb against the steering wheel, as if lost in thought. “She was such a wreck that the baby came early. I was fifteen and began working full time to help take care of her, and help out with a newborn. I don’t even remember most of my freshman year of high school.”
No wonder he’d chosen to remain celibate. If that wasn’t a solid birth control method, I didn’t know what was. “So you’ve been working since then?”
“Yeah. And when I was eighteen, I enrolled in an EMT and firefighters course so I’d always have something to fall back on.”
“Smart.” I nodded.
“There have been times when it didn’t feel so smart—like when rushing into a burning building in the middle of the night , not knowing if I’d make it out again.”
“That must have been a crazy way to grow up—so fast and with such responsibility.”
“Sort of. But it was all I knew. I had a choice. I could rebel and go the path of some of my friends—get into drugs, parties and girls—but I knew if I did, that’d make me no better than my own father, or Grace’s.”
Cohen’s strength and character continued to impress me. I watched him maneuver through the Chicago traffic with ease, smartly navigating the Jeep into the fastest moving lanes and dodging backups like he was quite used to driving these highways. It was impressive to watch. I rarely drove, and being from a small town, the Chicago highway system still scared me.
Soon, we were stopping in front of a tiny brick house with a patchy yellow lawn.
“Home sweet home,” he said, putting the Jeep into park.
Before we were even out of the car, a little girl with messy blonde hair was running through the yard toward us. Cohen unlatched the back of the Jeep, releasing the restraint that held a very excited Labradoodle in place.
“Boo Boo!” she called and Bob happily darted toward her. She fell back onto the lawn under the weight of the dog and giggled while he lapped wet kisses all over her cheeks.
“Boo Boo?” I cocked an eyebrow at Cohen.
“Don’t ask. I’m not calling a damn dog Boo Boo. I changed it to Bob.”
Bob continued slobbering all over the little girl for several minutes and I couldn’t help but laugh. Eventually, Grace extricated herself from the dog and ran over to stand in front of us, her eyes wide and curious.
“This is my sister…um…” Cohen hesitated, scratching his head. “What’s your name again?”
“Grace!” she shouted, shoving against his stomach with all her might. He didn’t even budge.
Her grin couldn’t be dampened though and she threw her arms around his waist, hugging him with abandon. I’d grown up with a brother two years older. I didn’t recall being that excited to see him. Ever. It was sweet. Cohen leaned down to kiss the top of her head. “Come on, short stuff.” She clucked to Bob, who stood and dutifully followed her. It was clear both the dog and her big brother adored her.
“This is my friend, Liz,” Cohen introduced me to his mom and sister when we reached the front porch.
His mom was shockingly young and pretty with high cheekbones, and big blue eyes. She was a thin bottle-blonde, dressed in a modest coral-colored dress. She gave me a suspicious glance before shaking my hand. Clearly she was nervous about her son bringing a girl home.
“Hi, I’m Liz.”
“Denise,” she offered.